Wahine Book Club
Have you finished all the books in your home library?
Not to worry!
Here are some suggestions from our Wahine Forum speakers and the Hawaii Business Magazine team to keep you inspired and motivated.
Recommended by: Chenoa Farnsworth, Blue Startups
"The perspective offered about putting your career first and not feeling guilty about it is life changing..."
Recommended by: Janice Ikeda, Vibrant Hawaiʻi
"When the book came out I bought 10 copies and gave it out to incredibly fierce women in my circle. It's short, potent, and shifts the narrative we have been told to believe about our place in the world and how to interact with each other."
Recommended by:
Dr. Christina Kishimoto, Voice4Equity
"It is a nonfiction story about race, ethics and medicine and the impact one black woman unknowingly had in saving many, many lives through her cells and advancing medicine for all of us."
Recommended by:
Catherine Toth Fox, HAWAIʻI Magazine
"It makes you feel crazy about struggling to write. (I recommend this book to my students all the time and gift it often.)"
Recommended by: Terri Funakoshi, YWCA Oahu
"This book will inspire you to better understand the path women must take to leadership, learn the root causes of the barriers that exist for women in the workplace, check your own gender biases and distinguish between confidence and competence in your colleagues, manage a more effective gender-diversity program, recognize the issues women face when speaking up about bias or harassment, and help women reenter the workforce after taking time off — and create opportunities for them to reach their ambitions."
Recommended by: Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines
Recommended by: Makalika Naholowaʻa
"The author is a leading economist who makes an incredibly thoughtful case for reforms to our social contract, so that we share life's risks and opportunities more equitably and in more economically sensible ways. Written with all the rigor you would expect from an economist and business leader with a distinctively female approach that we need more of in conversations about how to structure our societies."
Recommended by:
Elisia Flores, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
"My parents had me read this book as a kid and it really taught me a lot about how to connect with people."
Recommended by: Melissa Bow, Via Gelato
"It's one of the most short and comprehensive books with real life stories that all entrepreneurs can relate to because we have all had or have these problems. It also is a good reality check to find out if you would actually be happiest as an entrepreneur, or if you would be happiest as a technician or manager."
Recommended by: Lori Kahikina, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation
"Recommended to me by a HART employee after our last All Hands meeting. He was very pleased how I conducted myself (and have been leading the organization) describing the positive and negative feedback from the staff survey. I was touched that he reached out to me and gave me his copy of the book. I’m only on page 90 but I find it very intriguing so far. The beginning part of the book is sharing how Ray Dalio created one of the most successful investment firms in the country even through various recessions by applying work principles. I’m a very principled person so I can relate to this type of thinking as this is how I make decisions."
Recommended by: Dana Arakawa, thrive808
"It was so personally helpful to me when I read it over 10 years ago, and I still reference it today."
Recommended by: Malia Mason, Columbia Business School
"Makes the argument that key policy decisions are based on data that presume women do not have unique needs. Essentially, we assume men are the default and design a world around this male default."
Recommended by: Susan Eichor, aio
"A dear friend, David Matlin, first shared it with me and it has become my favorite leadership book to share with others. Leadership with the heart of a shepherd."
Recommended by: Chenise Iwamasa, Ziva Law LLC
"It gives you clarity, confidence, and practical strategies to negotiate more for yourself at work and at home."
Recommended by: Dr. Trisha Kehaulani Watson, Honua Consulting
"Teresia was an incredible Pacific Island scholar and this recently released collection of her work is an essential text for anyone wanting to explore the complexities of the Pacific from an indigenous, feminist lens."
Recommended by: Jennifer Luck, Common Ground
Recommended by: Amber Thibaut, Coco Moon
"The principles outlined in the book are great guidelines for businesses of all sizes and help to lay a foundation for what it takes to create a long lasting and successful business."
Recommended by: Jennifer Luck, Common Ground
Recommended by: Dr. Trisha Kehaulani Watson, Honua Consulting
A Woman in the House: A Memoir
Pat Saiki
For decades, Patricia Saiki worked tirelessly to bring positive change to Hawai‘i and the nation, improving life for women, Japanese Americans, small business owners and others. In A Woman in the House, the former congresswoman shares her journey from student athlete to schoolteacher to political crusader and business advocate.
