Six Jobs, Six Paychecks: Street Interviews About Work and Salary in Hawaii
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In this street-interview video, Hina, an English-teaching YouTuber, walks around Waikiki asking people what they do for a living. The format is the same for everyone. Hina asks about the person's background, their job, the best and worst parts of it, their hours and schedule, and, with the caveat "you don't have to answer this," how much someone in their field typically earns. The six people interviewed include lifelong Hawaii residents, recent transplants, and visitors, and their answers show what working life looks like for people passing through or living in Hawaii.
Don: A Lifelong Local in Human Resources
The first interviewee, Don, was born and raised in Hawaii. Hina says Don is the first person they have met who grew up there. Don describes growing up with many outdoor activities and calls the islands "a melting pot of cultures and personalities." Don has traveled widely but has never lived anywhere else, and says without hesitation that Hawaii is the best.
Don is a human resources director at a small nonprofit that works on substance abuse and recovery. Hina says they hadn't expected addiction to be a big problem in Waikiki. Don replies that Hina would be surprised, perhaps because they "haven't turned down the right alleys." In Don's view, many people on the islands are dealing with addiction. Don isn't sure whether that reflects the times or the struggles people are going through, and sees it as a problem all around the world. Don recalls seeing less of it growing up in the early '90s and noticing much more from the 2000s onward, along with more mental health struggles.
The best part of the job, Don says, is helping people, whether that means sorting out a benefits issue or giving career advice. The worst part is employee relations: mediating when coworkers don't get along and complain about each other, and trying to get everyone on the same page so they can move forward together. On pay, Don says it depends heavily on company size. At a small nonprofit, HR roles in Hawaii range from about $60,000 to $90,000.
Don was waiting for friends to play beach volleyball, something played competitively but among friends. Don is 6'3" and Hina is 5'2", which leads to some laughter about spiking. Don says they are "pretty decent."
Dan: A Rental Car Branch Manager Who Starts at 5 a.m.
Dan moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about two years ago and describes Hawaii as amazing, with great weather and culture. Dan manages a branch of a rental car company. The job is busy and heavily tourist-driven, since visitors rent cars to drive around the island, up to the North Shore, and to the main attractions. Dan confirms there are many Japanese customers.
Dan's favorite part of the job is meeting people from all over the world, picking their brains, exchanging contact information, and even making friends. The least favorite part is "just work itself." Being there all day, Dan says, when you would rather be on the beach or surfing.
Dan works about 50 to 60 hours a week and calls it a demanding job in a popular local industry. The official shift runs from about 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., but Dan usually stays later to tie up loose ends, so a typical day is closer to 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Dan wakes up at 4:30 to get as much sleep as possible. Dan calls themself naturally "a 7:00 a.m. guy," but the job requires it. Dan also sees a benefit: you rise with the sun and wind down with the sunset. Dan admits the switch to early mornings was hard but says it has been worth it.
Dan estimates that a branch manager earns between $80,000 and $120,000. When Hina met them, Dan was out on a run on a day off and planned to golf later. Dan has no plans to leave Hawaii and says that the longer you stay, the harder it is to leave.
Steven Alvarez: A Saw Blade Sharpener from Southern California
Steven Alvarez is visiting from Duarte, California. Steven says "Los Angeles" because it is the easiest reference point. Hina mentions visiting LA twice the year before, staying downtown, seeing Santa Monica, and going to see Ohtani. Steven is in Hawaii partly on vacation and partly to visit a friend who moved from LA about six months ago.
Steven has worked in manufacturing for about 15 years and is currently a sharpener at a facility that makes saw blades. Steven explains that the company sharpens and manufactures engineering tools, including diamond and carbide tools for industry. That involves a lot of engineering on the back end and a lot of servicing for local customers, such as people remodeling houses or making cabinets and furniture. The most rewarding part, Steven says, is knowing that people around the world are building houses and manufacturing things with those blades, and "you're kind of in it."
