Small Lake City

What happens when you quit school, walk away from two full-time jobs, and bet everything on a buzzing machine and a stubborn dream? We sit down with Winnie the Jroo the global tattoo artist behind a striking blend of hyper‑realism, surrealism, and anime, to unpack the messy, honest leap from “supposed to” into a life built on obsession and craft. From sketchy warehouse sessions with treasure‑map directions to a packed studio and a thriving education platform, Winnie shows how chasing the work that scares you is the fastest way to grow.

We get into the origin story—DBZ marathons, Future Trunks swagger, and why character design from Japan shaped his fashion, eye, and identity. Then we break down the creative pivot that changed everything: merging realistic portraiture with anime icons and chibi energy so clients can wear their favorite worlds with depth and texture. It’s a style that invites real conversation during all‑day sessions, building community the algorithms can’t fake. Along the way, he shares how he filters the dabblers from the dedicated, why he opens his books for only 24 hours a year, and how mentorship (shoutout Anna) turns raw interest into reliable skill.

This is also a story about relationships and self-trust. Winnie talks about tattooing his mom—a tiny starfish packed with meaning—and how honesty, boundaries, and daily habits create real confidence. We swap non‑negotiables, travel rituals that reveal who your people are, and the simple truth that confidence is keeping promises to yourself. Looking ahead, he’s targeting Japan, a bigger shop to host more guest artists, and expanded courses and seminars to help artists level up faster without losing their voice.

If you care about creative career paths, realistic anime tattoos, or just need proof that obsession beats permission, you’ll feel at home here. Follow Winnie at @winniethejroo and winniethejroo.com for booking updates and courses. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s on the edge of a leap, and leave a review telling us the scariest challenge you’re ready to chase next.

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Ever wonder how a single week can reveal what a city wants to become? We unpack a fast-moving stretch for Salt Lake—where your dinner plate, your commute, and your sense of home all tie back to choices on the hill and stories on the ground. We start with a challenge to the “who cooks Sysco best” mindset by spotlighting Moonshadow Farms and its CSA model, a simple way to get seasonal produce delivered to your door while keeping dollars and flavor local. That everyday act of eating becomes a lens for bigger questions: who we support, what we value, and how we hold onto place in a changing market.

From there, we track the pulse of the legislative session. The Great Salt Lake takes center stage as lawmakers consider serious funding and new water paths to rebuild the lake’s levels. Recent moves add real water back, yet the shortfall remains steep—proof that incremental wins matter but won’t carry us alone. Social policy also shapes the mood, with gender-affirming care proposals testing how we show up for one another. And a bill that could shift control of Salt Lake City street design raises deeper questions about safety, mobility, and who decides what our roads are for.

Life at ground level keeps humming. We look at unusual winter weather, a nudge from Solitude to keep skiers engaged, and a promising plan to convert the old downtown police building into nearly 200 affordable units. Local pride pops as a Food Network favorite returns and a Park City reality series leans into our Olympic DNA. Then we pivot to craft and identity with our upcoming guest, Winnie the Drew, a tattoo artist whose journey and style have drawn attention far beyond Utah. His story reminds us that culture is built by hands and choices, not slogans. If you care about where Salt Lake is headed—ecologically, politically, creatively—this update connects the dots between policy and personal life, between water levels and dinner tables, between street lines and storylines.

Join us, share it with a friend who cares about this place, and leave a quick review so more locals can find the show. Subscribe for weekly updates that keep you close to the decisions shaping our city.

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What if your favorite restaurant’s best dish started as a quiet decision at dawn—harvest now, while the sugars are high? We sit down with Andrea Morgan, the farmer behind Moonshadow in Hoytsville, to explore the winding path from ballet shoes to biodynamic soil, from student activist saving UBC’s farm to Utah landowner supplying kitchens like Urban Hill and High West. Her story pulls you into the real engine of “farm to table”: relationships, timing, and the stubborn will to grow food that tastes like the place it’s from.

