Hanalima Creation is a Polynesian-based shop owned and managed by Teresa Guerra.
Back in 1995, working for a woman who danced Polynesian dances for weddings, offered Guerra a job to do at a local farmers market. That small taste of being able to manage her own shop and talk to people was enough to make her fully go into the culture.
In the beginning, it was a struggle because of supplies, inventory, and knowing what the people are interested in. Much of Guerra’s family is highly creative, with that skill, comes with a lot of ideas, and always making something new.
Hana means to work, Lima means hands, and simply adding creation gave Guerra her business name. All their items were handmade and inspired by the culture of Polynesian.
By 1996, Guerra started to do shows and go to international festivals in order to help her name into the world. Much of her business came from word to mouth so being friendly is always a top priority not just as a business owner but also just plainly as a person.
Prior to the pandemic, Guerra and her sister Synthia ran a shop in downtown Stockton for 10 years. After the closing of the shop, they made their plans to go back onto the road and do more shows and festivals all along California to Washington.
Their very last show was in Monterey, after this, they had to rethink their situation and figure out a new way to make money.
Masks were in high demand at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. First supplying family and friends with masks, they started to sell them and make survive off of those funds. Selling over 4,000 masks in a matter of a month or two, they started to run out of material to make more masks. Due to not being able to do any shows, they had Hawaiian shirts and dresses in the house. They started to tear those apart and create more masks with them. Using 5x Men’s shirts, they thought there would be plenty of material, but no. They kept running out.
“When things are tough, we are able to survive by rethinking and relying on others,” Guerra said. Many of her family and friends came through and helped them find more material and supplies to create more masks and provide for their family.
Guerra has the mindset of always being kind and generous to others, she hopes to leave good impressions on those she meets and those she helps. “We never want to show we are too busy for a customer”, she said. Always being kind-hearted and loving to those you and don’t know is what makes her most happy.