The Garden Island welcomes Coco Zickos as its new business writer. Zickos, 28, originally of Honolulu, takes over the position from the recently departed Luke Shanahan and, before him, Blake Jones. “I’m excited to be part of an outstanding team
The Garden Island welcomes Coco Zickos as its new business writer. Zickos, 28, originally of Honolulu, takes over the position from the recently departed Luke Shanahan and, before him, Blake Jones.
“I’m excited to be part of an outstanding team and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to closely connect with Kaua‘i’s business community,” Zickos said Friday.
Zickos, who has lived on the North Shore for much of the last three years and spent time in New York previously, earned her Bachelor’s degree in biology from Kansas State University.
She worked in real estate for almost a decade, but had an “epiphany” that she could turn her passion for the written word into a career.
Zickos, an animal enthusiast who once considered veterinary school, recently finished a children’s book that aims to raise awareness of endangered species. She expects the book to be available in 2009, and is already working on a follow-up.
She believes her experience in professional business has prepared her to write on the subject, and remains optimistic about Kaua‘i’s economic prospects in these troubling times.
“I hope to keep the outlook on business as uplifting as possible given the current economic difficulties. When the news is gloom and doom, and when people think negatively, it makes things worse,” she said.
“The Kaua‘i community always has a way of pulling together, no matter what the circumstances. Supporting local business now is more crucial than ever,” she said, noting her plan to feature many local businesses in her work.
“There’s no place quite like Kaua‘i in terms of togetherness and ‘ohana,” Zickos said.
