Britney Alejo
What inspires you or is most exciting about your job, business, and industry, and what are the biggest challenges?
Inspiration is all around us at Haku Maui. We are so fortunate to work with beautiful, locally grown flowers and foliage to create traditional Hawaiian lei for our customers and community. The look of awe on their faces when they step into Haku Maui, along with the feelings of gratitude and aloha they express, is what keeps us going. Our kaiāulu (community) fills our inspiration cup.
When we see customers of all ages visit Haku Maui or hear people tell us that we’ve inspired them to make lei and reconnect with their culture—or to get back into their gardens and reconnect with ‘āina and mea kanu—it fills my heart with joy.
The biggest challenge we face in the lei industry is growing as a business while staying true to our core values. At Haku Maui, we believe lei flowers should be grown and sourced locally as much as possible, and lei should be made here in Hawai‘i. As we grow as a business and create more lei, we face the challenge of sourcing materials. There is a great need for the expansion of lei flower farming in Hawai‘i.
We often see the Thai purple orchid lei in stores, resorts, and lū‘au, but most of these lei arrive in Hawai‘i pre-made from other countries—sometimes with plastic spacers between each flower. They are much cheaper than locally made lei and are available in abundance, but they do not support Hawai‘i. Not our local farmers, our local lei makers, or our local businesses—no one.
So, our challenge to you is this: The next time you purchase a lei for a loved one, choose almost any other fresh lei instead. In doing so, you’ll most likely be supporting a local farmer, a local lei maker, and a local business.
What were some important turning points in your career that helped you attain your current position?
Honestly, the biggest turning points we faced came from failures in our business. We can either choose to see failure as a loss or as a pivotal moment of clarity and redirection in our journey forward.
As an entrepreneur, you will fail more times than you can anticipate. But each time, you become stronger, wiser, more resilient, and even more driven, with a clearer vision of the work that needs to be done.
What’s one moment that you wish you could rewind and replay 100 times?
In 2022, I embarked on a journey with Hale Kua, a cohort for Indigenous creators and Native businesses founded by Manaola Yap and Zachary Pang. I knew this journey with Hale Kua would have a lasting impact on me, but I didn’t realize just how profound it would be.
To begin the year-long program supporting our entrepreneurial journey, a mandatory one-week retreat was held on Hawai‘i Island. During this time, we were completely immersed in culture, language, place, movement, and knowledge. In just one week, my connection to both home and business deepened more than ever before.
I relive that week often in my mind. I didn’t know it at the time, but those seven days would forever change the course of my life. I am so grateful for that experience.
How do you use your voice, heart, and platform?
With our core values at the forefront, we use our platform to speak up and advocate for change and progress within the lei industry. Our goal at Haku Maui is to perpetuate lei in Hawaiian culture, and we do this by any means necessary. The more ways we can amplify our voice, the more people we can reach. Education and storytelling within Hawaiian culture are essential parts of our business, helping us extend our reach and create a lasting impression on both kamaʻāina and malihini alike.
What have you created that you are most proud of?
I am most proud of creating a lasting tribute to my family’s legacy through Haku Maui.
