Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - March 16, 2022

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK MARCH 16, 2022
Story by Photos by
BILL MOSSMAN LAWRENCE TABUDLO
Aside from being the founder and president of Kapena School of Music & Creative Expression, Kalenaku DeLima is also its vocal instructor.
we’ve had to do along the way.
“But looking back in retrospect, I find myself saying, ‘Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe I figured out how to do
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Proud skipper Kalenaku DeLima charts a course for her music school, intent
on improving the educational wellness of Hawai‘i’s youth while doing “good work for our community.”
Captaining a ship can be a daunting task for just about anyone, but especially for
tained its course she has. Despite the constant beatings of waves against her bow from pandemic regulations and pauses to “a lot of intricacies of business that I had to figure out,” the 30-year-old company leader and professional musician has held on to the wheel while navigating her way through the ebbs and flows of her startup. Maybe her finest moment thus far has been in overcoming her one-time greatest worry: “that ev- ery single month would be this train wreck of tracking everything happen- ing financially!”
just as easily be attributed to a high- ly dedicated crew, a well-respected family name and brand that she hoists proudly on her sails, and timely words of encouragement and support from loved ones, including her anchor in life, fiancé Kala‘e Parish.
those feeling a bit nervous behind the wheel.
Consider the recent travels of Kalenaku DeLima, who has admit- tedly experienced notions of self- doubt while skippering her own vessel. Eight months into her maiden voyage as a nonprofit founder, the president of the christened Kapena School of Music & Creative Expres- sion in Kāne‘ohe still shakes her head every now and then, surprised at her good fortune in keeping the fledgling operation afloat in turbulent times.
Her success can be credited to her sticktoitiveness, an often underap- preciated quality of hers. But it could
“One of the things I learned is there’s no handbook, no manual on how to do any of this,” confesses De- Lima while moored inside her school with its symphony blue walls (“I read that the color blue helps calm you so that you’re more willing to learn”) at Windward Mall. “I want to say a ma- jority of businesses learn how to run things once they’ve messed up ... so there’s been a lot of troubleshooting
all of this!’”
But steadied the ship and main-