Thank You, Pa and Athena for Helping Us Follow Our Dreams

I never imagined that at 23 years old I would be the owner of a restaurant and I know I can speak for Gwith when I say that he never expected to own a restaurant by 25 either. The trials and tribulations we've already been through to get to this point is amazing. We've learned a lot of lessons over the years about respect, management, and obstacles.

There's a lot of people who are incredibly excited for us, which means the world to us. We're incredibly busy too and we love every moment of it. There are only two frustrating things about being young and starting a business: the multiple comments about "it's a lot of hard work, are you sure you can do that?" and the implied comments about where the money is coming from. It's disappointing to hear people doubt that two young people are capable of starting and running a business.

It's true. We've been given an amazing opportunity at a young age that not everyone gets. However, this opportunity didn't come without pain and heartache. Two very supportive and loving people in our lives passed away during the same week last year. My grandfather and Gwith's mother. My grandfather, Pa, was always supportive of becoming your own employer and starting a business. He even opened his own bakery back in the day. When we talked to him about one day starting our own business, he would smile at us. He had full confidence that Gwith and I would be successful. Before Gwith's mother, Athena, passed away, the last thing she told Gwith was: "Be proud of yourself. Don't worry about me being proud of you, just be proud of yourself." We both can say with absolutely certainty that both of them are watching over us and smiling knowing that they're the reason we can follow our dreams.

Pa and I

 Pa taught me about life. He had countless stories and countless adventures to tell. From his time in the war, his time in the circus, his time as a baker, his time as lawyer, and the list goes on. He believed in working hard, following your heart, and smiled at any past misfortunes because they led him towards other adventures. He was one of the most compassionate people I've ever known and he had a confidence in his two children and each of his granddaughters that was indescribable. Shortly before he passed away, he was looking through an album my sister Raishel had made for him about his life. After looking through the album, he looked up with an incredible grin on his face and said, "I really did have a wonderful life." He taught me to have my own adventures, to work hard, and follow my dreams.

Gwith and his Mum, Athena

Athena always believed in Gwith. She never had many means but she always wanted to buy Gwith a quality chef's knife. I didn't know her very long but each time she talked to him, she lit up with pride. He told her last February that he and I were planning to open our own restaurant. Although she was already very ill, we could see in her eyes how proud she was. Her son had become the man she always knew he could be. She believed in standing up for who you are, being strong, and pursuing your goals. She never got the chance to buy Gwith his chef's knife but she gave him an opportunity so much greater than that in the end.

In life, age is only a number that changes every year; a number that marks different experiences and new adventures. There's no such thing as work that's too hard. If it's something you love and you're passionate about, you can achieve anything. The hours in the coming months may be long and they may be tedious, the stresses at times will undoubtedly make us crazy every once in a while, but at the end of the day, we'll be happy. When you're doing what you love and you're doing it for all of the right reasons, there's no reason you shouldn't be. Stress and sadness are both a part of life. They help us empathize with others and they eventually build our strength and our confidence. The key is, to understand which stressful experiences you can grow from and which stresses to back away from. Throughout our struggles, between employers, teachers, etc., we've both learned that the one stress we don't want is lack of respect. Respect is very important to us and unfortunately, many work places lack this very important aspect. Instead of being in a poorly run management scenario where the employees are taught to disrespect each other and push each other down, we want to be at the top of our business so we can teach each of our employees to respect each other and help each other rise.

This business is not just for us to pursue our dreams. With this opportunity, we want to help other people pursue their dreams as well. We want to change other peoples lives and we want to help them succeed. We want our future employees to know that we believe in them and to teach them to believe in themselves. Someday down the line, we hope to help people beyond our business and begin a fund and community for those who otherwise wouldn't have an opportunity like this.

Pa and Athena gave us the opportunity to follow our dreams at the ages of 23 and 25. There is no greater gift in the world and we can't wait to be able to use that gift to help others follow their dreams as well.

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.