Meet Eileen Aoga

We recently connected with Eileen Aoga and have shared our conversation below.

Eileen, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

My parents. I didn’t realize it growing up but all my why’s – ‘why are we going there’, ‘why are we here again’ and ‘why are my parents hardly home’ was because they were helping others. Helping a friend through hard family matters, volunteering to serve food for the homeless, visiting a sick friend or a friends family member, supporting their friends’ business, Keyword friend. As an adult, I have learned that through all the moves they were making; they were building fellowship and community. It’s not uncommon in the Filipino culture to be so giving. My parents shared what they tangibly had and what they could. Most especially their time and talent to help others in need. I definitely carry that gift from my parents with me and have instilled that within myself and hope that before I leave this world, I would have made a lasting, positive impact in others’ lives.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

May 2024, it was a busy graduation season. My daughter was getting ready to graduate high school and of course I wanted to go all out. I made multiple types of leis for her: a friendship bracelet lei, a fresh flower crown, a kahoa money lei, candy leis, chip lei, you name it. I embrace my Filipino culture as well as my husband’s Samoan culture and with that, you’ll see alot of polynesian graduates being adorned with multiple leis . It’s a way to celebrate and honor their achievements and is an expression of pride and good wishes for them. It was truly also an expression of love being able to create something with my own hands for someone I love. I didn’t know how to make any of it but found inspiration through the internet. My sister-in-law, Esther To, who I collaborate with was making ribbon leis one day and I was in awe of how she could take pieces of plain ribbon and turn them into something so amazingly beautiful. She would make them for friends and family. I thought ‘what if we extend this outside of our circle?’ That was the inception of The Local Leidy.

Our goal is nothing more than to use the talents that were given to us and to show love through them.

There’s a quote that says ‘My hands work with aloha. The intent of my spirit is extended. It is a loving offering, given humbly that good come to all.

We believe this and live this in everything we do.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Networking and building community is the most important aspect in what we do. Connecting with people to learn from who are seasoned in experience in our craft and to help eachother build our businesses is key. Just like the proverb ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ same goes for a business. Though many will not support you because they’re your competitor or they have their own business to run, there are just as many business owners who will show support and help upcoming businesses to succeed. You just have to find your people. Same for our audience. When we create great products, deliver them with even greater care and communicate with them like they’re new friends, the love of what we do shows through that and our customers see and know it. We really do make new friends through this business.

Patience is key when learning something new. Even when starting a business. Not everything is going to come easy. It takes time and patience, trial and error to get the outcome you want. Just stay the course.

Resilience. No one is going to push you to run your business. You are solely responsible. It takes alot of mental and emotional strength to keep going at times but when you remember why you started, it makes it all worth while.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

We are working on putting together community events to help local talents and upcoming small businesses. We want to help other businesses succeed and give them an avenue to promote their products and services. Collaborating with established businesses and obtaining their support would be amazing. Not only do we want to give business owners a great experience, we want to give customers quality products to choose from in a safe and inviting environment. Follow us on social media @localleidy for updates!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thelocalleidy
• Facebook: The Local Leidy