UtahPreneur - Inside Utah's Most Iconic Businesses
Think you know Utah? These iconic founders will change your mind.
UtahPreneur is a storytelling podcast featuring real, unfiltered conversations with the people building Utah’s most impactful businesses. From bootstrapped startups to 8-figure brands, we share what it takes to grow in one of the top-ranked states for business innovation.
Utah is exploding with talent, ideas, and opportunity. And behind every founder is a wild story worth sharing. This podcast gives you an inside look at those journeys through honest, in-person interviews with iconic business owners.
🎧 Weekly founder interviews from across Utah
🧠 Insights for entrepreneurs, creatives, and curious locals
⛰️ True stories of risk, resilience, and growth in Utah
Notable Guests: Chatbooks, Costa Vida, Beehive Meals, Project Solar, Kid-to-Kid, Murphy Door
Topics: Utah startups, local business growth, marketing strategy, leadership, funding, hiring, scaling, brick-and-mortar success, community impact, small business,
Episodes
26 episodes
Built a $24M/yr Brand… But Drove a Civic?! | HydroJug (Hayden Wadsworth)
What started as a simple idea — “what if we combined a milk jug with a blender bottle?” — turned into a $24 million business that shook up the entire drinkware industry.In this episode of UtahPreneur, we sit down with Hayden Wadsworth, ...
Why Founders in Utah Are 70% More Likely to Build a Unicorn (Tim Culie)
Utah calls itself the “Startup Capital of the World.” Bold claim, right? But according to the data, founders here are 70% more likely to build a unicorn than anywhere else in the country.In this episode of UtahPreneur, I sit down with
He Yelled About Laptops on TV… Turns Out He’s a Crypto Millionaire | PC Laptops (Dan Young)
💻 Remember those wild “PC Laptops” commercials from the 2000s? The guy yelling “We love you!” on your TV at 1 a.m.? Turns out, he wasn’t just a gimmick—he was building a business empire behind the scenes.In this episode of UtahPreneur, ...
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This is Why You See Julia Reagan Billboards Everywhere | Reagan Outdoor Advertising (Bill Reagan)
🪧 You’ve seen her face—on highways, side streets, and city centers across Utah. But who is Julia Reagan? And why were 300+ billboards dedicated to her?In this episode of UtahPreneur, we sit down with Bill Reagan, the man behind ...
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The $82M World-Class Theatre… in Sandy, Utah?! | Hale Centre Theatre (Mark & Sally Dietlein)
✨ Mark and Sally Dietlein turned a small South Salt Lake stage into one of the most advanced and beloved theatres in the country—Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah. With over 600,000 guests a year, a $82 million state-of-the-art venue, and stag...
Lost $20M, Slept in His Truck, Built a $50M Brand Anyway | Murphy Door (Jeremy Barker)
🚪 Jeremy Barker lost $20 million before the age of 22. He went bankrupt twice, slept in his truck, and worked as a firefighter earning $800 paychecks—while pouring everything he had into building Murphy Door, a Utah-based hidden door and custom...
How a $6 Photo Book Idea Became an 8-Figure Brand | Chatbooks (Vanessa Quigley)
⭐ Vanessa Quigley never planned to be a tech founder. But when her youngest son cried over a photo book from his preschool teacher, she realized how badly families need better ways to preserve their memories. That moment sparked Chatbooks—a sta...
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This Parenting Hack Saves Families Thousands Of Dollars– And She Franchised It | Kid to Kid (Shauna Sloan)
🎙️ Shauna Sloan is the Utah mom who turned her love of thrifting into a national resale empire. In this episode of UtahPreneur, we dive into the origin story of Kid to Kid, one of the most recognizable children's resale franchises in the countr...
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She’s on a Mission to Create 20 Female Millionaires | Queen of Wraps (Heather Barber)
🎙️ Heather Griffith Barber helped turn Queen of Wraps into one of Utah’s most recognized print and vehicle wrap companies. What started with her brothers—and a cape and crown—grew into a full-service branding powerhouse with 30 employees and cl...
How Personal Growth Took His Agency to $25M+ | Disruptive Advertising (Jake Baadsgaard)
🎙 Jake Baadsgaard built Disruptive Advertising into a $25M powerhouse by helping businesses stop wasting money on bad ads. But behind the scenes, Jake was burned out, disconnected from his family, and hiding behind the success of his company. I...
How a College eBay Hustle Became a $10M Business | Dale Majors (Bikewagon and Grand Trunk)
🎙 Dale Majors started flipping bike parts online as a teenager, eventually turning that hustle into BikeWagon, a $10M/yr e-commerce business. After scaling and selling the company, he didn’t retire—he used his entrepreneurial skills to...
