Meet Leah and William Hotop | Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leah and William Hotop and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leah and William, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Our measure of success is our ability to impact our community in a positive way. A coffee shop is a meeting place where people share their ideas, dreams, struggles and spend time with others. If we can be that place for them and they encourage others to join them then our goal is met and the rest follows. That being said there are many factors that go into being that place for people like a quality product, a comfortable atmosphere, and a friendly staff. In the few months we have been open, we have had the opportunity to do life with people from all different backgrounds that come in to get coffee. We have helped plan engagements, consoled people through break ups, supported the family of deployed soldiers, made meals for surgery recovery, hosted baby showers, revised resumes for job interviews, met newborn babies, connected entrepreneurs, promoted local businesses and creators, collected meals for families in need for Thanksgiving, and so much more. Our desire for a profitable business is directly tied to our desire to be abundantly generous.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We decided to start our own business because we wanted a space to impact change in the community we grew up in. You can get a cup of coffee from just about any street corner nowadays, but there are very few places you can go to be seen as a part of the community. The coffee shop that we worked in through college was that place for us. It was where we celebrated birthdays, graduations, going aways and home comings, and it was the place where we got engaged. As a place it was very important to the both of us and through that we realized the impact those special places can have on a community. We have both worked the spectrum of jobs, from bank teller to hot air balloon crew, to leading platoons across Iraq, to managing the office of a multi-million dollar coffee roasting operation. These jobs taught the importance of hard work, goal setting, and the power of a good team. As we grow we want to foster these values through the Dynamo family, on both sides of the counter.

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.
Activities: The Penny Arcade, especially the horse racing. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The Olympic Museum. Skate in the Park (in the winter time in Acacia Park). Pioneer Museum. 3E’s Comedy Club. The Cog Railway.

Hikes: Palmer Park, Red Rocks Open Space, Red Mountain, Cheyenne Canyon. Garden of the Gods.

Food and Drink: Kawa Coffee. FH Beerworks/1231 Craft Kitchen. Axe and the Oak. Streetcar 520. Hold Fast Coffee. Josh and John’s. The Rabbit Hole.

Shopping: Yobel. 505 Trolley. The Leech Pit. Eclectic CO,

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would not be where we are today without the support of other small businesses that have supported us on our journey to business ownership. We owe our love of coffee and understanding of the role of small business in community to Kawa Coffee. They showed us the importance of quality products and loving people well. North Pole Coffee (an Alaskan company) showed us the ropes of roasting and generosity. Hold Fast Coffee has brought us incredible coffee and encouragement while we wait for the paperwork to go through for our own roaster installation. The owners of FH Beerworks always provide wonderful advice. And there are so many others like 505 Trolley, Yobel, Colorado Custom, and Care and Share to name just a few. We have also received great guidance from books like ‘Staying is the New Going’ by Alistair Begg (a Colorado Springs author) and Profit First by Mike Michalowicz.

Website: www.dynamocoffeeroasting.com

Instagram: @dynamocoffeeroasting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dynamocoffeeco/

Yelp: https://yelp.to/tfnbgl7a1lb