Seven Most Eligible Young Professionals in Denver According to Hinge

Last November, we introduced you to Hinge, a new dating app, via its picks for Denver's best neighborhoods for dating and more.

Now, Hinge has come up with a list of the most eligible young professionals across the country.

In Denver, seven people made the cut. — five men and two women, including Sara Johnstone, seen above.

Below, see Hinge photos and profiles of the top seven, complete with rankings and links to the site.

#10 JASON LEWIS

START-UP & SMALL BUSINESS

Work: President and Managing Broker at Ecospace, a Denver based Commercial Real Estate Firm
Education: BA, University of Kansas; MBA, University of Missouri - Kansas City; Executive Education Program, Harvard Business School
Hometown: Anthony, KS
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 123 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
My first Tinder date, which was expectedly terrible. We grabbed a drink at a nice restaurant and I quickly learned that the girl hadn't been up before 8 am in years and basically hates life. I politely went to pay the tab after our first round of drinks, whereupon she loudly called me out on wanting to leave early and made a huge scene as we left.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
I started working at 14 and my work ethic never stopped. For close to 20 years, I've chosen to put my head down and to take small steady steps toward success, always learning and growing along the way. Today I have two successful companies that will allow me to have financial security for my future family, and will allow me to grow my philanthropic endeavors.


#16: OLIVIA WAGNER

MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Work: Assistant Marketing Manager, Boulder Brands
Education: BA, University of Maryland
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 226 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
When I was a vegan it was incredibly difficult to stealthily order a vegan meal while not alienating my non-vegan date. It turns out honesty is much easier than "I'll have the cobb salad, but hold the chicken, bacon, cheese, eggs and dressing, thanks!"... So I'll just have the lettuce.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
My college soccer career at the University of Maryland. In my four seasons we played in two ACC championships, made it to four NCAA championships, two sweet-sixteens, and were ranked as high as #2 in the country for division 1, and I was Captain of the team my senior season. Go Terps!

#16: SARA JOHNSTONE

START-UP & SMALL BUSINESS

Work: Owner, HTSB Consulting, Owner; Strategic Partnerships, Boutique Homes
Education: BS, University of Southern California
Hometown: Denver, CO
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 251 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
Going on a date with someone I had already met from Tinder.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
Starting my own business. 


#17: BRETT ORR

MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Work: Sr. Account Executive at Insight Global; Sr. Account Coordinator at Microsoft
Education: BA, University Of Nebraska At Kearney
Hometown: Denver, CO
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 133 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse, but fortunately, it takes a lot to embarrass me, so I haven't had any really bad date moments. That said, I once took a girl to dinner who sent her food back 3 separate times. More than embarrassed, I felt bad for our waiter — I made sure he received a great tip and we shared a quick laugh about it when she was in the bathroom.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
The thing that I cherish the most is founding a brand new office for Insight Global in Minneapolis. I started the office with 6 other people, and grew the workforce to 52 people. We climbed the rankings to be ranked #13 in the country out of 38 and received an award for the greatest office growth in a 6-month period.

#19: SAVINAY CHANDRASEKHAR

NON-PROFIT & EDUCATION

Work: President at Minds Matter of Denver; Founder at Focusedesign
Education: BS, University of Pennsylvania; MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management; MEd (Educational Leadership), The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems
Hometown: Denver, CO
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 179 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
I’m pretty selective in whom I ask out, so I’m happy to say I haven’t had many embarrassing dates beyond being a SoCal boy woefully unprepared for the weather (wearing a puffy in 80-degree sunshine or a t-shirt in 35-degree freezing rain). I say that knowing full well there’s a chance that I’m someone else’s embarrassing date. But I guess I’ll never know... until they see me on this list. ;)

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
I love my job, but over the course of the past 10 months, I’ve learned about the difficulties of running a 100%-volunteer run organization of over 160 folks across our Board, Leadership Team, and Mentor group. Not to mention the innate obstacles in the lives of the 52 students we support. None of these issues prepared me for what I have considered one of the most difficult crises our team has ever had to overcome — within a span of two months in February & March, over 10% of our students dropped out of the program, with even more on the edge. Our team banded together and held a marathon diagnostic session to figure out what was really happening, and developed teams to target those root causes. At the end of it all, the volunteers and students felt more engaged in the organization, the end-of-year feedback was exceptional, and we’re on a path to even greater improvement next year. It was an intense challenge, but one that I’m happy to say we’ve grown stronger from.

#24: BRANDON WOODY

NON-PROFIT & EDUCATION

Work: Business Development Manager, EF Education First
Education: BA, Winona State University
Hometown: Janesville, WI
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 52 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
I took one girl that I had been on a few dates with on a sleigh ride with a dinner and show. While waiting in the lobby for the sleigh ride to begin, I noticed my ex-girlfriend and three of her friends, who had surprised her for her 30th birthday. Out of all the places in all of Colorado, they choose the same thing!?!? I, of course, had to awkwardly say hi and mention I was on a date, because I was sure that at this point, we'd all get stuck on the same sleigh. Luckily, we didn't, but the musician did call my ex up on stage to sing happy birthday. I don't even know how many times my palm and face met that night!

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
There are some company acknowledgements that I have received; however, in my line of work (helping teachers and students travel on international education programs) what stands out the most is getting to see a high school student grow as a person throughout a week to week-and-a-half program abroad. Seeing a student, who has never traveled out of their state before, come out of their shell in a market in Italy and start speaking broken Italian, is inspiring.

#27: CONNOR SIMS

NON-PROFIT & EDUCATION

Work: Global Education Consultant, Education First
Education: BA, Colorado State University
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Current Hinge City: Denver
Influence: 55 friends on Hinge

Your most embarrassing date moment?
Spacing on her name at her apartment door... no second date.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
A simple written thank-you note from one of my best clients. 
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.