At Madison McCord, a contemporary interior design store in Millcreek, customers notice that two things change all the time.

For one, the selection of furniture, accent pieces, and even throw pillows changes all the time. Owner Marsha Holfeltz prides herself on her store’s ability to sell products directly off the showroom floor.

“People don’t have to wait for goods, they can just come in and find something they love, and it’s delivered the next day,” Holfeltz says, adding that the massive 22,000-square-foot showroom will probably look different and have something new every time a customer comes in.

The hot item right now in the ‘Pillow Talk’ section of the store—which has a wide selection of accent pillows—are Picasso pillows imported from the iconic artist’s museum in Spain. Holfeltz expects these collector pieces to fly off the shelves.

“Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team and vendor base. It will make all the difference to your customers with their shopping experience. They’ll come back again and again!”

—Marsha Holfeltz

But impressionist pillows are not the only things that come and go at Madison McCord. Customers are frequently welcomed by a rotating cast of foster dogs, brought in by Holfeltz. Her love for canines, particularly dogs who have been abused or are severely disabled or deformed, has found its way into her work.

And customers adore it.

“They always come in and want to meet whoever the new dogs are,” Holfeltz says of her returning clientele. “They say ‘Who do we have here?’ ‘What’s going on with them? Can I give them some love?’”

But while the furniture and the furry friends may change from time to time at Madison McCord, many things do not, such as the way Holfeltz conducts her business. She prides herself on her consistency, knowledge, and connections in the upholstery industry. Customers, many of whom order custom pieces for their homes, know they’re getting exactly what they want and in a very fast 3-week production time turnaround, thanks to the store’s owner.

“If you don’t see it on the floor, I’ll find it for you,” says Holfeltz.

Of course, they’ll also always find a dog in need, eager for some love and attention.

3960 S. Highland Dr., Salt Lake City
801-277-5555
madisonmccordinteriors.com
@madisonmccordinteriors

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

After a 20-year-long career as an accountant, Nicki Luck came to appreciate the value of taking time to relax and unwind after a long day. Now, in her second career as the owner of Soulstice Day Spa & Salon, Luck’s mission is to help her customers leave Soulstice feeling renewed and refreshed.

“I genuinely want to bring an oasis of beauty, relaxation, and wellness to our community,” Luck says.

While the pivot from CPA to salon owner may have been dramatic, Luck says it was definitely worth the leap of faith. Having a strong understanding of business finances and best practices has given her a big leg up in her career transition. Luck was also able to put together a team that helped her to learn the many facets of spa ownership.   It also didn’t hurt that she was also highly passionate about her own well-being, believing that connecting her mind, body, and soul—with help from a lot of yoga and meditation—could help her find the perfect balance in her busy life. 

“Health and beauty truly go hand-in-hand. When you feel good, you look good, and vice-versa. We strive for individual results with every client and from microneedling to cupping therapy, there is a service for every taste!”

—Nicki Luck

Now, nine years later Soulstice Day Spa & Salon, the business is thriving. With a team of over two dozen employees, including hair stylists, master estheticians, and massage therapists, Soulstice has all the services a busy person could need to rejuvenate themselves and take on the day.

“Health and radiance are important values to me,” Luck says. “We need to take care of ourselves so we can give back to others and reflect our best selves. This can be even more important the busier we are.”

Soulstice sees plenty of foot traffic thanks to an idyllic setting at the picturesque Gardner Village. But more than just being a cute spa in an Instagram-worthy gathering spot, Soulstice has become a place where customers feel known and cared for.

“I am continually moved by the genuine connection between our staff and our guests,” Luck says. “It feels like family. I hope that when you visit us, you leave feeling like family as well.”

And if you’re a busy professional, juggling all the stresses of work, family, and other daily responsibilities, Soulstice is a great place to unwind. Luck, the CPA-turned-spa owner, can completely relate.

1100 W. 7800 South, West Jordan
801-255-3655
soulsticedayspa.com
@soulsticedayspaandsalon

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

As K. Rocke Design’s owner and namesake Kristin Rocke would explain, this might be the Golden Era of interior design.

“I can’t think of a better time to be in design,” Rocke says. “We create stunning interiors and our clients are widely exposed and elevated.”

