Issue #05 | Brittany Heyd, Co-founder at Mana Up

Brittany Heyd is a co-founder at Mana Up, a Hawai‘i-based economic development initiative building the state’s next generation of consumer brands expanding to markets across the globe. Mana Up hosts an annual six-month accelerator program, an online store, and retail locations in the heart of Waikiki featuring locally-made products from Hawaiʻi-based companies.

Before co-founding Mana Up, Brittany was co-founder and Managing Director of 1776, where she played a central role in the organization’s growth into a global brand. Brittany also worked on business community initiatives and outreach at the White House, led event strategy for Startup DC, and held positions at Latham & Watkins, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and Mark IV Capital. She now lives in Hawaiʻi with her husband and four children.

Q: You’ve spent your career at the center of early-stage entrepreneurship, economic development, and policy; was that always your plan? Would your younger self be surprised by the path you’ve taken?

I don’t know that my younger self would be surprised — well, maybe. But, I’ll tell you a quick story about one of the most impactful experiences that I had very early in my career.

Back in 2010, I moved out to Washington, D.C. to do a master's of public policy at Georgetown, thinking that I would go into government or nonprofit or something along that route. And during my first summer in D.C., I got this incredible opportunity to intern in the Chief of Staff's Office at the White House early on in the Obama administration.

The focus of the Chief of Staff’s office at that time was finding new and innovative ways to uplift the national economy because we were right in the middle of The Great Recession (2008-2009). So I was placed on a team of smart, talented individuals in the White House who were essentially tasked with evaluating all sorts of different tools to turn the national economy around. One of those tools—and the one I spent the most time focused on—was entrepreneurship.

Ultimately, what came out of that work was something called the Startup America Partnership, a national effort led by AOL co-founder Steve Case to provide hands-on mentorship and capital to startup hubs across America.

The practical experience I gained working on the Startup America effort was invaluable; it gave me a ‘blueprint’ very early in my career that helped me understand how entrepreneurship can be used as a powerful tool to create positive economic and societal change. It also showed me what true collaboration looks like between the public and private sectors. I still draw upon that experience each day in my current role at Mana Up.

Q: You co-founded 1776 in 2013 and played a central role in the growth of that organization for the better part of the last decade; what was appealing to you about replicating that type of model in Hawaiʻi?

My husband is from Maui, and we knew that we eventually wanted to raise our family here in Hawaiʻi. So, we moved to Maui at the end of 2016. It was my first time living in Hawaiʻi, and I think I naively assumed that I would have a relatively easy time finding a job given my background, experience, and professional credentials. But that wasn’t the case for me when I moved here in 2016, and it certainly isn’t the case for countless other residents who have been forced to relocate and uproot their families to seek better employment opportunities.

Coincidentally, I met Meli James (my now business partner at Mana Up) shortly after I moved to Maui. She had been working closely with some of the accelerator programs here in Hawaiʻi and had seen first-hand some of the same kinds of challenges. The two of us talked and talked and exchanged ideas, and that’s really how Mana Up was born — out of a lived experience and a shared desire to create an economic growth engine for Hawai'i that can generate success for the local economy, support the high cost of living, and create well-paying, interesting jobs for locals.

Q: Mana Up fills a critical gap in the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, especially for early-stage, product companies. You have said that you hope to ‘create a culture of regenerative entrepreneurship’ here in Hawaiʻi. What does that mean, exactly?

‘Regenerative entrepreneurship’ is analogous to regenerative agriculture; in regenerative agriculture, you’re cultivating the land and running your operation in a way such that your efforts compound and create a healthier, more nutrient-rich ecosystem. The concept of regenerative entrepreneurship is built on many of those same principles — namely, attempting to use business and entrepreneurship as a sustainable tool for good.

Let’s take Mānoa Chocolate (one of our accelerator companies), for example. They’re not just producing chocolate; they are sustaining, cultivating, and growing an entire cacao industry. They’re manufacturing and producing chocolate here in Hawaiʻi that is winning acclaim across the globe. But they’re also hiring people here in our communities, and they are reinvesting in the community with intentional, give-back efforts.

So, when we look at a Hawaiʻi-based company like Mānoa Chocolate, for instance, we measure its total value to the local economy not just in terms of dollars and cents and total jobs created. Instead, we look at the total sum of all its parts, including all of its ongoing efforts to reinvest time, energy, and capital back into our local communities.

Q: You just wrapped your eighth cohort, and you’ve now shepherded 85 Hawaiʻi-based companies through the Mana Up accelerator since 2016. What stands out as you look back on the last six years?

We received 85 applications for the first Mana Up cohort in 2016, and that number has grown with every subsequent cohort (I think we had 145-150 applications for this year’s cohort). It’s been humbling to see the growth of the ecosystem, and the businesses that have gone through the program.

