Shut Up and Listen: Small Town Stories

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. Every day the struggle is real with Sarah&Renee, but along the way we've interviewed and featured some fantastic folks from Small Town USA. So, we decided to put together a 'Best of' episode from our first year doing this! But it was so hard to choose small snippets, so this is Part 1 featuring a specia...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens...  It's here! 'Sarah&Renee's Favorite Things of 2022'.  And we're just in time for the holiday season! Who's ready to go shopping? We're keeping it local and highlighting some of our favorite gifts of 2022 from local artisans, crafters, an...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. With major additions in technology and a total focus on the students, Andy Sprang has a passion and a drive for continuing education especially through the Fostoria City School system.  As T-Swift would say, he's totally 'feeling 22' as this is his twenty-second year working in the school system. Sarah&...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. We had not one but TWO microphones for our double-interview with Evelyn Marker,  Executive Director of the United Way of Fostoria, and Libra Martin, United Way of Fostoria's Program Coordinator and Director of First Call For Help Fostoria. Renee promises the interview will be painless, though maybe not easy, but thes...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. Between his amazing one-liners and the girls' very challenging questions, there may have been more laughs than anything else in this episode...  We so enjoyed our time getting to know another side of Mike Kerschner. He really opened up to Sarah&Renee. Perhaps it comes at a good time as he enters the final couple...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. This is part of a 2-part series including City Council member interviews where we continue to learn about the way city government is actually run and all about the people who help make it all happen!  Part 2: Sarah&Renee interview a couple of newbies... and these two men get down to business in very different ways.  M...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. This episode is all about breaking away from the misconceptions of city government, from the way it's run to the role of council. In this 2-Part series, Sarah&Renee sit down with three council members who have a variety of professional backgrounds and varying levels of tenure within city government. Ultimately, t...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. "Who can take a sunrise Sprinkle it in dew Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two?" The Candy (Wo)man CAN!  We are so proud to have this year's LAUNCH Fostoria Business Competition Winner Kristin VanCuren Koester with us for this episode! 'Kris' takes us WAY back to the days of her childhood w...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. This was such a fun way to record a podcast episode, we'd like to make this a repeating host-site ! Mike & Tiffani opened the UrbanWoody Brewery in 2019 - right before a tough year. But the way they've pivoted as business owners and the way they continue to support the local community has had such a positive...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. A sunglasses problem or a curated collection... give Part Two a listen and you can decide! Our third guest was the Fostoria Ohio Mayor, Eric Keckler, and all throughout his interview were the "sounds of activity in small town USA".  Events like Guitar Fest, Latino Fest, Lunch on the Lawns , the Summer Concert Se...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. We took this podcast out of office and off-site while we enjoyed one of the most gorgeous summer mornings in Small Town USA!  We had all the positive feels when helpful strangers gave us a hand as we unloaded office furniture and we even met families who were out enjoying our town's traveling sculptures . Our first g...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee NFL standout, Micah Hyde, is one of our hometown heroes. This family-man has made it his mission to support the community where he was born and raised as well as kids across the nation who have a passion for football. From his memorandum to Fostorians to learning who is favorite play...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee Our Sarah is a Findlay, OH native and she graduated from Arcadia High School.  She majored in Psychology and minored in Sociology at the University of Georgia and then she earned her teaching certification from the University of Findlay.  From teacher to lawyer to doctor to psychiatr...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee It's time we put these lovely, and sometimes rowdy, ladies in the hot seat!  Our guest today is none other than: Renee Smith, President of the Fostoria Economic Development Corporation. Renee grew up in Findlay, Ohio where she graduated from Liberty Benton High School and then c...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee It's almost Mother's Day and we're celebrating by ambushing Sarah's mom, Judy, and Renee's mom, Kim, on the couch! It's true, these ladies don't usually let a day go by without talking with their moms and it's such a joy to hear their perspecti...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee Sweet Sue... she didn't know what she was about to get herself into when she sat down on the couch with spicy Renee and sassy Sarah! But all-in-all, they gave her (and maybe all of us) a little something to laugh about. There's certainly much to learn about what Sue and the...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee Of course they showed up to record this, their 5th Episode, #twinning in their matchy-matchy oversized sweaters with black leggings while rocking red heels / killer kicks, so we KNEW they were on their A-Game!! "How can I help you?" In this gratefulness episode, Sarah &...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee We were so proud to be able to interview Jena Stearns: CO.STARTERS alum, our first ever LAUNCH Fostoria Winner, and our entrepreneurship 'Spirit Animal'! Jena's story is unique in content but very similar to many local entrepreneurs: she's made something BIG out o...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee It's just the ladies in this episode and they have LOTS to say about entrepreneurship, especially in Fostoria, OH. Topics  include: - CO.STARTERS CORE - CO.STARTERS GENERATOR - LAUNCH - "Entrepreneurial Ecosystem" As always, there's LOADS of laughter and general b...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee Our first ever guest! Sarah and Renee get to know the Mayor of Fostoria, Ohio just a bit better in this quick 20 minute episode. Eric Keckler takes us back to his early days and what brought him to become the Mayor. We learn a little bit about what makes him tick, as well as what mak...

Got feedback? Maybe it's our turn to Shut Up and Listen! Send us a Text. https://linktr.ee/sulwithsarahandrenee Sarah and Renee introduce themselves as well as the goal of this podcast.  This particular episode is a brief, 11-minute introduction to their wit and uncanny ability to suck you in to their crazy conversations while they shed some light on what's happening in Small Town USA and...