In our latest installment of Military Spouse Small Business, meet Sara Knighton, owner of Maidens of the Pacific! As both a United States Coast Guard veteran and military spouse herself, Sara is an artist and maker living in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Learn more about her story below:
Name: Sara Knighton
Hometown: Wasilla, Alaska
Branch of Military: United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Current Location: Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
Q: How long did you serve in the Coast Guard?
I joined the USCG the summer before my senior year of high school. I choose the Coast Guard to live near the ocean and learn to surf. I love the ocean so much. I was a reservist during my senior year and went on active duty when I graduated High School. My first unit was Small Boat Station Tillamook Bay, Oregon. I spent 2.5 years there before transferring to Honolulu. I spent a total of eight years in the USCG.
Q: What was your favorite memory while serving?
I was involved in many search and rescue cases. Saving lives were my favorite memories. The ocean is wild and we’re a a speck of dust in it.
Q: Tell us about your business.
I own “Maidens of the Pacific,” a small art business for the wanderer and doer. I paint and print on goods you can take on your adventures. My favorite products to gift friends are handmade patches or ornaments. I can specialize them! My best-selling products are crops and embroidered hats. Here and there, I sell my original paintings.
The dictionary defines a maiden as a girl or young woman, calling out that it’s often specifically an unmarried one. As an adjective, a Maiden is being or involving the first attempt or act of its kind, “the ship’s maiden voyage.”
I prefer a definition that is a loose combination of both, and then some! As Maidens we are anything but ordinary and together we are as powerful as the sea itself. Maidens of the Pacific is not a mass manufactured apparel and goods company. Everything I create is an extension of myself and a thoughtful expression of who I am – as a woman, surfer, crafter, maker, artist, activist, and environmentalist. All of my graphics are hand drawn and hand screened by me in my studio in Ewa Beach, Hawai’i. All Maidens of the Pacific apparel is made in the USA and I make efforts to source locally to cut down on my carbon footprint.
Q: What was the hardest thing about transitioning from Active Duty to civilian life?
The hardest thing is losing Basic Housing Allowance (BAH). The hustle is a little different in civilian life.
Q: Any advice for fellow Veterans who want to start their own business?
I highly recommend you be authentic and avoid copying someone else.
Q: Favorite thing(s) to do on Oahu?
I am a small waves surfer girl. I’m here for the surf and local culture.
Q: Where can we support and learn more about your business?
My website is www.maidensofthepacific.com, and you can follow my Instagram @maidensofthepacific. My husband builds handcrafted surfboards, you can follow him at @sailormadesurfboards. You can also find me at all the Mālama Makers Markets and Lōkahi Sunday Market in Kailua.
To discover more military spouse and veteran-owned small businesses, click here. Do you have a business you’d like to have featured? Please email us at thesubmergedlife@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!