Steven works a standard 40-hour week, Monday through Friday, usually from 4:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The early start is mostly about traffic. Getting in before traffic builds and home before it starts again saves a lot of time. Steven points out that if you only have about four hours of free time, traffic could take 45 minutes to an hour of it. Depending on the time of day, a commute can take twice or three times as long.
Asked about sleep, Steven says they try to get at least six hours, ideally six to eight. Steven is 42 and offers some advice: when they were younger, five hours of sleep was enough to stay clear-headed all day, but now they need more. Steven says younger people think only about today, while they now think about tomorrow too. If it's only Monday, they want to save energy for the rest of the week.
When Hina asks what people do in traffic, Steven jokes that they heard "what do you do when you're old?" and says that would have been a good question too. Then Steven answers seriously. With streaming, you can search for anything you want, but after a few years of that you start to wonder what you even want to search for, because there are too many options. Steven usually goes back to favorite music, full albums, or podcasts, and says the commute is also a chance to learn about anything you're interested in.
Steven estimates their position pays about $45,000 to $65,000 a year and expects management roles to pay more. At the end, Steven asks where to find the video, and Hina points them to the YouTube channel.
Faith: A College Student with a Boating Dream
Faith is from Washington and goes to college in Hawaii. Faith had just come back from spring break and says college life there is "interesting," since they spend most weekends at the beach. Faith studies travel industry management, which covers tourism and hospitality.
Faith works at Billabong, a retail surf shop. Their favorite part is the customers, especially helping someone who comes in looking for something. The least favorite part is standing. Faith works six-hour shifts a few days a week and earns $16 an hour. Faith calls that "pretty low, honestly," especially given how expensive it is to live in Hawaii, but says, "I make it."
Faith's dream is to run a boating company that takes people snorkeling and diving, either in Hawaii or Florida. The inspiration is Faith's dad. Faith grew up on boats, went fishing with their dad, and the two earned scuba diving certifications together.
Because Hina teaches English, they ask Faith about learning a second language. Faith is taking a Spanish class and laughs that they had just been on the phone with their mom about how badly it's going. Faith wishes they had started learning a language younger. Faith finds the local classes fun and says they get the point across, but thinks they could be better, and says the schooling in Washington was better. Faith also believes learning Spanish out in the world is much easier than sitting in a classroom.
Steve: A Chiropractor Who Says "Working Is Working"
Steve moved from Northern California four months earlier for family and work. Steve has been a chiropractor since 2013. The favorite part of the job is getting people better and healthier. Most patients come in because of pain, but Steve's practice promotes wellness care and encourages people to come in to prevent problems.
When Hina asks whether working in Hawaii is better than working in California, Steve replies, "working is working." Steve adds that humans are the same everywhere, "deep down inside we're all the same." Steve puts chiropractor pay at roughly $60,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on position and location.
Steve works 40 hours a week in four 12-hour days, with a two-hour nap break built in, which Steve says is needed to recover. On the day of the interview, Steve was getting lunch and going to church later.
Cat: An Environmental Services Worker from Texas
The last interviewee, Cat, is from Texas and is in Hawaii for two or three months for work. Cat calls it incredible. Cat works in environmental services, helping with the water systems in the area. The best part of the job is helping the environment and seeing things improve. The worst part is Cat's own impatience: they want to see progress, "but things take time."
Cat works at least 40 hours a week, sometimes close to 60, Monday through Friday. In California, their shifts started at 4:00 a.m. and ran into the afternoon. In Hawaii, the schedule varies because the work depends on the elements, such as whether daylight is needed or whether it's raining.
Cat is the only interviewee who doesn't give a salary figure. Cat hasn't asked supervisors what they earn, but has heard they make "pretty good" money and live "pretty comfortable." Asked whether they would live in Hawaii given the choice, Cat says yes and has been thinking about it a lot.
