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It’s a waterful life
Youngest of the Rochlens can’t
turn his back on the ocean that
inspired the family biz
Growing up, Pua Rochlen might have seemed the least likely to take over the Surf Line Hawaii-Jams World empire started by his father, Dave Rochlen.
First of all, he was the youngest of five children, in birth order: Nani and Kootchie Kekai and Mark and Nohea Rochlen. Second, Kootchie said, "The other four of us would be tagging things or doing something. He'd be the one who would be in the back taking a nap."
OK, so maybe he didn't work as hard as his older siblings when he was growing up. He'd be the first to admit taking the words of surfer Flippy Hoffman to heart.
"He said, 'No one should take life seriously until after they're 35.' That was me growing up. If the surf was up, I was gone. My dad started saying, when I was in my late 20s, 'Aren't you tired of that yet?' I said, 'I don't think so.'"
But Dave might have seen in Pua, now president of the family company, something of himself -- a quick and curious mind, an independent streak and entrepreneurial spirit.
Kootchie, who's a customer service representative at the family company, which also employs Haunani as a receptionist and "all-around helper," saw it, too.
"Pua had a lot of money we didn't know about," she said. "There would be damaged shorts at the factory, and he'd fix them, then go out sell them around the neighborhood, with his friends pushing the wagon."
"When I was in my 20s," Pua said, "I'd spend 20 percent of my time working and 80 percent playing. Now it's 90 percent working, but if it's a hot, beautiful day, I'm out in the water."
Pua Rochlen spent much of his youth having fun and learned his father Dave Rochlen's Surf Line Hawaii-Jams World business via osmosis. He's making sure his children, including son David Yale Rochlen III, know when to work and when to play. Father and son are wearing the company's "The People" design, paying tribute to world people who dare to be different.
"Even when I'm not in the office, I'm reflecting on 99 things going on. It's positive to get away and take a deep breath, and ideas come to you in a way that may not if you're trapped in the office, the phones are going off and five people need you."
Despite the chidings he got while growing up, Pua learned his love of the water from his dad. Dave Rochlen grew up surfing in California and started his career as an English teacher whose love of words never faded.
"He was always a philosopher," said Kootchie. "He wrote all these little quotes on our hang tags because he had a lot to say, and it was all good."
That tradition continues today with aloha shirts and dresses that might include the words, "To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
His defining motto was "Color, freedom, difference and love."
Rochlen found his way to Hawaii when beach and surf culture first hit the mainstream, through "Gidget" and the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach-musical extravaganzas.
Around then, people weren't all that savvy regarding what to wear on the beach, and when he spotted some Russian tourists out on the sand in their pajamas, inspiration struck and Jams was born.
"My mom (Keanuenue) sewed up the first pair of Jams," said Pua. Keanuenue, referred to by her kids as the "silent CEO," continues to visit the office a couple of times a week in support of her children.
"He really started because there were no comfortable shorts, and he wanted to create something comfortable people could wear," Kootchie said.
But Rochlen didn't stop at comfort. Jams became known for wild mixes of color and print that would seem to be more appropriate in a circus tent, and veering away from the typical Hawaiian floral into Middle Eastern, Mexican and Indonesian motifs.
In 1965, Jams made news as the subject of a feature pictorial in Life magazine. About the same time, the Rochlen clan hit the beach for a family portrait, while modeling their company's apparel.
"He didn't care if people liked his styles, prints or colors. He liked it, so he did it. Sometimes we'd look at him and go, 'Oh no.' The styles he did didn't always take off, but a few years after we'd move on to something different, someone else would pick up on our old design and it would be a hit."
In 1964 Dave Rochlen opened his surf shop, Surf Line, on Piikoi Street, and Kootchie and Pua remember posing for a family portrait on Sandy Beach while modeling the company's apparel. Both remain fond of the portrait that reflects both a sense of family and the company, which might be considered another sibling because the business was always there, in the backdrop. Rochlen's love of fun and adventure was reflected in his work.
"We grew up around water and the lifestyle of the ocean," Pua said. "(My dad) would drop us off with our mom at Queen's Beach in the morning. He made time for the beach, too. Every afternoon, he'd come out and spend the last couple hours with us at sunset before we'd eat dinner and go off to bed.
"My dad got out of the ocean when he was in his late 30s, early 40s, because by then he'd gotten into motorcycle racing, and that led to a new label called Jams Fast, with all our designs based on things with two wheels that go fast. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time."
In addition to traveling the country for motorcycle and Indy races, Pua accompanied his father to Japan and Europe, where they visited textile factories and studied art in museums.
"My dad and I were very close," Pua said. While his brother Mark pursued culinary interests, and his sister Nohea followed an artistic muse, Pua said, "Whatever (my dad's) lifestyle was, that was all being ingrained in me. It's like the 'Simpsons' cartoon where Bart Simpson spent a summer in France where he couldn't speak a single word of French ... but before he knows it, he's 'parlez-vous Francais,' speaking fluent French.
"That's how I was, learning through osmosis or something. Sometimes I'll see certain scenarios and remember seeing my father in the same situation before."
In the Surf Line Hawaii-Jams World factory, a model shows off Jams World's newest designs, a Lola bias-cut dress with handkerchief hem and matching Red Star print "Sassy Sash," plus a round pillow for dressing up the home.
"Now when I see someone else on my staff try to rush me in a decision, I go, 'Oh no, déjà vu,' except now I'm saying what my dad said to me. I smile, shake my head and think, 'Wow, Dad, you were unreal.' I always wanted to take control, but as I got closer to that date, I thought, 'Oh my god, what was I thinking?'"
Pua became president of the company seven years ago, four years before his father died.
"A friend of his told me recently, 'Pua, you remind me of your father when he was 40; you're doing a hell of a job, and he'd be proud of you.' But I know my dad would still think I'm a little too laid-back.
"He pursued things. He had a passion. He took everything another level up. When the rest of us would say, 'This is it; this is as good as it gets,' he'd kick it up another notch, like Emeril, give it that extra BAM!"
Today, Pua continues striving to live up to his father's philosophies, backed by an ohana spirit that extends to the company's 110 employees.
"It's difficult to be in this market, far from resources and still have everything made in Hawaii. ... Now it's more feasible to have things made in China, Mexico or the Philippines.
"But some of our employees are 80 years old, and I remember seeing them when I was a baby when they were working for my dad, and I want to make sure they continue to have a place to come to work."
And dance. A space was cleared to allow the seamstresses to indulge in their favorite activity any time they need to take a break.
And he has four children -- 2 1/2, 6, 8 and 10 -- who might find their way to the family business one day. They're already modeling for the company's catalogs and learning that working for dad is tough.
"When they behave on set, they get paid, and when they don't I keep the money," Pua said. "If one gets money and another doesn't, I say, 'You weren't paying attention on the shoot, and the director said you shouldn't be paid.' Of course, now they're figuring out that I'm the director."
Kootchie is more accustomed to her brother's work methods and says going into the factory is "a good feeling.
"Everybody comes to work every day. Everyone shares a lot of pride in what they're doing. Like everyone else, we're just trying to do our own thing and stay in business and work hard. We hope to be around a long time."
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