Meet a Member Kekuhaupio “Keku” Akana, Shakasweepers LLC Makawao, Maui, Hawaii Aloha! My name is Kekuhaupio “Keku” Akana. I am the founder of Shakasweepers LLC in Maui, Hawaii. We were established in 1994 and our spectrum of business includes full service chimney sweeping and vent cleaning. We are also Hawaii’s Authorized Lennox Fireplace Dealer and we install, service and repair all types of wood-burning and gas-burning fireplaces and stoves. We are a family-owned and operated company and employ my wife and son fulltime and two of our son-in-laws on a part-time basis. And we have a journeyman carpenter who we employ on an as-needed basis. We operate with two service trucks and have worked on the Islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai and our home Island of Maui. We also sell stoves and fireplaces on the Big Island of Hawaii. I have been a member of NCSG since 1995 and am a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep and a C-DET Certified Clothes Dryer Exhaust Technician. I am also a retired Maui County Police Officer with 25 years of service and a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. I am currently in my last year of college (hey, life long learner!) and will be attaining an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor’s Degree in the Social Sciences this year.
1. How did you get into the business? My wife and I purchased a used Preway conical free-standing fireplace back in 1992 and a few years later realized there were no reputable local chimney sweep on the Island.. I was a Police Lieutenant at the time, half-way through my career and knew I would retire relatively young (age 47) so I was always looking for a fun part-time business. We drove the upper elevations of our Island (Maui) and started counting chimneys. We stopped counting after 1,000 and went for it! I purchased an August West package (not quite complete), Soot Sweeper and all. Boy, were we in for a rude awakening. The first fireplace we tried to clean was a masonry chimney that had two flues with 30 degree bends and a flat low slate cover! Our equipment only consisted of stiff quick-connect rods and wire brushes! I could snap handcuffs on any culprit at that time but I had never looked up a masonry fireplace in my life! My son-in-law and I sure stared up into that tiny rusted throat damper a long, long time. 2. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started out? Besides never trying to force a hard wire brush up a frozen throat damper….Man, a whole slew of things. I now know that this is a profession. A true and trusted trade. We are really white collar workers that work in soot-stained environments
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where few people ever desire to tread. We are the Calvary of fire safety. There isn’t anyone else coming (to service, clean and inspect hearth systems). Our customers want to believe in us. We are unique. We need to try our best and get it right and educate ourselves to the maximum. Education with application is the best General Liability insurance. I certainly wish we attended ALL of the onsite training classes and certifications early on in our career. You know, there is one very big parallel between law enforcement and chimney sweeps…That is people are relying on us to keep them safe! I certainly wish we attended all of the onsite training classes and certifications offered by NCSG, CSIA and other organizations early on in the life of our business, but man is it expensive coming from Hawaii!. We are working on this for the next generation of family sweeps. It’s never too late. 3. What do you like most about the business? The least? Speaking for all of us, its got to be the thank you card from the customer or the short note on the payment check with a big mahalo (thank you) note attached. We just had a wonderful note from a coffee roaster company which said, “You guys are great!” We thrive on customer satisfaction. The least, for me is easy… Cleaning those soot-filled,