when kekoa lopez joined the pioneer sales class of 2012 at fivestars, he could tell he found not only a launchpad for his career, but a family too.

having spent most of his adult career in a lucrative position in liquor sales, it wasn’t until he was invited to his 5-year old daughter’s school for “bring your dad to work day” that he was inspired to be more than just the “beer guy”. this was a catalyst for a career change. he searched for and eventually found a company that would embody the ideals and values that would make his daughter proud of him!

closing sales in the first week

immediately following his initial sales training in mountain view, ca, kekoa was flown to seattle, to help open the market and bring on new businesses.  he recalls being dropped off in the downtown area of the city with one objective: knock on 75 doors, and gain 75 business cards. five days and roughly 15 walking miles later, working until late and demonstrating his passion– he closed 5 deals in that first week. that’s when it clicked; the vision of connecting small businesses, to a tool for gaining traction, revenue and a loyal clientele was his new mission. even in 2012, when the company was still quite young and unknown, kekoa saw its potential and in his mind’s eye, recognized it as a much larger organization even in the early stages.

give back to his roots

growing up in hawaii, kekoa came in with strong sense of the culture and was able to use this to his advantage. it’s paying off. the market has grown aggressively. in less than 2 years, kekoa has brought on over 200 active businesses and grown hawaii user count to over 226,000 (impressive with hawaii only having a population of just over 1m!). “hawaii has been one of the most rewarding markets i have opened personally,” lopez said. hawaii culture beams with a “support local” mentality, where mom and pop operations have been around for upwards of 3 generations. it’s been incredibly beneficial for the community, as hawaii is not typically first on the list for new technology/product releases like this. business owners have seen the value, are excited by the retention the product is offering, and referrals have skyrocketed, thanks to the neighborly spirit and open-door policy amongst hawaiian business owners.

fivestars, a family affair

kekoa is truly one of the company’s original pioneers, kicking off the denver office. but fivestars was still young, so the team worked out of kekoa’s kitchen. “we ran the entire city from my dining room,” he said. up to five sales reps would be gathered around the kitchen table, role-playing and practicing countless pitches– all the while, kekoa’s 5 year old daughter would be sitting in the living room, playing and doing homework, wrapped up in her little world. or so he thought.

on one particular morning, kekoa was driving his daughter to 1st grade. from the back seat, at 7:30 in the morning, most kids are barely fluttering open their eyes. liliani, a bonafide “fivestars baby” says, “hey dad? can i pitch you? can i pitch you fivestars?” and then, she proceeded to give an almost verbatim sales pitch. she asked her dad about his satisfaction with his imaginary company’s marketing efforts, as well as sharing power of a strong loyalty program, pointing to the successes of nordstrom and southwest airlines– even allowing time to talk about the founders, victor and matt. “that was the moment i knew i was raising a fivestars prodigy,” kekoa says, laughing.

now, liliani is 10 and still loves to network and shout fivestars’ vision wherever she goes, whether it’s a local sandwich shop or a meeting with her dad– she’s snagging a business card. “fivestars is truly a family. the reason why we all work so hard is we all share a mission to make fivestars a household name and to help as many small business owners we can. the people [of fivestars] care about you, when you come to work, you are family.”

company growth = personal growth

previously, kekoa took on denver as city manager, diving deep into its techy culture and in just under 3 years, his sales team grew to 9 and the team had onboarded more than 350 businesses. after about 2 ½ years of insatiable growth in colorado, he traded the mountains for island majesty, and his old stomping ground of kailua, on the main island of oahu. as hawaii’s state manager, kekoa is responsible for the overall growth of the hawaiian island chain and has already begun building a new sales team.

fivestars continues to cultivate thinkers, innovators, and a fun environment– deviating from the suit-and-tie corporate world that kekoa left in liquor sales. since his time with the company, kekoa witnessed major advancements in the software, hardware, selling strategy, and even brand awareness.