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In the fall of 2020, I had the worst and the best thing happen to me. I was invited to join the SHRM Hawaii board and serve as the Educational Foundation District Representative of Hawaii Island District. To be honest, I was unsure I wanted to accept. As an HR department of one, I tried to talk myself out of it.  It wasn’t an easy “yes.”  I thought of all the reasons I shouldn’t accept, and I came up with some good excuses, too. I don’t have a team of assistants and managers under me to cover while I fulfilled my SHRM Hawaii board duties. I didn’t have spare time to take on a role like this, I protested. I commute 2 hours a day.  I already serve on two other Boards.  My family owns a farm that I help manage, and I have three dogs who rely on me. I secretly wondered if I even knew enough about non-profit management to serve as a Board Director.

I had a ton of reasons to decline, but ultimately (and thankfully) I decided I would give it a try.

I am so glad I did. 

I cannot tell you how much it has helped me in my role at Hawaii Water Service. Yes, I’m still an HR department of one.  But I quickly found that being part of this esteemed group was actually saving me time and helping me in my role. I now have a new network of resources, contacts, and experts saved in my phone that I did not have before. During monthly board meetings, I have learned great hacks and received an inside scoop on how others were handling daunting issues that have cropped up over the last few months. Turns out this volunteer gig was the best shortcut for solving problems I didn’t even know I was having.  

I share this with you as SHRM Hawaii is finalizing the 2022 Board of Directors slate and they are currently looking at applicants.  If you are interested in becoming more, being more engaged, and less isolated in your role, this may be the opportunity you are looking for. If you are interested, reach out to Compliance Chair Edwina Pine at  [email protected] and take the first step into learning more. Who knows? At the end of 2022, this may be your story, too.