Rebuilding with Purpose After the Lahaina Fires

Speaker A: You're listening to the vrma arrival podcast, and I'm your host, alexa schlosser, editor of vrma's publications. For this episode, I'm speaking with angie leone, owner and CEO of coconut condos. Well, welcome to the podcast, Angie. How's it going?

Speaker B: Great. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Speaker A: Of course. Thank you for joining us. So I guess just to get us started, if you could introduce yourself to our audience and then we can kind of run into the questions.

Speaker B: Great. Yeah. My name is Angie Leone. I am a vacation rental company owner on the island of Maui, and we've been here about 20 years and have had the company since 2011.

Speaker A: Awesome. Yeah. So that company, Coconut Condos. Right. Um, I'm curious what led you to build Coconut condos, and kind of want to hear how you would really describe your approach to running that business.

Speaker B: Yeah, I started the company as a side hustle with one. Our one property that my husband and I owned. Uh, it seems like a lot of companies have started that way in this industry kind of organically, and we just grew from there.

Speaker A: I

Speaker B: learned along the way as much as I could, attending Verma conferences from day one and just meeting, um, friend, lifelong friends there, adding software and vendors along the way. And in terms of kind of running the business, I. I started it when I have two boys. They're now 18 and 15. I started it when they were babies. And so freedom and flexibility and balance were all really important to me. And so I built my company with that in mind. And you mentioned you're from Michigan. And one of my non negotiables was, is that we spend the month of July in Michigan with all of our family. And so I think reflecting back on how the company grew and evolved, that was always a core part of my values, was making sure that I could do that and still be a really engaged parent. So we set up systems in place so that my team could operate without me there on the day to, you know, in the day to day details and more as a CEO and kind of vision caster.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, I guess that that segues well into my next question, which is really just about the strong community and giving component you have built into the business. I'd love to hear more about that. It seems to. It seems to jive with what you've got going on with, like, family and that sort of your. Your mission there. But I'm curious what that looks like within the company.

Speaker B: Yeah, so my first career, I worked as a Bilingual speech therapist with kids. And uh, that was a career that every day you could see that you were making a difference. And when Coconut Condos sort of organically started, I wasn't necessarily seeing the clarity of that same mission. Um, and I needed, I needed to for myself. So we again kind of from the beginning started partnering with local nonprofits. Habitat for Humanity was one that we started with in the very beginning, donating a percentage of profits. And over time we expanded that to include um, to have like a local, domestic and international, um, component to our giving. So we worked with Dream foundation, um, they operate out of Santa Barbara and yeah. And then Compassion International, we sponsored a child that lives in extreme poverty for every condo that we managed.

Speaker A: No, that's awesome. So I know that um, when the Lahaina fires, those are three years ago, I believe that was at this point, um, you know, you had a team homeowners community really tied to you when those, when that wildfire occurred. Can you take us back to that experience, maybe remind our listeners what those fires were and kind of how it affected the region and then how you responded?

Speaker B: Mhm. Yes, it was August 8, 2023. So we are coming up on three years and we um, we do have fires in Hawaii a lot and high winds and hurricanes, but that fire just escalated really quickly and the winds were ripping through Lahaina the night before and the power was out. Um, and it was actually my kids were supposed to start school the next day. Um, there was no uh, phone service or WI fi. No one could really communicate. The only thing that was working was WhatsApp. And so when I was thinking about this, speaking with you, I was thinking that that would be something that I would probably implement as a team to have a WhatsApp, because I didn't with my employees. That was just a friend group that we had a WhatsApp. The only thing that was working. So, um, yeah, I mean at the time of the fire we were managing 50 properties in Lahaina. Our office and warehouse is in, was in Lahaina and I was actually under contract to sell it and had met with the buyer a couple of days before the fire. Um, the, my, my, our personal situation was we were staying in our condo down in south lahaina and around 5 o' clock my youngest son said he could see smoke from his bedroom. And we knew there was a fire in town, but we didn't know the extent because there was no communication. And so after going outside and we could see the town, I mean all the black smoke and Town burning down. We made a decision as a family to try to evacu. Right. And we ended up having to go south to Wilea and went to a friend's house and thankfully we were able to access WI fi and, um, phone service there and, um, really just try to make sure that all of our staff and guests were safe. Um, a lot of the, um, on island staff didn't have communication yet. Um, but it. Yeah. So it kind of quickly shifted from, like, worrying about the business to just making sure that our humans were safe and accounting for, um, all of those people. And then, yeah, yeah, you start to realize the extent of pretty much all of our town was gone. Um, yeah.

Speaker A: So, like, the majority of your portfolio was sort of devastated from the fire. Yeah.

