Haelee Tallett ‘18 started making jewelry in high school.
It was something she and her mother could do together for fun and creative inspiration.
Roughly a decade later, the small business owner still can’t believe she was able to turn a hobby she loves into a flourishing career. And she credits Chaminade and its Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program with giving her the mentorship and networking opportunities that set her on a pathway to success.
Tallett owns Ocean Creations, a thriving jewelry business in the islands with locations at both Ala Moana Center and Ka Makana Ali’i and brisk online sales. Her own mentors are floored by how quickly her business has grown—from a pop-up and online store to brick-and-mortar locations and plans for more growth.
And Tallett said she doesn’t think she would be where she is without the help she received at Chaminade.
She chose the university because she didn’t want to get lost in the crowd and was looking for an educational experience that would allow her to build relationships with professors. That’s exactly what she found at Chaminade, she said.
“What stood out most at Chaminade was the community that I gained there,” she said.
“From the teachers to staff, they really would give the shirt off their backs for you. They know you by name.”
Tallett, whose grandfather and aunt are also Silversword graduates, said she jumped at the chance to participate in the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Chaminade, a certificate program that gives students access to lectures, international study trips, and hands-on learning experiences.
“The Hogan program helped me in a lot of ways,” Tallett said.
“One being it taught me how to be professional—really act as a professional or as a business owner from the beginning. And that helped me a lot when making leasing deals (with shopping malls). I knew how to handle myself from the start.”
Tallett added that the Hogan program also gave her the chance to meet and network with top business executives and entrepreneurs—“so many influential people right here in Hawai’i who have really helped me in my business career.” She’s also stayed in contact with several of her fellow Hogan graduates.
Tallett’s business specializes in customized jewelry, with every piece unique.
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She said relationship building with customers was something she learned a lot about in the Hogan Entrepreneurial program. She realized early on that she needed to build a community before she built a business so she worked hard to create a fun, personable and interesting social media presence.
Community building was also front and center when she opened her brick-and-mortar shops, she said.
Tallett said she wanted to curate spaces that served as an oasis from people’s busy lives.
“We love to create an environment that’s really homey and safe. And we kind of use different forms of aesthetics or furniture to create that look,” she said. “And then, we want you to just be able to express yourself and create pieces that you love and are special to you. So we try our best to give pieces on the floor that inspire that.”
As she celebrates her success, Tallett is also looking to the future.
She’s interested in continuing to expand Ocean Creations, including by offering other accessories and considering entries into bigger markets.
At the same time, she is giving back, including as a mentor herself to the next generation of Hogan entrepreneurs. Tallett has returned to Chaminade several times to speak to students about her own journey—and inspire them to pursue their own dreams.
Her advice to students: Stay focused and “remember your strong why.”
“There’s going to be moments all the time, at every stage of this, where you are going to want to give up and you really need to one have a strong why and to have a community of people around you who have experienced that before and can walk you through that, or can talk about it with you, or have empathy with you,” she said.
