Exploring Life & Business with Mary Grothe of Sunday Salmon Inc

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Grothe

Hi Mary, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Today I get to tell you all about Sunday Salmon, which is my passion project. The vision for it came about a year ago. We were on a road trip from Castle Rock to Durango and stopped in a small town along the way.

That was a small rural town, definitely a different demographic from what I am used to in Castle Rock. But as we were sitting in a fast food restaurant dining, not my choice, but it’s what was available and fast along the way, I noticed all these families coming in and sitting down and eating not necessarily a nutritiously rich meal and thinking, how much does this restaurant in this town play a role in these people’s lives. Like how many times a week are they eating here? Do they have access to delicious organic gourmet food? Thinking about me as a mom and a wife and how I love to feed my family. So this vision came about because for the last 10 years, I have cooked a meal on Sundays that we call Sunday Salmon or family dinner.

And it’s the same spread. I don’t think the menu has changed, but we have all of our favorites and sometimes we’ll host upwards of 40 or 50 people if that happens to fall on like Mother’s Day as an example. And so this is a spread I have really enjoyed and loved cooking for my family. I’m also just big into nutrition and health and identifying food as our source only by the freshest organic gourmet delicious ingredients. Plus, I have a gluten sensitivity so most of what I cook is gluten free. But anyway, I thought I want to open up something called Sunday Salmon and I want to make this community meal that anybody can come and eat and have access to this.

Well, it took me about a year for me to act on it. And earlier this year in October, I started to feel that the Lord was leading me into a new season. I could feel it. There was a stirring inside of me and I kept hearing Sunday Salmon, Sunday Salmon. And I thought, you know, I am not in the best financial situation.

I had recently stepped down from my big corporate role as a Chief Revenue Officer and that came with a significant pay cut. I stepped into a new role launching a new division and that yet hadn’t taken off. So I wasn’t able to experience the commissions and bonuses that came in my comp plan. So my family, we were definitely cutting out everything And I’m sitting there asking the Lord, okay, well, this is a rough season for me as an entrepreneur to start something new.

I’ve done that in the past. This is not my first company. And I’ve always had a little bit of capital to go into it to take some of the risk and pressure out of launching a company. And I’m sitting there thinking, we’re living out of our savings right now. We have cut back tremendously. And I don’t know when my work is gonna really take off and I’m gonna start to experience some of those commissions and bonuses

And so then I heard the Lord say you have a Porsche. Like, yes I do. I don’t drive very much anymore as a work from home employee so I thought, alright sounds good, I’ll go buy a used jeep and then i will sell the Porsche and use that money as seed capital. So that’s how the vision started and how it came around.

Well i did buy a use 2012 Jeep Liberty. Those of you who follow along with me on social media, I bought this from a dealer in New York. Unfortunately, when it came, he did not disclose that there was quite a bit of damage to this Jeep and it wasn’t even drivable. I had originally named the Jeep Sammy, changed the name to Scammy, and documented the story publicly. A local mechanic here in Castle Rock said, “hey, I don’t think it’s as bad as the other mechanic made it to be. We’re experienced with rust and older vehicles. Bring it in.”

He fixed it. So I sold the Porsche and I just deposited a check for forty thousand dollars into this Sunday Salmon fund. So in between all of those events, I went and signed a contract with Kirk Hall at Douglas County Fairgrounds because it is a really great community hall. And I thought, hey, I’ve got a full-time job. We’ll just run this community meal on Sundays. I’ll get volunteers to do the cooking and the serving. And we’re going to just flyer the neighborhoods with invites and we’ll get the people in need. We will connect neighbors. Castle Rock is really special.

