Interviews | Lava

Hotshot #16 “I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. My family was really into horseback riding and we owned a few horses, so that’s what kept us there. We’d always say, “We don’t want to move the g...

Hotshot #15 “I was born and lived in Bogota, Colombia until I was 8, when my family moved to New Jersey and then Indiana shortly thereafter. My junior year of High School was spent in Joigny, Franc...

Hotshot #14 “I always say I just discovered playing the piano. One day I sat down and had these songs in my head and just started playing, figuring it out by listening. I grew up shy about the whol...

Hotshot #13 “I’ve always been a reader. When we were little, my mom would read Harry Potter out loud to us while we sat around her. And my dad would read Where the Wild Things Are to me all the tim...

Hotshot #12 ”In 2012, my family moved to London, but I stayed to go to Elmhurst College. I went to school for theatre and Spanish education, with a minor in dance. I quickly realized that I needed ...

Hotshot #11 “My grandma was always wearing hats and I adored it. When she passed away, it was something that reminded me of her. I grew up in Slovenia and moved around Europe after college. Eventua...

Hotshot #10 “I was born West of Chicago, but grew up in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In 2007, I moved to China because my dad’s company asked him to help set-up a plant in Shanghai. When 2008 hit, th...

Hotshot #9 “When I was little, I used to find things around the house to sell and I would set up a lemonade stand on my street. There was a lot of construction going on, so I would tell the constru...

Hotshot #8 “I grew up in the southwest suburbs, Lisle. Me and my two best girlfriends, we started a little girlband when we were younger and did all the talent shows, sang the national anthem, and ...

Hotshot #7 “I’m from Long Island originally, a town called Sag Harbor. I moved to Rhode Island for college and then to New York were I lived the past 6 years. Having half my family from NYC and bei...

Hotshot #6 “Coming from a small town in Switzerland, this is the big city life, everything you could ever hope or wish for. You have way more culture here than almost anywhere in the country. It’s ...

Hotshot #5 “I actually wanted to move to Singapore, but as life would have it, I moved to Chicago and now I love it here. I’ve always seen myself as a very creative person. My father was a photogra...

Hotshot #4 “Two days after my senior showcase, I got an email inviting me to audition for Hamilton. Crazy thing is, the morning of my audition, my car got towed with my resume, my headshot and my b...

Hotshot #3 “I’ve always had dreams of grandeur, which brought me to Chicago after graduating college. Being creative and artistic led me to focus on three main pursuits: acting, writing, and bloggi...

Hotshot #2 “Instagram and blogging started off as a passion project. It was a creative outlet. I had developed a general interest in fashion at Indiana University, where I was involved in the appar...

Hotshot #1 “I’ve been working on the Lava Coffee Club platform for the better part of a year now. It all started with the observation that “fine coffee is the new fine wine”. But beyond the beans, ...