Chasing home: How Alex and Ionela built a life and business in Park City

Photo: Neighbors of the Wasatch Back // Deb Dekoff.

When I first sat down with Alex and Ionela in their cozy Summit Park home, I assumed I was hearing a familiar Park City story: two young people who came here on a seasonal job, fell in love with the mountains, and decided to stay. But as they opened up, their path proved anything but simple. Early on, they endured a painful situation with an employer that left them vulnerable and forced them to navigate a complex legal process in a country that was still new to them. That experience could have soured their view of Park City and the United States. Instead, they put down roots—building a life, a family, and a business intentionally designed to make our locality more welcoming and accessible for others.

From Romanian Countryside to Big Dreams

From tiny Romanian villages to a forever home in Summit Park, Alex Tirla and Ionela Savoiu arrived in Park City and stayed to build a life woven into hospitality, hard work, and the belief that everyone—not just the wealthy—deserves to experience this mountain town. When Alex stepped off the plane in Salt Lake City for the first time, he and his college sweetheart had no idea what awaited them in the mountains above. They were two students from Romania on a work-and-travel summer program, carrying limited funds, distinctive accents, and a lot of curiosity.

Their first American experience was a $200 taxi ride to Park City—the driver had taken advantage of their naiveté—but as soon as they arrived, everything shifted. Strangers said hello on the street. People smiled just because. For the couple, who both come from small Romanian villages shaped by post-communist caution and strict social norms, it felt like landing in another world. They didn’t know it yet, but this town would become home.

Alex, the oldest of three siblings, grew up in a village of about 100 people in northern Romania. One brother now works in IT, and the other runs a barbershop. Alex was always a little different—restless in his very religious Orthodox household, curious about the world beyond the village.

“I always wanted adventure,” he says. As a kid, that meant organizing elaborate, slightly naughty schemes with neighbors and brothers. As he got older, he was determined to carve his own path.

While most classmates enrolled at colleges close to home, Alex deliberately chose one in a different city. That decision would lead him not only to new opportunities but also to the woman who would eventually share all of them.

Ionela also grew up in the countryside, but her mother had other plans for her daughters. She refused to send them to the local village school and instead put them on a bus every day to a nearby bigger city, starting in first grade.

“Mom had high aspirations for my sister and me,” Ionela says, also acknowledging that it wasn’t always easy. But her mom’s message was clear: You are meant for more.

Today, her younger sister lives in Milan and works as a flight attendant, while their mother splits her time visiting both daughters—sometimes in Italy, and sometimes in Utah, where Ionela’s life has taken root in a different alpine city.

College, Coffee, and “You’re the Love of My Life”

Alex wasn’t supposed to be in Ionela’s classes at all, at least not at first.

He always loved English, picking it up early while watching Cartoon Network. Initially, he enrolled in a translation and interpretation program, pairing English with German. The German grammar proved brutal, and he quickly started scanning the list of university majors for something that fit better.

“American Studies” caught his eye.

It placed him in a small cohort, comprising about 20 students, most of them women. For the first month, though, Alex simply didn’t show up. Instead, he tagged along with a friend to an engineering university, sitting in on lectures that had nothing to do with his own degree.

When he finally appeared in his actual classes, Ionela barely noticed him. She was close friends with one of the few other male students and paid little attention to the late arrival. But Alex noticed her immediately.

A few days later, a canceled class sent the whole group out for coffee. As they entered the café, Alex stepped ahead, held the door open, looked straight at Ionela, and declared, “You’re the love of my life.”

Her response was swift and humorous: “Yes, in your dreams.”

Ten years later, they are married, raising a daughter, and building a business together in Park City.

Ionela laughs when she remembers that moment. “He was not my type,” she insists. “But his eyes attracted me. And his kindness.” They started dating almost right away. Technically, they rented separate places, but by the end of the year, Alex was essentially living in Ionela’s room. After that first summer in the US, they returned to Romania, finished the school year, then moved into their own apartment. They’ve rarely spent a night apart since.

