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Big Red Jelly | CEO + Co-founder | Provo | 32

Take marketing, add a whole lot of creativity and vision, and you’ve got Big Red Jelly. Eight years ago, Josh Webber and his brother, Zach, saw the need for a revamped kind of marketing agency — “one that was truly collaborative, transparent and focused on getting real results.” The results are real for their clients, and for themselves. Big Red Jelly has landed as an Inc. 5000 winner, a MWCN top 50 fastest-growing company, and a Utah Valley BusinessQ UV50 top 30 fastest-growing company. But even deeper than that is the incredible team they’ve built, with a hunger to craft award-winning creative work. If a Big Red Jellyfish could talk, it would say it’s proud.

SHARPER SKILLS Over the years, I’ve become better at 1) project management, 2) being radically candid, 3) being “an extrovert” and 4) operations and finance. CODE RED When the world suddenly shifted with Covid, many of our clients understandably hit pause. We quickly realized we needed to adapt – and fast. We doubled down on helping businesses pivot online, develop stronger digital strategies, and connect with their audiences in new and innovative ways. This meant quickly adjusting our service offerings and how we approached client relationships. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS 1) Consistency ultimately breeds velocity. It’s not always about massive bursts of effort, but rather the steady, reliable execution of our work. 2) Having solid routines in place helps us stay organized and focused. 3) Learn when to say no. Saying no to projects or initiatives that don’t align with our core strengths or our long-term vision allows us to dedicate our energy to the things where we can truly excel. MAIN MOTIVATION Walking into the office and seeing the incredible talent and innovative ideas our team brings to the table — that’s what truly inspires me. Secondly, seeing our clients flourish and knowing that our creative work played a part in that growth is incredibly rewarding. Finally, our partnership with nonprofit Be Humanitarian is a huge motivator. Being able to leverage our skills and resources to support such a meaningful cause adds a whole other layer of purpose to our work. LIVING LEGACY I hope my career leaves a legacy of fostering an environment where innovative ideas flourish and lead to tangible success. I aspire to be remembered as a mentor who empowered the next generation of agency creatives, helping them unlock their potential and reach new heights in their careers. 

ReferPro | Founder + CEO | Lehi | 31

Let us refer you to the ReferPro king, Murphy Nadauld. After spending time in tech startups and other companies, and exiting a home service company, he saw firsthand how complicated it can be for service businesses to capture, track and reward referrals. “So, I launched ReferPro to help automate and supercharge referral growth,” he says. In under two years, ReferPro has gone from an idea to a thriving service. “More referrals. More loyalty. More revenue.” He is quick to give credit where it’s due, recognizing that the progress and success of ReferPro has come from a circle of staunch, supportive mentors, friends and family. Murphy is grateful for this all-in risk he has taken — “no guarantees, just conviction!”

PROUD MOMENTS Raising $3.2 million backed by top-tier VCs, and assembling an incredible team that’s helping millions of people automate their referrals. I’m also proud of successfully exiting a prior home service business, which gave me the operator’s insight needed to solve real customer problems. None of this would be possible without our incredible team, and especially my wife, Morgan, and our four kiddos. SHARPER SKILLS I’ve really learned to prioritize my time. In building an early-stage software company, you have to learn and adapt daily. I’ve improved my skills in recruiting and team building, SAAS and financial metrics, operations and customer experience. COMBATING DOUBT I’ve had to get serious about my health habits since becoming a founder. Hard exercise, sleep and nutrition have been important to stay emotionally/mentally/physically on top of my game. Recharging with family time and staying centered in my religious beliefs and Jesus Christ has been important. I’m a believer that ReferPro being successful is a blessing in the lives of many besides myself. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS 1) My wife Morgan supports us, talks about and strategizes for ReferPro around the clock. 2) The businesses that are ultimately successful are a result of people never giving up along the way. 3) Hiring and surrounding myself with people who are smarter and more talented than myself has been critical to scale. GOOD BIZ ADVICE “Exerting more effort doesn’t help if you’re on the wrong trajectory. Before you try harder, make sure you are walking a path that leads where you want to go.” — Tim Yandel

