Behind the Salt Project Part 1 | Stephanie

Hey y'all! I would love to introduce myself and tell a little about how The Salt Project came to be.

I'm Stephanie Read, co-founder of The Salt Project. I crave adventure. I love exploring. I am strangely obsessed with the state of Utah. I think Road Trips are better than Christmas! In fact, I would be perfectly happy living in a motorhome and traveling for the rest of my life. I love the mountains, good friends, quiets nights at home and Oreos. Dang you Oreos. 

I was born and raised in Utah. Utah heritage runs deep in my blood, several generations back on both sides of my family. In fact, my many Greats Grandmother left her job as lady in waiting to the Queen of England, to come to America. She ended up living in a dugout in the side of the mountain in Ogden, Utah.

My husband is Dan, also a Utah native, born of a long line of pioneer stock. His ancestor, Elias Adams, was one of the 4 pioneers that settled Kaysville and Layton. Think Adams Canyon, Andy Adams Park and Fishery.

We both grew up in Davis county, about 2 miles apart but never met until college. We spent most of our married life living in Texas (so I can offically say things like y'all and fixin'). And we are so happy to have made our way back to Utah a few years ago.

Together we have 4 kids, Locke (10), Breckyn (8), Rizden "Riz" (4), and Aberdeen "Berdee" (1).  We wanted to offer them more oppertunities to explore the world around them and persue their intrests. So, three years ago we decided to embark on an adventure and Homeschool our crew.
 

Utah Family Video Video . The Reads . 2012 from Nathan Pickett on Vimeo.

A little about The Salt Project

I felt like I was always asking the same question. "What should we do"?

The Salt Project started Oct. 2014, at a park in Layton Utah.

My friend Harmony (you'll meet her later this week) and I, were discussing our dreams and ideas (in the midst of 2 babies crying, 2 toddlers climbing over us, and 2 children screaming and playing tag) you know, just your typical park date.

We thought, what if we were able to create a space where we could gather ideas of 'what to do with kids in Utah' because, we were asking ourselves that question every week and we were sure other moms were asking the same thing. We wanted to find out about events before they happened so we could plan ahead of time. We wanted to find out about all the amazing things Utah has to offer, right here in our own back yard. We were finding new places all the time like the Bird Refuge, right in my home town, it's been there for years and yet I had never heard of it until a friend invited us to go. What if we could document our adventures and share them with others?

We just had to do this. We had to share it with the rest of the world. Utah is awesome people! Can you hear us? Utah is AWESOME! 

So that was that. We were on a mission. Together, with children in tow, we started a blogger/photographer dynamic duo.

We choose to call our little adventure The Salt Project. We planned on exploring everything in Salt Lake City and beyond. And we would document it for all to see. We wanted to explore our own backyard. Bring our family closer together, check off our bucket list, and find the hidden gems of Utah!

We wanted to explore all things UTAH. Share local shops, small businesses and don't even get me started on family owed shops. You guys, I was raised in a family business. My most cherished childhood memories were there in our family salon, after hours, eating pizza and cleaning shelves, or maybe we were just playing tag while my parents cleaned, but we were together, working, playing, making memories. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for small/local/family business. I want the same memories with my kids. We don't have a family salon, but we have a 'thing' now. We have The Salt Project. Its a family project. What we do, we do together. I love that my kids are as much a part of it as I am and that they have their mommas bug for adventure. 

We have recently added to our little Salt Project team, because, well, Utah is huge and running a blog on top of homeschooling is a big job. We started growing faster than we could keep up and were so lucky to have our friend Melinda join our team (can't wait for you to meet her this week too). She is a PR genius and has helped immensely with evening out the weight of our responsibilities like our monthly spot on Studio 5 on KSL channel 5. 

We have also started gathering some amazing contributors around the state that can share the inside scoop about their adventures.

Almost everything we share is kid friendly. We are all about family and want to make sure they are at the forefront of this project. We aren't just sharing things to do, we also share how to do them. This is a big deal for me. Many times I won't go do something because I really do like predictable as much as I like adventure. And many times I will choose the predictable. So we really try to share as much info about the places we go as possible. We let mommas know if there are bathrooms, stroller/wheelchair access, pets allowed, where to park, and what to take. Anything we can think of to help someone else do the same things we are doing and make it as easy as possible for them.

Here’s to adventure, family, and living life to the fullest.

Photos by Tim Sondrup & Blush Photo Video by Nate Pickett Films

Stephanie

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