SMMH – Meet Liza Pierce of A Maui Blog

Can you give us a quick intro to yourself and your connection to Hawaii?

I am a passionate blogger behind A Maui Blog.  I am what they call a “Kamaaina.”  I have been living on Maui since 1994 and consider Maui as my “home.”   I am a 40 something year old mom who likes exploring Maui with my kids.  I am married to a wonderful man, Bradley.  We have two Hapa* tweens, Gardner is 11 and Noelle is 10, two cats named Bon and Gus, and recently we adopted an Italian Greyhound named Sonny.  I work full time as an Admin Assistant and Project Coordinator with Spencer Homes, Inc. (a developer-builder known in Maui for developing and building quality affordable homes).  I am also the blogger behind Liza’s Eyeview and Maui Real Estate and Development Blog.

* (Hapa in their case means half Filipino and half Caucasian).

My company name is simply called “A Maui Blog, LLC,” and that’s what it is – a blog.

I started blogging in 2006 on Liza’s Eyeview as a mommy blogger and became quite passionate about it  because I saw a lot of wonderful benefits of blogging both serious and fun topics. It’s like a talking story online!  After Liza’s Eyeview, I created A Maui Blog to promote Maui’s beautiful island – unique culture and aloha spirit. I love Maui and I thought the best way to promote Maui is to “talk story online.”

A Maui Blog evolved into more than just sharing about Maui’s culture.  A Maui Blog now also seeks to help promote the local Maui businesses especially in this time of economic crisis.  A Maui Blog is here to assist local businesses gain a strong presence on the internet and attain maximum exposure online.  I wanted to create a hub where the readers can find reliable information on Maui’s happenings & local events, word of mouth recommendations of the best of the best on the island, anecdotes (fun stories and ramblings) from someone who lives here, and A Maui Blog is that.

The local businesses, especially those who do not have a presence on the internet because they don’t know how to do it or can’t afford to hire a professional internet marketing agent. I also help Maui’s tourism industry in general.

You see, Maui is a very laid back community.  In many ways we are a bit behind in technology and trends and that’s where I come in.  Believe it or not it’s only recently that I have seen Maui entrepreneurs really get involved with social media and networking such as blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.  A Maui Blog is here to assist local businesses and the tourism industry to attain a strong presence in the competitive internet world – to help them keep up with the latest trends on internet marketing, etc.

Respect is very important.  I know it goes without saying but it’s always good to remind visitors about respect. Respect for the island (like not leaving trash on the beach); respect for the people (being courteous and polite goes a long way).  Respect for it’s culture.  Smile a lot and talk story with the locals.

Blog and Twitter.  Seriously, that’s what I do on my spare time.  🙂  Being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a church member and an employee – I do not really have a lot of spare time.  I love spending time with my kids and most of my time away from work and chores are spent with them – but I wouldn’t want to classify that as “spare time.” 😉

Quick answer: Sleep.  If I think about it more, one thing I consider a vacation is when we take time to go to Keanae for a weekend.  We have a friend who owns a cabin in the beautiful Keanae  peninsula and our vacation usually involves staying there for a weekend away from the usual routine of our life in Kihei.  I love Keanae and blog about it quite often, like in here and here.

Another vacation idea is visiting relatives on the mainland and abroad.  Both my husband’s family and my family are far away.  His family is in Connecticut and mine are in the Philippines, so visiting them is a “vacation.”