HumanizeHer x Shangri La “Visionary Voices” brings HumanizeHer’s signature conversations to Shangri La, a Center of Cultures & Ideas and Museum of Islamic Art in Honolulu, Hawai’i, featuring three special episodes with visionary women leaders from Hawai’i.

In this episode of HumanizeHer, we sit down with Meli James - born and raised in Hawai’i, she left for Cornell University and caught the entrepreneurship bug in Silicon Valley during the early era of iPhone apps where she co-founded Nirvino, the number one wine app on iTunes - and then came back home to Hawai’i and changed everything. As Co-Founder and General Partner of Mana Up, she has helped over 100 Hawai’i-based brands - like Kō Hana Rum, the first class beverage on Hawaiian Airlines. She has scaled to global markets, generating over 113 million dollars in revenue and creating hundreds of jobs right on the islands. Her mission: keep the talent, the opportunity, and the economic power in Hawai’i - where it belongs.

Episode Highlights:

• Silicon Valley Blueprint: Meli shares her "quarter-life crisis" at 25 and how life coaching led her to launch Nirvino, a mobile wine app that dominated the iTunes platform for five years following the launch of the iPhone.

• Birth of Mana Up: Driven by the desire to ensure local entrepreneurs don't have to leave Hawai’i to find success, Meli discusses the founding of Mana Up. She addresses the skepticism she faced when pivoting from tech to product-based companies and her goal of creating 100 Hawai’i-headquartered companies generating over 113 million dollars in revenue.

• Scaling the "Hawai’i Brand": The conversation delves into why Hawai’i is one of the world's most aspirational and trusted brands. Meli explains how Mana Up helps local makers navigate the "not-so-sexy" side of business - HR, governance, and global scaling - to get products like Kō Hana Rum and LexBreezy onto the global stage.

• De-Risking Investments: Meli introduces Mana Up Capital, a venture fund that invests in accelerator graduates. She explains how their retail initiatives, including the House of Mana Up stores, allow them to de-risk investments by observing real-time consumer data before funding.

This episode is a masterclass in "ownership mentality," illustrating how authentic storytelling, mentorship, and regional pride can turn local products into global powerhouses while keeping jobs and wealth within the community.

Mahalo to VToku for their technical support and partnership with our production crew in bringing this series to life.