Small Lake City

Josh Rosenthal is the founder of Borderlands, a trail running media company built around the people, stories, and culture that make the sport special.

But Josh’s path to the trail running world started somewhere completely different.

In this episode of the Small Lake City Podcast, Josh shares his journey from building businesses in Salt Lake City’s food and beverage scene—including La Barba Coffee and Seabird—to discovering ultra running, attempting 100-mile races, and eventually creating Borderlands.

And he’s quick to point out: he wasn’t exactly dominating those races.

Josh jokingly calls himself “the worst 100-miler,” with a long list of DNFs that ultimately helped shape one of his defining philosophies: DFL Before DNF — finish dead last before quitting.

We talk about what those failures taught him about resilience, when to keep pushing, when to stop, and how doing hard things can reshape the way you approach the rest of your life.

Josh also opens up about the realities of entrepreneurship—the pressure of growing a company, navigating business partnerships, carrying stress home, and the impact COVID had on Salt Lake City’s hospitality industry. Running became more than exercise; it became a way to process that pressure and create space between work and family life.

Eventually, that relationship with running led to Borderlands, where Josh focuses on telling stories from across trail and ultra running—not just podium finishers and sponsored athletes, but everyday runners, race directors, creators, and the people finishing at the back of the pack.

We also dive into Salt Lake City’s rapidly growing trail running scene, the history and influence of races like the Wasatch Front 100 and Bear 100, the rise of UTMB, and why Utah may be one of the best places in the country to be a trail runner.

In this episode:

• Building La Barba Coffee and Seabird in Salt Lake City
• The realities of entrepreneurship and business partnerships
• How COVID changed Josh’s career
• Discovering ultra running and 100-mile races
• Why Josh calls himself “the worst 100-miler”
• The philosophy behind DFL Before DNF
• Failure, resilience, and knowing when to keep going
• Why Josh founded Borderlands
• The culture and future of trail and ultra running
• UTMB and the globalization of the sport
• Wasatch 100 and Bear 100
• Why Salt Lake City is becoming a trail running epicenter
• Finding purpose when the finish line disappears

If you’re interested in trail running, ultra running, ultramarathons, 100-mile races, Borderlands, entrepreneurship, Salt Lake City, Utah outdoor culture, or the psychology of endurance, this conversation is for you.

Small Lake City Podcast tells the stories of the people building, creating, and shaping Salt Lake City and Utah.

Subscribe for more conversations with Utah’s entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, community leaders, and interesting people.

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Utah gave Tyson Foods tax breaks to bring jobs to Eagle Mountain. Now the plant is closing, 723 workers are losing their jobs — and the tax incentive agreement is still active.

Welcome to the Small Lake City Weekly Update covering the biggest Salt Lake City and Utah news from the last 7 days. Each week, we break down the local headlines you need to know — from development, transportation and local government to restaurants, culture, business and the stories shaping life along the Wasatch Front.

This week, we look at the Tyson Foods closure in Eagle Mountain and what it says about Utah's approach to corporate tax incentives. We also dig into the massive incentives connected to Meta's Eagle Mountain data center and the growing debate over who ultimately benefits from these deals.

Also in this week's Utah news:

• UTA is proposing its first base fare increase in 13 years
• New data shows robberies and assaults trending down in Salt Lake City
• The 9th & 9th whale has a brand-new look
• Salt Lake City's proposed private jail ban moves forward amid the ICE detention center fight
• The University of Utah opens its new medical school building
• A new independent film festival could be coming to Park City
• Fork Cancer returns to the Gallivan Center this Friday

And stick around for a preview of this Saturday's Small Lake City Podcast with Josh Rosenthal, founder of Borderlands and the person behind several recognizable Salt Lake City food and drink spots.

What do you think about Utah's corporate tax incentives? Should companies continue receiving tax benefits after major layoffs or closures? Let me know in the comments.

Subscribe to Small Lake City for a new weekly update covering the biggest Salt Lake City and Utah headlines from the previous seven days, plus conversations with the people shaping Utah.

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Utah’s restaurant scene isn’t “all chains” anymore, but you have to know where to look and that’s where Amber (Mile High Food Fairy) comes in. We sit down with a pediatric dentist who somehow also became one of the most useful guides to Salt Lake City restaurants and Utah County food, and we get into the real mechanics of how people pick where to eat in 2026: saved posts, short-form video, and a handful of creators you trust more than a menu page.

Amber walks us through her path from Vegas to the University of Utah, then out to New York City and Colorado for residency, where the habit of photographing meals turned into a dedicated food page. We talk about Yelp, Instagram, TikTok growth, and why Instagram Reels changed everything, including the frustrating part: when the algorithm shifts, your reach can disappear overnight. She also shares a standout moment when a Doki Doki dessert video helped drive a line down the block, reminding us that social media can be a real lifeline for local small businesses.

