Charlene Freestone

The Natural Parenting Boutique on Lehi Main Street

Charlene opened a natural parenting boutique — Boot Baby Boutique — in the old Lehi Hotel near the train tracks on Lehi Main Street. The shop sold cloth diapers and baby carriers, but its heart was parent education and community space. She rented from a midwife in a building that also housed a gem shop and wedding dress rentals. The business later moved up to Sandy but represented a season where business and belonging overlapped.

Savannah Romney

The Age Objection Reframe

The age objection used to scare Savannah. Now it’s her favorite. Her reframe: she works harder, answers her phone, has more time, and treats every client as important. Backed by a team that closed 1,500 families last year, she gives clients both personal hunger and institutional infrastructure.

Wylene Benson

The First Sale Confirmation

While informing her broker she was leaving her office manager position to pursue real estate full-time, Wylene received a text from her first client. The timing felt like confirmation. That client became her first sale. It became the defining origin story of her career — a moment when confidence arrived as a consequence of commitment, not as a prerequisite for it.

Christina describes her journey starting in 2019 when she was a stay-at-home mom looking for extra income. While her husband was the breadwinner, finances were tight, prompting her to search for creative ways to generate money. She began listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast, which shifted her mindset from believing investing was for the wealthy to realizing it was possible to start with very little capital. This education led to her first rental property and eventually her career as a real estate agent.

Ishmael and Ryan discuss the critical nature of the lender-realtor partnership. Ishmael argues that '9-to-5' corporate banks and credit unions often can't keep up with the pace of modern real estate. He emphasizes the need for 'small business' style responsiveness, where a lender can answer a problem at 9 PM on a weekend to meet a contract deadline. This level of service is what keeps deals from falling through.

Jeff Demke shares how his interest in real estate began in 2006, right before the 2008 market crash. He watched his father and his father's cousin flip houses. Although the subsequent market crash briefly dampened his interest, the foundation was laid during this period of high activity. The story takes a poignant turn when Jeff explains that his father passed away, which initially seemed to end that path, but ultimately led him back to real estate as a way to be his own boss.

Loreana explains how her work with legal immigration led her into real estate. She noticed that Utah's booming economy had a massive job shortage that American citizens couldn't fill alone. After helping foreigners secure employment sponsorship and green cards, she realized they had no one to help them navigate the housing market, leading her to obtain her real estate license to provide a 'full-service' transition to American life.

When Loreana started in real estate, she was told to market to her 'sphere'—friends and family. However, as an immigrant, her entire sphere was in Venezuela. She explains how this forced her to connect with strangers and build a brand based on empathy for other 'new people.' She used her status as an outsider to become the premier guide for other outsiders.

Cameron Ure describes how reading 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' served as the ultimate turning point in his career path. Not being a fan of formal education, the book sparked a desire to create something bigger than himself. He decided to jump head-first into real estate despite it being difficult at first, eventually finding a method that aligned with his personality and allowed his business to take off.

Jennifer describes her professional transition from working within major international real estate firms to leading Presidio Real Estate. She realized that the 'big box' model often lacked the specialized marketing and personal touch required for local markets. This led her to develop a business model that combines high-level professional standards with local expertise.

Despite wanting to achieve a 'nice degree on the wall' like other successful people he admired, Boo realized quickly that formal academia was not his path. He attempted to enroll in college twice, but both times he only lasted three days before he simply couldn't force himself to go back. Recognizing that he was already finding success and enjoyment in the mortgage industry, he decided to lean into his strengths as a 'doer' rather than chasing a degree that didn't fit his personality.

Ryan explains a common conflict for entrepreneurs: the desire to minimize taxes by writing off expenses vs. the need to show high income to qualify for a mortgage. He illustrates a scenario where a business owner earning $100,000 writes off $50,000 in expenses; to a lender, that person only makes $50,000. This story serves as a warning for local small business owners to plan their tax strategy according to their homeownership goals.

