Page 7 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - July 28, 2021

Maruyamas Helping Others Find Their Path Forward
FROM PAGE 6
The empire that the duo is currently constructing can be attributed to hard work and communication — but not a college education. Coming from two sides of the spec- trum, Hannah dropped out of college at age 18 and Ryan received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universi- ty of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Af- ter donning a cap and gown, Ryan worked for a local bank and, although he was utiliz- ing his degree in the real world, the Kapahulu native wasn’t fulfilled and experi- enced what he describes as a “quarter-life crisis.”
“I was doing work that was just soul-sucking; it was just crushing. I hated it,” Ryan recalls. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and my friend was living in North Carolina at the time and had an extra room. NC State University and the surrounding schools have good mechanical engi- neering programs, so I was like, ‘OK, well, I guess I’ ll move up there and become a mechanical engineer.’ I applied for the school, got accepted and then I moved. While I was there, I realized that I didn’t want to do that. I was just throwing darts at a dartboard — and I didn’t want to throw that $70,000 dart.”
JULY 28, 2021
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 7
if they didn’t love their day jobs so much, that is.
filled out two questions and I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t want to be here.’ So I tore it in half and threw it in the garbage and walked out. I think if you’re going to quit college, that’s definitely the most fun way to do it,” Han- nah chuckles. “That moment was as big as it sounds for me; it was a huge turning point.
that we need to address (on the podcast) is that it’s OK for you not to go to college — you’ re not alone,” notes Ryan. “If you decided not to do it and there’s a bunch of people in your life asking you, ‘When are you going to go to college?’ or ‘When are you going to go back to school?’ — don’t worry about it. We’ve talked to so many people about this and they feel like they’re not sup- ported, and that it’s constant pressure and shame about not going to college.
“I moved back to New York and that’s when I applied for a job that said ‘college degree required,’ and when I got to the interview, they didn’t even ask me about it. That’s when I was like ‘wait a minute, hold on,’ which began this entire jour- ney of me realizing that you don’t need a college degree for jobs that say ‘college degree required.’ Sometimes, you don’t even need experience.
“Once you decide on not going, the whole world opens to you. It’s not easier — to not go to college is difficult — and I know because I walked this path. As soon as I decided I wasn’t going to get a second degree, I was lost and I had to trudge my own path. But it’s also extremely liberating because now you can create whatever career you want.
MORE OF THE MARUYAMAS
Ryan and Hannah Maruyama are not your typical couple. Along with their jam-packed day jobs, the entrepreneurial twosome co-own tat- too shop YAMA Studios (yamastudios.co), as well as co-host Degree Free Network, a podcast that hopes to inspire people of all ages to explore options outside of a college education. The show talks about self-education, building businesses and
more. Visit degreefreenetwork.com to learn more, or scan the QR code above.
“We had a conversation with our sisters, who were both 18 at the time, and we said, ‘Hey, you don’t have to go.’ We didn’t say ‘don’t,’ we just said you don’t have to go. His sister — and I’ll never forget this — looked at us and said, ‘No one has ever told me that.’ No one ever told her she didn’t have to buy a college degree for six figures. I think that’s a huge thing that peo- ple don’t realize, especially 17- and 18-year-olds, they can’t comprehend how much money that loan is. For a lot of people, their college degree is the most expensive purchase they’ll ever make.”
Discussions like that make up Degree Free Network’s approximately 45-minute ep- isodes, which will also dive into topics like self-educa- tion, industry possibilities, small-business opportunities, paid on-the-job training and more.
“There are no rules — you can tattoo people’s heads for living,” he laughs. “Every- thing is open to you.”
Since crossing paths six years ago, and getting en- gaged only a couple of months thereafter, Hannah and Ryan are stronger than ever before, as they make it their journey to help others define one of their own.
Meanwhile, Hannah, who’s moved 34 times in her nearly two-and-a-half de- cades before calling Hawai‘i home, felt that the college environment wasn’t one she was destined to be in, so she made a decision and has nev- er looked back.
“Having a family is get- ting closer,” says Ryan when asked what’s next. “That’s been a driving goal for a lot of our work, getting to a place where that is financially re- sponsible, so it’s humbling to see where we are now.
“I was sitting in my sociol- ogy class and they put the midterm in front of me and I
“The first thing we feel
“Career-wise, I’ m happy right where I am, and I know Hannah really likes her work, too. It’s a big blessing to be content in our jobs.”