Then we get practical. Amber explains how she balances a demanding day job with content creation, why she turns down collaborations that don’t fit, and how credibility matters more than quick money. Expect a packed list of recommendations across sushi, Thai, Indian, hot chicken, desserts, ice cream, brunch, Mexican, bakeries, Vietnamese, burgers, and Korean BBQ, plus a thoughtful look at where Utah’s food culture should go next: more mom-and-pop spots, more diverse cuisines, and more authentic options like dim sum and soup dumplings.

If you enjoy discovering new places to eat in Utah, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s always hungry, and leave a review with your most underrated Utah restaurant pick.

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Get your tickets to Strada Saturdays on Oct. 10th here

Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time 

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A surveillance camera shows up at a busy Mill Creek park, quietly scanning every passing license plate, and when someone asks who approved it, the answer is chillingly simple: nobody. We walk through what happened, why the camera was removed, and why the bigger story is the data trail. Who collects it, how long it lives on servers, and who can search it are the questions Utah still struggles to regulate, even as local governments make case-by-case decisions with no statewide framework.

Then we rewind to the moment phones across northern Utah lit up with a blunt emergency alert: “Evacuate now.” The evacuation order was real, but the blast radius was not. We unpack the dispatch glitch that sent a wildfire alert to an enormous unintended area, and the uncomfortable contrast from the same week near Logan, where some residents in the fire’s path reportedly never received any alert at all. If emergency alerts are life safety infrastructure, these failures show exactly where the cracks are.

We close with much-needed good news: Salt Lake City’s Fleet Block final design is out after years of planning, with a new public green space coming to the Granary District and a community benefits agreement shaping nearby development. Utah also posts its first decline in homelessness since 2019, with notable drops in chronic and unsheltered homelessness. Plus, quick updates on the Calchi ruling, reported ICE deportation flights from SLC, upcoming Twilight shows, and a preview of next week’s vault conversation for food lovers and content nerds.

Subscribe for weekly Salt Lake City news and Utah policy updates, share this with a neighbor, and leave a review so more locals can find the show.

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A single question sits at the heart of this conversation: what do you send when someone you love is hurting and you can’t get on a plane? Marti, founder and CEO of Spoonful of Comfort, shares the true origin story behind her comfort food delivery brand, starting with the call every family dreads and the search for something more meaningful than flowers or candy. When she couldn’t find a chicken soup gift that felt personal, practical, and caring, she built it and poured her love and grief into the work. 

We talk through the real early days of building a food and e-commerce business: learning the rules, finding production help, packing orders at the kitchen table, and doing post office runs with kids in the car. Then the growth moment hits, a wave of press, hundreds of orders in hours, and the kind of scramble that forces a company to level up fast. Marti also explains how she and her husband run the business together, how they split responsibilities, and why moving to Utah became a turning point for scaling operations and finding the right community. 

We also get into what makes Spoonful of Comfort stand out: thoughtful branding, a warm unboxing experience, and products designed for life’s hardest moments. Marti shares favorites, how the menu evolved from a tight starting lineup to bigger add-ons and sweets, and what’s coming next, including a Hallmark partnership timed perfectly for cozy movie season. If you care about founder stories, customer experience, and building a brand with heart, hit play then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your favorite comfort food.

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Get your tickets to Strada Saturdays on Oct. 10th here

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Salt Lake City keeps getting compared to other Western cities, but the closer you look, the more the comparison breaks down. The mountains aren’t a weekend trip from here, they’re a backdrop you can touch, and that single detail changes how people visit, how they meet, and how the local economy grows.

We’re joined by Kaitlin Eskelsen, CEO of Visit Salt Lake, to talk about what destination marketing really looks like when it’s done at scale. We dig into the behind-the-scenes work of booking conventions at the Salt Palace, building a sports tourism engine through Sport Salt Lake, and creating event moments that make people rethink what a “conference city” can be. Kaitlin also explains why the organization focuses on exogenous spend, how that money moves through local small businesses, and why tourism can feel invisible until you understand the numbers.

Then we look forward to the 2034 Winter Olympics and what the lead-up can unlock, from storytelling and athlete visibility to mobility improvements and a tighter, more connected visitor experience. We also get personal about how people actually remember travel, including Caitlin’s book The VX Society and the simple idea that the peak moment and the goodbye are what stick.

If you care about Salt Lake City, tourism economics, convention strategy, sports events, or the future of the Wasatch Front, this conversation will give you a sharper lens. Subscribe, share this with a friend who still thinks Salt Lake is “far from the mountains,” and leave a review with your favorite takeaway.

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A downtown eyesore locals jokingly called “Sears Lake” is finally turning into something real, and that’s only the start of a packed week. We break down the long-awaited redevelopment of the former Sears site near 300 West and 400 South, where Intermountain Health is beginning environmental remediation ahead of a new hospital campus. After years of stalled potential, the cleanup alone feels like the first domino, and the location near TRAX, the Gateway, and the Granary District could change the gravity of that corridor.

Then we get into a genuine transit win: Frontrunner is slated for a major upgrade, with new commuter trains expected to be built right here in Salt Lake City by Stadler. We talk about what a proposed $328 million contract means, how it connects to UDOT’s double tracking project, and why frequency is the real quality-of-life feature riders care about even if the timeline stretches out a few years.