Speaker B: So 45 of the 50 properties we managed burned down. Um, we didn't know. There was a lot of misinformation and kind of rumors and what had burned down, what had. Hadn't. Um, but eventually we were able to find out that our office and warehouse also burned down and our company van was parked on site at one of our properties and it was essentially gone. Um, so, yeah, pretty much 90, uh, percent of our portfolio is gone. So you, you kind of, I don't know, you're processing, like, so much of what just happened and, um, trying to navigate as a leader as well for your employees and your homeowners and your. Um.

Speaker A: So, yeah, yeah, I mean, I guess once you obviously first made sure everyone was safe and the people aspect was accounted for, what was, what was your reaction of, like, what you needed to do first as, like, a business from the, from that point of view?

Speaker B: Yeah. So we, we had to communicate. Uh, well, one really good thing that was in place is we had a lot of remote workers and they were able to. Because they weren't here on island, they were. Once I was able to get to Wiley and kind of connect with them, they were able to help confirm that all of our guests had been evacuated, our employees were fine. Um, but then second, we had to communicate to our owners, um, that then by the next morning, I had visual photographs, um, that 45 of those 50 properties were burned down to the ground. And so communicating to our owners, you know, definitive information about their properties and, you know, as, as a leader not having all the information, kind of saying, like, here's what we know, here's what we don't know, here's what we're doing next. But, yeah, you're dealing with a lot of emotion and you just kind of have to, like, take the Next step as. As well as you can.

Speaker A: Yeah, I imagine. I don't know how many owners were a part of that, um, the people that you had to communicate with, but I imagine they all had similar questions, but also very specific questions to their properties. I imagine that was just like, a lot of, like, triaging that sort of part of the business before you could actually even think about what you were going to do next to rebuild. Um, but that's. That's rough. That's crazy. Um, so I guess what you've talked about in previous, um, podcasts or talks, you've done about the five Fs of your foundation. So how did those explain to us what those five Fs are and then how they kind of showed up for you during this specific time of crisis?

Speaker B: Yeah. So, uh, in reflecting back, I wouldn't have been able to vocalize this or verbalize it, um, as I was walking through it, but a friend had later gone through, um, the fires in California and had asked, like, what is working for you? What's helping you? And so when I kind of put pen to paper and looked at the practices or the strategies that were getting me through the day, um, I came up with these five Fs. And it sounds maybe funny, but there were definitely days and mornings that, you know, for 12 years I had run this business and was a CEO, and that was a big part of, you know, my identity and what I did during the day. And I had these dreams of selling it. And when all of that is just gone in an instant, it, of course, it rocks your world. And there were days when it was hard to get out of bed because I didn't. I'm like, what am I even gonna do today? Like, what is next? But these. I found that these practices in the really, like, would kind of. If I knew I could do these certain things, then I could move past that. And so the five Fs are faith, family, Fitness, freeze, and focus. And so faith is. It just gave my faith, gave me perspective and hope when so much in my life felt uncertain. Um, so I start my morning every day with that. Um, and then family, of course, is everything. And I would spend the. That hour before my boys went to school just connecting. Um, and then fitness, whatever that is for you. But when you go through, um, something so traumatic, the stress and grief can physically live in your body. And so finding something, some way to move that works for you, walking, even, um, surfing. I wear shelling a lot during COVID During that, um, difficult time, like diving in the Ocean. And it helps just regulate your nervous system and can give you energy to keep showing up. Um, and then freeze is what I call my cold plunge and sauna practice. And, yeah, so we had been cold plunging. My husband is a surfer and just for recovery, and my youngest son's a athlete, and, um, well, they're both athletes, but, um, he kind of had taken to the cold plunging. And my therapist, uh, had said a good way to deal with anger and emotions is to work out, like, do a really hard workout or to sweat it out in a sauna. And so I had come home one day and told my husband that, and the next week he had a sauna for me. So, um, that practice really can help you stay calm inside. Discomfort that you didn't choose. And after the fires, that mindset mattered a lot. And then after all of doing those four things, and I still do this three years later, this is my morning routine every day. Um, after that, then I could focus. Um, and post disaster, there's so much, um, I called it my death paperwork. There's just so much paperwork that you have to do that constantly is reminding you of what you've lost. So, like, insurance paperwork and lawsuit paperwork and SBA loans and mortgage deferrals and all of that. Um, I really needed those things before to be able to, you know, address what needs to be done that day. So then I was able to say, okay, like, what do I need to do today? Who needs, you know, what are my priorities and what's the next step?

Speaker A: Ah, yeah. How. How long post the disaster, did you feel like you were kind of crawling out of it, or are you still feeling that way three years later in some ways?