It’s an affluent community. There’s a lot of wealth here, a very high cost of living, but we do have neighbors in this community. We actually have 3,000 of them to be exact that live at the poverty line or below, and they’re experiencing food insecurity. I reached out to a couple of food banks we have in town. Some of the stories that I heard are the families that are dependent on the food banks, one of them in particular, they get to go into and pick and choose what they’re taking, and they’re not taking the produce. They’re not taking the brown rice. They’re taking SpaghettioS and fruit loops, ultra-processed foods that are unfortunately keeping their family ill with chronic illnesses, keeping them sick, causing diabetes and heart disease and obesity, things that are keeping them from really living out to their fullest potential, but they maybe just haven’t learned how to cook or understand nutrition at that core and like we do in in our family.

And so I thought, well, goodness, if we connect our neighbors who are in need with our neighbors who have access to resources and we come together, break bread together, we’re going to get to know each other. I think back into my own life, two inflection points where somebody reached their hand out and chose to live life with me. That’s how the transformation occurred.

One, when I was 22, coming out of that very sinful lifestyle and the hell I was living in. And someone extended their hand out to me and helped me live a different life in corporate America. And then the second time was after I hit my rock bottom and gave my life to the Lord, someone extended their hand out to me and they chose to live life with me, which brought incredible transformation. We’re not supposed to live life alone. It says that throughout the scripture. And so by us loving thy neighbor and partnering with them, providing a meal, a warm, delicious, organic, nutritious meal, coming together, breaking bread, our neighbors now will forge relationships with those in our community that have access to resources by simply creating access to social capital, social cohesion occurs. Through those relationships that are being built, people will live life with our neighbors that maybe live differently and transformation is going to occur.

So that was the vision. That’s all that it was meant to be. And then a couple of Saturdays ago, I couldn’t sleep, which never happens to me. I kept hearing Sunday Salmon is a permanent location, a permanent location. I’m like, no, it’s not.

I ran a few businesses and none of them have been restaurants or nonprofits. I’m already way outside my comfort zone with a nonprofit and figuring out how to launch this. And then to run a full-service restaurant, I’m like, no, thank you. But I couldn’t fall asleep. So I went downstairs, obediently opened my laptop, started looking at commercial real estate in downtown Castle Rock. Now there’s only a couple of spaces available at that time for a restaurant. So I reached out to one. They refused to even show me the space. They said I was too high risk.

And I’m a startup nonprofit restaurant. Okay, I’ll give them that. I understand that. But this is not my first business. I also have been galvanizing this idea, talking with members in the community, getting some feedback and some backing. So I’m like, I actually think we’re going to be pretty successful, but they wouldn’t even show me the space. I’m stubborn and so I walked by to look in the window and really pray about it. But I had to park my car around the corner. And as I did that, I saw another restaurant space that had just come on the market. And this is like the most prime, gorgeous, perfect, available restaurant space in downtown Castle Rock. It also has a gorgeous outdoor venue. I’m like, oh my gosh, I could subsidize this very expensive rent with running it out for weddings and celebrations and other events and I. Started to see the vision in there and I was mapping it out and it felt really really good so I went far down that path with that realtor very quickly and went to put it in an LOI. Well I heard there was another LOI being presented for a different restaurant concept but they were coming in lower… anywho, speeding the story up.

The realtor had a lot of confidence because ours was at full price and we had a quick move-in date that we would be selected, but we weren’t. And I was crushed. My ego hurt. It was pride. It was ego. It just felt crushed. It was such a bougie, beautiful space. Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

So then I went to the chamber of commerce in Castle Rock. My feelings were hurt. My ego was bruised. Praise God that he can humble me that way. And I walked in and two team members stoped what they were doing. And they served me in the greatest way possible.

They were talking about every single restaurant space in town trying to network their way through who owns this building who’s in there now, when is there a lease up with this person, look at doing like a dual restaurant they only serve breakfast what about these people, etc. I mean it was just unbelievable to be served in that capacity with two such kind hearted souls. Then, Ann Marie said, “Hey, I know a space. It’s sitting vacant right now. There might be future plans for that building, so they are not it’s not an active listing. They’re not looking for a long-term lease, but you should call the owner of the building.”