Discovering Park City

The couple’s first summer job in the US brought them to the Westgate in Park City. They arrived wide-eyed, jetlagged, and determined to work hard.

What stayed with them most, though, wasn’t just the job; it was the feeling of the place.

“Everyone was saying hi to us,” Alex remembers. “We loved it. We didn’t understand why strangers were so nice to each other.”

Ionela describes her first moment outside the Salt Lake City airport as surreal. “It felt like a different world,” she says. “Of course, everyone dreams about the American Dream, but it was never in my thoughts that it would become mine one day.”

The cultural differences were everywhere. In Romania, especially in older generations shaped by communism, people tend to be more guarded, less eager to share. Here, strangers would strike up conversations, tell stories, ask about Romania, and compare cultures as if they had known Alex and Ionela for years.

“This is how it’s meant to be,” Ionela says. “We have to interact and work together.”

And then, of course, there was the food.

Alex jokes about American bread—soft, processed, far from the simple loaves of his childhood. When friends from Utah traveled to Romania for their wedding, they were “amazed” by the breads, candies, and homemade flavors. At the same time, the couple has happily embraced some distinctly American favorites.

“I’ll eat a good hamburger anytime,” Ionela laughs. “With fries, of course.”

Weathering Hardship

Early on, they were faced with a challenge that left them distressed and exposed  in a country they were still getting to know. Instead of dismissing Park City, they found the positive.

“When we first came here to work, we ended up in a really difficult situation with an employer. It was confusing and scary at the time, especially being so far from home,” Alex says. “But we were fortunate to find people in the community who helped us navigate everything.”

“We had to go through a legal process and talk to the police and investigators, which was overwhelming for two young students who had just come to work and travel,” Ionela adds. “But Park City also showed us its supportive side. We met people who stood by us, and that’s a big reason why this place feels like home now.”

“What matters most to us is that we got through it together,” concludes Alex. “It opened a path for us to stay here, build a life, and now run a business that treats people the way we wish we had been treated then.”

Building a Life in Hospitality

Over the years, hospitality has been the backbone of their life in Park City.

Ionela has worked in tourism for nearly a decade, spending eight of those years with one company. She’s moved from entry-level roles into management and now essentially runs operations, often working weeks at a time without a day off, always on call.

“If I get a call at 10 p.m., I have to figure it out,” she says. “Whatever it is.”

Alex spent about five years working for the same local family. Their employer became more than a boss, almost a surrogate mom, close in age to his and Ionela’s own parents and deeply invested in their future. She advised them on finances, housing, and eventually parenthood, guiding them through the nuances of building a life in a new country.

That foundation of trust, work ethic, and service set the stage for their next big step.

A Local Business for Everyday People

Over time, Alex started receiving job offers from several transportation companies, including some of the largest in Utah. The roles were stable and tempting, but they weren’t his.

He wanted to try something different: build something from scratch, navigate the process from forming an LLC to filing taxes, and create a service that reflected the values he and Ionela had learned in hospitality.

The idea was simple but powerful: offer high-quality, professional transportation to and from Park City at a price that any family could afford.

Working in tourism, Ionela had heard countless stories from guests who had saved all year to come to Park City for just three or four days. Many were finally checking off a bucket-list ski trip, bringing kids who had never seen snow in person. The cost of lodging, lift tickets, rentals, and food added up quickly. Then came the price of getting from the airport to the mountains.

“People make big sacrifices to come here,” Ionela says. “Transportation shouldn’t be the thing that breaks the budget.”

Their company, Elite Transportation—an intimate, family-run operation—partners naturally with her hospitality role. Their service is listed alongside local rentals, making it easy for guests to find them when they book their stay. For some travelers, it’s purely practical; for others, it’s a small taste of luxury they never thought they’d experience.

Recently, after Alex dropped off close friends at the airport for their flight back to Europe, they turned to him in the car and joked, “Oh, this is how it feels to be rich.”

