Conversation with President Carlisle’ s Chief of Staff Kathleen Arakaki
Kathleen Arakaki
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Where were you educated?
I am from Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. I graduated from the University of Manoa, with a degree in communications and psychology. My communications degree was in film and television which then logically compelled me to move to Los Angeles with aspirations to produce and work on story development in the film and television industry. Interestingly, the first production company I worked for was called Caduceus Productions and they created medical industrials.
Caduceus Productions was owned by an MD specializing in infectious diseases. AIDS was a huge health concern back in‘ 92, and we didn’ t have the treatment for those afflicted with the disease at that time. It was a very interesting time to work with infectious disease doctors in California. The production company eventually closed, and I found myself looking for other opportunities. I fell into a company called Corbis Images, owned by Bill Gates, that licensed photography globally.
I developed the entertainment industry sector and was the Regional Sales Manager for almost 20 years. It essentially boiled down to intellectual property licensing. My clients were all the major studios and broadcast agencies, all the major corporations from Microsoft, Apple, Costco. You name it, I’ ve worked with them in their advertising and marketing campaigns. The iconic Windows screen backdrop of green rolling hills and blue sky was licensed by my team. I was on movie and TV sets all the time, because they used our imagery on their sets. It fed my interest in entertainment, but also introduced me to the world of stock photography licensing that I had no idea even existed!
That company eventually got bought out and I found myself at a crossroads. I realized the part I really enjoyed about my job was working with the attorneys and working with their legal staff on contracts and contract negotiation. So I thought becoming an attorney was my next career path but law school is very expensive! Instead, I decided to dip my toe into the legal field and obtained my paralegal credentials to see if I even wanted to work in the legal profession. My first job as a paralegal was here at CDU working under General Counsel John Patton.
What experiences in your training do you think most prepared you to become President Carlisle’ s Chief of Staff?
I think a background in both Psychology and Sales helps a lot! This position has a lot of internal and external components. You have to be a people person and a professional communicator. A background in sales combines a customer service focus with a businessoriented discipline. You definitely have to wear both hats!
Do you think your role has a political component to it and about public relations?
I think that whether it’ s political internally or political externally, all of us in all of our roles, wear that hat, but it may be more pronounced in the office of the president. What it really comes down to is treating everybody with dignity, respect and understanding, whether they’ re internal or external. It doesn’ t matter what role they play, who they are in the spectrum, how old you are, it doesn’ t really matter. Anything that comes to you, approach each and every person with dignity, understanding and respect.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 23