Founder

Family History-

Matthew Manner, born in 1977 and raised in Makawao, a small town upcountry on Maui, HI. His father is a Japanese American born on Oahu, HI in 1942. David Yasumori later to be Manner, his father was conceived the same week as the attack on Pearl Harbor and later served in the US Navy during Vietnam. His mother Brenda (six brothers and a sister) is a former barrel racer at the Makawao rodeo. Her parents met in Maui during WWII before Ray Lindsey- of Scottish descent from Tennessee and a US Army private- was deployed to Okinawa, Japan. Her mother Josephine Frietas is of Portuguese descent. Her family came to Makawao, Maui in the 1800’s from the Azores islands in Portugal. Matt’s last name Manner comes from his Hawaiian/Chinese Step grandfather who’s original last name was Kekai. Matt’s own stepfather is Hawaiian and helped raise him since he was 9 years old

Military career-

Enlisted in the Marines in January 1997 after a year of college in Maui. Served in Okinawa Japan with the 31st MEU for one year with HMM-262. Was then selected for Embassy duty and served at the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Rome, Italy. Met President George Bush Sr and Bush Jr. Honorably discharged January 2002 as a US Marine sergeant.

Work career

After his time spent as a Marine, Matthew married and moved to British Columbia, Canada. He started working as a military tech advisor and worked such films as last episode of Dark Angel, X-Men 2 and 3, Battlestar Galactica, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Matthew spent the next few years in Los Angeles, CA, working as a real estate agent and broker, and shortly thereafter, a broker to a successful team. Matthew has over 15 years of experience in all areas of real estate and property renovations, spanning across Los Angeles. With over 300 transactions and over 200 new-builds/remodels completed.

Never one to forget his roots, Matt remembers his youthful days slinging mai tais for tourists on a 65’ catamaran that his father captained at 13 years old…. and the summer stint carving pineapples at a pineapple cannery. These experiences imparted invaluable lessons of grit and humility, shaping him into the devoted father of three he is today.

If Matt could give advice to future leaders, he would want to share that “before anything else, one must learn integrity, responsibility, and most importantly, generosity.”