|
|
| Gail Hannemann – CEO of the Girls Scout Council of Hawaii, First Lady of Honolulu |
 PRINTABLE VERSION |
KL: Gail, you know, my biggest question is: you're married to the mayor of Honolulu, and how is it being married to the mayor on a daily basis?
GH: In some ways my life got better in a sense that he has just always been really busy and kept all kinds of schedules and never been very organized about it. So I can remember many times where he would be telling me, it'd be 5:00 and say, oh and did I tell you that dinner we're going to tonight is black tie? And I keep saying, women getting ready for black tie is very different from men. He has some really good staff that keep him very organized and keep me informed. So that way on a practical basis my life has gotten very good. On a daily basis I guess it's been, from a personal point of view, it's been a good thing in that Mufi really loves what he's doing. And I think that makes a big difference when somebody really enjoys what they're doing, even when it comes with all these headaches and heartaches and tough decisions. He really enjoys what he's doing. So that makes for really interesting day to day conversations and just to watch somebody really enjoy their job I think is a really important to have in life. On a practical basis, we both have very busy schedules and our famous sort of line is whoever leaves at morning says, see ya tomorrow. Because sometimes it is not til the next day that you actually see that person or actually have a conversation, not so much see, but have that conversation.
EL: You are in high levels of your company and pretty much all the companies you've been with. Now I'm sure a lot people kind of say, oh that's the mayor's wife. But you actually have a very strong career on your own. How do you distinguish yourself and keep your own identity aside from that? Does that make sense?
GH: Yeah. Well, in my work world I actually don't know if people really think of me, that I happen to be married to Mufi. I mean because work is work and you're there focusing on what you need to be doing. It really doesn't even come up in that context. But I don't know.
KL: Have you ever stopped to think that it does help to say, you know I am the mayor's wife?
GH: I think I err on that side where I would never do... you actually bring up a good point though because what it does do though is a lot of times I'll take a step back to make sure that even though I'm doing something that I know is proper and OK, it could be perceived as being something that can be construed other ways. And as everyone knows in politics perception sometimes becomes reality. So in some regards like, for instance, we actually have a national policy and a local policy that actually predates me coming on board that prohibits the top employees from participating in political events or political campaigns and being involved in issues that are not related to your core business. So there are many things that I don't participate in at all that maybe I should be as a wife but because of my work I hold back so there is never that people don't think I am using the Girl Scouts, which I think has an exceptionally great brand name and people have a lot of good will and Aloha for it toward something that could be perceived as politically advantageous.
EL: What is it about what you're doing now that you love so much that you can give that part up for what you are doing?
GH: What do you mean by giving up?
EL: Because if you have to preclude yourself from certain things whether it's... you cannot be involved with certain political things, things that maybe they're like, how come you're not here or so on? But you do it anyways. Does that make sense? It's like you're giving up one part of it to make a difference.
GH: I don't see it so much as giving up. I see it more as balancing. I mean for one thing you can't do everything. If you try to do everything, nothing works. So it's knowing where my priority is at that time and also having a good understanding with, in this particular case with Mufi, he knows why I don't show up to certain things. So as long as he's not upset if everyone else wants to get upset, I can't do anything about it. I can do something about the way the people in my immediate world feel about something but you can't please everybody. So just like in life in general, you prioritize. You know where you're at. Sometimes it changes. That's kind of what you're referring to, too. You have different stages in your life and in this particular stage in my life when I have a responsibility to the Girl Scouts. That is high on my priority. It doesn't change my responsibilities or relationship as a wife but it could change my professional... or my public duties, I should say.
KL: You're also the chairwoman for the Holy Alliance for Arts. Are you able to tell us a little bit about that organization and your involvement?
GH: Yes. The Holy Alliance is an organization, it's sort of the umbrella group for most of the art organizations in the state of Hawaii. We're affiliated with the Kennedy Center and the Kennedy Center has one alliance in each state across the nation. And what we are trying to do is trying to find ways to support the arts, public support as well as to find resources that can help make the arts thrive. So on a practical level we have three strands. We work in the community, we work in education, and we work in advocacy areas. So our educational components, we work very closely with the others, the stakeholders in the state, that have to do with developing curriculum for kids in school. Our goal is to make sure that every child has a quality education, in K-3 to 5. In our community project, we want to be able to demonstrate that the arts are a vibrant part of the community, both as from a social aspect but also from an economic point of view. So one of the projects that we have going now is the Arts at Mark's Garage. We started that project to embrace those philosophy. And then the advocacy speaks to public policy in the development of issues related to it.
|
Tags
You must be logged in to add tags.
|
Writer Profile
Jay-R Patron
Jay-R Patron, 24 years old, currently works as content provider for a multinational IT consultancy firm, under its interactive marketing department.
He was a writer for Hawaii-based Greater Good Inc., a media company behind the much-acclaimed Greater Good Radio. The show promotes social entrepreneurship and servant leadership.
Jay-r is a Journalism and Communication and Media Studies graduate from the University of Southern Queensland.
|
Comments
You must be a TakingITGlobal member to post a comment. Sign up for free or login.
|
|
