Jenn “JRoQ” Wright & Quinn Miyashiro

About the Entrepreneurs

Friends and fellow musicians Jenn "JRoQ" Wright and Quinn Miyashiro started Gate Ki as a way to provide the support that local musicians truly needed. In just over three years, they have grown the company’s services to include artist management, show production, record label services, recorded music in production and musician live instrumentation, and begun working with local venues to provide music services and entertainment. Gate Ki is passionate about ensuring that people across the island can experience and have access to the incredible talent found in Hawaii.

More with Jenn and Quinn

Tell us about how Gate Ki started.

We started as artists and musicians ourselves, and we found that there wasn’t as much support as we wanted for the things we needed. We wished there were people trying to find the right spots for us to play or help the venues create the best guest experiences. Through that process of going into those spaces ourselves, we found that there were other artists looking for similar opportunities. So we worked toward providing support for the artists we knew were seeking it.

Why did you choose to work with Hawaii National Bank?

Our banking relationship was really important to us. When we were looking for a bank, we wanted a local, family-oriented, AAPI-owned bank. That's where we come from, too. We wanted someone local, we wanted people that understood the nature of our business, that we're so new and we're still growing. We found a really great partnership with them.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a business?

My advice to anybody out there that thinks I might have a little bit of an idea and I wonder if I should start a business, I would say just do it. Just do it and ask the questions. It's really cool to know that we are with a bank like Hawaii National Bank that has a team of people that care about us just as much as we care about our business, and that we can ask questions and they can help us find answers, and that we're just supported. And so knowing that that's out there, I would say just go for it and know that there's resources available to help you figure it out. It's okay if it’s messy at first. Just do it. And if you got what it takes and you don't give up, the sky's the limit.

What's next for your business?

Our vision's a lot bigger than it was when we first started. We have artists that want to tour the world. We have artists that want to hear their music in movies and TV shows, and those are things that we're expanding on. We're building relationships for that and collaborating with other businesses that provide the services that we don't have to do. So we're really excited to create more opportunities for all of us, then we can all get work and we can all stay here. We're a small little tiny dot on the map, but we have so much amazing people and amazing talent here that just needs to be seen and heard.