The Hawaiʻi Pacific Export Council (HPEC) recently interviewed GLSS Founder & CEO Karlo Tanjuakio to discuss the company’s global growth and how exporting has become a key driver of its success.
During the interview, Karlo shared GLSS’s journey from a Hawaiʻi-based startup to a global provider of Lean Six Sigma education, along with lessons learned from expanding into international markets.
HPEC is a nonprofit organization that helps Hawaiʻi businesses grow through international trade by working alongside the U.S. Commercial Service to provide education, guidance, and export resources. Karlo proudly serves on the HPEC Board of Directors, where all board members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to help strengthen U.S. exports and support businesses across Hawaiʻi.
Below is Karlo’s interview:
HPEC: Tell us about your company and how exporting fits into your business model.
Karlo: I founded GLSS in Hawaiʻi in 2011 with a simple belief: geography shouldn’t limit opportunity.
Today, we’ve trained more than 630,000 professionals from 7,500+ organizations across 195 countries and territories through our online Lean Six Sigma Training & Certification, coaching, and improvement technology. This year, we expanded that mission by launching The Mana College, an accredited online college that exports higher education from Hawaiʻi to students around the world.
Exporting has always been central to our business model. We don’t export containers—we export capability. Every professional we certify, every student we educate, and every organization we help improve demonstrates that world-class education and innovation can come from Hawaiʻi. Technology allows a company headquartered on an island to compete with anyone in the world.
HPEC: What’s been most successful in your export program?
Karlo: Our international growth has been built on creating genuine value for others. Reciprocity, strong relationships, and consistently delivering measurable results have allowed us to build long-term partnerships around the world.
The U.S. Commercial Service has also played an important role in our growth. Through a Single Company Promotion in the Philippines, they introduced GLSS to government agencies, universities, and business leaders, which led to new partnerships and customers, including Philippine government organizations.
One of the biggest surprises has been discovering that Hawaiʻi itself is a competitive advantage. Around the world, people recognize the spirit of aloha. When you combine those values with consistently delivering results, you build lasting trust.
HPEC: How important is exporting to GLSS?
Karlo: Today, approximately 20% of our revenue comes from customers outside the United States, while most of our business comes from organizations beyond Hawaiʻi.
Without exporting, our company would be dramatically smaller—not only financially, but in the impact we’re able to make. Global markets allow us to continually invest in better technology, stronger curriculum, and innovation while creating high-value jobs here in Hawaiʻi.
For a digital education company like GLSS, exporting isn’t simply another sales channel. It’s what allows us to scale expertise instead of inventory.
HPEC: What lessons have you learned from exporting?
Karlo: One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that credibility scales faster than marketing.
Organizations don’t choose GLSS because we’re from Hawaiʻi. They choose us because we consistently solve meaningful problems and help them achieve measurable results. When customers succeed, they naturally become ambassadors for our work.
I’ve also learned that exporting isn’t simply about selling internationally. It’s about designing your business so it can serve anyone, anywhere. That means building scalable systems, investing in technology, and understanding that every market has its own culture and way of building trust.
HPEC: What advice would you give businesses considering exporting?
Karlo: Think globally from day one.
Too many businesses ask, “How do we start exporting?” I believe a better question is, “How do we create enough value that geography becomes irrelevant?”
Today’s technology gives even small Hawaiʻi companies access to global markets. Focus on solving real problems exceptionally well, and the world becomes your market.
HPEC: Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
Karlo: I believe Hawaiʻi’s greatest export opportunity isn’t another commodity—it’s the capability of its people.
That belief is reflected in everything we do at GLSS and The Mana College. We help organizations continuously improve the way they work so they can create more value with less waste while respecting people, communities, and the environment through our philosophy of Ethical Efficiency™.
My hope is that more companies recognize they don’t have to leave Hawaiʻi to build globally. They can create world-class organizations here, build meaningful careers here, and export products, services, education, and ideas that honor our ʻāina, uplift our communities, and leave the world better than they found it.
Interested in developing Lean Six Sigma skills that create measurable results?
Explore GLSS’s online Lean Six Sigma Training & Certification programs and discover why professionals from more than 195 countries and territories continue to choose GLSS.
About HPEC
The Hawaii Pacific Export Council (HPEC) is a nonprofit organization that helps businesses in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Pacific Islands successfully enter and grow in international markets. Working in partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service and the Hawaiʻi Export Assistance Center, HPEC provides export education, one-on-one business counseling, market entry guidance, trade resources, and connections to global partners. The organization also hosts workshops, seminars, and trade education programs, develops practical export tools and resource guides, and supports companies with export documentation, international market research, trade missions, and business matchmaking. Through these services, HPEC helps businesses overcome the challenges of exporting, expand into new markets, and strengthen the region’s global competitiveness.
