When Lesley Texeira and Tamika Cabiles decided to start Aloha Missions, they were each at a crossroads in their life. Lesley had returned from a job on the mainland and Tamika was back on Maui after caring for her tūtū on Molokai. Both graduates from Baldwin High, they brainstormed together on the type of work they wanted to do, and more meaningfully, how they wanted to do it. They asked themselves, “What are we good at? What resonates with us? How do we fold in the community around us?” Ever evolving, their work is not dissimilar to other services on the island. What makes them unique is their guiding principle—a foundation built around aloha leaving people and places better than you find them. Tamika says it succinctly, “Sharing that Aloha is our mission.”
Aloha is a term that often gets overused, but Lesley and Tamika bleed with authenticity in their gracious personalities and thoughtful care put into each Aloha Mission. Projects can range from lei making with your best friends, styling a companies’ event decor, cleaning a taro patch, self-love ceremonies or creating vision boards. Growing up on Maui also gives them an edge on knowing just about everyone. Lesley shares, “We are so grateful to have many connections within our community of skilled individuals.”
Working with each other’s strengths, the two bring their own superpowers to the table. Lesley says, “We are so lucky to be a duo! We leave events with people inviting Tamika to their personal family parties. She connects to people on a level that is the epitome of what aloha really is.” Tamika chimes in, “Les has skills I dream of having. She holds our business together making sure their are no loose ends and everything is aligned properly and efficiently. I aspire to be just like her.”
Both welcomed daughters in recent years and aloha missions has turned into to mama missions. They are learning every day from their minis about patience, letting go, forgiveness, and more, which of course, impacts their work. Lesley shares, “Becoming mamas has really opened our hearts to creating more keiki missions. Our daughters inspire us everyday and we would love to create missions that would inspire these children in anyway possible. We would love to be able to create these missions that would leave them and the places we visit better.”
To learn more about Lesley and Tamika, visit alohamissions.com.
