My Story...

I am a native son of Kailua, born and raised here. In fact, when I was born, my family lived in the same house that I now reside in. I am a true kamaʻāina. Before my parents moved into our family home, the property was agricultural land, so only Kauahikaua have lived on this land.

My mother Aileen Kauahikaua was the administrator at St. Christophers Episcopal Church on Kainalu and my father Ben Kauahikaua worked for Hawaiian Tel. He worked a variety of jobs including lineman to an executive position. My father instilled in me the value of hard work. My mother was the one that made me take piano lessons. I thank her now for that, but I was less than enthused during my high school years.

During high school we represented Hawaiʻi all throughout the mainland and Australia with the Hawaiʻi Visitors Bureau. I loved sharing our hula and mele with them. Iʻve been performing most of my life and worked with people like Loyal Garner, Don Ho, Frank De Lima, Melinda Caroll and many others, and producing projects with ʻOhia Productions (Once Upon One Time…), the Lilʻiuokalani Trust, the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Kamehameha Schools Children’s Choir and Iona Dance Company. A pretty diverse group. One thing they all have in common is a deep love for their craft and Hawaiʻi. Iʻve traveled the world and have seen what effect being from Hawaiʻi has on people. Itʻs an honor to be a native Hawaiian, and I do not take that lightly.

My brother, Dr. Jim Kauahikaua, was a geophysicist at the Hawaiʻi Volcano Observatory. A few years back, the volcano was erupting and people’s homes were threatened. Jim was the HVOs representative at the meetings and he had to update people on the status of the eruption. He fielded all sorts of questions, some unrealistic and some good. I watched him answer each and every one of them with grace, no attitude and no demeaning manner. He simply tried to educate everybody - including the media - equally. This man, who was a Doctor of Geophysics, patiently answered every question without a “do you know who I am” or an “Iʻve worked all day and can’t be bothered by your questions” kind of attitude.. He reminded me that everyone should be treated equally, and not looked down upon or brushed aside.

I’ve always had a special love for music. In my everyday life, I take songs and ideas that we have, and work to turn them into beautiful pieces of music, and something that will bring a smile to someone’s face or evoke a past feeling. I do this because of the love I have for my culture and my people. Iʻd like to bring that perspective, a fresh perspective to the City Council, and move forward with the values of the Hawaiian culture, not chastise people for not understanding it.