The year is 1968, and a young Karen Nakamura is turning in her beauty salon job for a management role at Wallpaper Hawaii and Paul T. Nakagaki Contracting. She later would become the first woman to receive her contractor’s license in Hawai‘i after 14 years in the industry.
Since then, Hawai‘i’s local construction industry has made strides in seeing more women in the field, ranging from young engineering students to presidents and owners of contracting companies and affiliated organizations.
With the growing number of women entering the trades, many organizations have taken it upon themselves to offer tailored support and resources for these women, focusing on new approaches to business development, education, networking and outreach.
For this year’s Women in Construction issue, we’re featuring some of the women leading these initiatives, conducting themselves and their efforts with both power and poise.
Melanie Kim
Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, Pacific Resource Partnership
Although she didn’t begin her career in construction, Melanie Kim, Pacific Resource Partnership (PRP) head of marketing and strategic partnerships, has grown to be one the industry’s fiercest advocates.
In her current role, Kim represents unionized workers and manages programs that help support contractors and “elevate the next generation of leaders.” Most recently, her focus has been on the Executive Leadership Series (ELS), a nine-month program that teaches personal development and business essentials for career advancement.
Kim notes one of the most beneficial aspects of the ELS is the opportunity to share personal struggles with work-life balance and find support through others in the cohort.
“Whether they have kids playing for preschool, or they have kids graduating, it’s all these seasons of life and getting to hear from older … folks in the class,” says Kim. “It’s a good mix of people getting to hear how they might overcome their challenges, and they might give advice to some of the younger folks in the program.”
For women, Kim often notices their confidence build over the course of the program, which encourages them to take on more executive positions and build a strong network throughout the entire industry.
“I think it helps build confidence when you go through something like that, when you’re identified as a leader, … it changes your mindset, right? Like, if you are recognized as a leader, then … you think like a leader,” says Kim. “So I love to see, after they graduate, … how well they’re doing. I mean, the women that we’ve had are just really strong leaders in the industry.”
ELS graduates have moved on to becoming project managers, vice presidents and even presidents of some of Hawai‘i’s most influential contracting companies.
“Seeing women and the people that have come through the program — now they’re in charge of big projects or leading … the company — and just remember[ing] where they started, and seeing the growth … knowing that maybe I had a small part of that … it’s kind of rewarding to know we have … this bond,” says Kim. “After each cohort graduates, it’s really rewarding to see where they end up.”
To learn more or apply, visit
prp-hawaii.com/contractor-services/leadership-series/.
Hinano Nahinu
Immediate Past President, Building Industry Association Hawaii
Council Chair, Professional Women in Building Hawaii
Senior Designer, Pacific Source
After growing up around her family of building industry professionals, it seemed natural for Hinano Nahinu to gravitate towards supporting fellow builders through her own endeavors.
Aside from being a senior designer for Pacific Source, Nahinu also served as the 2024 Building Industry Association Hawaii (BIA Hawaii) president, and is now chair for Professional Women in Building Hawaii (PWB Hawaii) Council. She also has her own interior design company, Hinano Interiors LLC.
Nahinu was exposed early on to construction, often assisting her mother in prepping for open houses where she admired the various features and details of each home.
“I wanted to be the one that curated and made these spaces beautiful,” says Nahinu. “I think that inspired me.”
Nahinu knew she wanted to pursue a career in the building industry right after high school. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design and master of business administration, followed by positions with multiple home interior companies and uprooting her own business.
It wasn’t until her Aloha Chapter National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) presidential term ended in 2017 did Nahinu hear about BIA Hawaii after being urged to join by a friend.
“When you’re in a room with other people and you start feeling like, ‘okay, I need more influence on this group, like, I reached my capacity [at NKBA]’, and [BIA Hawaii] is still growing,” says Nahinu. “So I wanted a new room to sit in where I would be challenged, where other leaders were ahead of me in career, … in wisdom and all that, because I knew I needed mentors as a business owner.”
Because she found it challenging in her early career to gain respect as a young woman in the industry, hearing similar testimonies from other women in the field motivated Nahinu to establish a local PWB council. She traveled between Hawai‘i and Washington D.C. to train and speak with federal workforce officials before officially launching PWB Hawaii in June 2024.
Since then, PWB Hawaii has gained 35 new members and conducted various outreach initiatives to local unions, non-unions, contractors and other industry organizations, with sights set on exposing young and working women to PWB’s goals and benefits.
“If you need help … building up your business, you need help finding trades, you need your own personal-development-education-type seminars, that’s why we’re here,” Nahinu emphasizes. “We’re dipping into a lot of things, but the purpose of PWB is … to offer a space for women in this industry, to have a voice.”
To learn more, visit biahawaii.org/membership/#pwb.
