Future so bright, she had to make shades

Nadine Kam photos
Megumi Hosogai, in her Megumi-O polarized shades and T-shirt, takes a break at The Modern in the middle of her sales tour of Waikiki.

I never did like selling as a little kid going door-to-door trying to peddle candy or whatever for school fund-raisers. Some of my friends were lucky to have parents who bought their whole allotment and did the selling for them to friends and co-workers. But my parents were not like that and I had to do all the hustling, which wasn't easy in Waipahu, where all the families had kids my age who had their own fund-raisers to consider.

So I feel for every fledgling designer who not only designs but has to act as his/her own marketer, manufacturer, accountant and salesman. Of all those tasks, for me, selling for me, would be the worst (though strangely enough I sold residential real estate here for five years). But selling seems the easiest thing in the world for Megumi Hosogai, whose story about creating her Megumi-O Asian-fit eyewear brand appears in the paper today. I interviewed her when she was in town for her 20th Punahou reunion, and watched with awe and amazement as she made the rounds of top-tier hotels to place her shades.

She honed her skills selling commercial real estate in L.A., and as a result says she has no problem with cold calling. She has boundless energy anyway, so even though I was amused that she wore her high school prom dress to her reunion—who does that?—I wasn't surprised that it still fit her!

Then she showed me a photo of her prom dress, and let's just say her Rachel London's Garden dress wasn't very typical of promwear circa 1992! As brash as her form-fitting all-over floral dress was, her classmates didn't remember it when they saw it again!

Just goes to show you, social media is a good thing. Posting photos and happenings will help jog your memory when it starts fading.

I tend to remember a lot, but when I think about the first half of my life, it feels like I'm a third party looking at a different person.

Photos courtesy Megumi Hosogai
Megumi Hosogai at her high school prom below, and 20 years later, at her Punahou reunion in her prom dress.

A drama queen then and always.

With friends in her Punahou reunion photo booth, with and without her Megumi-O shades.

Megumi-Os on singer-songwriter and actress Roselyn Sanchez.

And on "The Hunger Games' " Isabelle Fuhrman.