Small Lake City

A small town in Italy where balsamic vinegar and Ferrari share the same air taught Matteo two things: food should slow time, and precision is a kind of love. That’s the heartbeat of this conversation—a founder who brought his family to Utah to build a restaurant that feels like Sunday lunch, where you leave knowing your people a little better.

We dig into the moments that forged his approach: learning endurance in open wat...

Need a quick, satisfying listen for the holidays? We’re dropping a short update with a heavy hitter from our Vault: the Mateo Sonier story—born in Italy, record-breaker at the University of Utah, and the force behind a beloved Italian restaurant built with his family by his side. This is a grounded, human blueprint for turning personal history into a resilient business, with lessons on discipline, hospitality, and community that ca...

The shortest updates can point to the biggest stories. This week we spotlight a Vault favorite with Julian Carr—his journey from professional skier to repeat entrepreneur to new dad—and unpack why that arc lands for skiers, founders, and anyone rethinking the next chapter. It’s a grounded look at risk, reinvention, and the skills that transfer when life changes lanes.

We’re also turning up the community dial with a Kilby B...

What does it really take to turn fear into fuel? We open the vault to revisit our conversation with Julian Carr, the pro skier known for launching off massive cliffs and setting records, who then channeled that same high-stakes mindset into building companies and a global trailrunning series. If you’ve ever wondered how precision and courage translate beyond the mountains, this replay is a masterclass in turning preparation into pe...

Salt Lake moved fast this week, and we’re connecting the dots between pocketbook policies, stadium culture, and a neighborhood on the brink of change. We open with a quick highlight of our conversation with Jeff Miller, where fixed-price car buying and community investment flip the usual dealership script. That theme of clarity and trust carries into a bigger question: what happens when private equity takes over key operations at R...

A coin flip chose Subaru. The rest is strategy. Jeff Miller, fourth-generation owner of Mark Miller Subaru, joins us to share how a family dealership in Salt Lake City rewired the car-buying experience around trust, speed, and community. We dig into the city’s uniquely family-led dealership ecosystem, the moment the Outback transformed Subaru’s trajectory, and why the Miller team embraced one-price transparency and no-commission pr...

Season two kicks off with momentum, local stories, and a guest who puts real dollars behind the phrase “community impact.” We sit down with Jeff Miller, the fourth-generation owner of Mark Miller Subaru, to unpack how a family dealership wields influence in Salt Lake City—and why they’ve tied every car sold to a direct donation. The model is simple but bold: $250 to a buyer’s chosen nonprofit, plus an extra $250 when that organizat...

A quick Tuesday update with a lot of heartbeat: we’re celebrating Thanksgiving week with a shot of good news, a big giveaway, and a sharper vision for what comes next. Eric shares how the Small Lake City Podcast is leveling up for Season Two, why community impact drives every choice we make, and how a late-night spark turned into a new format that brings local stories closer to your daily life.

We break down the Jonas Brot...

A farm kid who learned to “leave the field only when the work is done” found his way into venture capital, helped power Utah’s tech ascent, and said “ok” to a family decision that would change lives at Primary Children’s Hospital. Join us as we sit down with Peleon Venture Partners’ managing partner, Blake Modersitzki, to unpack how unlikely turns—security guard shifts at WordPerfect, a move to New York, mentorship from Eric Schmid...

A basement, a sketchbook, and a stubborn belief that boredom can be a gift—that’s where this story starts. John Darley takes us from Florida swamps and Salt Lake basements to New York studios and back again, unpacking how a youngest child with high risk tolerance became a nationally awarded figurative painter. He talks about the ruthless discipline of apprenticeship under Jeff Hine, eight-hour model days at Grand Central Academy, a...

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Now through January 2nd, buy or lease a new Subaru at Mark Miller Subaru and they’ll donate up to $500 to local Utah charities like USARA and Girls on the Run. Drive a new Subaru and give back to the community at the same time.

Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See y...

What turns a group ride into a real community? We sit down with Stuart Anderson, the steady force behind Mi Duole, to explore how a Utah cycling club built on “suffering together” became a home for riders of every stripe. From CrossFit beginnings to triathlons and, finally, to dawn patrol climbs up Emigration and Millcreek, Stuart shares how the bike became a place to do hard things and talk about real life while doing them.

A milestone deserves more than a pat on the back—it deserves intention. We just crossed 100 episodes and closed season one, but the path there wasn’t linear. Our live recording with Shireen Gorbani hit a technical snag, and rather than push a fragment into your feed, we pivoted to a conversation that captures what this show is about: building community with craft, care, and consistency. Enter Angela Brown—guiding Slug Magazine with...

A family secret. A fork in the road. A choice that reshaped Utah’s creative landscape. Angela Brown joins us to share how a canyon kid with a camera became the force behind SLUG Magazine and the founder of Craft Lake City, turning a tiny zine and a DIY idea into two of the region’s most influential cultural platforms.

We trace Angela’s path from Emigration Canyon to darkrooms and record stores, where photography and music ...

Big milestone, bigger conversation. We tee up Episode 100 with Shireen Gorbani, CEO of Planned Parenthood Utah, while keeping the local energy high with a Halloween kickoff, a listener discount, and a nudge to get those costumes ready. It’s a quick update that sets the scene for a meaningful, wide-ranging story about leadership, identity, and impact in a place where opinions are strong and community ties matter even more.

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What if your divorce didn’t feel like a war but a turning point? We sit down with attorney Nonie Ferguson, founder of Law Elevated in Park City, to unpack a people-first approach to family law that prioritizes mental health, clarity, and durable outcomes over courtroom theatrics. Nonie shares how years as a South Florida public defender sharpened her litigation instincts—evidence, objections, narrative—while also teaching her that ...

A festival high, a hard pause, and a guest who reimagines what “family law” can feel like—this week brings all three into sharp focus. We relive Red Westfest’s standout sets (Ian Munsick’s ease, Ella Langley’s spark, Sam Barber’s grit, a live‑better‑than‑album turn from Noah Kahan, and Kacey Musgraves casting a twilight spell) before confronting how fast celebration can flip when weather goes sideways. With care, we acknowledge a t...

The first snap of October hits different in the Wasatch—gold aspens flashing in the canyons, crisp air, and the urge to grab your boots and wander. We ride that energy into a story-filled update anchored by our new conversation with James Atkin, a St. George skater who spent over a decade on the road before stepping into the marketing seat at a fast-rising gear brand. The twist: what starts as a simple booking turns into a deeper l...

A broken heart, a one-way drive to Carlsbad, and a couch full of spare change turned into a first Hurley ad in Japan—and that same relentless “show up” streak later powered neighborhoods during Hurricane Sandy. James Atkin, now VP of Marketing at Nomatic, takes us through the kinetic path from 90s skate grime to global brand building, showing how falling down (and getting up) becomes a lifelong operating system.

We trace t...