“Books are definitely my escape. They are my therapy.” For Annie Pagett, owner of 1974 Bookstore, books have never been simply something to sell. They have been companions, anchors, doorways, and reminders of who she has always been. Long before she opened her quaint shop beside Pioneer Park, long before the book cart that introduced her to readers across Salt Lake City, and long before she owned her first bookstore in Jacksonville, Florida, Annie was a child in New York City surrounded by stories.

“I do not want breast cancer to be something people stuff in the back of their minds and do not talk about.” That conviction sits at the heart of everything Rena Vanzo is building with The Boob Bus. What she has created is clever, bold, and memorable, but beneath the playful name is a mission born from family history, years in genetics, and a deep understanding of how easily women put themselves last. Rena is working to change that across Utah, taking mammograms directly into communities, removing barriers wherever she can, and trying to make sure that more women catch breast cancer early, when it can be treated and survived.

“I was the first college graduate in the family.” That single sentence says a great deal about Lillian Vergin and the life that eventually led her to Veggie House. Long before she became the owner of one of Salt Lake City’s beloved vegetarian restaurants, she was growing up in Orani, Bataan, in the Philippines, one of twelve children in a hardworking family.

“I want every client to feel comfortable, respected, and cared for when they come here.” Nguyen, owner of Kim Nails, smiles when she says it, gently, as though it is not just a goal for her business, but a way she tries to move through the world. It is a philosophy shaped by responsibility, and the quiet determination it takes to build a life far from home.

“I love connecting with people. I love doing yoga. I just did not love selling something I did not believe in.” That realization stayed with Emily Lam long before she ever imagined owning Ritual Hot Yoga. It followed her from her early years outside Sacramento, through college at UC Santa Barbara, and into the world of tech sales in San Francisco, where she spent her days building relationships and learning what mattered most to people. But something was missing.

“Slow Movements. Fast Results. That is the promise inside btone Fitness Brickyard, and it is the heartbeat of owner Janeen McCormick’s journey - a journey that has taken her from a small farm town in Northern California, through corporate America and two battles with breast cancer, and finally to Millcreek, where she has created far more than a fitness studio.

“This really is a community service more than it’s a business.” Sitting with the extraordinary Missy Greis inside Publik, it becomes clear that the sentence is not a slogan. It is her compass. She has built a set of spaces that people use the way they use a neighborhood living room, a meeting hall, and, at times, a kind of steady refuge. From the outside, Publik can look like a modern success story. From the inside, it feels like a long devotion to Salt Lake City’s small businesses and to the people who keep showing up for one another.

“The man who helped me some fifty years ago got me my first book. I am now passing it forward.” Cindy Dumas, owner of the magnificent Marissa’s Books & Gifts, named for her first granddaughter, was born in San Francisco and moved to Utah prior to beginning junior high. By the time she arrived, school already felt hard. She remembers herself as a struggling student, trying to figure out what she had missed and why she could not catch up. Then, at age eleven, a teacher took an interest in her, and everything shifted.

“There is a connection, I don't even know how to explain it, between just moving your body and being healthy.” Lya Wodraska has carried that belief through every chapter of her life. Today, it sits at the center of The BackLine SLC, the gym she built to help people find what their bodies need, whether that means building strength, easing chronic pain, or simply learning how to move with more confidence. 

“I was kind of just a shell of myself, if I am being honest.” When Roxy Carlson opened Easy Does It in the spring of 2024, the shop carried a message shaped by years of building businesses, pushing through exhaustion, and learning, slowly and deliberately, how to care for herself. Located in a former dry cleaner, the space is both literal and symbolic - a place to pause, to breathe, and to soften the edges of modern life.

“If you could do anything, what would you do?” This was the question posed to Heather Santi years ago, and her answer was quite simple. “Breakfast.” Long before Eggs in the City became a Salt Lake City institution, she knew this was her favorite meal of the day and one she wanted to share with others. It was not about food trends or culinary ego. It was about people.

“I grew up around horses - riding horses - you know, the whole little farm thing.” In this Rocky Mountain Bully Chews profile, Sue Steel’s story begins in rural Idaho, the oldest of seven on a farm where there were a couple of milk cows, pigs at times, a dog or two, cats, and always horses. Her father taught FFA and agriculture at the local high school, leasing their sixty acres to neighboring farmers until, in retirement, he became an agronomist, the kind of practical advisor who helps growers choose what they need to make their crops thrive. Country days shaped Sue: chores before school, rides at dusk, and an easy love of animals that never left.

“I worked with my dad at his deli when I was twelve years old. I would ride my bike downtown and go spend hours there on Saturdays. Little did I know I would own a deli, myself, someday.” Sharon Wuolukka, owner of The Old Dutch Store, grew up in Salt Lake City, the youngest of four children in a Dutch household where food, work, and family were intertwined.

“Your past does not define you. You are capable of healing, and you are capable of change.” For Ronda Davis, the founder of Healing Feathers, those words are not a slogan but the compass that has guided every step of her life.

“I literally woke up and thought, you need to do something with cupcakes for [my daughter] Celina.” Natalie Jensen never imagined that one day she would own So Cupcake. She grew up in Salt Lake City’s Millcreek area, graduated from the University of Utah with a master’s degree in social work, and spent her early career helping children at the Children’s Center. “I never, ever thought I would own a bakery,” she said. “My mom was a really good cook, and I learned from her, but I was never into baking.”

“Food is my language. I bring my spices from Peru, I cook with my heart, and I believe everything will turn out well.” Rubi’s Peruvian Taste is Rubi Gutierrez’s life’s work and love letter to two homes. She grew up in Lima as the youngest of six, the daughter who stayed closest to her mother and the one who loved the kitchen most. Her mother ran a small restaurant three blocks from their house, and by eight years old Rubi was chopping onions and tomatoes, learning that the pot only tastes right when the cook cares.

“I was adopted from China when I was a baby. They brought me back to Utah when I was about one and a half, and I have been here ever since.” Lili Deforest is the only adopted child among six siblings in an LDS family. Some of her sisters now have tattoos, and her mother, once unsure, has become one of her biggest supporters - offering quiet pride and praise for her designs. Lili’s story begins softly, but with certainty. In 2025, at the young age of twenty eight, she is the proud owner of Eminent Ink Tattoos, an all-female studio. She is a single mother, a self-taught artist, and a quiet force who wants every woman who walks in to feel safe and seen.

“I wanted something alliterative, two little syllables that rhyme, and I loved the sound of MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art). So, I tried ‘Mo’ and then ‘Mu,’ and it just clicked. It does not mean anything; it is playful and abstract, and it fits the store,” explained Rebecca Yund, owner of Momu, a clothing, accessories, and home goods store in Salt Lake City.

“You just have to keep showing up. For yourself, for your business, for your people. Even on the hard days - especially on the hard days.” At just twenty-three years old, Kaitlyn Maestas opened the doors to Raw Eddy’s, a bright and cheerful storefront tucked into a historic downtown Salt Lake City building. Inside, one will find vegan, gluten-free, plant-based superfood protein snacks that taste like joy in bite-size form.

“I have felt it in my bones since I was very, very young. I was going to accomplish big things.” Vayanna Kruse, owner of Soleil Nail Studio, grew up in a small Iowa town. But even as a child, she sensed her life would lead her somewhere else.