Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Samantha Turnbow
My journey into healing didn’t begin as a business idea. It began at a time when my life felt like it was breaking apart in every direction. Read more>>
Amy Bakios
I was inspired to become a Registered Dietitian by my grandmother, who survived cancer multiple times and believed that food can help heal. I knew it was my path to learn more about nutrition and teach preventative health through evidence-based guidelines. Her strength throughout her health journey led me to specialize in nutrition in college. Read more>>
Stephanie Christensen
I’ve always loved weddings. I love to decorate and celebrate and I love paying attention to little details while doing that. I was lucky enough to mentor under and work for a very talented florist in my town for a few years before getting the opportunity to break into the world of wedding and events floristry on my own. Read more>>
Marley Grant
I first got introduced to peptides out of pure necessity. I had a shoulder injury from high school that never fully healed, even after years of doing everything “right.” I was eating clean, training smart, taking the right supplements, doing physical therapy — all of it. But the pain never really went away. Read more>>
Lyssa Shurtleff
I went to school to become an art teacher. While I was teaching art in Washington state, my sister-in-law, who is a wedding photographer, told me she saw a live artist at a wedding in Colorado. I thought it was a great idea, so I did a couple of my friend’s weddings to see if I liked it. I was hooked. Read more>>
Heather Shelley
My story in healthcare actually began in birth work. I became a midwife first and opened Birthing Your Way, where I spent years supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with a strong focus on compassion, autonomy, and safe, evidence-based care. Those early years shaped my entire philosophy as a provider: listen deeply, individualize care, and always put the patient first. Read more>>
Jake Ritter
I started because my family had an amazing advisor who helped my grandma get out of some really bad investments a previous advisor had put her in. Ever since meeting this man, our family benefited from great savings and investments strategies. I got licensed at the age of 20 and have been a fiduciary ever since. Read more>>
Kacy Robinson
I was fortunate to grow up in a rural community in Utah. My dad, aunt and uncle were all law enforcement and my grandpa was with search and rescue (Jeep Patrol back then). This allowed me to see an opportunity to serve the community in a unique way. Read more>>
Kristoffer Taylor
I’ve always been fascinated by business and entrepreneurship, even as a kid. One of the first ‘businesses’ I started in my youth was a landscaping company. My buddy and I called it The Handyman Brothers, and we serviced a variety of our neighbors in the area. I was living in Colorado at the time. Read more>>
Jenni Anderson
*Deep breath* Long story as short as possible: I grew up in a pretty volatile and divorced family before the age of 1. My older biological sister blamed me for our parents divorce so we never had a good or even decent sibling relationship. She was one of many abusers growing up and family on both sides brushed everything off as ‘you’re siblings! Read more>>
Mojo Jaafar
I started Vista Valley Services with nothing but determination, a strong work ethic, and a desire to build something lasting for my family. What began as a simple idea helping neighbors maintain their yards quickly grew into a clear vision: creating a reliable, family-owned landscaping business that treats every property with the same care we’d give our own home. Read more>>
Federico Wulff
It all started back in 2003. A friend convinced me to join a casting call his dad — a photographer — was running for a Coca-Cola production. I went mostly out of curiosity… and ended up booking the job. It took a few more months to land my first video commercial, but once it happened, everything snowballed. Read more>>
Alyse Tonon
I’ve been a licensed clinical mental health therapist for over 10 years, but nothing prepared me for the healing journey which would eventually become the birthplace of my business, Hit2Heal. Hit2Heal is a therapeutic boxing program designed to support people to become more resilient, build self-confidence, and learn strategies proven to reduce stress and successfully overcome life’s challenges. Read more>>
Bryan Larsen
I’ve always loved to draw, but I took a pretty round-about path to making a living as an artist. Out of high school, I briefly studied Children’s Book Illustration, then worked as a custom cabinet maker while my wife finished her degree. Read more>>
Mauro Marzano
I started my career in Italy, where I spent years working with more than sixty high-end brands, specializing in bespoke marketing operations and helping companies express the deeper story behind their products. That experience taught me how to understand the DNA of a brand, the intention behind a design, and how to translate ideas into something people can truly experience. Read more>>
Sydney Skelton
