Whenever there’s a TV news story on real estate, the go-to person in Hawaii for the major stations seems to be Stephany Sofos. On more than one occasion, the two of us have been interviewed at the same time, and that is how we met and became friends.

Stephany has been a licensed real estate broker and appraiser for more than 30 years.

Last year, at my urging, Stephany published a book about her zany career, titled "Untold Stories of a Real Estate Diva." I thought I’d share some of her stories in my column.

Sofos was one of the youngest shopping center managers (Discovery Bay) in the country, at the age of 22.

She often crossed paths with Madelyn Dunham, President Barack Obama’s grandmother, and Harry Weinberg. She met 1950s teen idol Tommy Sands and Hawaii’s "Bernie Madoff," Ronald Rewald.

In the course of her work, she’s been threatened with guns or knives three times.

Stephany’s brother, Steve, was mentored by Harry Weinberg. He sometimes brought Stephany along to a meeting at his apartment on Ohua Avenue in Waikiki.

"One evening, he asked my brother to get something for him at the convenience store around the corner," Stephany says. "While he was reading his Wall Street Journal, I asked him how he became wealthy. He looked at me over his glasses and lowered his paper."

"Potatoes," he said.

"Potatoes?" I repeated.

"He told me when he was starting out, the family didn’t have any money. He would buy a 50-pound bag of potatoes for 5 cents every two weeks. His mother would make potato pancakes, potato bread, potato soup, french fries, etc., for the family.

"With the money they saved on food, he was able to purchase his first rental property when he was 16. His mother signed the deed for him.

"He and his brother had several houses by the time he was 21, and he then started flipping them into apartment buildings. The brothers fixed and cleaned them on their own. From there they purchased land and companies. By the time he was 30, he was a multimillionaire.

"After he finished his story, I said, ‘Wow, I don’t think I or anyone could do that today.’

"He looked at me and said, ‘You’re wrong. Anyone can do anything. Even you. If you want to have money, you’ll have money. You just have to do it; not try, do.’ And he smiled at me, which is something he rarely did. That smile was an acknowledgement and he made me feel so special."

When Harry Weinberg died at age 82 in 1990, he was worth $820 million. "I believe the reason he started his foundation was because he wanted poor people to have a chance at life.

"So for me, whenever I eat a potato, I think of Harry Weinberg. It’s truly amazing, you never know the profound effect you can make on someone by just having a chat."

Another character Sofos met was Don the Beachcomber. "By the time I met Donn Beach, he was in his mid seventies, with a zest for life unmatched by all. His office was a tree house in an enormous banyan tree in the center of International Marketplace. I often climbed up to see him and we would talk as we watched the tourists strolling by, some thirty feet below."

Don the Beachcomber was born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt in Texas in 1907. He changed his name several times befores settling on Donn Beach.

"Donn is considered the father of Tiki restaurants and bars, along with Victor Jules Bergeron Jr., or, as everyone called him, Trader Vic. They were amicable competitors," Sofos says, "and both created the Tiki Bar culture which was popular from the 1930s through the 1970s, with 16 Don the Beachcombers and 25 Trader Vic’s restaurants, mostly on the west coast.

"Both of them claimed to have created the Mai Tai, but I truly believe it was Donn’s invention as he was serving them in the 1930s, long before Trader Vic appeared on the scene in the 1940s.

"Donn created sixty-four drink recipes in all, most of them using rum. Among them were the Mai Tai, Zombie, Navy Grog, Missionary’s Downfall, Tahitian Rum Punch, Cobra’s Fang, Shark’s Tooth, Skull and Bones, and Never Say Die.

"Donn was continually working on his next creation or deal," Sofos recalls. "He was the quintessential entrepreneur. He was always dressed in perfectly-ironed white aloha shirts and white shorts, with brown sandals and his Panama straw hat.

"He would come to my office every 2-3 weeks and offer me coffee and a tale of his travels and life. We would walk the mall and the International Marketplace and he would give me ideas for tenants or store concepts. He was a real genius.

"He had a spirit of adventure to try new ideas. Retailers today are so ‘cookie cutter’ because the costs are so prohibitive. If they fail, it costs them millions, so most stay within the bounds of tried and true, which makes for a very boring retail experience. Donn Beach was never boring."

Sofos was fortunate to be mentored by Donald Graham, who built Ala Moana Center for Dillingham in 1959. I met Graham a few times, and he was a friendly and generous man.

"I got to know Donald Graham when I was at Discovery Bay Shopping Center," Sofos says. "He was smart and creative, and always had a positive word for me.

"Sometimes being a mentor is just about listening to your student’s problems and offering words of encouragement. That is what Don did for me.

"We would lunch at the Tahitian Lanai once or twice a month, which coincidentally, was where Harry Weinberg often dined. He (Graham) would tell me his ideas for retail and development.

"He once told me the genius of Ala Moana Shopping Center had not been the design, but the fact that they were able to have all four components of development feed off each other at the same time: Retail, residential, office and recreation.

"Retail was the shopping center. Residential was the 1350 Ala Moana condominium across Piikoi Street. Office was the Ala Moana office building with the rotating La Ronde restaurant on the top, and recreational was Ala Moana Beach Park across the street.

"All of this was in place in 1959, and changed the face of Honolulu forever. I thought the concept was absolutely brilliant.

"Often I lamented to Don about how business was hard, with money coming in ebbs and flows. But he always told me the same thing: ‘Be respectful of others, speak the truth, be mindful of doing a good job, and with these concepts always in mind, I would be okay no matter what life chose to deal me.’"

Sofos’ book is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle versions. Her second book, "How Nalu Got His Wings," is coming out before the end of the year.

Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.