The 7-Figure Business Run by Ex-Cons | The Other Side Academy (Dave Durocher)
🎙 After spending 15 years in prison, Dave Durocher had two choices—continue down the path that led him there or turn his life around. He chose the latter, and today, he’s the Executive Director of The Other Side Academy, a two-year residential ...
She Cashed Out Her $10K IRA to Build Utah’s Favorite Cookie Brand (in 2008) | RubySnap Cookies (Tami Steggell)
✨ She walked away from a 15-year career in architecture, cashed out her $10,000 IRA, and risked it all on cookies—long before Utah’s cookie boom.Back in 2008, Tami Steggell saw an opportunity to reinvent the cookie industry by using 100% re...
This Running Store Went From Barely Surviving to a 30 year legacy | Salt Lake Running Company (Guy & Debbie Perry)
✨For 30 years, Salt Lake Running Company has been more than a store—it’s been the go-to destination for Utah’s running community.Back in 1995, SLRC started as a small specialty shop in Salt Lake City. Three decades later, it’s one of the mo...
He Was Just a Bowling Supply Guy… Now His Brands Make $260M/yr! | Costa Vida & Fat Cats (Sean Collins)
✨ From starting a parking lot striping company, to building two of Utah’s most well-known brands, Sean Collins has done it all.Back in 1999, Sean and his business partner, Dave Rutter, had an idea for a family entertainment center—and t...
From Roadside Stand to Utah’s Favorite Food Truck | World's Best Corndogs (Russ and Denice Relyea)
✨ Russ Relyea was at rock bottom—personally and financially—when a simple corndog changed his life. After a chance encounter with a corndog vendor in North Dakota, Russ became obsessed with perfecting the recipe. After a lot of persistence, he ...
Utah’s 100-Year-Old Party and Gift Store Thriving in Lehi | Pioneer Party (Emily Ames)
🌟 Right in the heart of Lehi’s historic Main Street, Pioneer Party & Copy has been a beloved staple in the community for over a century. What started as a small-town pharmacy has transformed into a family-run hub for personalized gifts, rea...
She Accidentally Built an $8M Meal Delivery Empire | Beehive Meals (Allyse Jackson)
🌟 What started as a freezer meal side hustle turned into an 8-figure business transforming family dinners across Utah.When Allyse Jackson’s husband was between jobs, she decided to sell freezer meals on Facebook to make ends meet. That s...
Developers Almost Ruined This Salt Lake Icon, But The Community Stepped In | Ken Sanders Rare Books (Ken Sanders)
🌟 Right in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Ken Sanders Rare Books has become a cultural cornerstone for Utah’s literary community.With its collection of rare and historic titles, including an unmatched selection of Utah and LDS his...
He Couldn’t Find Good Help, So He Built the Biggest Job Board in the Philippines | Onlinejobs.ph (John Jonas)
✨John Jonas, a Utah entrepreneur, created a job board that connects business owners with highly skilled workers in the Philippines. By cutting out the middleman, OnlineJobs.ph helps entrepreneurs reclaim their time while providing life-changing...
This Startup Exposes the $300B Solar Industry By Cutting Out Sales Reps | Project Solar (Matt Smith)
🌟 From the foothills of Orem to nationwide disruption, this is the story of how Project Solar is flipping the billion-dollar solar industry on its head.Matt and his co-founder Trevor Hiltbrant saw a huge problem in the solar industry—prices...
The Side-Hustle That Took Him From $7/hr to $7Million | BuildaPreneur (Spencer Mecham)
From working $10-an-hour jobs to becoming the top ClickFunnels affiliate and building a thriving content and affiliate marketing business, Spencer Mecham’s journey is anything but ordinary. In this episode, we dive into how Spencer leveraged pl...
How Mailing a $2 Cookie Is Making Small Businesses Thousands | Mailbox Power (William Grader)
From a small warehouse in Bluffdale, Utah, Mailbox Power is redefining marketing by blending the personal touch of physical gifts with the efficiency of automation. With over 10,000 brownies shipped each month and endless personalized postcards...
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The Secret to Staying Sane? A Third Space | Salt Mine Coworking (David Edmunds)
From an abandoned bowling alley to a thriving entrepreneurial hub, this is the story of how Salt Mine became a cornerstone of Utah's tech community. In this episode, we explore how David Edmunds transformed a haunted house-like space into one o...
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Swimming Lessons Save Lives! And She’s Made It Her Mission | Swim Kids (Liz Walker)
From a backyard trailer park pool to three bustling locations serving over 50,000 families, this is the story of how SwimKids Utah grew from humble beginnings into a lifesaving community staple. In this episode, we dive into the challenges and ...
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