What the Six Answers Show Side by Side
The video doesn't draw conclusions, but the answers reveal some patterns. Reported pay ranges from Faith's $16 an hour at a retail job to the $80,000–$120,000 Dan estimates for rental car branch managers, with HR, manufacturing, and chiropractic in between. Three of the six regularly start work around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.: Dan, Steven, and Cat. Their reasons differ, including rental car operations, avoiding traffic, and working around daylight and weather. When asked about the best part of their job, almost everyone mentioned people or helping, from employees and customers to patients and the environment. The least favorite parts were more practical, such as mediating conflicts, the workload itself, standing all day, and waiting for results.
The video ends with Hina thanking viewers for watching to the end.
6'3". Yes. What do you do when you're old? He's running off.
What's up, my homies? It's Hina here.
So, let's get started with the interview. Yeah, thank you for joining the interview. I'm Hina. Nice to meet you. Don. Don, nice to meet you. To meet you as well. Do you live in Hawaii? I do, yes. I'm born and raised here. Wow, really? Yes.
Wake up. I think it's my first time meeting someone that's born and raised here. What is it like being born and living here?
It's great. You know, this is basically all you know growing up. There's lots of outdoor activities like this beautiful day. It's fun, healthy. Mhm. It's a melting pot of cultures and personalities here, so it's lovely.
So, you've been here for your whole life? Yes, I've traveled quite a bit around the world, but I've never lived anywhere else. Mhm. You think Hawaii is the best, though? Definitely. Yeah? Yes. Yeah, I bet. I'm so jealous.
And I'm asking people about what they do for work. So, can I ask what you do for work? Yes, I'm a human resources director. So, I work for a small nonprofit and we deal with substance abuse and recovery.
Does Hawaii have like a problem with substance abuse or I think Like you said. Yes, definitely yes. I think all around the world, I'm not sure if it's just the times, the struggles that people are going through, but a lot of people are dealing with different addictions.
Maybe cuz I'm in Waikiki, I didn't think that a lot of people are struggling with it. Well, you would be surprised. Maybe you haven't turned down the right alleys. There are a lot of people here on the islands that are dealing with addictions. You know, growing up here, being young, you didn't see it as much, you know, in the early '90s. Maybe later in the 2000s, you started see a lot more. Not only addiction, but also mental health struggles. Yeah.
So, what would you say is the most favorite part of your job? The most favorite part of my job is definitely helping people. When they come to me with a need, whether it's a benefits issue or a career advice, you know, just helping out employees. That's definitely a positive. That is great.
So, what would you say is the least favorite? The least favorite is definitely dealing with employee relations issues when people don't get along and they're complaining about one another and then you have to kind of mediate that process to get everybody to be on the same page and move forward, you know, together.
You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I want to know what would how much would a person make like on an average in the human resource field? For Hawaii, it could depend and a lot of the factors depend on the size of the company. So, I work for a small nonprofit. You know, and it could range anywhere from $60,000 to $90,000. Okay, okay.
So, what are you doing today? In my younger day, played beach volleyball for fun, competitively but with friends. I'm waiting for my friends to show up so we can play some volleyball. How tall are you? I'm 6'3". 6'3"? Yes. Yes. Can you get up? Sure. Wait, that's very tall. I'm 5'2". Wow, 6'8". I bet you're so good. You can spike. I'm pretty decent. Yeah, that's definitely a quality.
Thank you so much for your time today. It was lovely talking to you. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, have a good day. You too. Thank you.
So, I'm here. Thanks. Yeah. So, my name is Hina. I'm Dan. Dan, nice to meet you. Thank you for doing this interview. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Do you live here? I've been here about 2 years now. I moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Oh, from Pittsburgh. Okay. Yeah. How do you like living here? It's amazing. It's beautiful. Weather's awesome. Culture's awesome. It's beautiful.
I'm out here asking people what they do for their jobs. Yeah. Yeah, so can I ask what you do? Yeah, I'm actually I'm a branch manager for a rental car company. So, you get a lot of tourists? Absolutely. Very busy, very touristy, a lot of cars, absolutely. Everyone goes around the island, North Shore, back, all the attractions. So, I'm from Japan. I bet you get a lot of Japanese tourists. Absolutely, yes. Yes, definitely, yes.
