Meet Ben Dozier | Creative Designer & Proprietor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Dozier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Adventuring into the wilderness, journeying through the valleys, wandering to the edge and peering over the cliffs to the unknown… that’s where life lives. It’s in our convenient comforts that we find our limitations, but trusting that tug, feeling the pull and taking the jump, sometimes into that unknown, is where we find life’s greatest discoveries. Whether in the work field or play field and far beyond, I am all to familiar with the unfamiliar and experienced risk beyond my comforts. I was my fathers first born, my mothers second and the middle kid in the family I was raised in, to living in 19 homes in my first 18 years, married to my lifelong sweetheart at only 22 to build a foundation that will stand longer than our families before us, to starting a multi-million design company with only a degree in recreation to restoring a small mountain town coffee shop to 5X its 10 year value. We believe, in life and in work you have to take risk. Whether cantilevering a glass lap pool over a cliff or relocating your big city downtown c-suite firm to a barn down by the river in the Rocky Mountains, or randomly filming a network television series called Building Roots on HGTV for 4 years with millions of viewers… risk is where reward lives. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll be what you’ve always been. You have to become familiar with discomfort, welcoming the inconveniences and believing in the journey to reveal your life’s greatest return. In life, marriage, work, career, kids, sometimes in that order, risk is worth the adventure. But know your non-negotiable, find your purpose, live with mission. For us, it’s not only about what we build, but who we build up. Owning and operating multiple multi-million dollars companies all from a small mountain town in southern Colorado while pursuing your dreams, believing in people and chasing your passions into the unknown, is more often than not, nothing but reward. Learn through the lessons, live in the moments, and trust… for how much more will He provide for the lilies of the field and do far more than you can ever imagine. This is Root.

What should our readers know about your business?
Root Design Company is an architecture, construction management and consulting business that was founded 20 years ago in Austin, Texas by Ben and Cristi Dozier. Since then, we have relocated our headquarters to the small southern mountain town of Pagosa Springs. With nothing but a recreation degree and mission, we quickly became one of Inc Magazines top 5000 fastest growing private companies in North America. From A-List celebrities to family and friends with the ranches and camps, our greatest compliment is that no 2 projects looks alike. I mean, if you want something that has been done before, use that right? Our firm quickly grew from landscape and some world renowned swimming pools to full scale architectural and interior projects featured in almost every major publication. A few years ago, as our firm was refocusing on remote second home projects for private families, we entertained an offer to take our show on the road. And we did… HGTV filmed 2 seasons of Building Roots with 20 plus million viewers, following our motley crew of designers and craftsmen, in the remote San Juan Mountains of Colorado while we restored homes and fulfilled family dreams simply to tell a better. Remember, it’s not just about what we build, but who we build up. Since then, we find ourselves this past year designing all across the country, and building some of the most story-filled projects we have ever experienced in our 20 years. And of course, all of this fueled by our coffee shop, Root House. Every great adventure starts with a conversation, and preferably over coffee we say. And so one of our favorite adventures was restoring a quiet coffee shop in the heart of town to what some may call the “Unofficial City Hall” of southern Colorado. We do enjoy a good story after a great adventure and often over coffee. Our businesses continue grow at incredible rates, but not without their own stories. We are relationship based, performance driven company the believes in people over profit, and that comes with some risk. We believe in our hardest trials is where we find our greatest strengths. Operating in multiple industries in multiple states with our family and friends is no easy feat. Design can be relative, construction is messy, and the food and beverage industry is slim margins, but people with passion that serve a purpose and then given a platform, simply put, anything is possible. So we continue to commit 1% of all our companies revenues to our non-profit JoyCrow, where we give and share locally and abroad with those who root for each other. This is our companies core value and a movement we hope will stand long after us. #rootforeachother

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Our little town is a sleeping secret that is slowly being discovered… and long before we got here.
Welcoming friends and family is one of greatest joys in this town where we fuel our love for southern roots and fulfill our dreams of a mountain soul. Often times, our day, welcomed with friends and family will look like this…
Breakfast and coffee from our very own back alley, speak easy, riverside coffee shop and bakery called Root House. This just down river from our house along the beautiful San Juan River. Then perhaps a quick soak at the world famous healing waters of the Pagosa Hot Springs Resort, just across the bridge from the coffee shop. Whether it’s ski season up at Wolf Creek, the most snow in Colorado, or a summer time fly fishing session on the San Juan, we’re never short an adventure. Lunch is always at our favorite hole-in-the-wall taco bar called Kips, where everyone knows your name. And our favorite watering hole of course is the speak easy Neon Mallard, often a company debriefing spot at the end of the day. And we’ll likely either find ourselves at the Meander Eatery, a farm to table experience we can’t get enough of and recognized as one of the top 50 restaurants in America or another favorite of ours, owned by some dear friends, the historic Alley House restaurant. One of the many reasons we love this community is for the creativity and variety so many bring to this town, from all the food and beverage options, the arts and adventures, I don’t think we’ll ever fully experience its abundant resources of adventure and fun. Here, we sometimes call it “Pagoslow,” a way of life, where there is room for margin, where time and space often stand still and all that you can feel around you in the authentic nature of its natural beauty. And more often than not, to be honest, you’ll find us sitting on our back porch with friends and family, nestled along the banks of the San Juan River, reliving some of life’s greatest stories from that day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Family. You got to recognize family, whether good or bad, they are a gift from God and your family forms you, molds you and transforms you. My family inspires me everyday. From my 4 kids, spread out between 12 times zones motivating me daily through their lives of adventure and dreaming to my wife believing in our dreams, give credit where credit started. And hey, family isn’t always who you are appointed to, it’s who you point to sometimes. And to those on this journey with us at Root that we call family, no one does it alone, we do it together, as family.

Website: www.rootdesigncompany.com, www.roothouseco.com

Instagram: @bendozier @cristidozier @rootdesignco @roothouseco

Image Credits
Jon Cahill of Jon Cahill Photo and Kayle Hockett of Wild Dawn Photography