Three-year growth 369%
Main Street is tastier thanks to David and Danielle Doty, founders of Kensington Asset Management, which owns Lehi Bakery, Magleby’s and Summit Pizza Co. As caring leaders, David and Danielle can be found helping in the kitchens or passing out free donut cards to local students. The couple bought Lehi Bakery in 2018, Magleby’s in 2023, and Summit Pizza Co. in 2024. They recently opened the Highland location of Lehi Bakery and are experimenting with new custom cake donuts made from scratch in front of customers. But what the Dotys are proudest of is scaling the business in a way that allows their talented team members to grow into greater responsibilities, higher pay and excellent leadership. What’s on the menu? Success for all.
In 2015 we lived in Draper, and we bought the U-Swirl frozen yogurt business. That was my first time owning and operating a small business, after working in large Fortune 500 companies like J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. I just loved working directly with customers and being in charge of every single line item. Every line has a story: “How do we grow sales? Manage costs? Hire and train the best people?” That was so much more dynamic, running a small business versus being a small piece of a massive company.
I did take a job with Hane’s coming out of grad school, but it didn’t light me up. Then we saw that Lehi Bakery was for sale in 2018. I had zero baking experience. But I brought my kids there every Wednesday for donuts before preschool, and I loved the business. I felt there was potential to grow it, so Danielle and I decided to buy it.
My wife and I spent two years doing the daily baking, which nearly killed us. It’s very hard — physically, emotionally. We didn’t open our second store until 2024. It took five or six years because we had to learn the process, update equipment, right-size the menu. When we bought it, they had 25 different breads, which made up just 3 percent of sales. We’d spend three hours a day making bread for only 3 percent of sales. So we dialed in the menu, nailed down recipes, and focused on the team.
The real reason to expand now is because of the people. I had great employees who couldn’t grow unless we created more opportunities. For example, Whitney Black, our production general manager, started with us four years ago and she makes six figures now. We can’t do that for people with just a single store.
We bought Magleby’s a little over two years ago. Even though it’s all food, each business is different to navigate. But through all of it, what really makes every day enjoyable is working with people and accomplishing things together.
We don’t have a marketing budget. The best way to market is when someone comes in and has a phenomenal experience. At Lehi Bakery, we also focus our donations on schools. Every year we deliver thousands of free donut cards for schools to distribute to the kids, whether for good grades, random acts of kindness, etc.
People have asked to franchise with us 100 times. They’re excited about owning a cute little donut shop, but they don’t understand how not-cute it is to come in at midnight to prep. We’re going to stay corporate. I want to make sure we have the ability to grow people. For some employees this is just a stop on their way to college. But for others, this is their career.
“We’re learning not to get ahead of ourselves or committing to too many products too soon,” David says. “We’re still figuring things out as we go.”