As an entrepreneur myself, I’m always excited when I see other entrepreneurs expanding; taking chances, growing. Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneurs are Aiden and Wyatt Booth, two brothers who started the locally sourced and socially sustainable fast-casual restaurant Hopscotch out of London, Ontario and are now doing their thing right here in Toronto. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I’m into healthy, chef-driven, locally sourced food so I thank the Booth brothers for bringing this to Toronto.
We caught up with them to find out what inspires them and what advice they would share with other young professionals…
– Julian Brass, founder, Notable
WORK
1. Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
Hopscotch is a fast-casual restaurant offering chef-inspired dishes using fresh, sustainable ingredients from local farmers when possible.
2. What was the inspiration for your career route?
We were inspired by the belief that we could get more from our food. We started as young students with busy schedules and a passion for health-conscious food that could actually taste delicious. It was important for us to be able to share the story of our offerings – where the ingredients came from, how the recipes were crafted, how the packaging was manufactured, and how your dollar was giving back in more ways than one.
3. What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
It would be impossible for us to pick just one memorable milestone in our careers. There have been many moments, such as working with one of the best chefs in the world or securing our first (might we add, highly coveted) location in downtown Toronto that made us feel like people believed in us and what we had to offer.
4. Where do you see yourself in five years, 10 years, 20 years?
We both share such similar drive and goals, we intend to continue growing the business as fast as possible without compromising the quality or soul of our brand. We intend to open more locations to reach customers outside of Ontario, and then eventually the United States. We strive every day to enhance our brand to satisfy our customers anywhere we go.
5. Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
The relationship between work and success is not direct. Some people think that if you work hard, you will instantly become successful but that is not the case. The relationship is that if you don’t work hard, you can’t be successful – and that’s a big difference. You will work extremely hard, and at times you will fail, but it’s those moments of adversity you must overcome in order to reach your goal. Our advice is that you stay enthusiastic through it all and always have faith in yourself.
6. Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
We certainly do. With us, we are committed to working with local schools in every community we become a part of. Currently, our opening day proceeds go to a local school in the particular neighbourhood we open in. We also make the effort of putting the time in with the school to educate students about food. They are our future; we want them to grow up knowing more than we did so they can enjoy the benefits of better food and have more knowledge of the food industry.
7. What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
One of the greatest challenges we are constantly faced with is being taken seriously as young professionals. We are 24 and 22, not exactly savvy veterans quite yet. We always deal with people questioning our abilities and knowledge, simply because of our age. We strive to work diligently, offer an excellent product, create a fun brand, and typically if we prove those things then no one will question our ability to get the job done.
8. What does the word notable mean to you?
Notable to us means recognition. Real recognize real.
PLAY
1. Where is your favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
Besides Hopscotch? Hmm… Richmond Station in downtown Toronto… for no particular reason.
2. What’s the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
Google. We play everything pretty evenly, we are both just big fans of hip-hop.
3. Who’s one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
4. What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
We haven’t traveled too far, only into the United States. We both love Florida and California. The weather is obviously a fantastic reason, but we love the cultures in the cities we visit there – we find it motivating. Unfortunately, we have little time for a lengthy trip, but once we can find the time we really want to explore Europe.
5. What gives you the greatest FOMO?
For us both, and as many young professionals, we have had to miss so many fun events with our friends and family because we were working.
6. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Wyatt – Kraft Dinner
Aiden – Pumpkin Spice Latte
7. What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on? What’s something you wish you spent more on?
We both spend too much money on our cars and too little on travel. We want to change that.
8. And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
Success to us is sacrifice. To always give our best efforts so that we can know we made a difference.