Kelcie Yomen
Instructor, Ho‘ākeolapono Trades Academy & Institute
Developer, Nā Wahine Program
Co-Founder, HVAC Training and Certification Program
Lead HVAC & Refrigeration Technician, Walmart
Kaua‘i native Kelcie Yomen believes big dreams begin with local action. That’s what she’s accomplishing as developer and instructor for the Nā Wāhine program at the Ho‘ākeolapono Trades Academy & Institute.
Launched in 2022, the Nā Wāhine program hosts annual 12-week intensives where students learn all about the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) business and can sit for their EPA 608 test, giving them the opportunity to receive their 608 Technician certification. While Yomen is looking to eventually branch the program out to other islands and trades and offer year-round courses, the program is now only available in Kaua‘i and focuses mainly on Yomen’s specialty, HVAC, as she is currently the sole instructor.
“It is to get the basic knowledge that any company would want an apprentice to have when they come in, that you can be more than just a tool grabber, or more than just a lunch grabber or the coffee grabber,” says Yomen. “If you had to show up onsite, … you can actually be useful to that person.”
In the last cohort, all 10 girls received their universal EPA certification, with one of them joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union soon after.
Yomen found that in her early professional pursuits, education wasn’t tailored to women. She found it was easier for women to learn through explaining procedures in detail rather than just observing examples of work. Yomen decided to bridge that gap by creating the Nā Wāhine program.
“It’s not gender-specific, right? Like, electricity is the same whether it’s taught to a woman or a man, but the way maybe we understand it, … we learn with a lot of detail,” Yomen emphasizes. “So when you go to a class of predominantly men and the teacher teaches by just showing and women are like, ‘No, can you explain that?’ … The rules of the road don’t change, the vehicle you’re using might change.”
Aside from spearheading the Nā Wāhine program, Yomen works full-time as lead senior HVAC and refrigeration technician for Walmart, overseeing the entire chain across the islands.
Throughout her career, she’s noticed the biggest disparity for women in construction is feeling fully accepted and valued as an experienced tradesperson.
“It’s a struggle not because they’re jerks, but because they are not used to seeing women in the trades, and they’re not used to hearing all these technical words come out of a female’s mouth,” says Yomen. “I overcome it by not taking anything personally. … I just … hear the message without any of the unintended disrespect, and that has helped me move through this industry very quickly.”
Yomen hopes to see more women working out on the field and achieving journeyman status in the future. As for the Nā Wāhine program, with much more expressed interest from all the islands, she is now looking to partner with more education and advocacy organizations to expand faculty and possibly offer hybrid courses.
To learn more or apply, visit hoakeolapono.org/na-wahine-program/.
Marla Musick
Director of MBDA Capital Readiness Program, YWCA O‘ahu
Some of Hawai‘i’s best allies for the construction industry are not a part of the industry at all. Such is the case for Marla Musick, director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Capital Readiness Program based out of the YWCA O‘ahu.
The MBDA Capital Readiness Program focuses on established and newer businesses looking to tighten their financial operations while gaining support through mentors and fellow entrepreneurs. The program erupted approximately one-and-a-half years ago after receiving a four-year capital grant, making the program free for applicants.
“We shaped our program around any industry, … really organizing and growing their understanding of their financials and deploying for business planning, no exception for women in construction,” says Musick. “As they grow, they will have access to capital, i.e., bonding, so their ability to set themselves up to do that as they grow their business is essential to the industry itself.”
What sets the Capital Readiness Program apart from other consulting services is its attention to every aspect of maintaining a business, whether it be management challenges or mental blocks.
“What we see is women coming to the YWCA for the unique challenges of … being a woman in a typically male-dominated field, because they know this is a safe space to coordinate with other women in business, to learn with … the right support and environment,” Musick notes.
Many of the women-owned construction businesses that seek the program are in that “hurdle of that five- to three-year plus zone,” Musick says, where they are ready to expand and start bidding on larger projects but need to tighten their finances and access greater resources. However, businesses of all sizes and ages have grown within the program, with some starting from a home operation and finishing with commercial office space and others doubling their revenue.
Musick has deep ties to the YWCA O‘ahu, taking ballet and swim classes there during her childhood and constantly referring back to its resources for women throughout her adulthood. When she discovered the Enterprising Women of Color Business Center during COVID-19, she jumped at the opportunity to help with business management, administration and fundraising, later becoming director of the MBDA Capital Readiness Program.
“For me, the reward 100 percent is working with women themselves and then hearing some relief … when they have a better understanding … of what they’re doing and they don’t feel scared,” says Musick. “It’s just the money mindset — improving the money mindset — because it’s an essential building block to entrepreneurial success.”
The MBDA Capital Readiness Program is available year-round. Applicants will be admitted based on availability.
To learn more or apply, visit crp-hawaii.org.
