Chris von Imhof

I first met Ral West when I attended an Alaskan Tourism meeting and her famous father Chuck West was the foremost Alaskan tour operator. At that time I was the Alaska Director of Tourism and I was very impressed that this young lady wanted to follow in her father’s tourism enterprise. However Ral was very independent and started her own marketing and PR company. Later she met her husband John Hardwick, who had his own business selling tours to Hawaii. Together, they decided to lease a big Hawaiian Airlines jet, and successfully sold the charter flights from Anchorage to Honolulu, Hawaii. They also sold tour packages in the Hawaiian Islands and purchased vacation rental condominiums in Maui.

Ral and John were very successful. They asked me to join their Hawaiian Vacations Board of Directors. The Board meetings were very well organized and Ral presented the financial results; the company was very profitable. That is also why Alaska Airlines purchased their Hawaiian Vacations company. Ral could have joined her father’s company but instead became a very successful entrepreneur on her own with her very sharp husband John. Ral can be a great consultant in any business including Real Estate Development.