Candace Ames was born in San Mateo, California. She graduated from the University of California Berkeley. She received her Masters in counseling from San Francisco State University. She formerly resided in Alaska with her husband and three children. Whilst in Alaska she obtained a Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling license. She has recently retired after working twenty-eight years as a therapist. Out of those twenty-eight years, fourteen of those were at Hilo Union School as a School-Based Behavioral Health Specialist.
Since high school, Candace has collected beads and crafted jewelry. She formerly made jewelry only for friends and family. Although hesitant, her community urged her to sell her jewelry. She has recently obtained a general excise tax license and is in the process of registering her jewelry name, Hilo Designs.
Ames had spent months trying to develop a trade name. She finally chose Hilo Designs because the word Hilo fit so well. It means to braid, spin, or twist a cord which is exactly how Candace makes most of her pieces. It can also refer to a streak of light or the new moon which is what her jewelry is about. Hilo also refers to a navigator which is what Candace feels like she is doing, navigating old age. So oddly enough the one word right in front of her was exactly what she had been searching for.