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Jill Armijo has been a physical therapist assistant for almost 30 years. About 5 years ago she found herself in a wheelchair, overweight, arthritic and unable to bear any weight on one of her feet at all. Her physical condition was a result of not taking care of herself emotionally. She had devoted all her time and energy to working, taking care of her children, and being the primary caregiver to her husband, who is unable to work due to physical and mental illness. She decided to find a job she could do sitting down because of her physical restrictions, so she went to health coach school and learned how to be a health coach. It was at this school that she learned to lose weight, got rid of her arthritis and got back out of the wheelchair. She now runs miles, does Yoga, and lifts weights for exercise, without any pain.Read More

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See Your Strength is a business that promotes love, hope, encouragement, self-compassion, and teaches people how to access those feelings within themselves. Acknowledging our feelings and talking to ourselves with compassion can be one of the hardest skills to learn. They accomplish this mission through positive message mirror decals, hope walls, and suicide prevention resources. Amber Murray, the founder and owner, is primarily focused on schools but is planning to expand her business through new products and different mental health tools to serve a wider market in the near future.  Read More

Raysha Carrasco always had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to start a business. When she came to Utah in 2015, she worked at hotels, using her hospitality degree. But she wanted to start something of her own. Her husband comes from France, and has always loved cooking. She noticed there were no creperies in town, and saw her opening. They began Monsieur Crepes with just the two of them, catering weddings, baby showers, and corporate events and then opening a food truck. By the summer, they needed to hire employees.

Becoming a business owner was a tough decision for both Raysha and her husband. It meant leaving their stable jobs. She says that even when you know your product or idea is good, you still feel insecure. If you get too bogged down in that feeling, you may never start. Raysha’s advice is this: if you can take the chance, you just live one life. It’s amazing how good you feel about what you do, what you have built, and what people think about your business.Read More

“The business plan is the most important part, you need to decide what you want out of your business” seemed to be Nailya Ragimova’s, owner of Doner Kebab Express, mantra when questioned about the steps she took to build her business. 

Nailya and her family immigrated to the United States in 1992 and while transitioning to American life, she recalled her own transition to business owner. Nailya knew that coming to the United States meant she needed to make a change in her life. Coming to a new environment and becoming independent and motivated became a crucial part of her transition. She understood that she needed to make this change in her life in order to achieve independence and develop her dreams and who she is meant to be. Read More

Alexandra Ortiz started Shades of Pale Brewing with her husband Trent in 2010. Trent had been homebrewing for fifteen years. He was looking to change careers, and to Alex, it seemed obvious. He loved to brew and people loved his beer; he was open to the idea but he didn’t want to do it alone. For the first few years, he was handling operations and she was working on the brewery while keeping her other job on nights and weekends. She felt like they were both working in the business rather than on the business.Read More

Jennifer Davis is practically a household name in the Iron County Area. She is an Associate Broker with ERA Realty Center in Cedar City. She has sold Real Estate for over 25 years in Southern Utah. In that time she has been named Iron County Board of Realtors Top Producer, and ERA Realty Centers Top Producer for several years consecutively. Jennifer has been honored as Cedar City’s Woman of the Year, and has ranked in the Top 25 Realtors nationally with ERA for the past 15 years with most of those years being ranked in the Top 5.Read More

Pork Belly’s Eatery and Catering Co. was established in 2014, by Eddie and Kate Meek, who have over 17 years in the restaurant and hospitality business.  They smoke their meats in-house and use it to create unique dishes. Pork Belly’s is a full-service restaurant and they also offer catering. Kate and Eddie recently decided to grow their business and now have a second location in St. George that opened about three months ago.  Kate says, “They enjoy making people happy and that being with food.” Read More

The Mission Statement of Small Town Hub is:  Creatively and collaboratively boost small, rural economies while embracing the lifestyle of local residents and supporting their local businesses.  Kara Laws CEO of Small Town Hub states: “We help small rural businesses expand and not just survive but thrive.” Kara’s business works with small rural businesses and their cities to help them get online, sell online and help them attract the right customers.  Essentially they help rural economies to grow. Read More