Andrea opens up about the years she spent learning on diversified farms across British Columbia, the business reality of small market gardens, and the craft of serving chefs who write menus around the field. Then everything changes—a devastating road cycling crash and traumatic brain injury force her to rebuild reading, balance, and memory. The farm becomes therapy: hours of weeding, crew support, and the slow return of rhythm. A sabbatical follows, then a surprise chance to buy the historic Ranui property. With grit, settlement funds, and a vision for soil, Ranui’s “abundant sunshine” evolves into Moonshadow—a new chapter rooted in biodynamics, stewardship, and flavor.

We dig into practical takeaways you can use tonight. Learn how to ask better sourcing questions at restaurants, why terroir makes greens and carrots taste unmistakably local, and how CSAs give farms winter cash flow while giving you peak-season produce all summer. Get names of Utah restaurants that truly partner with growers, hear what’s in season and why, and discover how organic practices—certified or not—protect water, soil, and our bodies.

Hungry for food that tastes like where you live? Hit play, then share this with a friend who loves great meals. Subscribe, leave a review so others can find the show, and if you’re ready to back local agriculture, join a CSA and tell us what you cooked first.

Moonshadow Farm Webite and CSA: http://www.moonshadowutah.com

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Local stories rarely arrive one at a time, and this week proves it. We kick off with a new narrative series exploring Salt Lake lore through the Billboard Queen, Julia Reagan—how one woman’s image turned into a citywide mirror for grief, money, curiosity, and the power of attention. The tale blends mystery with media mechanics and shows how public fascination can pull private lives into the spotlight, lawsuits and all.

From there, we switch gears to community energy you can feel: Post Malone and Jelly Roll just announced a tour finale in Salt Lake City, and we’re lining up a ticket giveaway to celebrate. It’s the kind of hometown moment that turns a national tour into a local victory lap, reminding us why ease of access, passionate crowds, and a growing creative scene keep SLC on the map. Meanwhile, the internet is buzzing with new Epstein document chatter touching Utah‑adjacent names and institutions. We walk through what’s claimed, what’s verified, and how to navigate the space between rumor and reality without losing curiosity or accountability.

Culture takes another turn as Sundance signals its exit from Utah. Some see a loss of a defining pillar; others see breathing room to build a film culture that serves locals year‑round. We compare the Park City advantage to Boulder’s logistics and consider whether history will repeat like Outdoor Retailer. At the Capitol, Speaker Mike Schultz’s push to tilt the sentencing commission toward more law enforcement voices sparks a debate over balance and outcomes, while immigration protests downtown underline how national issues land on local streets. We also unpack why the Prop 4 repeal effort is stalling and what sustained support for independent redistricting says about voters’ appetite for fairness over party control.

To close, we preview our upcoming conversation with Andrea Morgan of Moonshadow Farm, whose journey from Park City to farms across North America and back home shows how thoughtful agriculture can root community in a shifting cultural landscape. If you care about how a city defines itself—through art, policy, protests, and food—you’ll feel right at home here. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and drop a review so more Utahns can find us.

Juliea Reagan Deep Dive

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A single image. A simple line. And then that face was everywhere. We dig into the story of Julia Reagan—how a quiet memorial spread across Utah and into multiple states, why it captured national attention, and what it reveals about the collision of grief, power, and public narrative. Julia wasn’t a celebrity or a politician. She was the wife of Bill Reagan, whose company, Reagan Outdoor Advertising, shapes skylines across the West. When hundreds of memorial billboards appeared with no URL, no ask, and no context, curiosity filled the vacuum. Drivers posted, the algorithm amplified, and a personal loss turned into a cultural moment.

We walk through the reported timeline of Julia’s health challenges, her admission to University of Utah Hospital, and the wrongful death lawsuit that alleges preventable failures—claims that remain unproven and will be decided in court. Once that lawsuit surfaced, the billboards read differently. Was this pure remembrance, or did visibility also serve to shape public sentiment and apply pressure to one of Utah’s most powerful institutions? We unpack how minimal creative, massive reach, and yearly recurrence around Memorial Day can transform memorialization into ritual—and ritual into influence.

This is a Utah story with national stakes, where a family’s mourning meets the mechanics of media. Two things can be true: a husband can honor his wife on the largest canvas he knows, and he can understand exactly how attention moves hearts, headlines, and history. Hear the facts, consider the strategy, and decide for yourself: were those billboards love, leverage, or both? If this deep dive challenged your assumptions, subscribe, share with a friend, and drop your take—we want to hear where you land.