Nectar | CEO | Lehi | 33

Before Nectar, Trevor Larson was already a side hustle savant. From duct tape wallets when he was a kid, to mobile car detailing in college, his creative entrepreneurial spirit was always on the move. Now with Nectar as his full-time gig, since founding the company alongside Andrew Hollis and Jackson Horne in 2018, the team has been “creating a culture people won’t want to leave” through the Nectar employee recognition and rewards software. What started as a side hustle has become the eighth fastest-growing software company in the U.S. according to Inc. 5000 (and the No. 2 Fastest-Growing Company in Utah Valley in 2024, with 3,831 percent revenue growth over three years). Nectar serves over 1,500 customers worldwide, including leading brands like MLB, Coca-Cola and Dyson. From duct tape wallets to Nectar, Trevor is leaving a pretty sweet legacy.

PROUD MOMENTS  A recent full circle moment that I’m proud of is joining the board of the Woodbury School of Business at UVU. UVU was a huge support to me and the team early on, and I’m so honored to give back to the students and the university in this capacity. MAIN MOTIVATION I wake up every day excited to continue building a team of incredible people who are on a mission to help transform workplace cultures. SHARPER SKILLS My role is similar to conducting or synchronizing an orchestra. I’ve had to learn a lot about each function in the company and how to bring them all together to produce great outcomes. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS I strive to be a learning machine. I consume lots of information via books, podcasts, mentors/coaches, and then test and try things out. MENTOR WINS Mark Newman. He was our first investor when we were nothing, and he’d successfully built and sold HireVue. He’s now the CEO of Nomi Health. Mark has always been my sounding board and a selfless person who I admire deeply. COMBATING DOUBT I try to remind myself of the most important things in life like family and purpose to get me through. LIVING LEGACY I want to be known as someone with great ambition who is kind, approachable and genuinely cares and wants to help. 

Startup Ignition Ventures | Founder + General Partner | Provo | 37

Entrepreneur and startup investor by day, wanna-be pro-pickleballer by night. Tyler Richards is an entrepreneur who knows from experience that early-stage founders need more than capital; they need hands-on support and rigorous validation. Tyler’s most notable self-started startup was DevMountain, which he scaled, sold and exited in 2016. Tyler started helping other entrepreneurs by mentoring founders, and then moved into angel investing. After that, he formalized the mentorship with Startup Ignition Bootcamp, and ultimately launched the VC fund to back the most promising founders across Utah and the Mountain West. Startups, get ready for liftoff.

MAIN MOTIVATION Great founders deserve a shot at building something world-class. If I can help them do that, I’m doing my job. SHARPER SKILLS I’ve had to practice saying no — especially to good ideas or good people. As a founder, I was wired to say yes and chase opportunity. But I’ve learned that focus and discipline are often more valuable than raw hustle. Not every pitch fits the fund, not every feature belongs in an MVP, and not every founder is ready — and it took time to get comfortable with that. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS I’ve always tried to show up with real intent. Opportunities often come through people who trust you — and that trust is built over years, not emails. MENTOR WINS My greatest mentor has been my dad, John Richards. Growing up, I watched him build companies, teach entrepreneurship, and invest in founders with a deep sense of purpose. That left a mark on me. Now, he’s also my co-founder at Startup Ignition. Working side by side with him is awesome. Though, I must admit, it’s a unique experience having your co-founder also be the guy who used to ground you for staying out past curfew. CAUTIONARY TALES Early in my journey, I believed that if I built something great, customers would just show up. But at the end of the day crickets chirped. What I learned — the hard way — is that no matter how good your product is, if you’re not solving a clear problem for a specific customer, it won’t matter. You need to talk to customers to know what to build. RISK TAKER Right out of college, I made the pivotal decision to forego a typical 9-to-5 job offer and instead jump straight into building my own startup. I remember not taking any salary for the first year, and when I finally did, it was $25K a year. Even now, risk is the job. Every startup I back could go to zero. But I believe in founders who are chasing real problems. I know what it feels like because I’ve lived it.

