Liane Sugimoto, who grew up in Mililani, has been money-minded since she was a teenager. While she attended Punahou for high school, her family wasn’t wealthy; in fact, she says, she started working at 14 “and never stopped.”
Given her drive and financial savvy, an accounting career made sense. “I knew it would provide me with a decent living, and I’d be able to be independent, be able to support myself.”
Sugimoto plans ahead: She avoided the time and money of graduate school by double-majoring in accounting and finance at UH Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business, earning enough credits to take the CPA exam after graduation…