by Mark Antonation

Like so many couples in the hospitality industry, Joshua and Kristy Bottini met at a restaurant. It was 2019 at Maine Shack in the LoHi neighborhood in Denver; he was the operations director who “ran the entire show,” she was the operations manager. From then on, their personal and professional lives intertwined to the point that they went from sharing similar work schedules to co-founding their own restaurant consulting business, Battle Born + Co.

After Maine Shack and the pandemic, Josh and Kristy launched Battle Born + Co to “supply that missing link between people who have the dream to open their own restaurant and the operations side,” as Kristy puts it. “We cater to the specific needs of the owner and acclimate to what they’re trying to do.”

Kristy and Joshua Bottini, co-founders of Battle Born + Co

The Bottinis prefer to work with local, independent operators, the ones who fall into the “mom-and-pop” category. They help business owners with everything from startup and expansion to streamlining and modernizing operations. They even helped Denver’s iconic My Brother’s Bar go from cash-only to utilizing a state-of-the-art POS system. Josh also owns and operates multiple food and beverage concepts under the Hall & Worth brand at Empower Field at Mile High and Coors Field, where he has given the team a stake in the ownership.

The couple tied the knot in Hawaii in 2024; they had been planning an October wedding in Nashville, but were staying with a friend in Maui in May and decided that it was the perfect time and place. “We said to each other that this feels so right, so let’s get married right here,” Kristy recalls.

It turned out to be a smart decision because it gave them an extra four months as a married couple before the terrible news struck: After suffering grand mal seizures in December 2024, Josh was diagnosed with a rare form of brain tumor, called an oligodendroglioma. Three days post diagnosis, Josh was in surgery, where surgeons removed 99 percent of the malignant tumor. Josh temporarily lost function in the left side of his body, but is slowly regaining movement and, while walking with a cane, is so dedicated that he steps onto the line whenever he can.

Joshua Bottini, co-founder of Battle Born + Co, is facing brain cancer.

He’s also undergone radiation and is beginning chemotherapy. Nevertheless, Josh finds the energy to work and support the industry in his role as board member for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association (CRA). “I’m not the kind of individual who likes to take time off,” he explains.

Still, Josh understands the importance of healthcare and maintaining balance, especially in the restaurant industry. “I became involved with the CRA because of my interest in advocating for small businesses and interacting with restaurateurs, and [understanding] how legislation impacts our business,” he says.

“We’ve built a lot of friendships with people in the community,” Kristy adds.

Josh also wants people in the industry to be more aware of their health, their employees’ health, and the threat of exhaustion, knowing that workers may take pride in long shifts and hard work but often lack adequate healthcare coverage to have regular checkups and preventative care as part of their routines. “Check your health,” he advises. “Don’t confuse physical exhaustion or pain with long-term health problems.”

While the Bottinis do have healthcare coverage, the ongoing cost of cancer treatment and its impact on fertility, which is leading to their exploration of IVF and fertility storage, quickly adds up. A friend of Josh and Kristy’s started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover life expenses while Josh begins a seven-month chemo regimen.

Click here if you are interested in helping out.

Mark Antonation is the food editor at 5280 Magazine, Denver’s award-winning city magazine.