OUR STORY
PonO: a SACRED PLACE TO BE REAL
Pono was never meant to be just a skincare studio. It’s a gathering place. A soul spot. A little sanctuary where women can reconnect to themselves through beauty, ritual, and honest conversation.
You may come in for a facial and end up staying to laugh, cry, sip tea, or reflect on your next chapter. Skin is the starting point. Connection is the heartbeat.
This is a place to soften, to glow, to come home to yourself.
Come as you are. Be held. Live Pono with us.
Our Founder
Skin whisperer
sacred space holder
With over 25 years of hands-on experience as an esthetician and licensed massage therapist, Debra brings a healer’s hands and a mama’s heart to everything she does. Her approach is all about graceful aging, none of that anti-aging nonsense here. She’s about tending to the skin with reverence, listening to what it needs, and offering it the care it deserves.
Debra’s facials are a journey. Sensory, intuitive, deeply nurturing. She doesn’t follow a script, she follows your skin. She reads it, listens to it, and responds with exactly what it’s asking for.
She’s known for her expert extractions. If something needs to come out, she’ll handle it with precision and care, no trauma, no drama. Her clients trust her completely when it comes to the deep clean that leaves your skin feeling truly renewed.
But what truly sets Deb apart is her touch. Her treatment bed is more than a place for skincare, it’s a space to let go. To exhale. To be held. There’s an energy in the room when Debra’s working. A quiet magic. She creates sacred space for her clients to surrender fully, and they do.
You might catch her giggling with clients in the boutique or keeping it real in the waxing room, but in the facial room, Debra drops into something deeper. She becomes the calm, grounded presence that’s the heart of Pono.
a dream manifest
I dreamed of this space.
I used to walk past this magical corner space in Glen Park when I was fresh out of esthetics school. I had no clients, barely knew how to do a Brazilian, but I would leave little notes for the landlords. "If you ever rent this out, I’m your girl". I knew: one day, I’d be here.
That’s how Pono started, not with a business plan, but with a deep knowing.
wHAT IS Pono?
Pono is a Hawaiian word that means living in alignment. It’s all about being in right relationship with yourself, with others, with the planet, and with spirit. Pono is about integrity, presence, and kindness. It’s about tending to what matters.
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The name came to me in a phone call with my aunt in Hawai’i, a deeply spiritual woman. I needed a name fast—there was a moment where this dream was either happening now or not at all, and when she said Pono, I felt it in my bones. It was right.
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My family lineage is a blend of cultures: Assyrian matriarchs, Portuguese roots, Hawaiian heritage through my husband and children. I carry them all in this work. Pono is how I try to live, and how I want others to feel when they walk through the door.