The mood shifts when we zoom out to the escalating data center debate in Utah. Packed public hearings in Tooele County, wastewater permit concerns tied to wetlands connected to the Great Salt Lake, a county moratorium, and the still-paused Stratos project in Box Elder County all point to a bigger question: who gets to decide how land and water are used as Utah becomes a data center hub?

We wrap with the local culture pulse check: Cafe Rio admits fans are right and promises a return to the original sweet pork barbacoa, the Utah Talons go back-to-back, extreme heat safety tips, and a quick look at the Winter Classic plans. If you like smart local news with strong opinions and receipts, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time 

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You can be fit, tough, and motivated and still get wrecked by a simple mistake like the wrong breakfast. We sit down with ultra runner and nutrition coach Jesse Rich to trace the real path from “I don’t like running” to finishing and competing in ultramarathons, including the hard-earned lessons that only show up when you’re deep into a 50K or staring down a 100-mile day.

Jesse breaks down the moment that changed everything: a brutal Speedgoat 50K where stomach issues turned a promising start into survival mode. That failure pushes him into formal nutrition education and years of trial, error, and refinement in sports nutrition for endurance athletes. We talk hydration, electrolytes, sodium, carbohydrates, and why “training the gut” is a skill you build on long runs, not a gamble you take on race day. If gels make you gag or your stomach shuts down late, you’ll recognize yourself here.

We also zoom out to the bigger world of trail running and ultrarunning: how the sport has exploded, how UTMB has become a global target, and why even high-level athletes can struggle to make the economics work. Jesse shares how he turns his experience into a coaching career, what kinds of athletes reach out for help, and how family life, aging, recovery, and time constraints change the way you train. The thread that ties it together is simple: consistency wins, fueling is performance, and “white space” might be the most underrated training tool we have.

If you’re training for your first ultra marathon, chasing a PR at a local trail race, or trying to stop blowing up in the final hours, this conversation gives you a smarter way forward. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s training, and leave a review with your biggest fueling question.

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Get your tickets to Strada Saturdays on Oct. 10th here

Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time 

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109 degrees. That’s not a hot day, that’s a line in the history books, and Salt Lake City just crossed it. We recap a week where Utah breaks its all-time heat record, watches foothill fires flare up under extreme conditions, and then gets hit with monsoonal storms that turn burn scars into fast-moving flood threats. If you’ve been feeling like the weather is getting sharper and less predictable, we talk through what happened, why it matters, and how record heat, wildfire, and flash flooding now stack on top of each other in a single season.\n\nWe also slow down for a story that deserves real space: the death of 1st Lieutenant Tyler James Fienn, a 25-year-old with deep ties to Southern Utah University and the Utah Army National Guard, killed in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Jordan. We reflect on what Utah lost, what his life represented, and why it’s important not to let big conflict become background noise.\n\nFrom there, we pivot to the part of summer that helps us breathe again: Pioneer Day on July 24. We run through the Days of ’47 Parade, the rodeo, the Salt Lake Art Museum grand opening, and the wonderfully chaotic Pie And Beer Day tradition, plus quick hits on concerts and local updates. We also cover a major NHL contract rule change that could shape the Utah Mammoth offseason strategy, especially around Clayton Keller.\n\nIf you want a smart, local weekly update that mixes Utah news, events, sports, and the realities of climate and water, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who lives along the Wasatch Front, and leave a review, what part of this week hit you the hardest?

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A pink, flower-filled brunch cafe in Woods Cross sounds like it came from a mood board, but the real story starts with something way less glamorous: an 18-year-old handing out flyers and landing 27 house cleaning clients. Angie, the founder of Plated Dreams, walks us through the long road from early responsibility and nonstop work to building one of the most distinctive brunch experiences in Utah. If you care about small business, restaurant entrepreneurship, or creating spaces that pull people together, this conversation gets refreshingly real. 

We dig into the behind-the-scenes decisions most guests never see: why Utah restaurant hours and closed days matter more than you think, how a 1031 exchange creates a do-or-die timeline, and what it takes to look at an old McDonalds and a Wells Fargo and see a community development instead of a mess. Angie also shares the pivot from a children’s play center concept to a retail hub, plus the hard lesson she watched play out with tenants: you cannot open a business and not be there. 

From there, we get into Plated Dreams itself: designing a London-inspired space that feels like you “left Utah for an hour,” building a from-scratch brunch menu that evolves with customers, and pricing food honestly when you are buying raw ingredients and making everything to order. We also talk about the emotional side of hospitality, handling harsh reviews, and why giving a team the chance to make things right matters. Angie closes with what she’s building next with the Brunch Club and a wild Mother’s Day win: 421 guests on 35 tables in five and a half hours. 

If you enjoy founder stories, Utah food and drink, or practical lessons on running a restaurant, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Get your tickets to Strada Saturdays on Oct. 10th here

Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time 

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