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100% Latino -owned & -operated
| History In 1794, Francisco Marin -- a Spaniard -- became the first Hispanic resident of Hawaii. Francisco Marin planted the first pineapple in the kingdom of Hawaii on January 2, 1813. |
HONOLULU, Hawaii – Say “Tori Richard” in Honolulu and many people will think of the company that has been designing and manufacturing quality resort wear since 1956. But say “Eida Carrillo” in our local Hispanic community and many people will say “Tori Richard” because Carrillo is their Director of Design and Merchandising for the Men's Division.
two years old, the family moved to San Francisco, California. She grew up in the South Bay and went to high school in San Jose. After high school, she attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and graduated with a degree in Apparel Design. (FIDM is now the west coast home of the Project Runway series on the Lifetime Network). In the interim, her family moved to Seattle, so she considers Seattle home and launched her fashion industry career there. In 1993, after a couple of years in the industry, she was fortunate enough to land a position in the Tommy Bahamas private label division.
Oxford did pretty much what I did, which is called private label. They produce products and other companies put their names on them. So they really didn’t need my department and I got laid off in October of 2004.” She continued: “But the timing was perfect because I needed a change in my life. I wanted to regroup and see what I wanted to do, so I took their severance package and took eight months off. When I started looking for work, a friend mine told me about Tori Richard, a company is Hawaii that she did business with. She recommended them highly to me and highly recommended me to the president of the company. I came out for an interview in April of ’05, accepted the position and started on May 1st.” The fact that Tori Richard hired her from the mainland speaks volumes about how their management team perceived the value of her experience and talent. She said: “They actually created a position for me that hadn’t existed before.” How did she handle the transition from Seattle to Honolulu? Carrillo said: “It was difficult at first. I was working very long hours and had a lot of work to do. My son had moved with me, but it was just the two of us and we didn’t know anybody. The most difficult part was that I didn’t have any family and didn’t have any friends. And the culture here was different than what I was used to in Seattle. But once I got some family here, I was good-to-go.” How did she handle the transition from the large-scale Tommy Bahama format to the smaller island-style Tori Richard business model? She said: “It was the same type of work, but Tori Richard didn’t have the structure I was used to. So I spent a lot of time implementing procedures, getting acclimated to the business culture here, finding out who we work with and how things are done. There was definitely a learning curve.” She went on: ”I felt everything I had ever learned in the industry was required in this job. It also challenged me to grow and I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to have to step up. That what attracted me to the position.” Most friends would probably describe her as having a great smile, which is usually present, and a warm personality. She’s had a substantial career in a very specialized industry. To what does she attribute that success? She said: “People usually warm up to me. I attribute that to being a Latina. We were taught to greet others -- aunts, uncle, cousins, friends, neighbors, etc. -- warmly. And I have found that same kind of warmth here. I love going a friend’s home and having her little daughter say: ‘Auntie would you like some tea?’ I love that.” Is Hawaii home now for this fashion industry expert? She said: “I feel very much at home here now and want to live here for a long time. If I were to move, it would be to a more rustic island like Tahiti. But my ultimate dream is to live half the year in New York City and half here. I love the energy, diversity of languages, fashions, arts and cultural resources, etc., that New York offers. But if I lived there full-time, I would miss Hawaii’s sunshine, beaches, ocean, mountains, and incredible beauty. But six month stints in each would be heaven.” |
Median Income
$67,000
Own home: 45%
Own 1 or more
vehicles: 92%
Commute to work:
82%
$67,000
Own home: 45%
Own 1 or more
vehicles: 92%
Commute to work:
82%
| Hawaii Hispanic Community Statistics: |
| Latina fashionista helps guide Tori Richard styles |
| 1994-2012 (c) copyright all rights reserved |
