Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Dion’e Ka’eo

We recently had the chance to connect with Dion’e Ka’eo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dion’e, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What battle are you avoiding?
The battle I’ve been avoiding is giving myself permission to pause and receive the same care I pour into others. My life’s work — through Assist & Feed Hawai‘i Distressed Communities Re-entry Housing Program and every creative, community, and healing project I lead — is centered on uplifting others, helping them rebuild, and restoring hope.

But in that process, I sometimes forget that I, too, am human — that the healer also needs healing, the leader also needs rest, and the one who gives must also learn to receive. Slowing down has always felt like a luxury, but I’m learning it’s actually a necessity. It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s a form of strength that allows me to continue serving with clarity, balance, and love.

The battle I’ve been avoiding is giving myself full permission to rest. I’ve always been the one holding others up — serving, creating, managing, and pushing through — but learning to slow down and receive the same care I give has been a challenge. Sometimes we wear strength like armor, when what we really need is softness and space to heal. I’m learning that resting isn’t quitting — it’s rebuilding..

The battle I’ve been avoiding is stepping back and allowing others to lead. My heart is always to serve and uplift, but sometimes that means I carry too much alone. I’m learning that true leadership is about empowerment — trusting the process and letting the next generation rise with their own light.

The battle I’ve been avoiding is confronting my own emotional exhaustion. I pour so much of myself into helping others heal, that I sometimes forget to refill my own cup. I’m realizing that healing others while neglecting myself is still a form of avoidance — and that my own healing deserves just as much attention as the work I do for my community.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Aloha, my name is Dion’e K. Ka’eo — I’m an entrepreneur, vocalist, Hula and Polynesian dancer, international runway and pageant model coach, empowerment speaker, single mother, and former pageant title winner. I’m also the founder of Assist & Feed Hawai‘i Distressed Communities Re-entry Housing Program, an initiative dedicated to providing housing, healing, and hope for individuals transitioning from crisis to stability.

As a Native intersex-born female, my life’s journey has been one of deep resilience — wounded, but never destroyed. I’ve turned my personal battles into a platform for empowerment, helping others find their voice, reclaim their confidence, and embrace their true identity through culture, creativity, and community.

Through programs like Paradise Island Fashion Week and trauma-healing workshops, I blend art, fashion, and heart to uplift others and show that beauty and strength come from authenticity. What makes my work unique is that it’s rooted in lived experience and aloha — a movement of transformation, empowerment, and unconditional love.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was a barefoot island child who believed love could heal anything. I was curious, creative, and deeply connected to spirit, nature, and rhythm, dancing Hula before I could even speak in full sentences, singing to the ocean like it was my first audience.

Life, judgment, and expectations tried to shape me into something else, quieter, smaller, more “acceptable.” But the truth is, I was born to move differently. I was born to feel deeply, to stand in both my strength and softness, and to show others that being born different is divine.

Today, I’ve come full circle? I am that now same island woman, only stronger. I lead, I create, and I rise not to fit in, but to help others remember that their truest self was never lost, just waiting to be reclaimed.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The defining wounds of my life began with rejection, being misunderstood for who I was born to be. As a Native intersex-born female, I carried the pain of invisibility, of feeling like I had to hide parts of myself to be accepted by the world. Those early wounds taught me silence, but they also gave me depth, a sacred understanding of what it means to feel unseen, and a fire to make sure others never feel that way again.

I’ve faced abuse, loss, and moments where life broke me open, but those moments also became the soil where my purpose took root. Healing came through culture, through movement, through community, and through faith. Hula taught me grace. Music gave me voice. Serving others gave my pain purpose.

I’ve learned that healing isn’t a single moment, it’s a lifelong rhythm of forgiveness, courage, and self-love. My scars are not my shame; they’re my strength. They remind me that even when we are wounded, we are never destroyed.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely, but it’s the healed version of me that the public sees. The woman who walks runways, speaks on stages, and leads communities is the same woman who once cried in silence, prayed for strength, and fought her way through darkness to find her light again.

The public version of me isn’t a performance, it’s a reflection of every lesson, every scar, and every moment I chose love over fear. I’ve learned that authenticity is my greatest power. So when people see me shining, they’re not seeing someone who “has it all together.” They’re seeing someone who’s done the inner work to rise, a woman who turned pain into purpose, and now stands fully in her truth.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
People may misunderstand my legacy as being about titles, achievements, or appearances, the shows, the stages, the crowns. But my true legacy isn’t about being seen; it’s about seeing others. It’s about using every platform, every project, and every piece of my story to open doors for those who’ve been overlooked, unheard, or forgotten.

Some might think I was only chasing success, but in truth, I was chasing healing, for myself, my community, and generations still finding their voice. My legacy is rooted in aloha, in restoration, and in the power of being real. When I’m gone, I want people to remember not what I accomplished, but how I made them feel, that they were worthy, that they mattered, and that they could rise too.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Mark Salondanka Photography
Paradise Island Fashion Week Hawai’i International
Americas Next Top Model Alumni Victoria Elizabeth
Assist & Feed Hawai’i Distressed Communities Re-entry Housing Program
Mahalo to our Paradise Island Fashion Week Hawai’i International amazing leadership and team:
🌺 Executive Director Delsie
🌺 Administrator & IT Alika
🌺 Receptionist April
🌺 Assistants Hilina’i, Hope & Kalai‘ku
🌺 Office Manager Amy
🌺 CPA Victoria

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