Talk Story with Western Aloha's Founder
"Talk story" is what people in Hawaii call a good, unhurried conversation. For our first one, we sat down with Western Aloha's founder, Paul Sullivan.
Where did you grow up, and how did you end up in Hawaii?
I grew up in Olney, Maryland, which was horse and farm country back then. We were closer to ranch-style homes and small farms than big cattle ranches, and my great outdoors was mainly the neighborhood drainage ditch. I rowed crew in college and majored in English, then kayaked in Glacier Bay, Alaska, and got a commercial driver's license. In 1993 I moved to Hawaii Island hoping to work at Volcanoes National Park. That didn't work out, so I drove a truck in Kona for a nursery and landscaping company and paddled for Kai ʻOpua Canoe Club.
What was your first impression of Waimea?
I was blown away. It was so beautiful it seemed like a dream. Now I live on the dry side of Waimea, right next to one of the largest cattle ranches in the US. This is Paniolo country.
So are you a Paniolo?
Definitely not a Paniolo. I'm just a big fan.
Where did the name Western Aloha come from?
I grew up wearing Western shirts and Aloha shirts, like many people here. Waimea is a blend of mountain and ocean, of Western and Aloha. Coming up with a name for our brand was pretty easy. At first it was really just about combining my two favorite shirts.
Why start a clothing company?
I wanted an Aloha shirt that fit like my western shirts. I started working on brand and design ideas around 2013, thinking, how hard can it be to figure out how to make a shirt? Then came the school of hard knocks of apparel manufacturing. We launched in January 2018 with eight original prints.
What's your favorite shirt?
Palaka. I think I bought my first one in 1993 at a thrift store to bus tables at the Kona Ranch House. Then I stopped wearing it to work because it was my favorite shirt and I didn't want to mess it up. It's definitely a "me" shirt. (Read more in Palaka, Hawaii's Original Work Shirt.)
Which prints do people love most?
Alenuihaha has been a favorite since the start. It takes the famous Japanese great wave and puts Mauna Kea where Mount Fuji would be, with outrigger canoes in place of the boats. And we sell a lot of palaka, which some people call the real Hawaiian shirt.
What did you do before Western Aloha?
I've been a lawyer, a truck and school bus driver, an ice cream scooper and delivery driver, a summer school teacher, a bricklayer's laborer, the manager of a publicly traded investment fund, a waiter, and an Amtrak train detective. I detected very little. I also just wrote a book that I guess I would say is philosophy. I'm kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.
What does "Take it easy. But take it." mean?
Before my first outrigger race, our coach told the crew, "You take it easy. But you take it." Relax, but go all in. It's become our motto.
Who's the boar?
That's Humphrey. A friend took him in as a stray piglet near Hilo, and he learned to surf at Honoliʻi. He's well over 350 pounds now and retired from surfing. (Meet him in Our Story.)
What do you do when you're not working?
Paddle, mostly stand-up these days because I travel too much right now to put in the necessary commitment to join a club. Three or four days a week, if I can.
Last word?
Hawaii is the place I love the most. Everything we make is a thank-you to it.
More from Talk Story: Palaka, Hawaii's Original Work Shirt · The History of the Aloha Shirt · Aloha Shirt vs. Hawaiian Shirt
