Throughout Max Yarawamai’s career, he has created oases of beauty and bounty. His trademark is using what grows naturally, sourcing native plants through personal connections. From meeting the local community's needs to executing the most visionary and expansive projects, Max has become the go-to landscaper across the Hawaiian islands.
Born on the tiny Federai island on Ulithi atoll in Micronesia, Max grew up in a close-knit community. As the chief's son, he learned from a young age to be resourceful. “My island is like two miles long,” Max explains. “Everybody wants to go out and look at the shoreline early in the morning to see what’s gonna float up. You have to find a use for everything.”
Max’s island upbringing gave him a gritty resourcefulness and a desire to use everything offered to him to its fullest. It also taught him that life is about people, and while it’s clear he has earned every bit of his success, he credits the relationships in his story for getting him to where he is today.
Opportunity first came in the form of a visiting Peace Corps doctor, who saw great potential in 13-year-old Max and offered to bring him to the U.S. for private schooling. In 1974, with little more than a spirit of adventure and hope, Max arrived as an exchange student at HPA in Waimea. “I was just an island kid. I couldn’t speak English. Everything was different, everything was new. I cried every day that first year,” Max recalls. But with the help of the school staff, he persevered and graduated.
Max’s introduction to landscaping came shortly after high school on Oʻahu, where he began working for a local landscaping company. “I was working three jobs, so I could get enough money to get married,” Max laughs.
Another opportunity arose when a kind friend — a firefighter — let Max use his credit card to buy equipment and start on his own. The business quickly grew.
Max was eventually hired to manage a flower farm at Kahua Ranch on the Big Island. “They sent me to Colorado to learn how to grow carnations,” he says. He and his wife Cynthia moved with their two young daughters, Ana & Mikela back to Waimea. Meanwhile, Max commuted weekly to Honolulu to maintain his landscaping contracts. “I’d fly to Honolulu, work there, then come home on the weekend. It was a hard life with a young family.”
One more big break was about to happen. “It was around this time I met Mike Swanson — coming out of church,” Max shares. Mike told Max about a new development project that needed a landscaper. “I said I’d love to come down because I was tired of flying back and forth to Honolulu!” That project was the Hualālai Resort, and the contract marked Max’s first big break in the landscaping world.
Since then, Max’s company, RMG Pacific, which he co-founded with his good friend Reed Kishinami, has been involved in some of Hawaiʻi’s most significant creative projects, including the Mauna Kea Resort, Kohala Ranch, and Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island, as well as other marvels like Makena Resort on Maui.
One standout RMG project was Kūkiʻo, the exclusive subdivision on the Big Island. Entering the resort feels like stepping into paradise. Mature trees and vibrant foliage seamlessly blend with native lava rock, while verdant plants thrive throughout.
Max explains his creative process: “Sometimes you have to adapt the architect’s vision to what will work in Hawaiʻi,” he shares. Using local plants that thrive in the climate is crucial, as is selecting those that require minimal water or can survive with brackish irrigation. Collaboration is essential, according to Max. “When we all work together, we come up with a better thing that the owner will like: it’s less expensive, uses less water, all that stuff.”
When Disney set out to build the Aulani Resort on Oʻahu, they turned to RMG. Max’s extensive network across the islands was key to securing the contract. “I think I got the job because I was upfront about where I’d source the plants — from Kauai, Maui, Waimanalo, and even a neighboring golf course that was removing a few hundred trees!” He recalls coordinating the massive tree-moving operation: “I brought in two huge cranes — one on one side of the road, the other crane on the other side.”
Max fondly reflects on the nearly three years spent working with Disney’s Imagineers, and the company’s lead landscape architect, Jeff Morosky. “I’d bring in the perfect tree, suspend it in the air with a crane, and Jeff would look at it this way, then that way, to find the perfect placement angle.” Their collaboration turned into a friendship. “He retired, but I still keep in touch with him.” Aulani now stands as a flagship in the Disney brand, a testament to Max’s ingenuity and his team's tireless efforts.
Max’s story reflects the essence of what it means to be human. Through grit, deep friendships, and a profound connection to the land, Max and his team create Eden. Transforming wilderness into beauty, they have crafted some of the most remarkable spaces in Hawaiʻi. “When you’re in the right environment, with the right people and the right vibe — that’s when you get the feeling that we are going to figure it out together,” Max reflects.
His journey serves as a signpost for us all. With hard work, collaboration, vision, and some opportunity, you too, can turn the wilderness into a garden, a desert into a home.
To connect with Max, visit RMGPacific.com.
“I was just an island kid. I couldn’t speak English. Everything was different, everything was new. I cried every day that first year.” — Max Yarawamai.
“When we all work together, we come up with a better thing that the owner will like…” — Max Yarawamai.