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A week of Utah headlines rarely lands with this much force. Downtown protests over the killing of Alex Pretti brought thousands into the streets and sent a charge through the Wasatch Front, while Sundance wrestled with the pressure of politics, safety, and a looming move to Colorado. We unpack the stories behind the scroll: how a rumor about an ICE detention facility erupted and was shut down by the owners, why Park City’s Marquee venue suddenly canceled all Sundance screenings over fire and safety issues, and what it takes to keep a festival running when compliance falters.

We also head to the Capitol, where the legislative sprint puts housing, zoning reform, and homelessness front and center. The governor’s call to avoid becoming a state of renters meets the budget reality of classrooms, with pushback brewing over proposed cuts to early literacy software. Layered on top is a slower, high-stakes fight: the push to repeal Proposition 4, the voter-approved independent redistricting initiative, as organizers struggle to meet signature targets. These decisions won’t just shape headlines; they’ll set the terms for rents, schools, and representation across Utah.

Not everything is heavy. Dinofest at the Natural History Museum offered a joyful reset, and The Lake documentary at Sundance sharpened public focus on the fate of the Great Salt Lake—where water policy, dust risk, and economic health collide. We also launch our new weekly segment, Great Salt Takes, to connect the dots across culture, politics, and community, and we preview a new format drop: a focused profile on the so-called Queen of Salt Lake, Julia Reagan, digging into her ubiquitous billboards and the lawsuit connected to the University of Utah.

If this kind of clear, local context helps you navigate the noise, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more Utahns can find it. And sign up for the Small Lake City newsletter at smalllakepod.com to stay ahead of the next wave of stories.

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Reinvention isn’t always a straight line. Natalie Parkin grew up sweeping hair in her mom’s salon, built a high-performing career in IT and telecom sales, then bought a beauty school and discovered a larger mission: empower people—especially women—to build flexible, credible careers in aesthetics. What started as a business opportunity became a commitment to advocacy, education, and client safety in one of the most dynamic markets in the country.

We dive into how technology quietly powers modern skincare—from alexandrite and YAG lasers to microcurrent and galvanic—while still honoring the human side of care. Natalie explains why communication skills, service consistency, and trust turn services like waxing into stable, lucrative books of business. She also shares why she rejects non-competes and asks employers to earn loyalty instead of enforcing it. In a state with a high concentration of med spas and aesthetics-only schools, that mindset matters.

Policy threads through everything here. Natalie breaks down Utah’s shift to a single 1200-hour master aesthetics license, the expansion of a standalone lash license to 270 hours, and what these decisions mean for students, employers, and outcomes. We talk Pell Grants, accreditation, and the push to ensure part-time, female-majority professions aren’t undervalued in federal data. Her advocacy has real wins—from halting harmful bills to ensuring trade schools aren’t left out when support is allocated.

If you’re curious about how careers in aesthetics really work, why Utah leads in advanced skincare education, or how advocacy shapes the services you book, this conversation delivers a grounded, hopeful view. We wrap with practical skincare wisdom—wear sunscreen, moisturize, and start prevention early—and an open invite to visit the Skinworks clinic to see training and care in action.

Enjoy the episode, then share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a quick review so others can find stories like Natalie’s. Your support helps us keep spotlighting the people shaping Salt Lake’s creative, caring economy.

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

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Salt Lake thrives on people who build with heart, and this week we spotlight two of them. We share why Rocksteady Body Works—launched by Jeff Roche and Jessa Munion—caught our attention, blending Pilates, bodywork, and teacher training into a space that helps locals move better, recover smarter, and even pursue a path into teaching. Their backstories and their commitment to Utah’s growth make this more than a fitness plug; it’s a portrait of how community-first businesses shape the city’s culture.