Speaker B: No, definitely. Um, well, that. That's a really good question. I mean, time does heal. And I think that, you know, you're never. You're never going to forget or get over, like, what you've lost. I mean, my kids lost their town that they rode their bikes through. Everybody here lost their town. So you never get over that. But, um, it does. It does get easier. And, um, you know, I remember, like, Christmas and New Year's after the fire were really hard because it was just a new reality. And then you. The next Christmas and New Year's are a little bit easier, and the next are easier. And, um, yeah, you start to move forward. And my therapist, Sally, um, she came and met with a bunch of us every week for a year after the fire. And, um, she had said that one way, you know, you're starting to move out of grief and trauma is when you can start to dream again and cast vision for the future. And so a year after the fire, um, I had started to do that. I was able. So I guess, you know, in that sense it took about a year.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, that makes sense. Yeah, it's. It's tough and it never really leaves you. I think to your point, it's. You always remember that. So I, I understand that you've since created the Lahaina Dreamers Cohort. Is that correct?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: When did that kind of come about? And, and where is that kind of what is rebuilding now at this point, three years later look like for you?

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So to that point of dreaming and casting vision, it was around Mother's Day, which I'm wearing the lei that my son made me yesterday for Mother's Day. Um, m. I had gone to a writer's retreat. That's one of my dreams is his, is to write a book and something I'm working on now. But my writing coach had said, you need to take these things back that are working for you to the women in your community, like the sauna and the cold plunge and the journaling and casting vision. And so, um, a couple of years ago I did that for Mother's Day. And, um, we had an event here at my house. And one friend asked me if I would, uh, kind of mentor her on dreaming again because she felt really stuck. And she's a fellow businesswoman here on Maui. And so we started this Lahaina Dreamers Cohort in November of 2024. And we met monthly for a year and then we retreated at our vacation rental in Nashville.

Speaker A: That's awesome.

Speaker B: And we're now on our second year. And basically it's just an opportunity for. Half of the women lost their home or business and all of them lost their town. And so it's a way for us to collectively rebuild, um, our lives, our families, and kind of navigate through this experience together.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's. That's amazing. So coconut condos today. It looks, I'm sure, vastly different than it did three years ago. Are you, are you feeling optimistic or you feel like you're in a good spot? I'm. I'm curious where, where things are now for you. Yes.

Speaker B: So definitely different. You know, we were, we were selling, so we were kind of in a, um, frame of mind to be ready, to be kind of moving out of managing a larger operation and looking to spend more time with our boys. And so we continued on that path even though we weren't able to sell. And um, our plan, you know, at the time was to just manage the properties that my husband and I own. And, uh, I wanted to, you know, write and speak some more. So we're just choosing to continue with those dreams. And Coconut condos is much smaller, much simpler. It's my husband and I and our, our local vendors, um, managing the properties that we own. And we hope to continue to grow that model. That's our, our plan and dream. And you know, we're just, we're spending a lot of time with our sons and I'm writing and speaking and trying to encourage, you know, other, other people that, that go through hard things, that they're going to be okay.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's really inspiring. I guess maybe to end us, you know, what is one thing you hope people, property managers, owners take advantage of or take away from your experience? I mean, obviously the five Fs is a big one. Um, and I know you mentioned at the beginning, um, the WhatsApp, that's more of a practical thing that something can do. But I'm curious if there's something leadership wise, preparedness wise, that you could, uh, leave as like a takeaway for our listeners.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. The WhatsApp Starlink. Because when we did move back to um, this to the, to Lahaina, we still didn't have WI Fi. And so a friend had brought some starlinks back from Los Angeles and that was, that allowed me to move back to my community and still work. Um, so having a starlink on hand would be huge. And then, um, purchasing the best business interruption insurance that you can, um, those would be some tangibles, but in terms of, you know, more leadership, you know, strategy, I would just say don't wait for a crisis to build your culture and your trust and your community. Because when things fall apart and you know, most people will not, thankfully go through a fire like we did, but things, bad things will happen. They do in life. And um, the middle of the disaster is not the time. You don't have the time to build those things up. So leadership, um, becomes deeply human in those moments. And this industry, this vacation rental industry came in clutch for us and they were such a huge support. And so lean into your community before you need it and be there for other people and they'll be there for you. And, and then, you know, when, when something like this happens, you get to decide what you want to rebuild and how you want to rebuild it. So, um, even if it's not the end that you were expecting, there is more goodness to come.

Speaker A: Well, thank you. And that's a beautiful thought to end on. So I really appreciate you joining us today, and perhaps we'll speak again soon. Yep.

Speaker B: Thank you so much. Aloha, Sam.