So, what would you say is the most favorite part of your job? Oh, the best part is just all the people you meet. You know, you get to meet a lot of tourists, people from all over the world, get to pick their brain, ask them questions. I've met a lot of people, you know, exchange information, so I met some friends along the way, so even in Hawaii, you know, I'm meeting people all over the world, so it's been amazing. That's great. Yeah.
What would you say is the least favorite part of your job? The least favorite part is just work itself, you know, you're there all day long. You much rather be on the beach laying out in the sun, surfing, doing whatever. So, just being there all day is the worst part.
So, how many hours do you work? Probably anywhere about 50 to 60 hours. A lot of hours, yeah. Oh, that's pretty busy. Yes, very busy, long hours. You know, rental car industry is very popular here, so a very demanding job, yeah.
What is your like work routine like? Like what time you start work? Yeah, so very early, about 5:00 a.m. we start. We get off pretty early, around 2:00. I'm usually there a little bit later tying up ends and stuff, so I'd say about 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. usually we're there. 5:00 a.m.? Yes, bright and early.
So, what time do you wake up? 4:30. I get as much sleep as I can, and I get there right on time. That's it. Yes, tough to wake up early. That's super early. I'm like a 7:00 a.m. guy, but the job requires it, so that's what we do. 7:00 a.m. is still pretty early. Absolutely. Here's the why though you want to get up early. You want to get up with the sun and go down with the sunset. Right, right. Yeah, it's a tough transition waking up early, but yeah, it's worth it.
You don't have to answer this if you want to, but I'm asking the average salary that a branch manager would get. You're probably looking anywhere between 80 to 120 grand. Oh, that's pretty good. It's pretty good. Yeah, yeah.
So, what are you up to today? I am just on a run, and then I'm getting ready to go golfing here in a little bit. So, I'm off today enjoying the island. Yeah, absolutely. Wow, you're really enjoying yourself. Absolutely, yes. Do you plan on living here? As long as I can. Yeah, no plans to move. I mean, you know, it's such a beautiful place. Once you get settled here, it's really hard to leave, you know, so the more time you spend here, harder it is to leave.
Well, thank you so much for your time today. It was so fun talking to you. Thank you. Thank you guys. Good luck with everything. Thank you. He's running off.
Hi, thank you for joining the interview. My name is Hina. Hello, how you doing? Good. What's your name? Steven Alvarez. Steven, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. So, you're visiting here? Absolutely. From where? Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the easiest place when you talk about California cuz it's like one of the biggest cities, but I'm from Duarte, California.
I went to LA twice last year, so yeah, yeah. So, I didn't really know about the good areas, so I just stayed in downtown. But I visited in Santa Monica, you know, all the main places. I loved it. Yeah, cool. Yeah, I went to go see Ohtani. Oh, cool. I'm glad you had a good time. That's a good person to see.
Yeah, so you're here for a vacation? Slightly, yeah. I'm here to visit a friend who out here from LA. He moved about 6 months ago. So, it's like a mini friend visit my friends, but also vacation as well, yeah.
So, right now I'm asking people about what they do for work. Yeah, so can I ask what you do? Yeah, I work in a manufacturing. We manufacturing saw blades. So, I work as a sharpener inside the facility. Ooh, for saw blades, did you say? Yeah, saw blades. We basically sharpen and manufacture all kinds of tool engineering tools, diamond carbide tools for industry. So, a lot of engineering on the back end and then a lot of servicing for your local anybody who's remodeling like a house, we're pretty much servicing their blades so that they can manufacture our cabinets and furniture. Cool. Wow, so how long have you been doing that? In the industry probably I would say like 15 years. Really long. Yeah.
What would you say is the most favorite part of your job? I mean it varies. I mean the fact that you're basically providing blades for things that are moving on like people are literally building houses and manufacturing around the world and you're kind of in it. You're like you're a part of that.
