PARADISE
LUA employees and
family (from left):
Jeanette Grace, Tanya
Mason, Brandy Kahoano,
Ronell Grace, Jackie
Grace, Liona Spencer
and Kelly Lum.
Photo by: KARIN KOVALSKY
When
Jeanette grace
married her high-school
sweetheart, George
Grace III, more
than two decades
ago, she
knew that one day
she’d inherit
the family throne.
Literally.
In
1993, Jeanette and
George became co-owners
of Paradise Lua Inc.,
a portable-toilet
company founded in
Waianae by George’s
father in the 1960s.
The family business
is run by Jeanette
and George’s
four children and
other relatives,
who oversee 2,500
toilets
and 20 pumping trucks
on the Big Island,
Oahu and Kauai. Headquar-ters
are at Campbell Industrial
Park in Kapolei.
“
It’s not glamorous,
but it’s a much-needed
business,” Jeanette
says.
Paradise
Lua’s toilets
can be found inside
Aloha Stadium’s
gates during the
UH football season;
at
the annual St.
Patrick’s
Day block party
in downtown Honolulu;
along the Great
Aloha
Run’s 8.2-mile
route; at Kualoa
Ranch; and at
golf tournaments
and construction
sites
across the state. “It
has grown to
where we’re
pretty much booked
and people
are calling
a year in advance,” says
Jeanette’s
niece, Liona
Spencer, who
is the special
events
coordinator
and Neighbor
Island branch
manager. “It’s
first-come,
first-served.
Customers will
fight
for it, saying, ‘We
won’t
just send
you a deposit,
we’ll
pay for the
whole thing.’"
It’s no wonder
the company last year
grossed $1.3 million
in sales and anticipates
up to $1.6 million
this year. What makes
Paradise Lua stand
out from its half-dozen
competitors is the
Prestig-ious Executive
Restroom Trailer,
or “PERT.” The
PERT accommodates
420 men – or
210 women – per
hour and boasts air-conditioning,
stereo music, mirrors
and sinks and a baby-changing
station. Another
highly sought model,
the
Royal Flush, is solar-powered
and comes with hand
towels, soap dispensers
and carpet. Both
put airplane lavatories
to shame.
Paradise
Lua even provides
bathroom attendants
who direct traffic
and keep tabs on
toilet paper. Attendants
typically are family
members, who, after
reaching seniority
in the company, pass
off the duty to younger
relatives. “If
anyone decides to
spill beer or throw
up, our attendants
are there to clean
up,” Jeanette
says.
That’s a piece
of cake compared to
the role of service
drivers who pump toilets
and empty solid waste
into designated dumping
sites. Paradise Lua
employs six service
drivers, all male.
Recruitment and retention
are tough “because
of the type of business
we’re in,” Jeanette
says. To prevent surprises,
the company’s
Help Wanted ads are
candid and up-front.
Newly hired drivers
are required to work
with senior drivers
for at least two weeks.
Some quit within days,
while others stay
after overcoming the
stench and stigma.
Service drivers who’ve
demonstrated years
of loyalty have been
known to receive monetary
incentives and vehicles
from the company. “For
some reason, I have
better luck with the
older hires past age
40. I guess they’re
more settled in life,” Jeanette
says. It’s not
that younger employees
are less motivated;
they just have more
obligations, such
as school and significant
others.
In
the next five years,
the Grace family
plans to grow the
business
by adding more deluxe
toilet trailers to
the inventory and
increasing market
share on the Neighbor
Islands. Good customer
service – such
as bathroom attendants
and cleanliness – is
crucial
to
survival.
“
This
has been passed on
from generation to
generation, and we
hope our four children
grow it even more
for the next generation
coming up,” Jeanette
says, “but we
don’t force
it upon them. If they
want to go to school
or go into another
line of work, we tell
them, ‘You can
do whatever you like.’” In
other words, there’s
no pressure.
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