Two great plaudits for Hawaii guys are drawing different sorts of positive attention to the isles.
One previously was nominated for a James Beard Award — while the other hasn’t really started a career yet.
Sixteen-year-old Jack Uesugi, a junior at Island Pacific Academy, is one of two second-place winners of the national Next Teen Tycoon contest staged by VerticalResponse Inc. Opens in a new tab, a California-based marketing company.
His company, called a1000x Opens in a new tab (a thousand times), partners with local artists to market their designs on such items as T-shirts, lanyards, stickers and other prints, and it puts a portion of the profits toward social causes.
Uesugi said he "stumbled on" the contest while marketing a1000x on Facebook.
"It was a little last-minute, a couple days before the deadline," he told TheBuzz. Although he was afraid his video Opens in a new tab might reflect the hurried nature of its preparation, it was good enough to get him one of two second-place prizes of $2,000.
"The result came out good," he quipped.
Eleven finalists were chosen via public online voting, while a panel of judges selected Uesugi and his fellow winners from among the finalists.
The Uesugi stable of artists is larger than it appears online. While four are on his website at present, another eight or so are waiting in the wings. It seems schooling and athletics (the academy’s golf team, at the moment) take up time Uesugi could be spending on running his business full time; however, should his parents find themselves reading this, yes, he is "definitely looking at colleges right now," he said.
His parents provided the resources for his business, but not just by putting up money. "My mom’s a photographer and my dad’s a graphic designer …and we had all the equipment and experience" he could draw upon to launch his entrepreneurial venture.
It’s not his first one, though. In his elementary school days, he would buy produce from the farmers market Opens in a new tab and resell it for a profit.
The $2,000 prize money is nary a drop in the bucket when it comes to college expenses, so he’s looking at investing it in his business. "We’re going to put a lot of it into marketing, get the name out there, gain some solid supporters," Uesugi said.
Among his biggest fans is contest-stager VerticalResponse.
"We’re all about helping small businesses succeed, no matter how young the owner," said Janine Popick, CEO and contest judge. "At a time when we still don’t know what the economy will be like tomorrow, it is so inspiring to see these enterprising teens take charge of their own future. All of our contestants should be proud," she said.
STAR NOODLE STAR SHINES IN MAGAZINE
Maui chef Sheldon Simeon of Star Noodle restaurant Opens in a new tab in Lahaina is Food & Wine magazine’s "People’s Best New Chef" Opens in a new tab of the year in the Northwest & Pacific region.
"It’s an awesome feeling," he told TheBuzz.
Online balloting for Simeon was boosted "at the restaurant, and we put it on our Facebook page, blasted it on Twitter and did all of that," supplemented of course, by family, friends and friends of friends, ohana style.
"That’s one great thing about Hawaii: We rally behind each other," he said.
One can presume other nominees’ restaurants, families and social networks were doing the same thing. Nevertheless, Simeon swept the region.
"The biggest thing is that we were so stoked that we got to represent Hawaii. We just wanted to be recognized at a national level, and hopefully it opens up opportunities for other talented chefs in Hawaii," Simeon said enthusiastically.
Perhaps this win will pave the way for a little staying power in future James Beard Award nomination Opens in a new tabperiods for him and for others from Hawaii. The James Beard Awards, which are known as the "Oscars of food," are given to top chefs and restaurants in May.
Isle nominees seem to be annually snubbed when the list of nominated semifinalists is whittled down to the finalists, giving Hawaii no chance of progressing to the medal round.
"It’s a step in the right direction," Simeon said. "We’re slowly chipping away at that stone and showing that we have talent."
The biographical information on the Food & Wine magazine website cites Simeon’s Vietnamese crepe with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts as his "Must-Try Dish." As for "Why He’s Amazing," the magazine cites Simeon’s meshing of his Hawaiian background with Asian ingredients and techniques to make Star Noodle restaurant a "progressive, phenomenal noodle house."
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle Opens in a new tab.