So, how many hours do you work? Well, it's a standard 40 hours a week job Monday through Friday. Yeah, yeah. Mhm. Can I ask what your work schedule is like? Commonly it's from 4:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 4:00 a.m.? Yeah. That's better for us to get in there early and get it get out, right? Especially when you have logistics of like traffic. So, you want to kind of get in there before the traffic goes and you want to get home before the traffic starts. If you only have a maybe 4 hours of free time, that might take away 45 minutes to an hour of that. So, Yeah. Yeah, how many traffic is so bad? Time of day it could change your travel time. Yeah. Like twice or triple, yeah.
So, what time do you sleep? You know, I wish I could went to bed earlier, but I right now I'm trying to get at least 6 hours sleep. Yeah, yeah. So, 6 to 8. When I was younger, I'm 42. Just to let you know, when you get in the future, you do have to sleep more. Like when I was younger, I could run on 5 hours sleep and have clarity throughout the whole day, but now as I'm a little older, I need to I kind of think tomorrow more to as today. When I was like younger, I just thought about today. Like let me just do today, tomorrow will be fine. But when you get older, you kind of like, it's barely Monday, maybe I need to preserve, you know, cuz you still got a longer week ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, what do you guys do when there's traffic? You know, I thought for a second I thought you were going to say, what do you do when you get old? I thought you were going to say that. Like, what do you do when you're old? That'd be cool. Well, of course when now that we stream, you know, like you can search anything you ever want, right? So like after you search anything you ever want for like a couple years, you kind of start to wonder like, what do I even want to search? Like I just have too much options, right? Yeah. But commonly you can go back to like listening to your favorite music and things like that. Listen to a whole album, listen to a podcast. If you have like an interest about anything, you can learn whatever you want as you drive, so yeah.
You don't have to answer this, but I'm asking like the how much would a manufacturer make in LA on like average? In my position, you probably make up to like maybe 45,000 a year up to 65,000 a year just like in that particular position. Like if you move up into any type of management, I'm pretty sure there's going to be an increase on that, too, so.
Thank you so much. It was so fun chatting with you. Meeting you as well. Yeah. You get to fulfill all the quotas or whatever you're trying to do today. So I hope you get everything you need today. Thank you. Yeah. You're going to be a such a good part of the video. Enjoy the rest of your day. Yeah. Yeah, see you. Bye-bye. Thank you. Is there anywhere I can go find it? Oh yeah, you can look it up on YouTube. Okay. Can I look up you first and then I'll just find you later? Sure, sure. Yeah, that's me right there. So I can like just go ahead and subscribe. Thank you so much. Cool. Well, have a good day. Thank you, you too. Thank you so much.
Okay. Okay. Thank you for joining. I'm Hina. Hi, I'm Faith. Nice to meet you. Faith? Yes. Aw, I love that name. Are you from here? I'm from Washington, but I live here and go to college here. You go to college here? Nice. How's college life here? It's interesting. I'm at the beach pretty much all the time on the weekends. Are you on spring break? No, I just got off spring break. Oh, I see.
What are you studying right now? I'm studying travel industry management, which is tourism and hospitality. Oh, okay. So, maybe you're thinking of getting a job in Hawaii after your graduation. Nice. Can I ask what your job is right now? My job right now, I work at Billabong, which is a retail surf shop. Okay, okay. Yeah.
What would you say is the most favorite part of your job? My favorite part has got to be the people. Like, I love the people. I love when they come in and they're like asking for something and need help with something and I'm like, "Oh, yeah, let me direct you. Let me help you out." What would you say is the least favorite part? Least favorite part is standing. All right.
How many hours do you work? I work only 6 hours like every every day, though. So, you work a couple days a week. Yeah, yeah. And you don't have to answer this if you want to, but I'm asking like the average salary. I get paid 16 an hour, which is pretty low, honestly. Is it low for here? It's low for here because, you know, to live is kind of That's true. That's true. But I make it.
You have a dream job as well. Yeah, can I ask what that is? Yeah. So, my dream job is to have a boating company and take people out on snorkel and diving. Wow, that's so amazing. Yeah. Uh-huh, either in Hawaii or Florida. Oh, in Florida. Nice. What made you want to pursue that dream? Ever since I was a kid, I was on a boat. My dad like grew up fishing with me. We got our scuba diving certifications together and so my dad's a big inspiration for me.
