Q. You majored in fashion merchandising and design. How did you wind up in real-estate development?

A. It was just fortunate circumstances. I entered into a major with delusions of having some talent and merchandising being maybe somewhat of a glamourous career. But prior to graduating, someone in the (real-estate) industry had given a talk at the university, and it was pretty enlightening. That was the first step toward considering other options. From there, I had a series of jobs, which while on the surface might not be related to real estate development, still played a part in my education and work experience. That led me to Castle & Cooke. Once at Castle & Cooke, I was very fortunate to have been hired by our former president, Wally Miyahara, and he essentially gave me an entree into the company, and later, opportunities to work in other areas. That started off with my first opportunity working on the very tail end of a project where I converted a sales office back to a garage, to working on the design and construction of the Legacy, which was a higher-end development in Mililani Mauka. And finally, to working at the very beginning stages of the development process, which is the planning and entitlement, which is what I'm working on now.

Q. In the early days of development in Central O'ahu, there was a lot of opposition because agricultural land was being converted to housing. Is there still opposition?

A. There isn't opposition per se to Mililani because, that's already being built out. Where the opposition lies and actually has been increasing is in future development. We're faced with that challenge with our future development, which is at Koa Ridge. Other developers island- wide face similar challenges with opposition. There is somewhat of a concern of loss of ag land and preservation of open space, but there is a greater emphasis on solving transportation concerns and infrastructure concerns.

Q. What is the status of Koa Ridge?

A. We are planning to move forward with it, as far as going back to the Land Use Commission with our EIS and going back for state land-use approval. We started working with the community early on, and we continue to get input from them toward creating our community. We held a workshop in May to talk about the concepts of sustainability, and that's an ongoing process, and we're looking forward to the day we're actually breaking ground out there. Right now, we're looking at the first homes being delivered sometime in 2011. In four years, we actually do have a lot of work ahead of us as far as the entitlement and planning.

Q. Is Mililani Mauka completed?

A. Mauka is almost built out. As of next year, we would be pretty much sold out of our residential units.

Q. Do sales of Castle & Cooke homes follow housing trends?

A. In general, we are susceptible to the market changes, but there's a definite market and loyalty toward Mililani. The multitude of our buyers are Hawai'i residents, and at least half of the buyers are from the Central O'ahu area, so they are either move-up buyers or they've grown up in the area and are leaving their parents' home and want to live in Central O'ahu. We do have a pretty strong market, but it does ebb and flow with the overall economy and market situation.

Q. When the market slows, what do you do to adjust?

A. You try and really work toward seeing where the market is going as far as what the demands are. There was a time when the market had gone down, but really what the market was looking for was a bigger house at less cost. So there was a lot of emphasis toward developing homes that met that need. That would be a way to try and attract what market is out there to your development.

Q. Is real-estate development still a man's world, or have things changed?

A. I know challenges exist, but from my experience, I've had a really positive experience. I've always been treated fairly and equally. I would say that I've certainly had equal opportunities at advancement. I've not really experienced any difficulties with that.

Q. Have you set any goals?

A. Definitely being successful at my job. I really love my job, and what I really would like to do is continue to do a better job at it.

Q. You have twin sons. Do you have problems making time for your family?

A. In the overall picture, I'm really blessed, because I have a very loving family. They give me a lot of support. Castle & Cooke allows me the flexibility to tend to the needs of my sons. But at the same time, they entrust me with the responsibilities that have been given to me.

Q. Do you have time to work in the community?

A. Castle & Cooke is very community-minded, and they're very active in community service. Because of my schedule, they actually make it easy for me to be involved in community and volunteer work. Every month, they bring to the employees opportunities to participate in activities. In April, I was able to participate in the Habitat for the Humanities Adopt a Day, and we worked on constructing a home for a homeless family in Nanakuli. It was especially nice, because I was able to meet the family and their extended family. There are also activities like participating in the Lokahi project, so every month there's either a project that we can participate in or some avenue for us to make a donation to a particular cause, so it's actually very nice for me. It's very important and part of the corporate culture, and for the individuals here, it's very gratifying to be involved in that.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.