Have you ever wondered about the experience of working for an association like HPPA, which partners with national parks to support programs and projects? Enjoy this insightful guest blog by HPPA’s Wendy Hatch, a member of our frontline sales and interpretive team at Haleakalā National Park with a unique perspective.
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I’ve had a long and evolving connection with the Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association (HPPA). After moving to Maui in 2000, I volunteered at Haleakalā National Park for a few months before accepting a frontline sales and interpretive position with HPPA in the visitor center park stores. I loved recommending my favorites from our excellent selection of books. Then, I moved to Germany in 2003, where I volunteered for a nature organization, and then to San Francisco, CA, where I worked for another partner association, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
I moved back to Maui, and my second stint with HPPA was from 2013 to 2017, after being a seasonal ranger at Haleakalā National Park for two years. I was so happy to continue working at the national park I loved, but eventually I decided to try my hand at tour guiding and became a tour guide, birding guide, and manager for a company which leads tours in the park, my favorite place!
As a tour guide, I spent whole days with my guests and got new perspectives on the visitor experience, on what people are looking for when they visit the national park. I think all of us as travelers feel more receptive and pay more attention when we are in an unfamiliar area. I loved seeing the connections visitors made when they were immersed in the park landscape, observing birds, tasting berries, and hiking at high elevation. I could share Hawaiian legends and chants with their underlying cultural meanings, and explain why what they're noticing is often found only here within park borders. This guiding job cemented, for me, the realization of how important national parks are, in Hawaiʻi and across the country. For example, when Haleakalā National Park was closed, it was nearly impossible to find another place to see native Hawaiian forest birds on Maui.
Eventually I felt ready for a change, and HPPA was hiring. It was time to come back.
I am super appreciative of the nonprofit I returned to this year. I like the camaraderie of working with a team of people who care about the national parks as much as I do, the supportive managerial staff, the generous HPPA benefits, and the high-quality products that we offer, like handmade mugs and unique collectibles. We have such great products that celebrate our island geology and native Hawaiian species (plant, insect, and animal). It's easy to talk to visitors about how they can experience what they're interested in, and the significance of it, even in a short interaction—and in more depth if we're not too busy! A change I have noticed is that fewer people are buying physical books and more people are looking for great social media photos, so our merchandising has adapted to focus less on books and more on individualized apparel that promotes the park and its unique natural and cultural features.
Because HPPA staff is in the national park on a daily basis and often communicating with National Park Service staff, we can share current stories and photos. For example, we can talk about the three adult nēnē geese and three goslings currently joined in an unusual family group that have chosen to live near the busy Headquarters Visitor Center and park store. We know that one of the ganders lost his mate because she got hit by a car in the park, and that he followed the other pair and goslings around at a distance until he got accepted into the family group. People can connect with the individual geese in this story, and understand how national parks protect endangered species habitat, as well as their responsibility as visitors to drive carefully on park roads.
On the frontline in the visitor center park stores, I provide a welcoming presence and a point of connection to the national park by paying close attention to each visitor that approaches me. Thanks to all of my diverse experiences, I realize how important that is. HPPA staff can make a difference even with a short conversation during checkout. I can connect with a visitor’s love of the park and their wish to have a tangible reminder of their experience, and feel blessed by their willingness to make donations on top of their purchases or share the amazing discoveries they made. I am advocating for this beautiful national park, which people journey to see, and am so grateful to have the chance to join this amazing team again!
Third time is the charm.
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Learn about Haleakalā National Park.
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