MobileHBOT was born from a calling — not an idea, not a business plan, but *three identical dreams* from God. In each dream, the message was simple and unmistakable: **“Help people. Bring healing to their doorstep.”** So we listened. And we acted. Read more>>
Leisa Wallace
My Story My story really began the day my body forced me to stop. Before I ever became a business advisor, before I wrote a book, before I understood the physics of worth, I was diagnosed with aggressive MS. Read more>>
Barry and Judy Finch
Our Story For 25 years, from 1993 to 2018, our family poured our hearts into farming at Finch Family Farm. The land shaped our days, our values, and our children’s childhoods. Farming wasn’t just a business to us—it was a way of life. But in 2018, everything changed. Read more>>
Emily Brooksby
I got my MBA from BYU in 2010 in marketing, and I went on from that to work for Adobe as a consultant for a couple of years in their digital experience team. It was amazing and fulfilling work–I had clients like Disney and Rosetta Stone, along with a great team of people. Then I decided to take a break to start my family. Read more>>
Mike Hathenbruck
About 8 years ago, my fiancé saw a TV show that she thought I’d like. She told me I should watch it, so she came over and turned on Forged in Fire. I’ve always loved to tinker, but had never really done anything with steel. Seeing these guys manipulate hot steel into a usable knife was mesmerizing, to me. Read more>>
Lisa & Connie Broadbent
We are a mother and daughter-in-law team that started typing poems at a local Halloween event. While we started on a whim, we quickly fell in love with the process and decided to create a business around this idea. Now we are ‘poets for hire’. We travel with our typewriters and write improv poetry based on the prompts we are given by our customers. Read more>>
Jessie Drage
What we’ve built today was born from one of the hardest chapters of our lives. Years ago, when Shaun was battling addiction, our world felt uncertain. Every day was a test of strength, faith, and perseverance. But instead of letting that season define us, we chose to grow through it — to rebuild our lives with purpose, grit, and compassion. Read more>>
Mary Anderson
I am a Master Aesthetician with 8½ years of experience, and I launched my own business earlier this year. My path to entrepreneurship was delayed while I built a successful career in the tech industry for over five years. When my position was unexpectedly dissolved, I took it as the opportunity I needed to return to my original passion—owning my own beauty practice. Read more>>
Mara Bradshaw
I never thought accepting a hairstylist position would lead me to salon ownership. Amber saw my potential the day I started and encouraged me to become more. I’ve worked at Amber René Salon for 6 years. Within that time I achieved many personal and professional goals. My husband and I married young, and he encouraged me to continue my education. Read more>>
Emily Forbes
Absolutely — our story really began long before we ever dreamed of having a farm. Steve and I weren’t born farmers. In fact, our first “garden” started with a single basil plant on the windowsill of our downtown condo. But over time, something shifted. Read more>>
Brian Challis
I have a passion to create. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on the milkbox on our front porch, carving a figure out of a piece of wood. (Why did my Mom let me have a knife?) I’ve had three careers. Read more>>
Emily Magill
As a kid, my dad worked very hard. I admired it and always wanted to be like him. At 7 years old, my mom left our family, and my father had been in a horrible car accident, where he nearly died. His left arm had been severed, and his right kneecap badly damaged. He got around using a crutch and his right arm. Read more>>
Emily Julander
I am a self taught photographer, meaning no official schooling, though I’ve taken many online courses and workshops over the years to hone my skills and further my craft. I began with photographing my own kids of course as a lot of ‘mom-ographers’ do, but it became so much more when I discovered the art and joy of newborn photography. Read more>>
Bree Hafen
Dance has been the thread running through my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in studios, fell in love with the discipline and creativity of the art, and never really imagined a future that didn’t include movement. Read more>>
Dustin Kearl
As a kid, I always was interested in helping other people. I Helped them mow their lawns to start, and turned that into a business. Read more>>
Giselle Batcheller
I’ve studied a variety of disciplines related to wellness (nursing, public health, dentistry, culinary school, natural medicine, yoga, Chinese medicine, homeopathic medicine, and more). My unique niche of regenerative health and esthetics modalities was forged over nearly 30 years of study now. I love to learn and I’m passionate about supporting greater vitality in all the tissues I treat. Read more>>
Aaron Downing
I got into barbering as a second career, the first being 20 years in the US Air Force as a weather forecaster. I had developed an interest/hobby over the years with straight razors. First by using them myself to shave with daily, but eventually into restoration of old razors. Read more>>
