I’m a millennial pastor in Hawaii who started renting out my car to pay for diapers. I made $3 million last year.
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Anwar Ali, a pastor in Hawaii, turned his one-time car rental business on Turo into a seven-figure business.
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Ali grew from one car to 213 cars in 2014, with revenues of $2.95 million in 2025.
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Ali said he no longer works in operations and can focus on his family and church.
This is an as-told article based on an interview with Anwar Ali, 38, pastor of the Kauai Baptist Church and owner of Ali’i Rental Cars. Cars on Turo. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2014, I was a youth pastor at a local church on Kauai and had no assets. In Hawaii, I was living in low-income housing because I was below the poverty line.
My wife and I wanted a big family and that’s what we wanted. Buying a house in Hawaii. Some side hustles are where you trade your time for money. I wanted to reach a point where I could grow the business while continuing my ministry duty.
I was using something budgeting toolI saw an ad on Mint for Relay Rides (then Turo) saying you could rent your second vehicle and make some money. I listed my only vehicle, a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo, and thought: “Who would want to touch this 16-year-old vehicle with a 10-foot pole?”
I woke up the next morning and had a $200 reservation. I literally ran to the garage, vacuumed the car, cleaned the sand and our surfboards, and took it to the airport. And they paid me. It was strange. It was like magic.
I currently own 213 cars and have $2.95 million in revenue from car rentals in 2025. I have 10 employees and I no longer work in operations.
Within two months of leasing my car, I purchased another 2004 Honda Element. people love these on Kauai Because this is the best surf buggy. I bought it for $3,500 and within three days it was booked for two weeks.
I wanted to keep scaling. I started looking closely at car prices online and where the demand was. I was one of the oldest Turo hosts on the island, so I had to do a lot of research. I learned Jeep Brawlers It was the most sought-after car in Hawaii. At the time, you could buy them for about $36,000, get a $600 monthly loan, and rent them for $1,500 a month. I got my first loan in 2016 and owned 12 cars.
I was finally almost working Full time at Turo — cleaning cars, checking in guests, and handling customer issues. I hired my first employee in 2018. The pandemic happened and I was able to store my cars. When travel came back in 2021, we were doing gangster work. We leased commercial property, grew to six employees and over 100 vehicles.
