Village at Castle Pines resident Johana (Jo) Brinkerhoff is part of a powerhouse duo at Brinkerhoff Hospitality, a name which may be familiar given that they created The Brinkerhoff and Savina’s Mexican Kitchen in Castle Rock (renamed from La Loma last year), as well as Sierra in Lone Tree and Bar Hummingbird in Castle Rock, which opened in March.

Jo was born in Morita, Chihuahua, Mexico, living in an 800-square-foot adobe house with dirt floors, no electricity and no running water. The family was dairy and pecan farmers. Jo’s mom, Norma, a single mom at age 19, lived with her parents and five siblings after Jo was born. Norma worked and went to school to become an English teacher. When Jo was 8 years old, she and her mom were able to come to America.

Jo grew up in Colorado and graduated from Brighton High School. She played softball and soccer, and business and journalism became her passions. She received a full-ride journalism scholarship to Colorado Mesa University, majoring in mass communications, followed by an extensive career in marketing and events management. “Being the first person in my family to go to college was a huge deal,” she said.

Jo met her husband, Mark, “over a barrel of tequila,” she quipped. Jo was working for multinational beverage leader Diageo, trying to better market their premium brand tequila. Mark was working in the restaurant industry with his father and had the vision to create a barrel-aged tequila program for the original La Loma restaurant in Denver.

“As we worked side by side, we got to know each other,” said Jo. “When the project wrapped, he asked me out.” Today, those barrels hang in each of their restaurants as a testament to how it all began.

Family is very important to Jo, and when it came time to start her own, she and Mark found success in her roots. The couple traveled to Mexico for Jo’s 40th birthday at the advice of a friend to participate in a “hummingbird ceremony.” In Mexican culture, the hummingbird is a symbol of fertility, vitality and life, and the ceremony––which is performed by a shaman––is intended to help with fertility. Jo laughed, “Mark doesn’t usually go along with this kind of thing, but he was all in. Thirty days later I was pregnant.”

Balancing her career, motherhood and building two new restaurants was a challenge according to Jo. “Since people know the Brinkerhoff name, some assume that we were given these restaurants,” she said. “The truth is we worked hard to develop our own family business. We wanted it to have meaning, to tell a story, to have a bigger purpose and to be very intentional,” she said.

The couple knew the new bar had to be named for the hummingbird that was so pivotal in their lives. “It was the beginning of motherhood for me and the beginning of a new legacy.”

Jo was involved with the conception and creation of both the restaurant and the bar, with many elements that traced back to her Mexican heritage––like décor that was sourced from Guadalajara, where the couple curated custom Mexican furniture and Cantera stonework with local artisans. Jo painstakingly hung every crystal of the two,10-foot chandeliers at Bar Hummingbird. “It has been my dream, my vision, and my desire.”

Happy to be a grandma, Norma retired last year from teaching in order to help with Jo and Mark’s 3-year-old son, Os, whose name is inspired by an author that couple knows, Os Guinness. “Perseverance is such a reflection of my life,” said Jo. “I want my son to learn about helping and building with care to make a dream come true.”

 

 

 

By Kathy Fallert; photos courtesy of Jo Brinkerhoff