This story appears in the April 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
Mario Dealba | Chief Whatever-It-Takes Officer | Elektrik
“In March 2022, my co-founder [and three other workers] quit. We went from a team of seven to a team of three and were bleeding money. People said that we were done. It was an insightful moment for me. There was a lot of stress and pressure, and I realized that maybe I wasn’t the nicest. I’m sure that impacted everyone. Since then, I’ve tried really hard to work on that aspect of myself. Now, I work out every day. If you’re a founder and you’re reading this, take care of your mind, take care of your body, and take care of your spirit.
I gave myself my title right here. We asked one of our developers to do something that didn’t involve coding, and he said no. We don’t want that attitude. We’re a startup, and this requires everyone to do whatever it takes. It occurred to me that it didn’t matter what title I have — I’ll clean the toilet. I’ll pack boxes and get them shipped. I want to do whatever it takes. It clicked, ‘Whatever-It-Takes’ is my title, and I want everybody I hire to know that is the Elektrik mentality. If it needs to be done, we will find a way to do it.”
Scott Porter | Chief Churro Officer | San Diablo Churros
“When someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m inspired to make it happen. That’s one quality needed to hold any C-suite title. I teach at Brigham Young University and meet with students who want to become entrepreneurs. I tell them, ‘Welcome to the crazy. Are you ready for the roller coaster, the madness and the risk? Because it’s a wild ride, and it doesn’t stop.’
I can’t be pigeonholed into one … role of a business. I’m too curious, impatient and maybe too nosy. I want to know what’s going on in operations and strategy and in marketing and finance. I want to see all aspects at work and have strategic input into making things better.
A little over eight years ago, the stars aligned. I always thought I was going to start a churro business. I was always casually collecting little nuggets of churro research. By research, I mean eating lots of churros. I called up a friend, Mindy, who had just left Goldman Sachs to pursue baking, and another friend, Traci, who had just gotten her Ph.D. and was looking for work. We built San Diablo Churros in three days. During that time, we jokingly called Traci ‘Doctor Churro,’ and Traci started calling me ‘Chief Churro Officer’ because I’m involved in every aspect of the business, and I love churros.”
Vanessa Quigley | Chatbooker-in-Chief | Chatbooks
“I made [my C-suite title] up. When we started the business 10 years ago, I didn’t want any part of it. I’m a mother, actress and singer. My husband, Nate, was building a solution to capture family memories, but nobody wanted to use it. I came up with the idea to take what I was already doing — sharing photos on social media — and have them developed into books.
I was hesitant to join Chatbooks, but … they needed my help. I agreed to join the executive team. Without business credentials or any specific training, I didn’t know what title fit. I said aloud, ‘I am the ideal Chatbooker. I’m the voice of the customer. I’m going to be the Chatbooker-in-Chief.’
It felt executive, important and freeing. I oversee product and marketing to ensure our customers are being cared for. I want people to know that they are not just printing photo books; … they have tapped into a family memory system.”
Kevin Schaefer | Chief Ski Engineer | Ellis Skis
“My title is self-appointed. Someone had to be the ski engineer. For me, being a ski engineer means overseeing the ski design process. It entails coming up with the ski shapes, camber and rocker profiles, core profiles, and the material layup schedule: the wood that is being used in combination with the different composites and other materials that go into ski construction.
I use Fusion 360, a common CAD program used by engineers. A rule I have is that I don’t allow myself to look at the CAD design for 10 days while testing a new pair of skis. I see how it feels. Despite everything you can do in CAD, it’s never going to tell you how it’s going to ski through the spectrum of conditions. That’s when you start to trust your gut.
Every ski engineer finds a certain set of challenges. I think all of us enginee
rs out there have found our own solutions to those challenges, and I think that’s really what ends up making all the skis out there unique. There’s a chance we both use the same CAD program and our manufacturing processes are 90 percent identical to one another, but the end products are totally different skis. There is a bit of black magic to it, so maybe I’m more of a ‘chief alchemist of materials and shapes.’”