We also catch you up on recent energy across the valley: thanks to everyone who jumped into the Utah Men’s Basketball and Kilby Block Party giveaways. There’s more on the horizon, and while we can’t announce the next events just yet, the planning is in full swing with partners who care about local music, sport, and small business. If you want the earliest heads-up, Instagram is the fastest way to follow along with surprise drops, ticket alerts, and guest teases. For a cleaner, noise-free plan, our newsletter lays out the next two weeks of what’s worth your time in Salt Lake—so you can skip the scroll and go straight to the good stuff.

A quick personal note: Eric is sneaking off to Hawaii for a sun break, but the release cadence stays solid. Expect a new episode this weekend and next. Guest selection is in motion, and we’re taking your suggestions seriously—founders, artists, athletes, and neighbors who deserve a mic. If you care about health, recovery, and the stories behind the city’s most interesting people, this update is your roadmap to stay plugged in without the overwhelm.

Follow on Instagram for real-time updates and subscribe to the newsletter for curated picks across Salt Lake. If you enjoyed the show, share it with a friend and leave a quick review—it helps more locals find the stories that keep our city moving.

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A phone call during 9/11. A train ride west. A splitboard cut by hand and a whiteboard full of climbs. That’s the unlikely path that led Jessa Munion and Jeff Roche to build Rocksteady Body Works, a place where movement isn’t a trend—it’s medicine—and wellness is a practice you live, not a product you buy.

We trace Jessa’s pivot from DC consulting to yoga leadership in Park City, and the moment she chose massage therapy to deepen the work from the mat to the nervous system. Jeff brings the alpine lens: route finding, consequence, and clean decision-making born in the mountains, then applied to spreadsheets, space design, and a team culture that actually breathes. Together, they turned a hidden Holladay corner into a provider-first studio, blending deep tissue manual therapy, precision Pilates, and hands-on education that turns practitioners into mentors and clients into strong, self-aware movers.

The story widens from studio walls to valley-wide stewardship. We dig into the Great Salt Lake as a complex system demanding value-chain thinking and impact networks, not quick fixes. We personify the lake to change the tone—from talking points to responsibility—and lay out why material action beats marginal gestures. Then we tackle the Little Cottonwood gondola debate with a simple premise: it’s a flow problem. We sketch a people-first alternative—dynamic lanes, bus-priority corridors, and distributed transit hubs—that scales access without scarring an iconic canyon or sinking public funds into a 45-minute ride most won’t take.

What emerges is a blueprint you can feel. Craft over shortcuts. Mentorship over noise. Culture over slogans. If you care about building a resilient body, a stronger community, and a smarter city, this conversation will meet you where you move—and push you a step further.

If this resonated, follow the journey, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more people find thoughtful, locally rooted conversations like this one. Subscribe for more stories at the intersection of movement, mentorship, and the mountains we love.

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

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The calendar turned and our city feels wide open again. We’re back from a December reset with clear eyes, a full slate, and a promise to feature the people who make the Wasatch Front feel like home. Season Two kicks off with a story where hospitality meets service: the Grand Hyatt at Deer Valley dedicates 25% of its rooms to military members, an initiative rooted in Utah’s Olympic-era promise to protect military recreation access. We sit down with GM Nate Hardesty and program lead Kristin Kenny Williams to unpack how the policy works, why it matters, and what it looks like when logistics and dignity align.

From the Mayflower side above Jordanelle, this new property isn’t just another luxury build. Nate shares how a hotel integrates with a mountain community without losing its soul, while Kristin walks us through the nuts and bolts of making stays affordable and available to those who serve. It’s a rare look at access done right: less slogan, more system. We connect the dots between legacy decisions from 2002 and today’s on-the-ground benefits for military families who want to ski, gather, and breathe mountain air without barriers.

We also preview what’s next: Jeff and Jessa, the founders of Rocksteady Body Works, bring a different kind of impact through Pilates, bodywork, and a studio culture anchored in care. Their journey to Salt Lake, their partnership, and their approach to movement show how small studios can strengthen a neighborhood’s health, routine, and sense of belonging. Along the way we celebrate recent community giveaways, spotlight upcoming prizes, and invite you to stay plugged in as more local stories roll out.

If you’re here for thoughtful conversations about place, service, and the people who keep this city moving, you’ll feel right at home. Tap follow, share the show with a friend who loves Utah, and leave a review telling us which local builders we should feature next.

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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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