OUR HISTORY

The Ali’i Builders team takes great pride in our company and our work. We are more than a business—we’re ‘ohana (family) and will work with you as a family member. Our purpose is to ensure a great experience for clients from beginning to end. We employ the highest ethical and professional standards in our business and are guided by the principal of treating our clients, employees, and community in the same manner we wish to be treated. Nate is a Hawaiian waterman with a lifetime of experience in the ocean—sailing, surfing, fishing, diving, and racing outrigger canoes. Much of Nate’s philosophy and outlook on life and contracting derives from his relationship with the vast ocean that surrounds his island home.
Nate's Story: Reaching the Stars

“The original settlers of these islands built double hulled sailing canoes and sailed thousands of miles across the open ocean with nothing but their courage and skill at readings the stars, currents, and marine life to get them to their destination and settle the vast Pacific. In 1996, I had the opportunity to sail a replica voyaging canoe from Tahiti to Hawai‘i, a distance of over 3,000 miles. When becalmed one night at the equator thousands of miles from land, one thought came to me as I stared up at the wondrous night sky filled with the brightest stars you can imagine. I could almost reach out and grab them. The thought occurred to me that we are so small and insignificant, like grains of sand on a beach. It was very humbling.

Fortunately, the winds finally arrived, and we sailed on, back home to the Big Island. This experience has helped shape my philosophy. Go with the flow and do the best you can every day. Eventually you will reach your destination or accomplish your goal. Crossing an ocean seems quite different when compared to building a complex project, but both are difficult, challenging, and require the utmost attention to detail, perseverance and fortitude. And both have a lot of honesty—you can find your truth in the middle of the Pacific, and you had better have truth as a principle in your business—especially on an island where practically every job you get is through word of mouth.

A unique aspect of building on an island is that everything must be shipped in and planned weeks, even months in advance. Our philosophy of honesty, perseverance and fortitude serves us well. Even though most of our clients reside great distances from here, they know and trust that we are watching out for their interests. We are a product of our island, and our Mission Statement and Core Values are born out of this fact.” – Nate Hendricks
Nate's Story: Reaching the Stars

“The original settlers of these islands built double hulled sailing canoes and sailed thousands of miles across the open ocean with nothing but their courage and skill at readings the stars, currents, and marine life to get them to their destination and settle the vast Pacific. In 1996, I had the opportunity to sail a replica voyaging canoe from Tahiti to Hawai‘i, a distance of over 3,000 miles. When becalmed one night at the equator thousands of miles from land, one thought came to me as I stared up at the wondrous night sky filled with the brightest stars you can imagine. I could almost reach out and grab them. The thought occurred to me that we are so small and insignificant, like grains of sand on a beach. It was very humbling.

Fortunately, the winds finally arrived, and we sailed on, back home to the Big Island. This experience has helped shape my philosophy. Go with the flow and do the best you can every day. Eventually you will reach your destination or accomplish your goal. Crossing an ocean seems quite different when compared to building a complex project, but both are difficult, challenging, and require the utmost attention to detail, perseverance and fortitude. And both have a lot of honesty—you can find your truth in the middle of the Pacific, and you had better have truth as a principle in your business—especially on an island where practically every job you get is through word of mouth.

A unique aspect of building on an island is that everything must be shipped in and planned weeks, even months in advance. Our philosophy of honesty, perseverance and fortitude serves us well. Even though most of our clients reside great distances from here, they know and trust that we are watching out for their interests. We are a product of our island, and our Mission Statement and Core Values are born out of this fact.” – Nate Hendricks