About this speaker
Hughes' career spans the arts, nonprofit sector and entrepreneurship, bringing a decade of experience in CPG. She’s the co-founder of Better Sour, launched with her lifelong best friend, Semira Nikou, which recently raised an oversubscribed $1.1 million pre-seed round. Better Sour celebrates global flavors from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, inspired by the founders’ love of sour candy and flavors from their shared Iranian-American heritage and being born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands. An active angel investor, mentor and advisor to founders, she runs Roya Capital, investing in early-stage CPG companies with women founders at the helm with her husband, Harrison Rice. Her last startup, Shaka Tea, a line of sustainably sourced herbal teas brewed with Hawai'i-grown māmaki, was acquired in 2022 by Irresistible Foods Group, the parent company of King's Hawaiian.
She also co-founded Hawai'i Contemporary (formerly Honolulu Biennial), the premier contemporary art event in Hawai'i, along with co-founding Hawai'i FoundHer, the first accelerator program focused on AAPI and Native Hawaiian women entrepreneurs, presented by Purple Mai'a. A frequent public speaker, moderator, and author, most recently she was on the keynote panel at Natural Products Expo West 2023 and has also spoken on panels at SXSW, Wāhine Business Forum, USJC Conference, PBN and #GalswithLei, amongst others. She's been recognized by Pacific Business News as a winner of the 2018 '40 Under 40,' was the Judges' Choice CPG Winner at Foodbytes! by Rabobank in 2019, and won the 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year award by Hawai'i Venture Capital Association. Born and raised in Honolulu, she splits her time between Austin, TX and Hilo with her husband and two kids. She’s a graduate of Punahou School and earned her BA from Boston University and MA from Johns Hopkins University.