And thanks to her clientele that stretches across the globe—most of whom already have deep experience creating breathtaking places—elevated awareness begets even more elevated design from Rocke. The bar is getting raised higher and higher, but she’s continually up to the task.

“I get a lot from learning about different crafts other than my own. I get a ton of value from looking at art and even the nonvisual arts, like reading or watching something like how a writer creates and how they process their craft, I think it’s really exciting and generates a lot of ideas.”

—Kristin Rocke

As a woman, and, especially as a celebrated interior designer, Rocke feels she has a big advantage in creating original looks and designs that stir up strong emotions.

“I think women are very adaptable, really great listeners, and can manage multiple tasks while pushing ideas and projects forward,” Rocke explains. 

But that’s not to say when push comes to shove, Rocke can shove with the best of them, when needed.

“I can be very alpha,” she laughs. “But I feel like that’s very balanced with being understanding and compassionate to the people that are working around me.”

So combine the proper touch of an accomplished professional with the rich surplus of idea starters easily found in the modern age and the executive of a renowned team, such as K. Rocke’s, and you get great design. That’s Rocke’s approach to her business.

“We’re doing great work and we have a highly effective, productive, and creative team,” K. Rocke Design’s leader says. “It’s almost like a hive buzzing with energy and we really do have the opportunity to make space and place different than anyone has seen anywhere else.”

And for Rocke, that’s one of the most fulfilling parts of her work.

“I feel very privileged to be in people’s lives this way. It’s exhilarating to me.”

3910 S. Highland Dr., Millcreek
krockedesign.com
@krockedesign

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

Leah Wynn likes to refer to herself as a “tile nerd.” As the owner of Inside Out Architecturals, one of Utah’s premier decorative tile showrooms and design firms, Wynn literally knows tile inside and out.

She could tell you not only what is going to look best in a particular space, but also about the history of a tile, the type of glaze used on it, and where in the world that style was derived from.

And that level of knowledge is well-known and respected around the state. When high-end homebuilders, such as those who work on houses featured in the Parade of Home, need a special tile to give a new home the perfect finishing touch, they call it Inside Out.

“You name it when it comes to fun, decorative stuff, I do it,” Wynn says.

Not only is Wynn a proprietor of beautiful tile, but she’s also a historian of the art building material. She often consults with Utah leaders on historic tiles found all around the state and loves sharing stories about how certain tiles came to be.

“I’m a detail-oriented person and I see things that way. I have my specialties and I know my math. Tile is very mathematical. All tiles are really just puzzle pieces. You have to learn how to put them together. That’s how I like to think about things.”

—Leah Wynn

One of her favorites involves a tilemaker she met at a tradeshow who devised a very unique and beautiful tile glaze and unfortunately was diagnosed with cancer. Wynn passionately recalls how the tile community, including the renowned artisanal dealer, Sonoma Tilemakers, rallied around the artist to help him recreate his glaze for commercial production before his death. His memory, she says, lives on in some of Sonoma’s most original pieces.

“I was really excited that they were not lost,” says Wynn of the artist’s creations. “Euphoria has a palette of 18 of his best glazes that you can get and share. They saved his legacy.”

Little things like that matter a lot to Wynn, who has always had an eye for thoughtfully-created home design. When she was little, her father took her on a tour of a home designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 

She remembers excitedly pointing out to her father how painstakingly detailed the home was. 

“Dad! The seams in the concrete floor line up with the seams in the windows and they line up with the seams in the rafters,” she exclaimed.

It all fits together like puzzle pieces—or perhaps—a wall full of decorative tiles.

3410 S. 300 West, South Salt Lake
(801) 487-3274
insideoutarchitecturals.com
@insideoutarchitecturals

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

Business owner, creative director, thought leader, wedding/event planner, wife to an Olympic athlete, and mother. Somehow Mara Mazdzer does it all.

But how?

“As a planner, scheduling is just a knack that I have,” Mazdzer, who owns Fuse Weddings and Events, a full-service event studio in Salt Lake City, laughs. “Fortunately, I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel in terms of how my brain works.”