They all laughed, but Alex and Ionela took that to heart, wanting to let people feel—even for an hour—that they belong in this beautiful place, regardless of how big their bank account is.

Scarlett, Summit Park, and a Forever Home

At the center of everything now is their daughter: Scarlett Maria.

Her name is layered with meaning. “Scarlett” reflects their love of modern, international names. “Maria” ties her to their Romanian Orthodox faith. When Ionela and Alex were trying to conceive, Ionela prayed to the Holy Mother and promised that if they had a girl, she would carry the name “Maria.”

There was also a family tradition to honor, especially for Alex’s mother. The first child is expected to have at least two names, one of them anchored firmly in Romanian heritage.

Scarlett arrived about a month early, turning the couple into parents sooner than expected and sending them straight into the foggy, sleepless world of newborn life. Their first night in the hospital, Scarlett cried and cried, and they couldn’t figure out why. Their minds raced. Is she sick? In pain? What’s wrong? Until they realized the simple truth: She was just hungry.

They laugh about it now, but the adjustment was real. For the first several weeks, they were lucky; Ionela’s mother stayed with them, taking over night shifts so that they could sleep. When she left, reality set in hard. Both were working full-time, juggling opposite shifts to allow one to always be home with Scarlett. Daycare in Park City is notoriously hard to find; they put their names on seven or eight waitlists before a brand-new center offered them a spot. Now, Scarlett spends her days there, dropped off late morning and picked up mid-afternoon, depending on the demands of the day.

Meanwhile, they’ve quietly achieved milestones many locals dream about. A few years ago, during the uncertainty of Covid and a rapidly shifting housing market, they were able to buy their first home in Summit Park. What surprised them most was how quickly it stopped feeling like a starter house and began to feel like their forever home.

The building is its own small community. Most neighbors and their children are similar in age to Ionela, Alex, and Scarlett. Afternoons spill into the driveway with scooters, sidewalk chalk, pumpkin-carving parties, pizza, and apple cider.

For someone with a self-admitted “little bit of OCD” about cleanliness and order, this season has been a demanding one for Ionela. Toys everywhere, shoes in the wrong place, sticky fingerprints on every surface—it’s not how she once imagined her home.

Her boss, the same woman who guided them through so many transitions, offered the perspective she needed.

“She told me, ‘If your child is fed, clean, and loved, you can let the mess go. One day, you’ll miss this. You won’t get a second chance to enjoy this craziness.’”

Choosing Park City

Ask Alex and Ionela now if they see themselves staying in Park City, and they don’t hesitate to answer: “Yes. This is home.”

They love the clean air, the trails just outside their door, and the way Summit Park feels like a village within a town. They talk about how safe it feels to them, especially for Scarlett.

“As a woman, I’m not afraid to walk the streets at 10 p.m. by myself,” Ionela says. “That matters.”

They’re realistic about the sacrifices required to live here. Like many full-time residents, they work long hours. They stretch budgets. But they choose it, over and over again, for the community, the schools, the safety, and the sense of belonging they’ve found.

Park City has given them a lot: careers, friendships, a home, and a place to raise their daughter. Through their work in hospitality and their growing transportation business, they’re determined to make it just a little easier for everyday families to experience the magic of this town, and welcoming each new arrival with the same warmth that greeted them all those years ago.

Reflecting on the time I spent with Alex and Ionela, what struck me most was how their story kept returning to gratitude and giving back. They speak of Park City almost like it’s a person, saying things like, “This town gave us so much.” 

Their response? To serve. Their transportation business isn’t just about shuttling people from the airport to a ski condo; it’s about honoring families who save all year for a few days on these mountains and making sure those visits don’t begin with sticker shock or exclusion.

As someone born here, who’s often heard the “American Dream” is dead, listening to Alex and Ionela reminds me that the dream is alive, often carried by those who had to work the hardest to reach it. Their love for each other, for their daughter, and for this community is quiet but fierce, reminding many that we may not all be wealthy, but we are richly connected.