Nan Lures Physician into an Engineering Career MD takes a giant leap from internal medicine to senior design manager BY PRISCILLA PÉREZ BILLIG
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hen Dr. Kyoko Sobue left her home and internal medicine practice in the prefecture of Niigata, Japan, she had no idea what awaited her in Hawaii. “In Japan, I worked mostly in hospitals where we cared for chronic illnesses and long-term conditions,” she says. The 48-year-old physician came to the Islands to pursue a dual medical license to practice in Japan and the U.S., and did so in 2001. In 2006, Nan Inc. lured Sobue away from medicine and into engineering. “Nan Chul Shin, owner of Nan Inc., believed in me and strongly encouraged that I take a different career path,” she says. “He always said one could do
different things and be successful as long as he or she set their mind to it. “The company took me in knowing I had zero experience in construction. Kyoko TrancherNan Inc. trained Sobue me and gave me an opportunity to expand my horizon.” While in Hawaii, Sobue met and married Alexandre Trancher, the chef at La Mer, Halekulani in 2013 and became Dr. Kyoko Trancher-Sobue. She took a maternity leave in July 2013, and returned to Nan Inc. in September 2016. Trancher-Sobue says her initial project was Nan’s first ground-up, multistory, multiple building project. She was assigned as a part of a large project team and stayed from the beginning till the end, learning
every aspect of the construction from the team and the project. She later managed smaller construction projects and also managed design projects. Trancher-Sobue says she was given a versatile position and responsibilities that made her experience unique. “Kyoko has been a long-time dedicated employee, is very smart and outgoing, and has a great can-do attitude toward every project and challenge,” says Ryan Nakaima, Nan Inc. vice president. “She is also one of the multi-tasked individuals who the company dispatches when an outstanding issue needs investigating and resolution. “Although she has been multi-tasking, one of her main duties is managing the designs from our design-build projects. Her title was design manager, but we have recently promoted her to senior design manager.”
Kyoko Trancher-Sobue at a Nan Inc. jobsite 42 | BUILDING INDUSTRY HAWAII | NOVEMBER 2020
PHOTOS COURTESY NAN INC.
