A founder's journey building Wahi Pono, a community workspace rooted in Hawaiian values of balance and belonging. Discover lessons in patience, purpose, family, and collaboration that shaped a space for everyone.
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Influential Woman · Information Technology (IT) Services
Emma May
Operations Manager & CoFounder of Wahi Pono, Scout Solutions
Minnetrista, MN 55331
1Article published
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The business had grown, but my systems hadn't grown with it. Growth isn't just about doing more, sometimes it means changing how you work.
Emma May · In Her Own Words
In Conversation
Emma May for Bold. Brilliant. Unstoppable.
Read the transcript
Emma May: To me, being an influential woman isn't about having the loudest voice in the room. It's about using your voice to lift others up and create space for them to use theirs. Influence shows up in small everyday ways, from mentoring someone who's just starting out, listening closely to what people need, and building something that makes life a little better for those around you. That's what Wahi Pono means to me. It's a chance to create a place where people feel welcome, supported, connected, where nonprofits can host its first event or a small business owner can find the community they've been missing. If my work helps someone else grow, find their confidence, or feel like they belong, that's the kind of influence I want to have.
What's one piece of advice you would give to younger women chasing their dreams?
Emma May: Don't wait until you feel ready. When we started building Wahi Pono, there were so many things I've never done before, from planning a buildout to launch launching a brand from scratch. If I'd waited until I had it all figured out, we would have never have started. Playing goalie taught me that you won't stop every shot, and that's OK. What matters is that you get back up, reset, and stay in the game. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and who can learn from you. Because no dream gets built alone. Be willing to take the first step before you can see the whole path. Trust that you'll grow along the way.
Full transcript available
Her Story
About Emma
Emma May is the co-founder of Wahi Pono Woodland Cove, a family-owned coworking and community space opening this fall in Minnetrista, Minnesota. The name means "the right place" in Hawaiian, and that idea guides everything about it. Emma and her family set out to create more than an office. They wanted a gathering place where neighbors, small business owners, creatives, technology professionals, and nonprofits could work side by side, share ideas, and support one another. Rooted in Hawaiian values like aloha, ohana, and kuleana and grounded in Midwest hospitality, Wahi Pono is designed to feel less like a workplace and more like a home base for the community.
Building Wahi Pono has been a hands-on effort from the ground up. Emma has been involved in nearly every decision, from shaping the brand and telling its story to planning the lighting, choosing finishes and furnishings, coordinating with contractors and vendors, and building the website that introduces Wahi Pono to its future members. Every space has been designed with people in mind: open areas for collaboration, quiet corners for focused work, a podcast studio for sharing stories, golf simulators for connecting outside the workday, and event space that will be accessible to the nonprofit organizations that strengthen the area.
Emma brings a strong background in technology and operations to the project. As Operations Manager at Scout Solutions, her family's IT consulting business, she helps nonprofits and small-to-midsize businesses build practical technology solutions. Earlier in her career at Prime Therapeutics and Ecolab, she led digital programs, hybrid events, and podcast production. Those experiences now help shape Wahi Pono's event programming, its podcast studio, and the technology and training initiatives Emma is developing so members and local organizations can grow together.
A University of Minnesota graduate and former member of the Gopher Women's Hockey Team, Emma learned early that the strongest results come from a team that shows up for each other. That belief runs through her volunteer work with Feed My Starving Children, United Heroes League, and the Pinky Swear Foundation, and it is the foundation of Wahi Pono. Looking ahead, Emma is focused on opening the doors, welcoming the first members, and growing Wahi Pono into a place where people feel they belong and where the community is stronger because it exists.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emma
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a willingness to learn, adapt, and take on new challenges. My path has taken me through brand management, marketing, operations, and IT, and each move taught me to approach unfamiliar territory with curiosity. Building Wahi Pono has put that to the test in new ways, from lighting plans to contractor meetings to designing a space from the ground up. I also owe a lot to working alongside my family. Building something together has taught me to trust each other, share the load, and keep the bigger purpose in view. Most of all, I believe in listening. Whether I'm working with a client or picturing who will walk through Wahi Pono's doors, understanding what people need comes first. That's how you build something they'll feel a part of.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to stay open to learning and to say yes to opportunities outside my original path. I never imagined I'd be helping build a coworking and community space, but every role I've held prepared me for it in ways I didn't expect. Running events taught me how to bring people together, marketing taught me how to tell a story, and working in technology taught me how to build systems that work for people. Wahi Pono is where all of those skills meet. It's a reminder that you don't need to see the whole road ahead. Each step builds something you'll use later, often in ways you never planned.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women is to stay eager to learn and keep pushing yourself. I used to be quiet and hesitant to share my ideas, and it took time to find my voice. Building Wahi Pono changed that for me. When you're making decisions about a space that will belong to a whole community, you learn quickly that your perspective matters and that staying silent means something important might get left out. I wish I had learned that sooner. Your ideas deserve to be heard, so have the confidence to speak up, ask questions, and take your seat at the table. Then work to make room for others to do the same.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is making sure technology serves people rather than pushing them apart. Privacy and security will always matter, especially for organizations with sensitive data, but I think the bigger opportunity is connection. More people work remotely or on their own than ever, and many small businesses and nonprofits don't have access to professional space, the right tools, or a network to lean on. That's a big part of why we built Wahi Pono. Community doesn't happen by accident. It grows when people share a space, learn from each other, and show up for one another, whether that's a quick conversation over coffee or a workshop that helps a nonprofit get its systems in order. The most meaningful work I do starts with people, then process, then technology. When you build a strong community at work and in the place you live, everyone has more room to grow.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that matter most to me are curiosity, collaboration, trust, and service. I believe in continuous learning and staying adaptable, because the best ideas often come from being open to something new. Those values are a big part of why Wahi Pono feels so personal to me. It's built on Hawaiian values like ohana, the idea that family extends to the people around you, and kuleana, the responsibility we share for one another and the place we live. I see that same spirit in how I approach technology. It should make life simpler and help people connect, not add complexity or put their privacy at risk. In the end, what I care about most is building relationships and spaces where people feel welcome, supported, and part of something bigger than themselves.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Emma
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.
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