For instance, we’re starting to see businesses like Kō Hana Rum expand internationally or Big Island Coffee Roasters expand to the continental U.S. Maui Nui Venison was also named among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2023. So, for me, it’s encouraging to see those ‘middle milestones’ that indicate that we’re on the right track.

We’ve also been working diligently to shift more and more spending corporate spending to local businesses, and we’re starting to see the fruits of that labor. For example, Hawaiian Airlines doubled its spending on local businesses and now sources many of its products for its in-flight Pau Hana Cart from the Mana Up portfolio of companies. This type of corporate commitment is rewarding to see and represents, hopefully, a critical inflection point and blueprint for what it looks like to work collaboratively as a local business community to achieve a shared vision.

At the same time, there is still so much more work to be done. Right now, we have 85 Hawaiʻi-based businesses that have gone through our accelerator program. Collectively, they generate approximately $70 million in revenue on an annual basis, which is a great start. But it’s not enough. Ideally, we need to see that number grow to at least $1 billion to begin to make the type of long-term, sustainable economic impact that many of us would like to see.

I’m glad to see that the data is trending in the right direction, but we have plenty of work left to do. I’m encouraged by our collective progress thus far, and I can see things continuing to evolve and change for the better over the next 10 years.

Q: You all have made a clear, continued commitment to support Native and Indigenous business owners in Hawaiʻi; why are complimentary programs like Hawaiʻi Rising and the recently announced partnership with Pow Wow Pitch such an important pillar of your efforts?

For two reasons: First and foremost, Native Hawaiian and Indigenous peoples are such a critical pillar of the community. Second, we work with and support all kinds of Native Hawaiian-owned businesses at Mana Up. So, from a grassroots level, we work tirelessly to proactively seek and recruit other global resources—people, capital, tools, etc.—that we can bring to Hawaiʻi to help connect our entrepreneurial ecosystem with the things that will help them be successful.

Q: You (individually) and Mana Up (collectively) have been recognized in recent years for all you’re doing to support Hawaiʻi-based entrepreneurs; but, on a more personal level, what motivates you to keep going?

Every entrepreneur has different and often deeply personal reasons for building their respective businesses. I enjoy helping entrepreneurs grow, succeed, and ultimately, achieve their dreams. I’m also motivated to be a part of the solution to create a more resilient, sustainable economy here in Hawaiʻi. There is a consistent ‘drumbeat’ of conversation about diversifying the economy, breaking free from our over-reliance on tourism, or creating jobs that pay a livable wage, among all sorts of other economic hurdles. I’m motivated to be a part of the solution to some of those challenges, and I’m excited by the prospect of contributing to those efforts.

Q: You are and have been in the middle of the effort to build, grow, and sustain the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hawaiʻi; What are we doing well, and where do you see gaps in the ecosystem where more support is needed?

We need more success stories of Hawaiʻi-born and Hawaiʻi-grown businesses. Those types of success stories inspire people and help to create the next generation of entrepreneurs. It also creates mentorship opportunities, an injection of capital, and a pathway to success. There are so many positive downstream effects for the community when there is a track record of local, entrepreneurial success. So, in general, we absolutely need more success stories to be able to showcase what this state has to offer.

Additionally, we’re at an all-time low when it comes to available warehouse space in Hawaiʻi. So, if you’re an entrepreneur looking to start a product-based manufacturing business in Hawaiʻi, you have very few affordable options right now. We have to be better in this area, and we need to come up with some creative ways to incentivize others to create more affordable warehouse space.

Q: What is next for Mana Up in 2024?

We'll continue with our accelerator program, welcoming our ninth cohort in 2024. We're also continuing to invest in Hawaiʻi-based product companies via our venture fund. We raised our first fund at $6.3 million and have deployed a good majority of it. We are the largest venture fund in the state to invest exclusively in Hawaii-based companies, which is exciting because, traditionally, there havenʻt been too many Hawaiʻi-based venture opportunities for entrepreneurs here in Hawaiʻi. So, we'll continue to inject capital into the local marketplace, which we see as a critical part of our efforts to continue to help local businesses grow and scale.

We will also continue to grow our retail footprint not just through our own House of Mana Up retail locations, but by working with our key retail partners like Foodland and DFS to help them work directly with local businesses to increase revenues. And to amplify those partnerships. We're doubling down on our current activities and bringing more companies into the fold to continue to grow those programs.

Q: What is the best way for people to support Mana Up right now?

The best way to support what we're doing is to shop local through House of Mana Up. We not only have retail locations across the state, but we also have an online store, and we ship all across the world.

Q: What’s the best way for people to connect with you?

LinkedIn is the best place to connect with me!

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