David Le holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and is fluent in 3 languages. He has experience in property management and real estate as well as with restaurants and chocolate. David is Max and Ally's Godson and has been an integral part of Cocopotamus since 2013. David grew up the son of Vietnamese refugees who arrived with no money, no education and no English. In fact, he didn't even begin learning English himself until kindergarten. Overcoming family hardship, he worked his way through college and is a true self-made man. He was nominated and selected as a honoree of 40 Under Forty in 2019, selected individuals are considered as the most influential young leaders of the year. His favorite cuisines are New Mexican, Italian, American, Mexican and Vietnamese delicacies. David's favorite desserts include soufflés, panna cotta, cheesecake, and of course chocolate! He enjoys baking both sweets and savories. He also loves to travel to be immersed local cultures and cuisines.
Hieu Le holds a Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Accounting and is fluently bilingual. She was born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. as a refugee at the age of 6. Her early hardship has made her passionate about helping the community. Her favorite cause is helping orphans and she is active in Toys-for-Tots, and as a food bank volunteer. Her diverse background includes project management for the United States government, jewelry making, shirt designing and owning a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich shop. Hieu's favorite hobbies are traveling, cooking, and eating! Tasting world cuisines has helped her develop her nuanced sense of flavor and culinary expertise.
Max & Ally share a deep passion for exploring world cultures. Their favorite way to do this is through food. College sweethearts, they have lived, worked, & traveled for decades throughout Europe, Canada, and Asia. Between them they speak 6 languages. Max & Ally based their successful 21-year restaurant group, NYDC (New York Dessert Cafe) as well as Cocopotamus on the idea of world flavors, world cultures, and world equality. They were inspired to do so after being the victim of an incident of racial discrimination. They hope in some small way to help bring the people of the world together...united in the love of chocolate!
Max Sinclair holds an M.B.A. and a Honors Bachelor of Commerce, and spent 12 years as a management consultant & partner for one of the world's largest New York-based international consulting firms with Fortune 100 clients around the world. Yet he remains an artist at heart. A self-taught designer and photographer, he creates all of the packaging and graphics for Cocopotamus chocolate. He started cooking at age 9 and draws inspirations for chocolate from his mastery of Chinese, Greek, French, Italian, and Indian cuisines. Having all of Cocopotamus products be gluten-free is important to Max because he has Celiac.
Ally Sinclair, a self-confessed chocolate addict, holds a B.A. in Communications and both Professional Chocolatier and Master Chocolatier qualifications from École Chocolat. She also worked as a magazine editor before entering the world of food full time. Her love of travel and world cuisines merged with her training as a home baker, at the hands of her father and grandmother, which began at age 2. Ally's days as a high school student in Japan started her love of travel and languages. She immersed herself in the Japanese language and tea ceremony. When in a new country, she especially loves to see the old-fashioned, traditional desserts.