UNBOUND-U Summit
Featured speaker: Unbound at Any Age: The Aloha Chef’s Recipe for Energy, Purpose & Joy.
The Aloha Chef speaks
Bring energy, aloha and an unforgettable story to your stage.
Olelo paʻa Ogawa is an award-winning chef, transformational speaker and, at 72, living proof that our next chapter can be one of expansion, not retreat. She lights up a stage the moment she steps onto it, and audiences feel it.
Her talks go far beyond food. She speaks about every kind of nourishment: the water we drink and the food we eat, but also our breath, rest, movement, thoughts, gratitude, connection and purpose. With humor, heartfelt stories and fifty years of lived wisdom, she leaves people energized, inspired and ready to come alive at any age.
See Olelo paʻa in action · 2 minutes
Cooking with ʻulu, The Aloha Chef’s way
From ʻulu pancakes and chips to fritters, curry and carrot cake: Olelo paʻa shares her favorite ways to cook breadfruit, the same warmth and practical know-how she brings to every talk and live cooking demonstration.
From Breadfruit: A Tree of Importance to Hawaiʻi, a film by the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Plays from YouTube. Pressing play loads the YouTube player.
Read the transcript
Aloha! I’m Olelo paʻa, and I love breadfruit because it’s tasty, nutritious, and versatile. Here I have a delicious pancake. It’s really simple to make. You make a batter, and place a ripe, sweet breadfruit that you mash and place it in the batter. We have some ʻulu chips here that can be served with some fine ripened tomato soup. It’s so delicious together.
For your next pūpū party or appetizer party, try tostones made with our wonderful breadfruit, and I’m serving it with a nice remoulade sauce. Another appetizer that you may want to try is a breadfruit fritter served with sour cream and some tomato salsa. Young, immature breadfruit: it tastes just like eating fresh artichoke.
Next time you want to make a potato salad, you now can make an ʻulu salad. Breadfruit is perfect for this fine dish using Keāhole lobster, lūʻau sauce, and topped with fresh breadfruit. I prepared a mashed breadfruit, exactly how you make mashed potatoes. This is a grass-fed beef stew served with chunks of fresh breadfruit. If you are a vegetarian, a breadfruit curry is a healthy choice. For an Asian touch, steamed ʻulu with pork and shrimp hash, served with a soy ginger sauce.
A ripe and sweet breadfruit lends itself very well to desserts. Try this breadfruit carrot cake next time.
Upcoming · Friday, October 16, 2026
UNBOUND-U Summit 2026
Unbound at Any Age: The Aloha Chef’s Recipe for Energy, Purpose & Joy
“At 72, becoming unbound isn’t about your age. It’s about the courage to begin your next chapter.”
- Global online · Free
- 6am Hawaiʻi · 9am Los Angeles · 12pm New York · 5pm London
- When you register, choose Olelo paʻa as the speaker who invited you.
Signature talks
Three talks, one message: come alive
Each talk can be tailored as a keynote, workshop, live cooking demonstration or online session.
- Courage
Unbound at Any Age
Energy, purpose & joy in your next chapter
Your audience will:
- Hear Olelo paʻa’s own story of starting new chapters at 72, and why age doesn’t have to define their energy
- Learn simple daily habits for nourishing body and mind in the second half of life
- Reflect on the next chapter they want to begin, and one small first step toward it
- Energy
Nourishment Beyond the Plate
The everyday ways we feed our energy: water, food, breath, rest, movement and gratitude
Your audience will:
- Discover six everyday sources of nourishment and notice which ones they are missing
- Learn practical shifts they can try the same day, from what they drink to how they rest
- Practice a short moment of stillness they can repeat at home
- Food
Food Is Frequency
How the way we grow, cook and share food shapes how we feel
Your audience will:
- Learn why fresh, local, lovingly prepared food matters, from 50 years in professional kitchens
- Pick up simple rituals for cooking with intention and gratitude at home
- Enjoy an optional live cooking demonstration, for example with ʻulu (breadfruit)
Also available: Raise Your Frequency for women leaders • If I Can Do It, So Can You • Healthy Aging with Aloha • Aloha AI for Kūpuna • Living with Aloha Every Day
Ideal for
Who Olelo paʻa speaks to
- Women’s conferences & summits
- Healthy aging & senior groups
- Corporate wellness
- Spiritual & wellness retreats
- Schools & school gardens
- Healthcare organizations
- Hospitality & culinary teams
- Online communities
Olelo joined our public speaking programme as a guest speaker and made an immediate impact on everyone in the room. Her ability to tell a story is truly captivating. She brings together humour, wisdom, energy and authenticity in a way that feels effortless. I would highly recommend Olelo as a speaker for any event looking for someone who can connect, uplift and leave a lasting impression.
“A masterclass in making ʻulu approachable and exciting.”
Chef Olelo’s presentation at the Breadfruit Festival was a masterclass in making ʻulu approachable and exciting for everyday cooking. With over 50 years of culinary experience, she effortlessly connected practical techniques—like how to process, cook, and substitute ʻulu in familiar recipes—with a deeper message about food resilience and supporting Hawaiʻi’s farmers.
The audience was fully engaged, tasting dishes as varied as ʻulu curry and her signature ʻUlu Mana Burrito, while absorbing her philosophy that cooking is an act of gratitude and aloha. Her simple call to action—buy one ʻulu, learn to prepare it, share it—is exactly the kind of grassroots education our food future needs.
I’m grateful for chefs like Olelo who bridge the kitchen and the larger conversation about Hawaiʻi’s agricultural resilience.
Co-Director, Ke Ō Mau Center for Sustainable Island Food Systems
Stages & collaborations
Select engagements
Olelo paʻa speaks often, for summits, schools, festivals, communities and online audiences around the world. Here are just a few highlights.
Speaking appearances
Voices of Women Summit
Raise Your Frequency: 3 Nourishment Shifts Every Woman Leader Should Know.
ʻUlu Hoʻolauleʻa Breadfruit Festival
Guest chef at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, with a talk and ʻulu cooking demonstration. “A masterclass,” said Dr. Noa Kekuewa Lincoln.
Purpose Driven Public Speaking
Guest speaker for Bradford 4 Better, sharing “If I Can Do It, So Can You.”
Waikoloa School Garden
An ʻulu cooking demonstration celebrating growing our own food and cooking with local ingredients.
Waimea Seniors Club
Guest speaker for a local community of kūpuna.
Your event could be next
Community groups, private gatherings, retreats and summits, in Hawaiʻi and online. Invite Olelo paʻa →
Collaborations & teaching
Dougall Fraser Cosmic Community
Invited to lead a live lesson for Dougall Fraser’s private community.
Aloha AI for Kūpuna
A joyful, beginner-friendly introduction to AI for seniors, created and presented with Oana Garcia.
Bring the spirit of aloha to your next event.
Tell us about your audience, date and format, and we’ll be in touch to explore the perfect talk.