“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.

“I come in every day and still cannot believe this place is ours,” Tammy Barrow said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s the most fascinating place I’ve ever been.” Nestled in a nondescript building, Got Old Wood is anything but ordinary. Step inside and you are instantly transported into history, into craft, into heart. The mother-daughter team of Tammy and Julie Adler-Birch brings reclaimed barnwood back to life, one story and one board at a time.

“Underneath it all, it’s about community. That’s what drove me to take the risk of opening a small business, because thriving cities depend on thriving local businesses. And that doesn’t happen without people willing to give everything they have.” Kate Risser did not set out to become the founder of Botanika. The path that led her to this bright, airy, minimalist shop in Salt Lake City was anything but straight-forward. It is a story of reinvention and a deep desire to create something meaningful - not just for herself, but for those around her.

In every bite, I want people to feel the love and care, and to feel closer to Argentina.” That has always been Ana Valdemoros’s hope with Argentina’s Best Empanadas. Born in Córdoba and raised in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Ana came to Salt Lake City in 2000 to study city planning at the University of Utah. At the time, there were few options for traditional Argentine food.

“When you walk into Planted, you’re walking into a piece of my heart.” Tucked into the garden level of Salt Lake City’s vibrant Maven District - a community of more than one hundred women-owned businesses - Planted Salon feels more like a sanctuary than a shop. The soft hum of hair dryers mingles with laughter, the scent of rosemary and mint drifts through the air, and conversations range from celebratory to cathartic. For owner Tori Plant, it is not just a salon. It is a place where connection, care, and creativity live side by side.