The Art Floral
“He just wanted to have beauty and love and light in his life.” For Stefanie Sergakis Wedemeyer, those words explain why her father, Mike Sergakis, opened The Art Floral on February 21, 1951. Having returned to Salt Lake after serving as a tail gunner during World War II, flying thirty-one missions over Germany, and witnessing unimaginable destruction, Mike wanted to devote the next chapter of his life to something beautiful. Seventy-five years later, his daughter continues the family legacy at Salt Lake's oldest florist.
Han’s Kombucha
Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Hannah Banick, owner of the eponymous Han’s Kombucha, was already showing signs of the entrepreneur she would become. There were lemonade stands and little pieces of artwork she and her friends tried to sell, along with plenty of sports that were played. “I was always pretty driven,” she remembered.
Dough Lady
“My mom’s famous sayings are, ‘The kitchen is a lab,’ and ‘If you can read, you can cook.’” Long before Amy Lund opened Dough Lady, Sundays in her childhood home in Sandy were spent in the kitchen with her mother and two sisters. They made homemade bread, brownies, cookies, zucchini bread, and banana bread, experimenting as they went. In a household where sweets were otherwise limited, if the girls wanted a treat, they made it themselves.
Crow Nail Studio
“Now I’m able to take a deep breath, and when I look back, I just think, ‘What in the hell? How did I get here?’ It was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but I made it.” For Lori Sartain, owner of Crow Nail Studio in East Sugar House, life did not begin with expectations of comfort, stability, or ease. Dreams of owning a business, buying a home, traveling, or building something beautiful were not part of her childhood. Survival was.
Red Iguana
“We are very proud of our heritage and very proud of our food and very proud of our culture.” Lucy Cardenas, owner of Red Iguana, says those words thoughtfully, not as a rehearsed sentiment, but as the clearest explanation of what has driven her family for generations. Long before Red Iguana became one of Salt Lake City’s most beloved restaurants, before the pink walls, the legendary moles, the lines out the door, and the national attention, there was simply a Mexican family trying to build a life through food.