<Begin Segment 39>

RW: Thinking about your transition from the Columbia Greenhouse to your own business. When did you and your brother Shig start entertaining the idea that you might want to do something on your own?

KO: Well, I think that when we started feeling that if we had our own place, we would do things differently, [Laughs] and I think that's certainly something that happens to people working in any area or industry. That's when we were, started thinking that maybe, maybe we oughta try it our way, and see if it works. And one thing led to another, and here we are today.

RW: Did you start saving for a business, or did you put the word out, or -- ?

KO: We put the word out, but saving was pretty tough on what we were making. So, it was just dumb luck and blind faith, that we got started. We had a lot of luck, or we wouldn't have made it. In the ten years that we'd been in the business, we had built up a fair amount of good will. So there were people willing to help us, not monetarily, but with advice, and plants, and things like that. So, that helped us to get started. But looking back at it now, it was a miracle that we survived even a few months.

RW: I have a question about maybe some of your father's blood trickling down into you and your brother, in that he really tried to go for his own business. And so did the two of you.

KO: Right. Yeah, I think there was a little of that in us. Maybe trying to be a little different, and seeing if we could do it on our own. In fact, I think that we were one of the few greenhouse businesses in the area that started, that the business was started from scratch and was not taken over, that wasn't being taken over by, from your parents or something like that. Which at the time, we didn't worry about, but when you think about it, it was quite a step. Lucky that we made it I think. If we did make it.

RW: You're here today. [Laughs]

KO: Yes.

RW: Still goin' strong.

<End Segment 39> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.