Kamohai & Tristyn Kalama Nearly Missed Their Shot At HGTV Stardom

The HGTV series "Renovation Aloha" premiered in February 2024, introducing Hawaiian hosts Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama as a house flipping duo. The series sees the couple undergoing renovations on the picturesque Hawaiian island of Oahu, with Kamohai serving as the real estate expert while Tristyn exercises her design skills. The Kalamas, who have an adorable family, have become quick HGTV hits, but the house flippers almost missed their shot at stardom.

"I thought it was a scam, dude," Tristyn told TV Insider about the opportunity. "I was like I don't know. Is this real? I didn't respond to the message for a while. It was never part of the plan." Kamohai chimed in with his own perspective on their discovery. "Coming into this we had zero expectations," he explained. "We owned and operated a business, but it was never our goal or our vision board to be on a TV show. This fell into our laps." While they initially thought their HGTV opportunity was a scam, we know that it turned out to be so much more than that.

In addition to Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama sharing how they met, opening up about their troubled pasts, the renovating couple has also talked about how they landed their HGTV gig. When the duo, who had already established themselves as house flippers, didn't respond to the initial TV show inquiry, the network continued to search for a Hawaiian-based reno team. "They're still trying to source what they call talent, because they're in the developmental stage of trying to create a show here in Hawaii about real estate here," Tristyn explained on the "Founder's Club" podcast. "They were specifically looking for a husband and wife team that does volume and so all of our friends are like, 'Oh, you got to reach out to Kamohai and Tristyn.'"

Given the referrals and encouragement from their friends and community, the Kalamas decided to respond to the emails they received to learn more about the opportunity. "One thing led to another," the designer continued. "One Zoom [call] led to more Zooms, which led to a sizzle reel, which led to an act one, which led to a pilot. I'm probably leaving a step out in there, but it's a two year long process of being greenlit to actually film a season." Kamohai and Tristyn explained that they had to consider the opportunity carefully, emphasizing that they were typically private people, but they ultimately decided to take the chance. "If the end goal was impact and how we can grow our business, then the show was the right move for us," Tristyn said.