The Right Place Takes Time: What Building Wahi Pono Taught Me
Building a community space taught me that patience, trust, and listening are just as important as vision.
Finding My Way Here
If you'd told me a few years ago that I'd spend my fall picking bathroom tile, debating light fixtures, and learning the difference between a real vector file and a PNG pretending to be one, I would have laughed. Yet here I am, a few weeks from opening Wahi Pono at Kings Point Rd. in Minnetrista, with a furniture tracker open on one screen and a lighting plan on the other.
Wahi means place. Pono means balance, harmony, and doing things the right way. When we chose the name, I thought it described a building. It turns out it also describes a process.
Finding the right place, both for this space and for me, has taken more patience than I expected. It has also taught me more than I expected.
Trusting the Process
Goalies learn early that you can't stop every shot from being taken. You control your position, your preparation, and how fast you reset after one gets past you. I was a goalie for the Gophers, and I didn't realize how much of the crease I'd carry into a construction project.
Building a space from the studs up is a long string of things you don't fully control. Lead times. Electrical capacity. Whether the privacy pods fit the power plan. Whether the sign vendor has the right file. Some weeks, every answer opens three new questions.
Trusting the process doesn't mean sitting back and hoping. It means doing the next right thing well, then the next one, and letting the progress stack up.
This month, our name changed from Wahi Pono Woodland Cove to Wahi Pono at Kings Point Rd. Early on, a change like that might have rattled me. Now it feels like part of getting it right.
Moving with Purpose
Patience and urgency sound like opposites. Building Wahi Pono has taught me they work as a pair.
We open November 20. That date is real, and every couch, pendant light, and coffee mug has to be in the building before it. So I built a tracker: every item, its lead time, its price, its size, and the day it needs to be ordered. Not glamorous. Still, it's one of the most purposeful things I've made this year.
Moving with purpose also means knowing why you're doing something before you do it. Every decision gets the same test: Does this help someone feel like they belong here? The golf simulators are fun. The podcast studio is a great room. But the reason any of it exists is the people who will fill it. If a choice doesn't serve them, it waits.
Leaning on Family
Wahi Pono is a family business. I co-founded it with my dad, Kevin, and my brother, Eli. That sentence makes it sound tidy. Some days it is. Other days, it's a family full of strong opinions around one table.
I used to think asking for help meant I couldn't handle something. Now I see it as proof that what we're building is bigger than any one of us.
My dad brings thoughtful leadership and a deep understanding of business. When things get hectic, he's the calm in the storm. Eli brings real-world knowledge from past jobs in community-driven work, and it shows up in how we think about the people who will walk through our doors.
Then there's my mom, Denise, our designer. Her touch on everything, small or large, is what makes the place feel warm and welcoming. When I can't see the way through, one of them usually can.
The Hawaiian values behind Wahi Pono come from my dad's life, not a theme board. Ohana means family. Kuleana means responsibility. We lived by them at home long before they went up on a wall.
More Than One Opinion
The lesson I fought hardest: a community space can't be built on one opinion. Including mine.
I have strong taste. I know which tile I want and which green is the right green. But a room built only for me would be a room for one. Wahi Pono has to work for the remote worker escaping the kitchen table, the golfer who has never set foot in a coworking space, and the entrepreneur who needs a quiet room for a big call.
So I've learned to hand things off and listen. John Graham brings our brand to life on everything from signage files to swag. Judd keeps the buildout honest, from the electrical plan to the finishes. Elliot pointed me to fixture options I wouldn't have found on my own. Our Founding Members will shape it next, through every conversation between now and opening day.
Letting go of being the only voice in the room has made the room better. That's the whole point of a community space.
Come See What We've Been Building
I'm still learning. Some days I'm sure of the path. Other days I'm trusting it anyway. Either way, the doors open November 20 at 4770 Kings Point Rd. in Minnetrista.
If you're building something of your own, I'd love to hear what it's teaching you. And if you're looking for a place to work, connect, and belong, come find us. Pull up a chair.
