“Renovation Aloha” stars Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama are pushing back against the idea that their real estate success was built on family money. The married HGTV personalities revealed that they were once carrying roughly $80,000 in debt and infrequently needed assistance paying their rent before establishing their business. Although Kamohai’s father, banking executive Corbett Kalama, has achieved considerable success, the tv star insists he never received money from him to launch the couple’s real estate company.
In an Instagram video shared Tuesday, Kamohai opened up concerning the financial hardship he and Tristyn endured before entering the actual estate industry. Based on the HGTV star, the couple was in a “dire situation after we found real estate” and had gathered “like $80,000 in bad debt.”
Kamohai said their struggle reflected the financial pressure experienced by many residents of Hawaii because “like a variety of people here in Hawaii, simply because it’s so expensive” to live there. At their lowest point, the couple reportedly found themselves “asking for help for rent some months.”
‘Renovation Aloha’ Stars Deny Having Trust Funds
Kamohai also addressed assumptions about his upbringing and his father’s success within the banking industry. He insisted that he didn’t grow up with a “silver spoon” and isn’t a “trust fund baby.”
Tristyn joked that she wouldn’t necessarily object to receiving one in the longer term. “I’ll still take a trust fund if anyone desires to make me a beneficiary,” she quipped.
Kamohai explained that “his whole family began from nothing” and denied receiving a loan or investment from his father when launching the couple’s company. “The actual fact of the matter is, I’ve never taken a penny from my dad to begin an actual estate company, nor has he invested in it in any respect,” Kamohai said. “I feel a variety of people get that twisted.”
The Couple Says Their Success Got here From Taking Risks
Tristyn and Kamohai expanded upon their story within the caption accompanying their Instagram video. They began by emphasizing that “labor doesn’t all the time look the way in which people think it does.”
“We didn’t come from money. We didn’t have trust funds. We didn’t have family writing checks to make our dreams occur,” they wrote.
As an alternative, the couple said their journey began with serious financial uncertainty and difficult decisions. “We got here from debt. From wondering how we were going to pay the bills some months. From taking risks that would’ve gone either way. From failing, learning, and getting back up again.”
Their eventual success didn’t eliminate public criticism. Based on the pair, the scrutiny became more intense as their business and tv profiles grew.
Tristyn And Kamohai Kalama Address Assumptions About Their Success
The HGTV stars explained that as they’ve “grown, the criticism hasn’t gotten quieter,” but as an alternative has turn out to be “louder.” They consider some people would relatively create their very own explanations for the couple’s achievements than accept how much work went into constructing their profession.
“People create stories to clarify your success,” they said, “since it’s easier than believing it got here from years of sacrifice, consistency, and relentless work.”
Based on the pair, criticism can come from people at every level. They wrote that “those above you are attempting to maintain you down, and those below you’re thinking that you bought it handed to you.”
Nonetheless, the couple said their actual path was much less dramatic than the stories people may tell about them. The TV personalities declared that “the reality is way less glamorous,” explaining that they “just kept showing up.”
HGTV Couple Encourages Followers Not To Give Up
Tristyn and Kamohai concluded their message by encouraging those currently facing financial or skilled uncertainty to proceed working toward their goals. “Should you’re in a season where it feels unattainable, keep going. Don’t let another person’s assumptions make you query your individual journey. Your story isn’t finished yet,” they advised.
Their very own journey ultimately took them from mounting debt and difficulties covering rent to a successful real estate business and a television series centered on their work in O’ahu, Hawaii. “Renovation Aloha” premiered on HGTV in 2024. The series follows Tristyn and Kamohai as they renovate neglected properties on the island before transforming them into homes for local families.
This system has aired 30 episodes across three seasons.