Small Lake City
Small Talk, Big City
Join host Erik Nilsson as he interviews the entrepreneurs, creators, and builders making Salt Lake City the best place it can be. Covering topics such as business, politics, art, food, and more you will get to know the amazing people behind the scenes investing their time and money to improve the place we call home.
Follow along for more!
Small Lake City
Tuesday Announcements 5/6: Children's Museum Guest, Events, Concerts, and This Week's Beer Loving Guest
Career success without fulfillment is just a paycheck. Kathleen Bodenlos discovered this truth after spending a decade climbing the corporate ladder, only to realize that external achievements weren't filling her soul. Our conversation takes an unexpected turn as she reveals how childhood memories of her favorite museum sparked a complete career reinvention, eventually leading her to become CEO of Discovery Gateway Children's Museum in Salt Lake City.
What makes this episode particularly compelling is how universal Kathleen's experience feels. We dive deep into questions many professionals silently struggle with: How do you recognize when your career path isn't right for you? What role do childhood passions play in discovering your true calling? And perhaps most importantly, how can you find the courage to pivot toward fulfillment when everyone around you sees only your "success"? Whether you're a parent looking for meaningful experiences to share with your children or someone questioning your own career trajectory, Kathleen's insights offer valuable perspective.
Looking ahead, I also preview my upcoming conversation with Chad Hopkins, founder of Hopkins Brewing—a beloved Sugar House institution that evolved from basement beer-making to a community gathering place with exceptional brews and food. The story of how Chad and I connected is quintessential Small Lake City, highlighting the beautiful interconnectedness of our community. Stay tuned for concert ticket giveaways through our partnership with Live Nation, and catch us on Instagram for exclusive chances to win tickets to your favorite shows around the valley. Spring has arrived in Utah—the perfect time to enjoy outdoor activities before summer heat sets in, and perhaps contemplate what true fulfillment looks like in your own life. Listen, subscribe, and join our growing community of curious minds exploring all that makes Salt Lake City special.
Join Erik as he supports Fork Cancer, a night of food, drinks, and live music—all for a great cause. Grab your tickets at utah.acscanforkcancer.org and enter Erik Nilsson to help him hit his $12,000 fundraising goal!
Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time
Join Small Lake City: https://www.smalllakepod.com/subscribe
Instagram: @smalllakepod
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast
TikTok: @smalllakepod
What is up everybody and welcome back to another Tuesday Update. I am your host of the Small Lake City Podcast, eric Nilsson, and let's get into it. So this past week's guest was a conversation that actually surprised me a lot. I had Kathleen Bodenlos, the CEO of Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, which sounds like the conversation would go one way, but actually was a completely different one than you would think. So she is someone who spent nearly 10 years in her job in corporate America only to find out that she didn't like doing what she did, no matter how much success she had quote unquote she never really felt fulfilled, and it wasn't until she looked back at her experiences growing up, going to her favorite museum, where she started to change her career path and get involved, which set her down a domino of different experiences to land here in Salt Lake as the CEO of Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. We talk about what it looks like to follow, what you actually should be doing to find fulfillment, and how you can have experiences with your kids and have a great experience along the way. So definitely something for everyone in there, whether you have kids, don't have kids, love museums, hate museums. Great conversation with her and I was very pleasantly surprised. We don't currently have any events coming up in the next week, but we are cooking up a few more coming up, so stay tuned to here and the Instagram account to make sure that you are in the loop for all of those. Thank you to everyone who's been coming to the events recently and if you think there's someone that I need to partner with or some sort of organization, drop a comment below and I would love to get something scheduled with them. Also, a concert season is coming up and, like last year, partnering with Live Nation to give you all tickets to the Utah Amphitheater, also known as USANA Amphitheater, to go see some of your and my favorite shows. I'm also partnering with a lot of people around the Valley to help give shows to all of the different venues and shows you'd be interested in. Primarily going to be doing those giveaways on Instagram, so make sure that you are following there and I will keep you updated here as well.
Speaker 1:This week's guest is someone I was introduced to in December and I'll save the whole story for the episode, but it's an entire Small Lake City story of how I got connected with him, so if you've been to Salt Lake and wanted to grab a beer. You've likely been to this place before, but Chad Hopkins is the founder of Hopkins Brewing but has also played a big role in the beer brewing scene, the restaurant scene in Salt Lake, and I have been more than pleasantly surprised with Hopkins, from making some amazing beer in their basement to having their own menu and great food there as well. It's definitely a place, an anchor in Sugar House, that's very well welcomed, and Chad is someone who champions the community and is there to support everyone. They have tons of live events, they have tons of amazing gatherings at the space and he's someone I'm excited to share more of his story with you. So that will be releasing this Saturday on YouTube and wherever you prefer to listen.
Speaker 1:But in the meantime, spring is here. It's been a little rainy Ski season's over, but try to get as many rounds of golf, trail runs, mountain bike rides, road bike rides, road runs and all of those fun Utah activities before it gets a little too hot to do them outside comfortably. So I will see you this Saturday. Enjoy some time outside and I will see you soon.
