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.

She's offering a 15 percent off Megumi-O promo ending July 8 at 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time! Use promo code: 15StarAd

at http://megumio.com/megumi-o-polarized-uv400-italian-acetate-sunglasses-black.html

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 and blogging are good things. 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.