Meet the Team

Kelly has been with the company since its beginning in 1995, and comes from a long history in the food industry. One of Kelly’s first dates with her husband, John, was working side by side at a wedding with him and his sister, Pat Slade. Kelly's passion and love for the business shines through every day working with employees, and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the business. In addition to being a managing partner, she is also heavily involved with our sister company, LUX Hospitality.

Chris has been in the event and hospitality industry since the age of 15. He began working for LUX over 10 years ago as a delivery and prep staff, and quickly fell in love with the company. Since then he has worked his way through nearly every position in the company. Chris is extremely passionate about every aspect of LUX and has a high standard of excellence, he thrives on creative challenges of all types. Chris never tires of the creative challenges involved in orchestrating events, and he truly loves sharing his passion for food and design with the LUX family of clients and staff.

Chris started his career in hospitality at the young age of 10, he would work in the dish room while his parents, John and Kelly Lake, were running events. Chris has worked his way through nearly every position at LUX throughout the years, and in 2017 became a managing partner. He is passionate about customer service and finances. Chris loves to spend his time away from LUX traveling and hosting parties of his own.

Sarah has her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Marketing from the University of Utah and has an impressive background in administration and customer service. Sarah started with LUX as an Event Producer and loved working with her various clients, however, when the opportunity to work with the executive management team arose she couldn’t pass it up! Though she misses the event planning aspect of the job, she gets her event fix by photographing fabulous weddings in her time away from LUX.

Adam has been in the hospitality industry for over 15 years. He joined the LUX family as the General Manager of LUX Hospitality, he has since also joined our team as our Operations Manager. Adam’s favorite thing about events is seeing all of the hours dedicated to production pay off with a fabulous event, challenges and problem solving is his strong suit. He loves to see the joy and hear the feedback from clients after an event. Adam enjoys spending his time away from LUX golfing, boating, fly fishing, and being a dad.

Taylor has been in the operations industry for over five years and has a passion for innovation. He considers himself a DIY opportunist and would rather spend the time and effort to find a way to fix things before starting anew. The LUX warehouse has become Taylor’s passion project and he spends his time designing and arranging our storage options. When he’s not at LUX, Taylor enjoys spending his time outdoors, fixing up his car, and rebuilding his motorcycle.

Chef Don came to us with almost 30 years experience. He got his start in the culinary arts attending school in the Netherlands where he was trained in the classic French style of cooking. He continued his experience in the Netherlands working at two Michelin Star award-winning restaurants. His passion includes taking raw ingredients and reimagining them into something new and delicious. When not in the kitchen, Chef loves spending time with his wife and family in the mountains, or learning and discovering new hobbies.

Tulia was born and raised in Columbia, and has lived all over the world, including Chile and South Africa. While living in these various regions she spent her time mastering new trades, from electrical engineering to teaching children to paint, Tulia has done it all. After moving to Utah in 2011 she attended culinary school alongside TK, Kevin, and Jeff. After school Tulia opened her own food truck showcasing sandwiches from around the world. After the success of her food truck, she decided to sell it and found her home on the LUX team. Tulia loves to spend her time traveling and experimenting with the color palettes in her menus.

Tyler got his start in the food industry at the young age of 14. After his start in culinary he decided to follow another passion - TK received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Utah in Sociology and Criminology, all while playing on the U’s baseball team. He worked with troubled youth for nearly 10 years before he was drawn back to his passion for food. After leaving the sociology world, TK re-entered the hospitality industry and began working in various kitchens in restaurants until he found his home at LUX. In his time away from LUX, TK loves to spend time outdoors and with his wife and son.

Jeff has always had a passion for food and grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandparents. Though he had a passion for food, his grandpa thought teaching him about mechanics would lead to a more stable career. After being in the maintenance industry his passion for food brought him back to the kitchen. Jeff enrolled himself in culinary school and found himself learning alongside our other chefs, TK, Kevin, and Tulia. He found his home at LUX and continues to be driven by the innovation, fun, flavors, and even the colors of the dishes he creates. In his spare time Jeff spends his time rebuilding his 1979 purple El Camino and entering car competitions.

Kevin grew up surrounded by catering. He originally felt that catering was not where he was meant to be, he went on to work as a field analyst for a handful of years before realizing his true passion was culinary. Kevin enrolled himself in culinary school and found himself working alongside our other chefs, TK, Tulia, and Jeff. Tulia and Kevin were highly competitive and consistently motivated each other to do better while in school. When the opportunity to join the LUX team and work with Tulia again came about, Kevin was thrilled to join us. In his time away from LUX he is an avid basketball player and enjoys traveling.

Andrew graduated at the top of his class at the MATC in culinary arts. He has been with LUX for over four years and has made his way through nearly every position in the culinary department. He currently is over our inventory and ordering and loves finding all the exciting and new products that our team uses everyday.

Chef Scott graduated from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon in 1998. From there he jumped right into the culinary world, he began working for Gastronomy restaurants for a few years before opening his own restaurant. Once he felt his restaurant had run its course he headed to Washington to be an executive chef at a local hotel. His roots eventually brought him back to Utah, where he spent 15 years as an executive chef at a local restaurant. In 2018 Chef Scott joined the LUX team as our Chef de Cuisine and Head Event Chef.

Rachel is a native Texan who made her way to the great state of Utah to compete on the gymnastic team at Utah State University while studying for a Bachelor’s Degree. A few short years after graduating from USU, Rachel found her passion for culinary arts. She attended school at the Art Institute of Salt Lake City. Rachel went on to open her own bakery franchise - The Sweet Tooth Fairy, until she found her home at LUX. She has a huge passion for food, her twin sons, fitness, and yoga.

