UtahPreneur - Inside Utah's Most Iconic Businesses
What if your favorite Utah business never made it?
UtahPreneur is a storytelling podcast uncovering the make-or-break moments behind the shops, brands, and founders at the heart of Utah’s entrepreneurial excellence. While most business podcasts focus on unicorns and viral growth, we dig into the stories that almost didn’t happen, but shape our everyday experience here in Utah now. From bootstrapped startups to neighborhood storefronts, these stories show what it really takes to build a business in Utah.
🎧 Weekly in-person interviews with founders across Utah
🧠 Practical insights for entrepreneurs + curious locals
⛰️ Real stories from the edge of success, survival, and what almost wasn’t
Subscribe and rediscover the soul of your city.
Notable Guests: Costa Vida, Beehive Meals, Project Solar, Kid-to-Kid, & Spencer Mecham (Buildapreneur)
Topics: Small business funding, local marketing strategies, Utah startup stories, hiring and leadership, brick-and-mortar growth, high growth founder origin stories, surviving hard seasons, scaling without burnout, building community through business, building a business with your community, and what makes a business last
UtahPreneur - Inside Utah's Most Iconic Businesses
Costa Vida and Fat Cats - The 9 Figure Success Story | 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 they made it happen. FatCats launched in 2001, and soon after, they got another opportunity. The founders of a small Mexican restaurant called Costa Azul came to them for funding. They passed. Big mistake. Costa Azul took off, and Sean and Dave realized they had missed a huge opportunity. But when the chance came back around, they became the first Costa Vida franchisees, took over the brand, and rebranded it into the powerhouse it is today.
In this episode, we talk about how Sean scaled two household names, the lessons learned from early business mistakes, and what it takes to grow and sustain a multi-million dollar brand.
Don’t miss this one! And if you haven’t already, check out last week’s episode with Russ and Denice Relyea of World’s Best Corndog—one of the wildest second-chance business stories we’ve ever had on the show.
🌐 Get a Special Offer for Streamlyne: https://streamlyne.io/utahpreneur
🌮 Find Costa Vida at: https://www.costavida.com/
🎳 Find Fat Cats at: https://www.fatcatsfun.com/
📲 Subscribe to The Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@UtahPreneur
🎙 Hosted by: Keaton Walker
🎧 New episodes every week! Don't miss out—subscribe now!
Follow Us:
@utahpreneur on Youtube and TikTok
@utahpreneurpod on Instagram and X
Stay connected for behind-the-scenes content, episode updates, and more!
Get in Touch:
Want to get a business featured on UtahPreneur? Or have questions, suggestions, or just want to say hi? Email us at podcast@utahpreneur.co
Support the Show:
Enjoying the podcast? Leave a review and share it with friends. Your support means the world!
More Content & Resources:
Check out our website at utahpreneur.co for bonus episodes, show notes, and exclusive insights.
