Harbor Greetings
Michelle Rego has lived through both hardship and joy. Tenacious, optimistic, and always learning from whatever life brings her way, she taps into a wealth of professional and personal experience as Workforce and Tourism Specialist at OED.
When I first learned about OED’s Harbor Greetings Program from Michelle, I was blown away. Many of us have never been to the harbor—where the “cruise people” gather—and aren’t aware of how much deeper this program really dives.
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Supported by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, The Harbor Greetings Program features several local musicians and hula dancers, a beautiful mural of the island on the wall, and even an interactive element—with QR codes sharing the moʻolelo (stories) of various destinations. There are future plans for more murals and means to help greet and direct travelers. Michelle is passionate about improving the visitor experience while thoughtfully managing tourism’s impact on the island.
In addition to her role as tourism specialist, Michelle supports workforce development through grant training classes, ensuring people in the Kauaʻi community don’t lose out on grant opportunities because of small technicalities, not knowing how to properly apply. She also oversees OED’s Sister City Program, embracing mutually beneficial partnerships with sixteen cities across the world.
While Michelle was born in California, her family has long been connected to Kauaʻi. Her dad, Lambert Aqui, was born and raised on the island. He joined the Navy and ended up on the continent, where he met and married Michelle’s mom, Joan. The family came to Kauaʻi when Michelle was six, and her father opened Lambert’s Appliance Service. His parenting style was strict, coming from his own strict Filipino upbringing. Michelle’s parents would divorce by the time she was twelve.
Being the new girl at Kapaʻa High School was tough, but as a teen, she also started her first job at Rainbow’s Frozen Yogurt in the Coconut Plantation Marketplace. Eventually she moved on to work at the Pūlama Keiki Preschool and began studying early childhood education at KCC. Then life’s path took a turn with the birth of her first son, which was followed less than a year later by Hurricane Iniki. For the next six months, she had to live in a FEMA-funded hotel.
Michelle’s experience in the hospitality industry began at Aston Hotels & Resorts, working a variety of jobs from front desk to night auditor. She then joined Embassy Vacation Resort in Poʻipū. During these career shifts into hospitality, she would welcome another son and a daughter.
While working at the Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi, Michelle worked in several different roles as Bell Clerk, Valet Runner, Doorman and Grand Club Concierge.
Work at Timbers as a Front Desk Concierge provided a fresh look at the hospitality industry through a brand new property. Then in October 2019, she briefly embarked on a whole new life by moving to Las Vegas—but with her daughter’s love of beach life and Michelle’s increasingly frail father needing her help, she was soon back at Timbers as a housekeeping inspector, making sure everything was up to snuff in these multi-million dollar facilities. Within a few months, the pandemic hit and life changed for all of us.
Getting abruptly laid off in March 2020 due to the ensuing economic shut downs, and feeling trapped at home, was emotionally trying. Yet when Michelle finally arrived at OED in September 2020, building on her years of hospitality experience, she knew all about the challenges faced by this hugely important industry on Kauaʻi. She leveraged available funding to help rejuvenate the local work force, and her time as a coordinator at the American Job Center proved to be great exposure for her roles in both workforce development and the tourism sector.
Today, Michelle represents the government’s voice to the on-island tourism industry. Having worked in the hotel industry for over twenty years, she’s gained a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the business. On the government side, she’s taken on more cultural responsibility of what is communicated to visitors.
And she is not done learning either! She recently started Metricool Social Media classes to give her a better handle on the various social media platforms she now manages. She has also started taking Stage 32 Accounting classes to master the skills needed to work as a production accountant in media production.
Michelle has lived with a full plate most of her life and the variety of responsibilities at OED fits just perfectly on her plate. Lastly, I would like to call out the man she met a few years ago, Ricky (her now husband), who took all this journey in and wanted more. Says Michelle, “He’s brought out the best version I can be for myself and for the community.”
– Larry Feinstein
