By Phil Ceberano – Creative Director @ Flourish.

Reflecting on my heritage of having been born in Hawaii and going back there every year on holidays I am I reminded of a real connection with the place. It is so much more than just beautiful beaches and warm weather, there is something very special about the feeling you get from the local people.


It is all about the 'Aloha'. This is a word that we identify with Hawaii as their greeting and goodbye, but it is also a lot more than just that. 


On research into the culture and origin of the deeper meaning of ‘Aloha’, I have made some beautiful and interesting discoveries. The spirit of ‘Aloha’ is something that is taught to Hawaiian children from a very young age and it includes values such as, being part of all and all being part of me. Your pain is my pain. Your joy is my joy. Learning to respect that all is part of the creator and part of me. Not wilfully harming anyone or anything. When food is needed I will take only my need and explain why it is being taken. The earth, the sky, the sea are mine to care for, to cherish and to protect. This is the Hawaiian way – this is ‘Aloha’.


I have looked at how the ‘Aloha’ spirit can be incorporated into the professional and business world. How we conduct ourselves in social and business situations in the western world has been strongly influenced by the Anglo traditions of manners and etiquette.

Manners are great and there’s nothing worse than having to deal with people with bad manners, but in this day and age more and more, in business, I see a disconnection from the heart. We put up a good front and behave as we should, yet the people that are truly present and are (at the risk of sounding hippy) ‘bringing the love’ are the ones that we gravitate towards and feel more like doing business with. Someone that is grounded and comfortable in their own skin that has a genuine interest in others and is always enthusiastically being part of the solution may just be the new edge that business needs right now.


Having passion and authenticity in our work life is an important part of how we operate at Flourish.


There is ‘Aloha’ in the way we do things, from the moment we meet new clients to the passion we have in refining their story and taking it to the world. We are all about relationships and sharing conversations. We value our role at being an integral part of the culture of the companies we work with and represent.

To recognise the ‘Aloha’, we at Flourish are going to call our ‘Casual Fridays’ ‘Aloha Fridays’. This is a concept I’ve borrowed from business and government in Hawaii that have the ‘Aloha’ spirit as part of their business philosophy.