After six years of working for a large national title corporation, Mark Schroeppel and his partner, Chuck Walker, decided to branch out on their own. In 2003, they opened Utah First Title. Mark explains that they have since grown the company into a top-five local title insurance provider in the marketplace, emphasizing their status as a local business rather than a national branch.

The 'Investor Cash Flow' program is introduced as a solution for self-employed individuals who may not show enough personal income on tax returns to qualify for traditional loans. If the potential rental income of the property covers the mortgage payment (cash flows), the buyer can secure the loan without personal income documentation, requiring 20% down and allowing for purchase under an LLC.

Joan discusses the financial instability that often accompanies entrepreneurial life. She recalls times of 'fretting' over basic needs, such as when she couldn't immediately buy her children new shoes. While she regrets worrying so much, she notes that these hardships taught her a profound appreciation for stability. Interestingly, she observes that because of these 'ups and downs,' all of her children chose steady, traditional careers over the risky entrepreneurial path of their father.

Jordan Harmon reflects on his roots in the tiny town of Burley (DeLo), Idaho, where he grew up as one of 280 people on a potato farm. This early environment fostered a drive for entrepreneurship that eventually led him through a mission in Mexico to Provo and finally to Lehi in 2016. He describes the transition from the isolation of a small farm to the growing tech-centric hub of Lehi, noting how the town's expansion reflects his own personal and professional trajectory.

Despite seeing success at farmers' markets, Brent and his wife took the financial and personal risk of opening a brick-and-mortar shop on Lehi Main Street. Brent describes a sense of civic duty, stating that as a resident, he wanted Main Street to be 'cooler' and more vibrant. Rather than waiting for someone else to improve the community, he decided to be the change himself, viewing the bakery as a way to enhance the local culture and social fabric of the historic downtown area.

In 1992, following the buyout of his company by Snap-on Tools, Gary decided to open his own shop. Despite his mechanical skill, the 'business side' was a frightening unknown. He describe the 'scary' process of navigating taxes, fees, and licensing. Crucially, Gary chose to embrace computers for tracking and paperwork at a time when many shops were still using paper journals. He leveraged his years of observing other shops to implement what worked and avoid what didn't, creating a modern foundation for his startup.

In the 1960s, Main Street Lehi was economically desolate, with nearly every building displaying a for-sale sign. Ken Greenwood and his brother decided to buy these properties because they were cheap and available. He describes a haunting moment standing on Main Street and seeing not a single car in either direction, wondering if he had made a terrible mistake. To stimulate business, they renovated buildings, connected them with a shared roof style, and created a dual-purpose furniture store and wedding reception center. They discovered that wedding guests waiting to enter the reception would browse the furniture, turning foot traffic into a viable business model.

After the Provo Daily Herald abandoned Lehi's weekly paper during the 2007 market crash, Lehi was left without a dedicated newspaper for eight years. Sally Francom, after living in the Bay Area and returning to Utah in 2013, was convinced by her sister to restart the Lehi Free Press in 2016. Despite the terrifying landscape of modern journalism, Sally secured the trademark and DBA, viewing the revival as a 'gift to the community' rather than a profit-driven venture.

The Broadbent story began with William Broadbent, a Mormon convert from England who traveled to Utah via handcart. Upon his arrival, Brigham Young personally assigned him to establish a store of resources for settlements in the next valley. Lacking a physical house, William and his wife lived in a dugout where mud would drip from the ceiling during rain. By trade, William was a watchmaker who worked out of a wagon, traveling throughout the territory in the fall to collect broken clocks and watches, repairing them over the winter, and returning them in the spring.

Charlene established a formal business, a natural parenting boutique, on Lehi Main Street in the historic Lehi Hotel building. The space was a unique community hub where one could visit a midwife, buy baby gear, and even rent wedding dresses all in the same building. The focus was not just on retail, but on providing a community meeting space for parent education.