Cords Club | Chief Creative Officer + Founder | Spanish Fork | 29

Meet the Chief Earring Officer, a term coined by Lexi Petersen herself. After getting her second lobes pierced and having a hard time finding the best flat back studs, she took a scrappy jewelry idea and turned it into an eight-figure business with a team of almost 30 employees. In the past year alone, Cords Club grew by more than 800 percent. Lexi has even led creative collabs with national retailers and big name brands that she’ll be sharing more about soon. Oh, did we mention the 186K Instagram followers? That number keeps growing, by the way. Lexi has blended creativity with jewelry to create a gold-and-silver-obsessed following. In her own words, “Small things (like earrings) can hold meaning, express identity, or simply help someone feel just a tiny bit more put together.” Put that on a charm. 

MAIN MOTIVATION I care about the people behind the scenes. I want our office to feel like a place where creativity thrives, hard work is celebrated, no one dreads Mondays, and everyone has a voice. CODE RED There was a point when we outgrew our office setup almost overnight. We were working out of our house, had nine employees parking in front of our house daily, and products were out of stock constantly. We had to grow up really quickly. We reorganized the space, moved into an actual office, restructured roles and jumped in wherever needed. It was messy, but it made us sharper, faster and way more united as a team. Now, just over a year later, we’ve grown to the point where we need even more space! COMBATING DOUBT I’ve learned that doubt usually shows up right before a big shift. I take it as a signal that growth is coming. When I feel stuck, I try to make space for creativity again. I’ll step away from social media, create a moodboard, journal, organize something, brainstorm a wild new idea, talk things out with Ben, my husband (who co-runs the business with me), or revisit old wins to remind myself that I’ve figured it out before, and I’ll figure it out again. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS I’m not afraid to start messy. I’ll test things before they’re perfect, try weird ideas, and refine as we go. That scrappy mindset — combined with consistency and a willingness to listen, learn and pivot when something isn’t working — has helped us grow quickly without losing our personality. CAUTIONARY TALES I’ve heard “don’t take it personally” more times than I can count, but when you’re building something with your whole heart, it’s personal. Caring deeply is part of what makes our brand so strong.

Gabb | VP, People and HR | Lehi | 39

Rewind to the beginning of Gabb, and you’ll find Parker Hansen as employee No. 5. Gabb has now lifted off to almost 300 employees, thanks to the help of Parker and others. When Parker started to notice his phone screen time back when Apple began showing those stats, he knew he needed to make a change. As he started searching for solutions, he found Gabb. Even though the phone itself was for kids and not necessarily an option for himself, he sensed the importance of the mission. Thanks to a connection he had within the company, he was able to start with Gabb a few weeks later. Now, with the desire to help his teams succeed and the belief that “successful people make companies successful,” Parker is helping to protect kids and give parents peace of mind. 

PROUD MOMENTS Helping navigate Gabb through Covid by creating unique initiatives for the team to stay connected; securing funding from non-VC sources for Covid relief; working with the Utah governor’s office of economic opportunity to secure funds for a new HQ and helping grow Gabb from five team members to just under 300. SHARPER SKILLS I never knew HR/People would need to use so much Microsoft Excel. The analytics behind HR are fascinating, and being able to take that data and turn it into a story is something I have worked hard to do. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS I have always tried to be a clear communicator. Sometimes that means giving bad news. But I have found that if you are honest and upfront, even bad news can be handled well. My team knows this saying: “Is it the right thing to do?” The right thing can be hard, but I always try to ask that, and move forward with the decision. CODE RED Covid was so unexpected and haphazard. There was fear and uncertainty everywhere, and people really leaned on workplaces for some kind of continuity. Being able to provide that, as a company, was a big accomplishment for us. GOOD BIZ ADVICE Document everything. Have a high EQ (emotional intelligence) — if you don’t have one, work on that above all else. RISK TAKER In another life I worked in athletics and was working toward a pretty good career. After a very enlightening conversation with a best friend, I took the leap to tech/SAAS. I had to start my career all over again at essentially the bottom to prove to myself I could do it. I have found it to be the best business decision I have made so far. 