Right now, I run a channel. I teach English. Do you have experience learning a second language? Yes, actually right now I'm taking a Spanish class and I was just on the phone with my mom about how it's not going well. Yeah, it's hard, isn't it? Yeah, it is. I wish I learned a language when I was younger. How are the classes like here, like the second language classes? What are they like? They're fun. They get their point across, but I feel like they could do better. And I'm from Washington, and the schooling was a lot better there. Oh, yeah. But also being out there in the world and learning Spanish is like way easier than just sitting in a classroom. Oh, yeah.
Thank you so much for your time. I hope you enjoy your day. Nice meeting you. It was lovely talking to you. Such good vibes. So good.
Thank you for joining the interview. I'm Hina. What's your name? I'm Steve. Nice to meet you guys. Oh, nice to meet you. So, do you live here? Yeah, I just moved here 4 months ago. You moved here 4 months ago? From northern California. What made you want to move out here? Family and work. Great.
So, right now I'm interviewing people about their jobs. Yeah. Yeah, so can I ask what you do? Yeah, I'm a chiropractor. Oh, chiropractor. Nice. How long have you been doing this? Since 2013.
What would you say is your most favorite part of the job? Getting people better. Getting people healthier, yeah. What do people come to you for? Usually they come for pain, but we encourage them to come to prevent that from happening. Right. We promote wellness care.
How do you like it better, working here or working in California? I think working is working, huh? That's very true. Yeah, humans are same everywhere. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, deep down inside we're all the same. That's very true. Good point.
And you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I'm asking like how much would a chiropractor make on an average? Generally, I would say from
somewhere to 60 to 100 plus. Yeah. So, it really depends on your position and where you're at, right? Mhm. Yeah. Okay, great.
So, what are you up to today? Yeah, getting lunch. Yeah? Yeah, going to church later. Oh, nice. Okay, so that's how you spend your weekends living here.
How many hours do you work usually? 40, 40, 40 a week. My days are 4 days at 12, 12 hours, but I get a 2-hour nap. A 2-hour nap? That's good. Yeah, we need that nap to recover. it again, yeah.
Thank you so much for your time today. I hope you have a great day. Yeah, nice meeting you. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Well, thank you for joining. I'm Hina. Hi, Cat. Cat? Yeah. Oh, nice to meet you. Are you from here? No, I'm not. I'm just here for work. Where are you from? I'm from Texas. Oh, Texas, nice. How long are you going to be here for? For 2 months, 2 or 3 months.
How do you like living here even though it's like so... Yeah, yeah, it's incredible. Yeah.
So, today's your day off? It is, yeah. Right now, I'm asking here what people do for their jobs. Can I ask what you do? Okay, so I work in environmental services. So, yeah, we just here to help out. Environmental services, so what like exactly do you do? You know, we just help with the water systems and things like that out here.
Okay, okay. What would you say is the most favorite part of your job? Getting to help the environment, seeing things become better. What's your least favorite part of your job? Sometimes I get impatient, want to see progress, but things take time, you know.
Can I ask how many hours you work per week? So, it varies. We at least do the minimum 40, but sometimes we hit close like 60. Oh, so quite a... Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
What is your working schedule like? Just Monday through Friday. In California, we start at 4:00 in the morning, and then we go into the afternoon. So, it fluctuates. 4:00 in the morning? Yes. And then some days it's here, cuz you know you're working with the elements, so you adjust to how the... if you need daylight, if you need... if it's raining, and...
You don't have to answer this, but what... how much would a person make like on average in the field you're in? I haven't asked anyone like higher up boss-wise their salaries, but I've heard they make pretty good and pretty comfortable. Yeah, okay.
If you had the choice, would you live in Hawaii? Yes, I would. I've been thinking about it a lot. Well, yeah. Thank you so much for your time. Have a good day. Yeah, enjoy your afternoon. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Hi, thank you guys for watching till the end. You are the best. Bye-bye.
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