Bettina Mehnert

Bettina Mehnert was the keynote speaker at the OWL Annual Meeting November 4, 2019. She shared her experience lending to this year’s theme of “Leading by Example”.

Bettina is a respected visionary and leader and has amplified her impact as the first woman President and CEO of AHL, formerly known as Architects Hawaii Ltd., and most recently was named 2019 CEO of the Year by Hawaii Business Magazine.

Her pursuit of architecture proved to be a worthwhile and fulfilling one. She admits it is one of those professions where you do not really need to make up your mind about what you want to do and this flexibility means she has room for creativity and fun. “Fun”, she explains, “is key. Life must be fun. At times, she admits, this may appear less appropriate from the perspective of a CEO, but at some point it becomes the responsibility of the leader to ensure the work employees do is fun to encourage engagement and reinvigorate passion.

The German native arrived in Hawaii through a government scholarship.  She can still remember each firm she applied to and how she was treated at each one. When she stumbled upon AHL, she felt it was the right fit as soon as she walked in and therefore did not leave until they promised a position for her. Since then, Bettina became the first woman in management and now, 30 years later, she is at the helm of the second-largest architecture firm in Hawaii.

On the rare occasion that Bettina asked her mother for advice, the words that stuck with her included, “If you didn’t get something that you really wanted, then did you really want it?” and “The higher up you are able to go, the bigger the impact that you have.” These words gave her the perspective and courage to take up the jobs and roles that led her to becoming the CEO of her company.

The most touching part of Bettina’s time with OWL members was when she shared her “most-craziest” thing she has ever done – adopting a baby as a single mother at the age of 40. Bettina admitted that she still wonders if the decisions she makes now leads Anna, her beautiful 14- year old daughter, to a life that is better than the life she would have had otherwise.

Bettina left us with some of the following words of advice and food for thought to keep us effective on the job as we continue our own personal journeys through professional advancement and leadership development:

• Everything you do deep down inside needs to be fun. Why else would we get up in the morning?

• What makes you passionate? Know what gets you up in the morning.

• Preparation is key to every success in life. You need to think things through.

• The higher up you are able to go, the bigger the impact you have.

• Don’t lose your way.

• Trust your gut.

• Do a double check once in a while, even if it means you have to quit.

• Taking a step back and saying “Oops, maybe that wasn’t quite right” and admitting something may have been the wrong decision is okay.

• Never settle.

Kristina Lockwood, General Manager KHON2

KHON2's general manager Kristina Lockwood's journey to the top started with the help of a woman she credits as one of her great mentors, longtime MidWeek executive Dianne Pereira.  Dianne gave Kristina her first big break, hiring her at 19 years old, as an account executive.   Kristina embraced the opportunity to take on a job she knew little about, and learned all that she could, as she pursued her new career.   It was the belief that Dianne had in Kristina that sticks with her today.  "Strong women lift each other up," she shared, "I was determined not to disappoint her."

Under the guidance of mentors such as Dianne, Rick Blangiardi (KGMB GM) and Wally Zimmerman (KHON GM), Kristina challenged herself to keep learning and growing in her roles in sales at KGMB, KITV and KHON.  During that time she also decided to go back to night school to earn her college degree, one of her proudest achievements.  She was already serving as general sales manager at KGMB when she took a position at Cox Media in San Diego, breaking into a new and much larger market.  Cox Media also provided excellent training and development opportunities that prepared her well for her role of general manager at KHON2.   She credits her rise to general manager at KHON to her natural curiosity, her positive attitude, her relationship building skills, and her choice to always surround herself with people that lift her up. 

At KHON2, Kristina knows that the competition in the broadcasting business is fierce.  A big challenge at KHON has been having three owners in four years.  With each ownership change, the station has been able to adapt and embrace what the new owners have to offer.  Her current focus has been to growing KHON's online and social media presence and developing a KHON app.  She also believes in serving the community and the advertisers by creating opportunities and long-term programming such as Living 808 and Sam Choy In the Kitchen. 

Kristina attributes the station's ratings success to the culture of "yes" that has developed at KHON.  She always works on building the morale, relationships and trust among her employees to make KHON not only a great place to work , but a station that truly serves Hawaii.

Deborah Zysman, Executive Director, Children's Action Fund

Deborah Zysman, Executive Director, Children's Action Fund

What We Heard
January 9, 2017

Calling all Superheroes

At our January luncheon we had the privilege of hearing from Deborah Zysman Executive Director of the Hawaii Children’s Action Network (HCAN). She shared with us the amazing work done by HCAN and from where she draws her motivation.  Hawaii Children's Action Network (HCAN) is an independent, nonpartisan children's policy and advocacy non-profit organization.  Its mission is to build a unified voice, educating & advocating for Hawaii's children.
 
Deborah's personal connection to caring for others comes from the strong women in her family.  One grandmother was a union organizer, the other a holocaust survivor. She comes from tough stock where fairness, justice and equity were issues discussed at the dinner table.
 
HCAN takes a long range view to mitigate poverty and inequity. They are focusing on investing in children, investing in the future. Child and family issues are not the “soft stuff”. Family issues have a significant impact on the health of our economy.  The future of our children is the future of our community. Investing in schools and child care now will build the workforce of the future.
 
“If we want to work on social justice we need to start with kids.”
 
Poverty and inequity play a key role in health and welfare of our keiki. There is a strong correlation between the developmental level of a child at age 5 and their probability of graduating from high school and college.
 
Deborah shared some startling statistics:

        --  15% of  Hawaii children live in extreme poverty
        --  51% of Hawaii keiki in public schools had no preschool
        --  90% of child’s brain develops by age 5, so early disparities mean kids playing catch up for the rest
                     of their lives.
 
Children who fail at school are less employable and less productive in our society. Investment in early childhood education and improved early screenings for sight, hearing and developmental issues will have long term benefits for the children and our community.
 
Opportunities to be a superhero for Hawaii’s keiki include volunteering your time and talents, becoming a sponsor (donations welcome) becoming an advocate who communicates with policy makers, write letters and lobbies for our children. (www.hawaii-can.org).