 Poppy Books & Gifts | Co-owner | Spanish Fork | 27

In 2022, a mother-daughter duo opened a book shop called Poppy Books & Gifts. Whitney Gallegos is the daughter half. The charming store is set in a renovated 1930s house in the heart of Spanish Fork, and has hosted some bestselling authors that are surely on your shelves — from Christopher Paolini (the “Eragon” series) to Shannon Hale (“The Princess Academy”) to Allie Condie (the “Matched” series and “The Unwedding”), with many more novelists in between. When Whitney was younger, her mom, Karin, would take her to the library more times than she could count, and instilled in her a love for page turning. This mother-daughter duo is grateful to have written “bookstore owners” in the pages of their own stories.

PROUD MOMENTS Utah Valley Magazine Fab 40 in 2024; Utah Valley Magazine No. 1 “Best of Utah Valley” Bookstore in 2025; hosting bestselling authors such as Olivie Blake, Christopher Paolini, Soman Chainani, Mac Barnett, Tia Williams, Shannon Hale and more; being the official bookstore for StoryCon, an incredible yearly writing and literacy convention here in Utah! MAIN MOTIVATION My motivation comes from a love of books and the importance of promoting reading and literacy to our community. SHARPER SKILLS Public speaking! I wouldn’t quite call it a skill yet, but if you had told me how often I would be speaking in front of people before we started, I might have reconsidered opening the store. COMBATING DOUBT I use the opportunity to connect with other booksellers and learn from their expertise. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS My planner never leaves my side. Writing down my to-do list and calendar are the only way I can keep my brain organized enough to be successful. LIVING LEGACY I hope to help people either discover or rediscover a lifelong love of reading. I hope to continue to bring people together to form lifelong friendships through a mutual love of books. I hope that the store will always be around to provide a safe space for those who find  their escape from reality in reading. RISK TAKER Taking the first step to open a bookstore in a world where everything is increasingly digital was a big risk. It has definitely paid off, and has been apparent that Utahns still love bookstores!

Trucordia | SVP – Agriculture | Springville | 34

Coulton Woodger will work hard for ranchers until the cows come home. Literally. Coulton oversees the agriculture division at Trucordia, specifically crop-related insurance products. At Redd Summit Advisors, an agency within Trucordia, they have grown to over 50 million acres of insured ranchland throughout the West. Before his ranch roaming, Coulton worked for Ivory Homes as a warranty representative. While his time there was valuable, he craved something that would feel more fulfilling. He decided to finish his degree, and Redd Summit Advisors showed up at the perfect time. “It gave me the opportunity to pivot into a field where I could grow, lead and make a real difference,” he says. Coulton quickly saw that insurance had impact. Especially in agriculture, he found that the right products could fill real needs and provide solid support for ranchers. He’s been helping homes on the range ever since.

MAIN MOTIVATION The best part of my job has been seeing ranchers benefit from the programs we are able to help them use, keeping their family on the land. We have seen people go from almost losing the ranch to growing their operation within a short period of time, due to the products we offer. I’m naturally driven to improve things: build better processes, lead stronger teams and challenge the status quo. Insurance, especially in the agriculture space, gave me the chance to be both a leader and a disruptor. SHARPER SKILLS A skill I’ve gained is being able to see the bigger picture and direction, and utilize the team and available resources to become a better organization overall. COMBATING DOUBT Focusing on the things that you can control. If you work to improve or manage those things that you can, the other things seem to work themselves out. Stressing about the unknown or the uncontrollable never helps. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS Striving to remain optimistic when problems arise. Seeing problems as something that have solution. You just need to be patient and put in the work. GOOD BIZ ADVICE We should always be looking for ways to pivot to become better. LIVING LEGACY I hope the legacy I leave is that I have found solutions to problems that have made others’ lives better or able to perform at a higher level. 