And so I did. And low and behold, there’s a vacant restaurant space sitting right in the perfect part of town on the corner of Park Street in Wolfensberger. Wolfensberger is one of our main streets in town, turns into Wilcox on the eastern side of the highway, but it’s sitting vacant and the owner of the building’s like, absolutely, I’m here to support you. He offered me low rent.

And there was another commercial realtor that the lady at the chamber introduced me to. I had left him a voicemail. He called me back ah the next day, heard about that I was going to go into that space. And then he’s like, well, I know it’s connected to another restaurant; it’s one building. It’s an old Village Inn and and there’s two restaurants in it. He said, well, I personally know the person who owns and runs the other half of that restaurant. Let me introduce you.

So this guy reaches out. Yep. Sure thing. He’s going to help me. He’s going to get that kitchen set up. He’s going to help me navigate everything in there and get it up to code so we can get quick turnaround with the health department and fire department. And we’re looking at opening in January. This is absolutely like mind blowing to me that this has come together, but this is the grace of our Lord. And it’s amazing when we are obedient and say, yes, I am so overjoyed!

Overjoyed to be answering this call in my life and getting so far outside of my comfort zone and stepping into this work and doing this beyond beyond beyond grateful. I’ve prayed and begged that the Lord would use me for meaningful work and to further his kingdom and his timing is perfect. My timing is three months ago.

And through the waiting, I have felt down on many days. I had a few days where I had feelings of extreme grumpiness, dissatisfaction, defeat, confusion. And I know that the enemy was just stepping in during that season to steal, kill, and destroy because he knew what the Lord had for me. And I’m just so grateful for how this has all played out. So how can you get involved? Well, listen up.

Sunday Salmon is planning on opening in January 2025 at the corner of Park Street in Wolfensberger. We have a beautiful restaurant location, but it needs some TLC. It’s been sitting vacant for a while.

I have a team right now that is helping to renovate the space. I could use some hands toward the end of December to decorate it. But most importantly, I have an Amazon cart and an online Capital Campaign Donor Fund.

I have listed out on the campaign exactly what the expenses are that we’re covering for the first six months. I am providing full transparency on our expenses. All donations are tax deductible through Scaling Faith Ministries, which is a registered 508C1A, something that I started earlier in 2024.

And we are using that for the fundraising for Sunday Salmon. Sunday Salmon is its own incorporated nonprofit. However, we’re waiting. We’re in application status for our 501c3. We should have it here soon. So we are fundraising under that Scaling Faith Ministries umbrella.

Anywho, I would also love for corporations to partner with us. I’m welcoming as many corporate partners as I can. If you’re interested in this, I have a few different levels that you can choose from. All of this information is at www.sundaysalmon.com. I highly encourage you, if you cannot volunteer, if you cannot give financially, if you would do one of two things? First, pray for us.

I’ve already felt a couple of attacks through this process, one with the scammy Jeep, also with the lease not coming through, and also some of the other issues that I’ve incurred that I’m not disclosing here. But I know that God’s hand is in it, and whatever the enemy is using to steal, kill, and destroy, the lord theres no weapon formed against this ministry will prevail.

And the Lord uses all things for the good of those who love Him. And I am proclaiming loudly, loudly multiple times a day over this ministry that the enemy has no authority in my life, has no authority in this ministry by the blood and name of Jesus Christ.

This is God ordained. We are saying yes to the Lord in this mission. And so if you could pray for this ministry, I would love that greatly.

And lastly, share the campaign. share the campaign. The biggest spread and reach that we can get through this, every penny counts. We are going all in asking for $75,000 in the initial capital campaign. I have personally sold my Porsche and put $40,000 into our startup costs so that we can do the renovations we need to with this space and acquire the appliances and equipment and things that we need to be operating. I’m asking for $75,000 to help us cover our marketing costs, rent, utlities, and also the first six months of food ingredients, hoping to feed at least 100 people per week for free.

So I ask that you help us in one of those ways, but www.sundaysalmon.com has all the info.