Between mothering a 2-year-old, supporting the endeavors of her husband, Olympic silver medalist luger Chris Mazdzer, and running one of the best event planning businesses in the state, Mazdzer keeps herself remarkably busy. But that’s just the way she likes it.

“We have to live in a pretty organized household to be able to accomplish everything. We even started having a family admin meeting every week,” Mazdzer says. “I guess I’ve kind of managed to mirror how I run my household like I run my business, lots of communication and systems for everything”

Clients of Mazdzer’s business, Fuse Wedding & Events, revere that same level of attention to detail and meticulous planning that makes the owner’s world go round.

“Having come from a nightclub background, I think my ability to place a huge emphasis on guest experience and providing an incredible experience for an attendee is unmatched. I tell my clients all the time, your client, your guest experience started from the minute they got your invitation.”

—Mara Mazdzer

When customers come to Fuse, they know they’re booking a service with uncanny levels of thoughtfulness.

“What we do is so different,” Mazdzer explains. “Anybody can figure out how to confirm catering and order linen and put them on tables. We want to create a complete experience. We think about what people felt when they walked in, the way it smelled, what the invitation looked like, everything.”

When Mazdzer meets her clients for the first time, she often asks a different set of questions than just the when, where, and why of a wedding or event. This way, she gets a much better feel for who the people on the invitation are and in turn, creates a far more personalized experience.

“‘What do you guys like to eat?’ ‘What can I find you doing on a lazy Sunday afternoon?’ ‘How do you meet?’ All of that stuff feels very relevant to me,” Mazdzer.

And even with all that goes into running her business, Mazdzer still finds time to be a mom. She especially enjoys taking her son to tumbling class every Friday morning.

“I love the creativity and the outlet my work gives me but I also feel so grateful to have started a business that allows me the flexibility to be a better mom,” she says. “I handle both in the same way and that seems to help quite a bit.”

18 S. 500 West, Salt Lake City
(801) 512-2075
fuseweddingsandevents.com
@fuseweddingsandevents

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

Decoration Inc. owner Amanda Hansen’s passion lies in designing for life’s most important moments. She knows that the right backdrop is crucial to creating an unforgettable experience—whether it’s a wedding, a corporate event, or any other significant occasion. With her background as a photo stylist, she has developed an artist’s eye for capturing the perfect shot.

“I’d have to work hard to get this one shot just the way the photographer wants it, then it all gets broken down and we move on,” she explains. 

That was before Amanda reached out with a phone call to Chrisanne Olsen, the original owner of Decoration Inc., to find out more about the event design industry. Not long after that, she was offered a job, with virtually no experience designing events. Just a few years later, in 2006, she took over as the shop’s new owner.

Fast forward to 2023, and the event design business has shifted dramatically. Nowadays, in the era of Instagram and Pinterest, clients are always finding something they want to be redone or replicated exactly as they saw it on social media.

When our clients come to us with an idea, we really use it as a jumping-off point. We love following up with questions and providing suggestions to make something unique. We don’t want to do the same thing we’ve seen a million times. Our goal is always to try to build and enhance something versus just replicating.” – amanda hansen

While Decoration Inc. is happy to pull off—or recreate—any look a client requests, the difference in choosing the Salt Lake City-based studio comes in Hansen’s willingness to go the extra mile. Channeling her ability to create a photo-worthy moment, with the knowledge she and her team have gained over working in event design for over 20 years, Decoration Inc. consistently finds new ways to make someone else’s idea even better.

And the studio’s clients love it. With a sterling reputation among event planners and events all over, Decoration Inc. has completed projects at some of the biggest weddings, parties, and gatherings from the Salt Lake Valley to London, New York City, and beyond. When a vital gathering calls for a breathtaking arrangement, Decoration Inc. makes it happen.

And for Hansen, who found her new passion with a cold call and a lot of courage, it’s been a worthwhile journey. And even though the arrangements she and her team work on for months may only last for a night, she considers that a big part of the fun. The moment has been captured and another one is just around the corner.

“Once the party’s over, you collect all the decorations, clean up and move on to the next thing. It’s very fleeting yet unforgettable,” she says. “And I kind of love that.”

