COVID Ends One Chapter and Opens Another
On the day of the Utah earthquake in 2020, Charlene realized parents were not going to bring small children into stores the same way anymore. She folded her boutique quickly, sold her share to co-owners, and stepped away from both retail and nonprofit worlds. She then worked at her children's school as a teacher's aide during COVID, witnessing how everyone banded together to keep things going.
Key Lessons
- • Sometimes purpose survives, but the form it takes changes dramatically
- • Recognizing when a chapter is ending — and having the courage to close it — is a form of wisdom
- • Community institutions like schools became the safety net when small businesses and nonprofits couldn't sustain their old models
Community Connections
Stories, people, and ideas that connect across the archive — ranked by shared themes, guests, places, and topics.
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Related People
(4)Charlene Freestone
Child Passenger Safety Technician, Former Boutique Owner, Parent Educator, Community Builder
Phil Hanks
Grandson of Ephraim Hanks · Mission President (Samoa) · Temple President (Samoa) · Church Education System Leader · Stake President · Senior Missionary (Ukraine, Freiburg) · Lehi Resident
Andy Hadfield
Head Football Coach, Lehi High School · Business Owner · Lifelong Lehi Resident
Doug Webb
Former Principal, Lehi High School · Agriculture & Science Teacher · Lifelong Lehi Resident
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(4)The Natural Parenting Boutique on Lehi Main Street
Charlene Freestone
You Have to Make Your Own Community
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Related Quotes
(4)"Failure is a good thing. Failure is so fun."
— Savannah Romney
"I never thought I'd get to a stage in life where I could own a home."
— Nicole Hell
"Lehi City is the economic engine of the state of Utah."
— Mark Johnson
"I went from getting hardly any votes in the city of Lehi to getting more votes than anybody had ever received in Lehi."
— Mark Johnson
More from Charlene Freestone
Charlene Freestone
The Natural Parenting Boutique on Lehi Main Street
Charlene opened a natural parenting boutique — Boot Baby Boutique — in the old Lehi Hotel near the train tracks on Lehi Main Street. The shop sold cloth diapers and baby carriers, but its heart was parent education and community space. She rented from a midwife in a building that also housed a gem shop and wedding dress rentals. The business later moved up to Sandy but represented a season where business and belonging overlapped.
Charlene Freestone
I'm Back, But This Time I'm Helping
Charlene's son was born with needs requiring surgeries. A nurse with child passenger safety training helped her family during the car seat oxygen test. Exactly 12 years later, Charlene began working with Intermountain at Utah Valley Hospital — on the exact anniversary of her son's discharge. Looking at her badge, she thought: 'I'm back, but this time I'm helping people here.'
Charlene Freestone
Six Children, One Minivan, and a Wooden Box
At a child safety checkpoint in 2021, Charlene helped a family with six children in a seven-seat minivan. One child was on a secured wooden box. The family had daisy-chained lap extender belts through the outer car seats. Charlene and another technician spent over an hour arranging new seats, only to learn the mother was pregnant and needed room for a newborn. They had to start over completely. The experience became a career turning point.
Related Stories
Naomi McClure
Refusing to Calculate Commissions
Naomi made a counterintuitive decision: she would not calculate her commission before, during, or after transactions — at least not until her check arrived. Her logic: if you know the number, you work for yourself. By not knowing it, she kept herself in service mode. The money followed. The repeat clients followed.
Naomi McClure
Moving Her Own Furniture to Stage a Listing
A client couldn’t afford professional staging but wanted their home to look its best. Naomi emptied her own living room and moved her sofa, coffee table, and furniture into the vacant listing. Her husband watched TV on the floor. The listing sold. The client got a better outcome. The story became the clearest illustration of what it means to actually be in service to the people you work with.