“I’m born in Vietnam, but I always worked in Japanese restaurants here in Utah.” Ken Cuong Gip’s story begins in Ho Chi Minh City, in a family that ran an ice cream shop. He remembers the rhythm of school days, soccer after class, and the occasional help at the shop packing kilos of ice cream for street sellers and loving the daring flavor of durian, a fruit native to Southeast Asia. At home, he cooked now and then with his mom and great-grandmother, and he taught himself fried rice just because he loved it. That simple plate became his first signature dish on his way to becoming the chef and owner behind the Japanese restaurant, Shinobi Sushi Bar & Grill.

"You can count on change.” This is a line that Frank Granato's father, Sam, repeated often as Frank was growing up. And to this day, he has lived it. He began learning the ropes as a child and was instrumental in steering a seventy-eight-year-old family name through warehouses, delis, airports, and food halls. He grasped the importance of the Granato legacy and has been determined to keep the business moving forward - from generation to generation.

“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.

“What we do is share stories. At the very heart of it, we take the written word, the passed-down tale, the brand-new idea, and we project it into real life so a room full of people can feel it together.” As Managing Director of Pioneer Theatre Company, Adrian Budhu lives by those words every day. His life traces a beautiful arc of places, people, and purpose - an arc that explains why that sentence lands with such conviction.

“I pour a lot of love into these cakes. It really matters to me that people are happy.” Laurlee Morrison never intended to open a bakery, certainly not one as beloved as Cakes de Fleur. Her career path had already taken shape; born and raised in Salt Lake City, she earned a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Math from Utah State University.

“We were young and confident. In one year, we opened Orchid Dynasty, got married, and I was pregnant.” Shelly Huynh smiled when she said it, remembering a time when everything seemed possible. Born in Vietnam, she arrived in the United States as a toddler in 1979, one of the “boat people” whose families risked everything to flee.

“Bikes can change a day and sometimes a life. They get you outside, quiet the mind, and give families a reason to spend a whole afternoon together.” This simple belief has guided Contender Bicycles owner and operator Ryan Littlefield since the day he first stepped into the business back in the late 1980s when the shop was located in Sandy, Utah. What began as a part-time job soon became a lifelong calling. Today, Contender Bicycles has become an essential part of the rhythm of Salt Lake City’s 9th & 9th neighborhood.

“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.

“The universe has really taken care of me.” When you step inside Dear Coco, opened at the end of the summer in 2025, there is a sense that the universe has indeed conspired to bring everything, and everyone, here. The air is rich with the scent of Belgian chocolate and espresso, the shelves lined with thoughtful gifts, and at the counter, owner Susan Clissold greets each person as though they are already part of her story.

“I have been baking since I was nine. When I retire, I am still going to bake. I want the final chapter of my life to be spent baking bread in a little stone oven at home, offering it to my neighbors.” For Adalberto Díaz, founder of Fillings & Emulsions, the beloved Salt Lake City bakery, baking is not just a career, it is a lifelong devotion shaped by memory, faith, and family.

“This is actually the most exciting position I have ever had.” For Jody Engar, Arts Programming Coordinator for the City of South Salt Lake, her role with the South Salt Lake Arts Council combines everything she has learned in her professional life with her passion for community engagement.

“I ask myself this a thousand times a day - am I acting in good faith? Am I being honest, empathetic, forthright, grateful? That’s the rudder I steer my life with now, and it’s how we run our business too.” Jared Neiswender, owner of MOZZ, grew up in the suburbs outside Philadelphia. It is an area where New York commuters met hometown tradition, and where, at fourteen, he got his first job in a restaurant. “I’ve worked in restaurants my whole life,” he said, “but I never imagined they would become my path forward.”

“Once you are at Osher, age does not matter,” said Jill E. Meyer, Director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Utah. “The joy of learning is what unites us. It is a place to rediscover passions, meet people who share your interests, and be part of something bigger than yourself.”

I always think of an art house as the new gathering place for stories and ideas. Film is such an accessible art form. You can have a film about anything. So, you can have a conversation about anything.” Tori A. Baker, CEO of Salt Lake Film Society,  has had her life shaped by that belief.

“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.

“It was never in the cards for me. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be running a theater company - let alone Salt Lake Acting Company. Cynthia Fleming grew up in Bountiful, Utah, the daughter of a former Miss Utah and a charismatic father who managed a radio station and often emceed events around Salt Lake City. Tall, lanky, and pigeon-toed, she was steered toward ballet at the age of seven. Her teacher, a Utah Civic Ballet (now Ballet West) dancer, gave her strict classical training, and she quickly went from being one of the weakest in class to one of the best.

“When people walk through the doors of Sir Walter Candy Co., we want them to feel like they matter - like they are part of something warm, nostalgic, and joyful.” Alfonso Porras grew up in Mexico City, where a family connection unexpectedly changed the course of his life.

“People have wondered how we could work together for forty years. But since we kind of do different things - even though they overlap - I have mIne and he has his. Some days are easier than others, but we have found a way to make it work.” Kelly and Majid Omana have built a life together in every sense - married since 1983, partners in Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery since 1985, and still going strong.

“I was born in Salt Lake City, but I moved every six months until I was sixteen. By then, I had lived in more than thirty cities. I tell people that it gave me a huge appreciation for the world, but what it really taught me was not to need anyone. I raised my siblings, mostly my sister, by the time I was five. I lost my childhood in order to protect her, but it gave me a sense of purpose.” Today, Celeste Edmunds leads The Christmas Box International, a nonprofit serving Utah’s most vulnerable children - an organization deeply tied to her own story of survival.

“I always thought it was strange that no one had taken 801 for a business name. I grew up between Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon, and when it came time to name my company, 801 Coffee Roasters felt right. Back in the day, that was all there was, 801. Now we have area codes 435 and 385, but the original people only knew 801. I figured the name had to be gone, but it wasn’t, so I trademarked it immediately and have been running with it ever since.”