 Eggnog, pumpkin, lemon, black licorice, cashew, raspberry, peanut butter, very hot cinnamon, mango habanero, and pineapple habanero. What do these have in common? These are just some of the flavors of caramel JulieAnn Caramels makes to tantalize your taste buds. Keep reading to learn more about owner Rowena Montoya and the story of how her delectable sweets came to be!
UMLF: Tell us about yourself and your background? Rowena: I am a wife of 35 years, mother to 5 children, grandmother to 17 grandchildren, an aunt, neighbor, friend, and business owner of JulieAnn Caramels. I have always loved caramels, they’re one of my favorite treats! Anywhere I could buy a caramel to try, I would but I was always disappointed. The taste was never what I remember as a child. As an avid baker and chef, I know the difference that quality ingredients make on the final product. So, I would always look at the ingredients in the bags of caramels I would buy and discover that half the stuff in the caramels I could not pronounce, let alone know what they were. I knew there was a better way, so I went to work using the basics of uncompromising quality ingredients and creating a recipe that would bring back the flavor, texture, and experience I fell in love with when I was younger. UMLF: What inspired you to start JulieAnn Caramels? Rowena: I wanted to create a caramel with ingredients anyone can understand and know what they are. When my mother died at the age of 15, I spent a lot of time with Julie, who is in the culinary industry. Julie spent most of her life working with food. I loved being with her and her outlook on life. She gave me a love for fine foods, and creativity with food. I am a true believer that when life hands you lemons, you make lemon caramels with it! Just like everyone, I am accustomed to having downs in life. When I can't change what is going on around me, I know I can change the way I look at things. I learned this lesson after my mother passed away. Having faith, hope and believing that things will work out is what I have done. Little did I know the future would be bright when I went and lived with my aunt, NancyAnn Jones. She and her family changed my life. I will always be indebted to them. Whenever hard times arise, I simply remember where I came from and look forward to what I could create! UMLF: You obviously have high standards for your products, can you tell us about how you choose ingredients and your philosophy behind what you put out? Rowena: I love having the right ingredients. I want the best sugar, did you know there are different kinds of sugar? Each kind will bring with it varying levels of taste and textures, and I’ve learned over time which type makes the grade. My caramels have a clean, not sticky, finish. Next, it’s crucial to use the best butter. High in butter fat makes a big difference in how it all comes together, but that alone isn’t enough. I use a local dairy so the butter is not only more fresh, but I love supporting other local businesses. Once we have the basics covered, I like to keep it simple but then add a little twist to create something fun and new. If I am going to have a treat I want it to taste good and make it memorable! UMLF: What are some of your favorite or unique flavors we need to try? Rowena: We have over forty different flavors of Caramels. In fact, our Pineapple Habanero won an award in New York, it is a fun caramel! I love our Maple Bacon; it has Pancetta bacon in it. We love coconut and have several varieties, such as Coconut Lime, Coconut Dream, and simply Coconut Caramel. The fun thing about our take on coconut caramel is that we use coconut milk! We have tropical caramels like Tahitian Treat, which includes coconut, mango, and pineapple. I have so many favorites right now. I think my love is pineapple because it is so fresh! You could choose a different caramel every day, depending on your mood. Here at JulieAnn Caramels, your favorites can change with each season! UMLF: Where can customers find your products? Do you ship nationwide? Rowena: You can find us locally in Harmon's and Associated Foods stores Peterson, Lee’s Market. Plus, we have a small storefront at 9493 S. 560 W. in Sandy. However, we do ship all over the United States if you have loved ones who need a pick-me-up! UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Rowena: Business is hard and can even be lonely at times when all the final decisions fall to you as the owner. I don't think I have ever worked so hard physically. I have learned plenty of concepts through the road of hard knocks. I am not perfect, but I keep trying and move on. Right now, the hardest thing for me is ramping up our wholesale business. I have been working on machinery in-house and just got it up and running, so we're ready to go! Our new “Cut and Wrapper” machine is amazing, which helps us deliver faster than ever before. With COVID, our wholesale orders stopped because our wholesale partners had to close their doors. I feel like the girl who got ready for the prom, and then it got canceled. Now we're pivoting trying new ways to share our caramels with the world. UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped your business? Rowena: In the last couple of years, I have had several large orders that I turned away simply because we could not afford the ingredients or machinery to fulfill them. The Utah Microloan made it possible for us to take one of those big orders. It was so liberating to know I could do it. Now I want more! We are more ready than ever before for big orders! It is our time to move forward for JulieAnn Caramels! Thanks Rowena! To stay in touch with your newest caramel obsession visit:
 Owner Becky Sorensen At Beauty Trendz Salon, clients arrive as guests, and leave as friends. Beauty Trendz was founded in 2016 by industry professional and beauty maven Becky Sorensen who wanted to create a beautiful salon atmosphere to tailor to her existing clientele. Beauty Trendz offers a full range of cutting edge salon services and products. Their extensive service menu features hair, nail and skin care; as well as massage and permanent cosmetics.
