I work from Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park on the North Shore of Oahu. Not occasionally — regularly. Folding chair, folding table, backup power source, phone internet for Zoom calls, and giant green sea turtles thirty feet away. I have written six books in that spot including Exit Ratio 360™. I can stay from sunrise to sunset. When it rains or gets too windy I work from my car. Nothing stops the day.
People are always stoked when they get a call from the North Shore of Oahu. There is something about knowing the person advising you on the most important transaction of your business life is sitting under a tree at a beach park in Hawaii with sea turtles nearby that changes the energy of the conversation.
The Morning Before Work Starts
Some mornings I am at Waimea Bay or Sharks Cove shooting video up to an hour before sunrise. On days when the surf is big at Eʻhukai Beach — Pipeline — I watch world class surfers like John John Florence and Kelly Slater work waves that most people only see in photographs. If I am at Pipe I get breakfast at Ted’s Bakery. That is a North Shore institution and there is no better way to start a working day.
Why Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park Specifically
The energy at Haleʻiwa is different from anywhere else I have worked. The combination of the sun, the trees, the sound of the ocean, and the pace of the town produces a different quality of thinking. Six books came out of that spot. Exit Ratio 360™ was written there. The nine frameworks that make up the entire 360-point scoring system were developed under those trees with sea turtles in the water. The environment is not incidental to the work. It is part of it.
The Full Setup
Folding chair. Folding table. Backup power source. Phone internet for Zoom calls. That is the entire infrastructure for a consulting practice that serves mid-market companies across multiple countries. Clients on calls can hear the ocean if the wind is right. Nobody has ever complained. When it rains or gets too windy I move to the car. The day continues either way.
The Food That Makes the Day
Pepperoni pizza on the beach in Haleʻiwa comes from Spaghettinis. Gelato — almost always caramel or coconut — comes from Il Gelato. Ted’s Bakery handles breakfast near Pipeline. The North Shore has its own food culture that is nothing like Honolulu or the mainland. It is unhurried, specific, and exactly right for the environment.
What Working This Way Proves About Business
The business owners I work with are almost always tied to their company in a way that terrifies buyers. They are the business. Everything runs through them. Their knowledge is not transferable. The Exit Ratio 360™ DRIVER and BENCH frameworks exist to measure and fix that problem. The fact that I run a consulting practice serving mid-market companies from a folding table at a beach park in Hawaii is not a lifestyle story — it is proof of concept. A business that requires its owner to be physically present to function is not a business. It is a job. Build the systems. Free yourself. The North Shore will be here when you do.