Pedro has a long history of working in the culinary industry. He started his journey at a young age as a dishwasher at Hotel Utah, and was amazed at the industry - after a tremendous amount of hard work, and moving through several positions Pedro was given the opportunity to move into the executive chef position at the Roof restaurant in Salt Lake City. He was an executive chef there for over 15 years before retiring. After retirement, Pedro found his home at LUX. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his children and traveling the world.

Sonia comes to us with over 11 years of experience as a pastry chef from Harmon’s bakery - and has since found her home with LUX. Her favorite part about the job is the opportunities for innovation and creating new and unique desserts, pastries, and breads. Sonia enjoys her time away from LUX with her family and her dogs.

Betsy has spent most of her adult life in the hospitality industry, and began working in food and beverage at the age of 16. While living on the Big Island of Hawaii, she began her own catering business, all while working in various positions such as: event coordination, farm to table restaurant management, hosted wine pairings, and more. Betsy started her career with LUX in 2018 as an event lead and has since moved her way up to our Front of House Manager. She has a passion for creating relationships, meeting new people, and watching an event come together.

Courtney started with LUX as an event staff, within six months she had been promoted to an event lead, and most recently has taken on the role of our event team manager. She has a long history in the restaurant industry, and truly finds passion in hospitality and training. Courtney loves the Utah Jazz, Houston Texans, her cat, and snow! Her biggest priority on a daily basis is making other people’s days happier and brighter.

Katie began her journey with LUX over four years ago. She came to us as an event staff after spending many years as a stay at home mom. Shortly after joining our team she stepped into the role of event lead. She thrives on taking care of people, making them smile, and creating happiness. In her time away from LUX she loves to spend time with her kids and painting with watercolors.

Ally started on our team as an event staff and worked her way up to an event lead. Ally recently graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Utah in Health, Society, and Policy with a minor in Sociology. The LUX Family is one of Ally’s favorite things about her position. She enjoys spending her time hiking, reading, and watching movies.

Max started his LUX journey as an event staff and quickly moved his way up to a lead. His favorite part of the job is seeing the final product on an event after all of their hard work putting it together. He is currently in school studying aerospace engineering. In his spare time Max enjoys snowboarding, hiking, and spending time with his wife.

Kailee has been in the hospitality industry for a few years now, and found her way to the LUX family not long after. Her job is her passion and her hobby. Kailee loves spending time with her coworkers and meeting new clients. In her time away from LUX she enjoys spending her time with her family, riding bikes, boating, and dancing. Kailee spreads joy wherever she goes.

Kim joined the LUX family with many years of experience in catering and event coordinating. Kim’s favorite part of her job is helping clients create their unforgettable moments during their special event. When Kim is not helping people create memories, she loves singing, making cakes, or doing anything that involves crafting and scrapbooking.

Kelsey is Taylor Swift's biggest fan. She joined the LUX team in the bakery as our cake designer, but soon after developed a passion for event planning and design. Kelsey’s favorite thing about event design is taking a theme or idea and bringing all the pieces together to create the dream for her clients, and seeing an idea come to fruition right before her eyes. Her hobbies include cake decoration, watching and participating in eSports, and actively thinking up excuses to go to Disneyland.

Tracy has a long history in the floral industry. He has worked for various local floral shops, and even owned his own. Through his time in florals he did a great deal of event coordination and design, when the opportunity to join the LUX team arose he was thrilled to join us. Tracy loves to design events from concept to creation, and has a great eye for detail. He is also a wine aficionado and enjoys discovering and tasting new wines.

Julianne is currently a student at the University of Utah studying communications. She has a long history of retail management, purchasing, and design. Julianne decided to bring her creative talents to the LUX team. She thrives on designing new and creative concepts for events, and watching them come to fruition. In her time away from LUX she loves to travel and spend time outdoors hiking and camping.

Megan has been working in the hospitality industry for over seven years. While growing up her mom worked in the industry and instilled her hard work and passion in Megan. Before finding her home at LUX, Megan sold and managed events at various venues throughout the state. Her favorite part of her job is connecting with people and building relationships with her clients. Every day is something new and different in this position, and she thrives on the growth and learning opportunities that come with it. In her time away from LUX she loves to spend time with her family, reading, traveling, and spending time outdoors.

Zevin is a native Texan, who after graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University began his history of planning events around the country, and finally found his home at LUX. He loves creating relationships with his clients and designing unique and memorable experiences. Zevin was nominated by DC’s Metro Weekly Magazine as the November 2016 Cover Man of the Month for being an advocate and influencer in Washington’s LGBTQA community. He enjoys volunteering, seeing theater productions and other forms of live entertainment, playing with his dog Randy, and traveling with his partner.

Taylor has a long history in beverages and creating them. He started his beverage adventure by working in Alaska in the craft brewing industry and running a small restaurant on a train. After making his rounds through Alaska and Seattle, Taylor settled back in Utah and joined the LUX family. He thrives on taking a mundane beverage and making it magical and larger than life. Creation and innovation are what keep him going.

Kelley has been in the floral industry for over 18 years, and while he comes from a small town in Idaho, his floral visions are anything but small. Kelley loves to keep up on the latest floral trends and provide his unique take on something traditional. Sharing his knowledge and passion for the floral industry is what helps him flourish. Creating larger than life installations and stunning arrangements are right up his alley. When Kelley is not at LUX he spends his free time with his family and his precious rescue dog, Bella.