Meet the cowgirls! Legend has it that two revolutionary ladies — Amy Kirkpatrick and the belated Deanna Leibl — decided to chase a culinary dream cross country to the mountains of Colorado. Amy got her start as part of the pastry arts program at Escoffier’s Culinary School in Boulder, while Deanna harnessed her creative nature by designing wedding cakes in Aspen.
Looking to join forces and blaze a new trail, the persevering pair set their sights on popcorn. It certainly seemed like a legit base for a business to Iowa-born Amy, who remembers practically eating popcorn as a meal growing up, while watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom!
And so, the cowgirls set out to become experts in their field, learning the intricacies of popping corn from Native Americans, and touring through Hershey’s Pennsylvania factory. Because not only is the brand emblematic of their rugged, unstoppable attitude, it represents their haute, epicurean nature, through mix-ins and toppings such as Guittard dark chocolate, sriracha-infused caramel, and hand-harvested fleur de sel.
Amy and Deanna founded Too Haute Cowgirls as a way to take charge of their lives, destinies, and careers, and are determined to use it as a vehicle to empower other women and girls. In order to break down barriers concerning employment and education, Amy continues to support nonprofits that provide job training, skill-building, opportunities and services, through financial gifts, board membership, and volunteerism.
It’s a way to treat people with kindness, by treating them with popcorn.