In keeping with their name, Becky and her team strive to stay current with the latest trends in the beauty industry by continually attending and hosting education classes throughout the year with our staff. Keep reading to learn about owner Becky Sorensen and how she started this amazing August Business of the Month. UMLF: Tell us about yourself and your background? Becky: I have been a part of the beauty industry since 2008, and knew before I even went to school that doing hair was going to be a passion of mine. I have worked in all kinds of positions within the beauty industry, including a receptionist position, and even running a beauty supply company for a couple of years. UMLF: What inspired you to start Beauty Trendz? Becky: The salon I was with before Beauty Trendz was a full service salon, and I loved that my clientele could get their nails done while their color processed, or get a massage before their hair appointment. That salon downsized without any notice after I'd been there for a little over two years. I knew I couldn't maintain my current clientele there, or grow for that matter with the changes that were made. I decided that I wanted to be an independent stylist at that point, but I also wanted my clientele to continue receiving the other services they loved in the same location, and so I saw an opportunity to create a space for other industry professionals who wanted to be independent as well. I knew if I was going to be the salon owner, I had to be able to work behind the chair with clients on my terms, so I structured the salon in a way that everyone who works for Beauty Trendz rents their own space, and is their own "owner", including me! UMLF: What are some of your favorite beauty trends and what are some you wish would never come back? :} Becky: I am living for all the 70's and 80's styles coming back into the mix honestly! I'm all about the shags and mullets and even love perms, but I also love classic and vintage trends a lot. I think the only trends I dislike are the fauxhawk and the "shadow box" highlight and color style from the earlier 2000's. UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Becky: Beauty Trendz has been pretty fortunate to have mostly highs overall, but our low was *really* low! I originally had business partners when Beauty Trendz was founded, and they ended up leaving unexpectedly, and pretty early into the company's history. Long story short, they fabricated some false claims and pressed charges against me! The lawsuit just about took me completely out financially, but I ended up winning after 6 long months of negotiating! Even though we won, I truly did not think the business was going to survive because of the financial turmoil the lawsuit put me through, but then I found out about the Utah Microloan Fund and they honestly saved Beauty Trendz. UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped your business? Becky: If it weren't for the Utah Microloan Fund, Beauty Trendz would not still be around! We were fortunate enough to be able to get funding from the UMLF after trying unsuccessfully for several months to apply for traditional funding. The business loan we received helped me to replenish inventory, pay our rent for a few months up front and advertise our way back into full swing! My favorite thing about the Utah Microloan fund though are all of the business classes they offer! I have learned so much, and have definitely become a better business owner all because the UMLF gave my business a chance. UMLF: You usually have some fun specials, what are your specials for August that we can get excited about? Becky: Currently we have:
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 Why should you research fireworks before you buy them? So you get the best BANG for your buck! But in all seriousness, Utah Grand Finale Fireworks is no joke! These are the best aerial fireworks you can find in Utah, hands down and what makes these fireworks stand out even more is that they all have a fun Utah theme like BYU and U Holy War, Utah's Green Jello, Wasatch Thunder, the Polygamist, Uinta Flowers, This is the Place and more. We love these playful pokes at Utah culture but what we love more is that Douglas frequently models for the artwork on his fireworks, a big surprise when he first applied for a microloan! Utah Grand Finale Fireworks is our July Business of the Month so keep reading to see how Douglas got his start creating these awesome fireworks!
UMLF: Tell us about yourself and your background? Douglas: I am 63 years old, married and have twenty grand children. I would describe myself as adventurous, an adrenaline junkie. I love sports and am a two time Ironman Triathlon World Championship racer. I also love hunting, skiing, fishing, rock climbing, camping, and of course the BYU Cougars. I am also a six time semi-finalist for the TV show Survivor, but not been chosen yet!!!! UMLF: What inspired you to start Utah Grand Finale Fireworks? Douglas: I have alway loved fireworks and I wanted to do something different than everyone else so I decided to focus only on aerial with Utah themes and now here we are! UMLF: A lot of your fireworks have fun Utah themed names and pictures. How did you come up with these? Douglas: I raised and raced horses for 25 years so I always loved naming the babies born every year so naming fireworks came naturally to me. All of my fireworks themes have a story behind the name and a friend from our triathlon club does all my photography. We have the funniest photo shoots! I have 5 beautiful daughters that can be my models but they are busy with kids. My oldest daughter was the model for the SLC 2002 Winter Olympics. UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Douglas: The high in my business is providing a great quality product, something that brings happiness to people, the smiles on peoples faces with the names of the fireworks. Customer service is very big to me. We have a very faithful customer, the Billings family, from Highland/Alpine area and they drive to PG to buy fireworks. They must pass at least 10 fireworks stands to get to my Water Gardens Theater fireworks location. When I run into a person that has seen one of my fireworks shows, and they tell me it was the best show they have ever seen. Lows: Financing. I am so thankful for UMLF!!!!! UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped your business? Douglas: I am so thankful for UMLF, there would not be a way for my to grow and expand my business without their help. My bank is Altabank in PG. They are so personable I can walk into my bank and they all know my name and I know their's. Small town bank helping a small town business. My banker Creig Rowley introduced me to UMLF. I am so thankful for the bankers that are on the board of UMLF to make all this possible for me. I thought last year was a crazy year when the ports were closed in China to ship explosive cargo due to an explosion at one of the ports, 2020 totally buried last year!!! UMLF: Where can people buy your fireworks? Douglas: All locations will be in a container this year. The hour for all are:
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