Waikiki Betty

Shortly after I moved to Oahu in March 2024, I was having drinks with someone who insisted that within 6-months of living here I will experience a challenge that dictates whether I stay or leave the island. She wasn’t wrong.

After the museum fired me in September I was faced with an unexpected future, alone in Waikiki, with no anticipation of future work. I still felt okay, though. That gut feeling that says, that knows, “it’s all going to be okay.”

I was miserable working at the museum and I chose to endure something that I hated for too long, so the relief of being terminated was real. Turns out, I’m actually better off without misery. The job brought me to the island, and gave me the opportunity to learn heaps about Hawaiian history, so for that I’m very grateful.

So then what? I bought water housing for my camera and started documenting tourists taking surf lessons, (just like I said I would years prior). Waikiki Betty LLC started making waves in January 2025 and it’s remained a success to this day. But before I was ready to go into debt for startup costs, I had to really know that this was all going to payoff.

In this town, the tourism economy is like an open faucet so the money is there. But you also have to understand that these beaches are valeted by natives and longtime business owners, specifically surf schools and independent surf instructors. In order to gain that trust and acceptance it was going to be, no pun intended, a sink or swim experience. It’s not like anyone invited me to come take pictures.

But the documentarian inside of me knows that I have the right to access, and the surfer in me knows that I belong.

The first 6-months of business delivered in the way I needed it to, and the pride of making something out of nothing is quite frankly, unforgettable. I’m living my happiest life and I get to take pictures for a living, meeting people in the sun and salt water. I’ve started something that supports me and provides gigs to contractors on the island.

I’d also like to add that I did, in fact, manifest all of this. Shoutout SoCal published an article in December 2022 about my journey as a photographer and I told them that my next step was to move to Hawaii and document tourists taking surf lessons.

Waikiki Betty has taught me a lot about business, but most importantly, a lot about myself. Isn’t that so fucking cheesy? It’s true, tho. Charging handsome rates comes with the territory of making money. For me the struggle is like holding up a mirror and having conviction that what I’m charging is what the photos are worth. And then there’s this terrible existential question, “How is my rate reflective of me, the artist?” The juxtaposition of doing business as an artist is real and probably something a lot of working professionals struggle to do confidently and without ego.

So now what? Keep going, as always. Expand my portfolio into an endless library of beautiful faces, expressed by all walks of humanity and reflected by yours truly. Dust off my Hasselblad and enjoy shooting film again. Make more friends and clients. Continue creating the best life I can for myself. Eat steak and take Betty to the beach more often.