The Ultimate Experience
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Jaimie Taketa and Kelsey Sears show off clothes at The
Ultimate You
The Ultimate You was born out of a recessive period in my real estate career in 1983. The first store was 400 square feet on Monsarrat Avenue next door to Service Grocery and across the street from Unity Church at Diamond Head. I started the company with a loan of $5,000 and a lot of hope and optimism.
My sales experience dates back to when I was a 5-year-old girl in Ames, Iowa, selling fruits and vegetables from our garden door-to-door. Fashion sales began for me as a teenager and on into my college years in San Francisco. The stewardess years with United Airlines were my favorite work experiences for reasons of growth and personal development. Making the transition to becoming a small-business owner included a few other jobs and life experiences - marriage to a submariner at Pearl Harbor when Hawaii was still a territory, being a Navy wife and mother, sales rep for Aloha Airlines and marketing coordinator for Wailea, Maui. For several years I developed Creative Colors, where as a colorist I assisted people with their image. The science of color and its effect on fashion and healing is important and profound.
Getting back to my life now, The Ultimate You celebrates its 23rd anniversary by presenting a trunk show beginning the last week of this month. To me, this represents the progress of work and creativity invested in these years of ownership.
We will be showcasing Chanel, Anne Namba, St John, Shanghai Tang and other top names in fashion. A sizable portion of the profits received from this trunk show are going to be donated to treatment of cancer in women.
It has been worth the challenges and efforts to be told by visitors that this is the best consignment boutique yet. Being named “Best of Honolulu” by Honolulu Magazine was the “frosting on the cake.” My keys to success are ethics, enthusiasm and curiosity.
Our name comes from my personal passion and desire to assist people in achieving and expressing their ultimate selves. I know that we all need to love and appreciate ourselves more. Don’t forget nurturing of self ... this is where shopping comes in.
In keeping with today’s lifestyle of growth and progress, our goal is about sharing, caring, saving and recycling. Many of our unsold items are donated to women’s shelters. Throughout the year, our company gives merchandise or gift certificates to many Honolulu charities. I feel, as a businessperson, that it is imperative to support and give back to our community and be involved with many causes that help others.
Gratitude, enthusiasm and joy that we share with our customers are what I enjoy most. Shopping just has to be fun. We would like The Ultimate You experience to be an exciting and fulfilling adventure. One of our advisers said, “The Ultimate You is a healing center, not just a store.”
I have found this to be very true in the way that we encourage and respect our customers. Over 23 years we have a journal full of healing stories.
Many of these customers became friends and have remained friends when they moved from the Islands.
For more information or for a special appointment, call 734-7724.
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