JordanBree Photography | Owner | Saratoga Springs | 37

She gets the shot, every time. Jordan Batt is a renowned Utah Valley (and beyond) photographer. On top of being a wedding and family photographer, she’s a freelance photographer for big brands including Swig, Cariloha, Savory and so many more. Around 10 years ago, she started taking pictures as a hobby, and now she’s a full-time shutter creative. She has even been voted “Best of Weddings” photographer by The Knot, one of the most popular wedding publications in the nation, multiple years in a row. Her flawless work has been featured in Inc 500 Magazine, QSR Magazine, People — and even our very own Utah Valley BusinessQ 40 Under 40 shoots in the past. While Jordan is normally behind the camera, it’s her turn to bask in the flash’s spotlight.

MAIN MOTIVATION My family is my biggest motivation. I’m incredibly grateful to have a business that can grow alongside the milestones in our lives, allowing me to be both a present mom and a passionate creative. But beyond that, it’s the people who drive me. Whether it’s a one-hour family session, a full wedding day, or an entire product campaign, I’m motivated to give each client an experience that’s thoughtful, personal and unforgettable. SHARPER SKILLS My ability to adapt on the fly is a skill I’ve gained. In this industry, unexpected challenges are inevitable — like a model calling in sick or a sudden storm wiping out a ceremony setup. In those moments, I’ve learned the value of being a problem solver, not a problem adder. I stay calm, think creatively, and do whatever it takes to keep things moving forward. CODE RED When challenges arise, I put myself in my clients’ shoes and ask what would I like out of this situation, and put their needs first. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS  I’m an everything, everywhere, all-over, all-at-once kind of personality. Having an actual planner and to-do list has helped tremendously. GOOD BIZ ADVICE I truly believe that when you help others get what they want, you’ll have everything you want. I operate from a mindset of abundance: There’s more than enough work and clients to go around. That’s why I’m always happy to share tips, insights and experiences with others in the industry. Community over competition, always.

Altabank | Retail Branch Manager, VP | American Fork | 37

When Lindsay Berndt started as a part-time teller in 2008, she didn’t plan for it to lead to a full-time career. But what a happy surprise it has been. Across her career of almost 20 years, she has created and managed a branch training department, participated in the acquisitions of three Banks of American Fork and has managed the largest branch at Altabank. And don’t forget the girl power! Lindsay also graduated from the very first Professional Women of Altabank cohort. Above all, her greatest joy comes from seeing people excel. That’s a professional account balance we can get behind.

SHARPER SKILLS Learning to effectively delegate did not come easy to me. I am a bit of a perfectionist and used to feel that nothing would be done right unless I did it myself. I have learned that effectively delegating tasks and responsibilities empowers my team and builds trust. CODE RED In 2022, we were acquired by another bank. Employees and customers were anxious about the changes that would inevitably come with the acquisition. I stayed positive, offered encouragement, communicated often, empathized with frustrations, and learned all that I could ahead of time so we were prepared. I set realistic expectations with my team about how difficult the first few weeks would be, but assured them I would be there with them every step of the way. MENTOR WINS During my time at Altabank, my manager (Marcia Clements, retail area manager) has been my mentor. She offers advice, leads by example, and guides me to find my own solutions. Her unwavering belief in my capabilities has been a powerful motivator, helping me achieve things I never thought possible. CAUTIONARY TALES Some non-helpful business advice has been, “You can’t be friends with your employees.” While it’s important to maintain a professional and respectful relationship, for me, fostering a friendly atmosphere has led to good morale, collaboration, improved communication and increased job satisfaction. LIVING LEGACY I hope to leave behind a legacy of belonging where people feel safe to be themselves — somewhere that people are encouraged to grow, and that, regardless if they choose banking as their career, they leave feeling better equipped for their future.