We have our phone number listed on the site as well. If you can follow us, Facebook, Instagram, you can follow us on LinkedIn, and then just keep sharing the good news. We would so appreciate that. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story!

Sunday salmon, a community meal, a full service restaurant coming to Castle Rock, Colorado, January, 2025. God willing.

We need a lot of help to do that, but we’re going to bring delicious organic meals and bring our neighbors together in Castle Rock. Transformation is going to occur. It’s time to be the hands and feet of Jesus’s ministry and go out and serve our people that need it the most. God bless. Thank you all so much.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not a smooth road. The scammy jeep, the enemy attacks on my well-being, and the lack of early funds raised have all caused me to question this journey. Just this past week, I suffered a terrible mental/emotional breakdown.

The reality of my recent decision to leave my comfortable, full-time career smacked me upside the head and I didn’t handle it well. Thankfully, I mustered up the strength to take my pity party to Walmart and do something about it.

Grateful for my family’s help printing and packing 208 bags until after 12:30 am so that we could flyer my neighborhood on Thanksgiving morning.

I also sent out 150 LinkedIn InMail messages before and after our family’s Thanksgiving celebration, to local Castle Rock business owners asking for them to take a peek at our Corporate Partner program. This weekend, I am printing and assembling 20 packets and plan to go door to door to those businesses on Monday & Tuesday, December 2nd and 3rd, in preparation for Giving Tuesday!

I sold my Porsche on November 15th to inject the first $40k into startup costs for this project, and am committed to putting in another $50k in 2025 for food ingredients and rent, but that about taps out my savings, so it’s time to do the hard work and find financial support from our community.

I can do hard things, because He is with me ❤️.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sunday Salmon Inc?
Sunday Salmon is a gourmet, organic community restaurant providing NO-COST meals to neighbors in Castle Rock, CO.

Why no-cost?
Castle Rock has over 3,000 neighbors living below the poverty line. While there are two food banks, ultra-processed, shelf-stable foods dominate, leaving families with health issues that deepen their struggles. No free meal options exist in town—that’s about to change.

In my home, I only cook organic, nutritious meals. Now, my table is growing to serve the whole community.

But there’s more…
Many of you know my story: a childhood of poverty, addiction, and chaos. My life changed at 22 because someone extended their hand and chose to live life with me.

Years later, after worldly success, titles, and income, I hit rock bottom. When I drove my car into my neighbor’s front porch and landed in jail, someone else extended their hand again—and that time, it led to a permanent, eternal transformation.

Who is extending their hand to our neighbors today?

The meal is just step one. At Sunday Salmon, we’re creating a space where people from all walks of life will share meals, connect, and close the social/economic gap—one conversation and one bite at a time.

I need your help to make this vision a reality. We’re kicking off a capital campaign that is centered Giving Tuesday, December 3rd but runs through the end of December, in anticipation of our January 5th launch.

❤️ How You Can Help ❤️

➡️ Donate: Support our campaign directly at https://www.sundaysalmon.com/donate

➡️ Amazon Wish List: Purchase specific items and ship them to us via our Amazon list: https://a.co/23mFate

➡️ Volunteer: Help renovate our space, cook, serve meals, or simply dine with us and build relationships! Sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/AAQ7M

➡️ Share: Spread the word and invite others to join the mission by sharing our mission: www.SundaySalmon.com

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We have a big goal to set the standard for no-cost, community meal service for towns and cities. We believe the future of wealth and prosperity is HEALTH. Where does health come from? Mostly from the food we eat and those who are at or below the poverty line don’t have access to delicious, gourmet organic meals. We plan to change that. Food banks, soup kitchens, food stamps, and other meal programs often focus on simply giving out food, regardless of the nutritional qualities. Sunday Salmon is changing that. Those in need deserve access to gourmet, organic, nutritious foods that nourish their bodies and then provide connection to neighbors who have access to resources, capital, employment, and a different way of living. This model is first about nutritious meals and second about neighborly connections that bridge the gap between socio-economic levels.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sundaysalmon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundaysalmoninc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567649828677