L&L founder Eddie Flores Jr. shared his experience with members of Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders at McKinley High School on Mar. 6.

Flores was born in Hong Kong 69 years ago to a Filipino father and Chinese mother. His family moved to Hawaii later. When he was young, he bought watermelons and sold slices to his siblings. He never collected the money. He gave them credit to buy the slices and noted how much he was owed in a journal.

“To me making money is a hobby. I still like to count my money.”

As a student at the University of Hawaii, Flores made as much as $1,000 a week by renting films of soccer matches and showing them on weekends at Kuykendall Hall. There was no soccer on TV in Hawaii at that time although many foreigners living here loved the sport. Flores could pack the hall for three showings, selling tickets at $1.25 a head.

“I used to drive a nice car,” he recalls of his college days.

Flores said that working hard and having strong determination are two essential points to be success.

Flores had learning disability and did not get good grades in school. However, he worked very hard and studied till two a.m.. His first language is not english but he keeps practicing. Today he can give fluent speeches without notes. “If you cannot speak, you cannot succeed,” Flores said.

L&L is a theme franchise restaurant chain based in Honolulu, Hawaii, centered on the Hawaiian plate lunch. Johnson Kam and Flores purchased the original L&L Drive-In in 1976.

Although many people opposed Flores’ idea of expanding the business in mainland and foreign countries, Flores insisted and succeeded. According to Entrepreneur.com, today L&L has 179 franchises in U.S. and 8 franchises internationally.

Flores said he enjoys his work very much. He begins work at 4:30 because he likes his job.

April Nakamura commented that “it is hard to imagine all the hardships Flores went through behind the success.”