826 S. 500 West. Salt Lake City
801-521-8533
decorationinc.com
@decorationinc

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Look around, Utah is changing dramatically. With rapid construction building a new landscape and culture up and down the entire state, a few key decision-makers are calling the shots that could send the Beehive State into its next great era.

Darlene Carter, CEO of C.W. Group, one of Utah’s fastest-growing and most decorated real estate developers, is one of those shot callers.

Not only does Carter lead the vision and day-to-day operation of C.W. Group, which includes five business lines; C.W. Urban, C.W. Design, C.W. Land Co., Cole West Home, and Cole West Development, she also serves as a board member for Envision Utah and was the co-chair of Downtown Alliance’s Development Committee for 2022 and 2023.

Go ahead, pick any one of the exciting new developments you can see all over the Wasatch Front and even in Southern Utah, chances are, Carter has put her fingerprints on it.

“At the core of our commitment to fostering community lies our unwavering dedication to nurturing the individuals in our company and our area. By prioritizing the growth of others, we can establish a groundbreaking paradigm, shaping exceptional endeavors and nurturing vibrant communities.” – Darlene Carter

But being a female leader in a male-dominated industry isn’t anything new to Carter. She’s been a leading voice in real estate development circles for nearly two decades. After beginning her career in 2005, and joining C.W. Group’s eventual owner, Colin Wright, when he founded Henry Walker Homes in 2009, Carter has always been a steadying influence among executive leadership teams. After Henry Walker Homes was sold in 2013, she was kept on board for several years to ease the transition and continue her sterling record of growth and profitability.

Now, even as a major player for one of Utah’s leading development groups, and with quite a few hats to wear, Carter still makes it a priority to build one-on-one connections. Colleagues at C.W. Group admire Carter for her ability to foster personal relationships, identify talent, and empower others to reach their full potential.

While C.W. Group prides itself on creating value through thoughtful land planning, progressive architecture and exceptional project-level execution, the development group also makes enormous investments in people and their distinct, individual futures.

Ask Carter and she’ll tell you. Her vision isn’t just to build a great Utah, it’s to build a generation of great Utahns.

610 N. 800 West, Centerville
801-661-3810
cwgroup.com
@c.w.urban

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!

Janie Ward and her husband, Dr. P Daniel Ward, have always been a one-two punch when it comes to their business ventures. Together, they’ve created several successful companies, including Form Derm Spa and FormRx Skin Care.

“The goal was simple,” Janie says. To provide results so good, even the most hard-to-please plastic surgery patients would be pleased. Making such a product line though, wasn’t done overnight.

From devising the formulas—and utilizing Dr. Ward’s expertise in plastics and chemistry—to selecting a laboratory of the highest quality to produce the beauty products, to then developing the branding, packaging, and marketing of FormRx Skin Care, it was a massive undertaking.

But it paid off in a big way.

“It took a huge upfront investment and I can’t believe we pulled it off,” says Janie. “Skincare has always been important to me. When I pushed Dan to develop these products, he was excited, but by his own admission, had no idea how much this would appeal to our patients and customers.”

Bringing the FormRx Skin Care line from conception to the countertops of people interested in the best for their skin while also running their other businesses—multiple med spas, a surgery center, a plastic surgery practice, and a real estate portfolio—took a lot of grit and resilience, Janie says.

“It’s been a blast to use my passion for
skin care, as well as a bit of creativity and common sense, to create something that improves the lives of our customers. A lot of people sometimes write moms off, but I think moms are hidden gems in the world. They know how to problem solve and just get things done!” – Janie Ward

Dr. Ward, though, says those characteristics are pretty typical of his wife. That’s just the way she is.

“Janie is one of the toughest people you’ll ever meet,” Dr. Ward says. “She is physically strong, but that doesn’t compare to her emotional resilience. She has been through a lot but nothing slows her down. She is amazing to watch!”

50 S. Main St, Salt Lake City
801-513-3223
formrxskincare.com
@formdermspa

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Salt Lake magazine’s “Women in Business” is an acclaimed and respected part of our September/October issue. Over the years, we have profiled and spotlighted successful women business leaders across the state. These leaders are shining examples of success. Here, they share insights into their entrepreneurial journies so others like them can follow their leads. Find more women in business here!