Building In A Small Town

Nathan Tricky Allen is an Iowa-based, nationally-touring comedian / magician for adult crowds. His shows are a blend of sleight-of-hand magic, stand-up comedy, dangerous tricks, stupid stunts, immature pranks, and hilarious (and unpredictable) audience interaction. We get into Nathan's first paid magic show when he was 12 years-old, his brief stint in college, the shift in his act from purely...

Kimberly Turner grew up in the small town of Colo, IA in a very entrepreneurial family. She met a marine, fell in love & lived the military spouse wife - following her husband where the Marines told her. After having kids and leaving her nursing career, she started baking for friends on base while living in Hawaii. As more orders came in and another change of station to Virginia had her in yet...

Today's guest is Logan Pejsha-Davis. She's a badass mom-preneur and the soul of Dahlia Darling & Co, The Bus Guys LLC, and now the Shipley School Project. In this conversation you'll hear how Logan's penchants for hard-work & need to support her family have taken her from college dropout to patient coordinator to building businesses & finding her purpose. I really enjoy...

Jenny English is the owner of Well+Fed Life based in Maxwell, IA. She is a veteran, former vaccine researcher, and now, a nutrition coach. You can find Jenny here: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/metabolismmakeoverforoverthinkers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellfed_jen/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wellfed_jen?lang=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wellfed_jen

Bill Menner is a man of MANY hats. He's the founder of the Bill Menner Group, the former head of Iowa USDA Rural Development, executive director of the Iowa Rural Development Council, and a contractor with the current Iowa USDA Rural Development administration. Though not native to a small town, Bill has been living and working in and around small towns in Iowa for over 30 years. He is a wealt...

Dan Fitzpatrick is the owner of Right Now Powder Coating in Collins, IA (pop 483). In this episode, Dan talks about his love for anything Chevy, what it was like to work as an auto adjuster, starting a mobile wheel repair business & more. You can find him here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RightNowPowderCoating Website: https://www.rightnowpowdercoating.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagr...

Today's guest, Robbie Erickson is the owner of Small Town Tattoo in Collins, Iowa (pop 483). Hear how Robbie got obsessed with art & gave himself his first tattoo in middle school (!!!), why he decided to make the move to a small town, and what his upcoming racing season is looking like. I really enjoyed this conversation. If you want to check out some of Robbie's work, follow Small To...

In this episode, I sat down with Willie Beeler of Beeler Lawn & Landscape, based in Collins, IA (pop 483). He's a former college football player, turned PE teacher, turning landscaper. He also happens to my husband. Interviewing people is hard. Interviewing your spouse is harder. I tried out my set of questions and fair to say there will be some adjustments.

Meet your host, Shelby Smith. Find out how I wound up living in a tiny Iowa town with less than 500 people. I am excited to talk to other builders and find out what they're doing to thrive in small towns.

After talking about it for months, I am FINALLY starting my podcast about building things in small towns. I am super excited to talk to entrepreneurs, community leaders, policy makers and more to find out what's being built in small towns. Do you know of someone building something in a small town?! Please let me know!