Rural Revival

This week on the podcast we’re with Darren and Meagan Orsag of Leeco Honey in Lexington, Texas (pop. 1,178). What started out as a hobby has grown into a beekeeping and honey business with products that fly off the shelves and continues to grow. Darren and Meagan are sharing about teamwork, the importance of knowing your beekeeper, and their annual honey harvest and adopt-a-hive program. You’ll lo...

This week on the podcast we’re with Alise Sjostrom of Redhead Creamery in Brooten, Minnesota (pop. 743) where you will find ridiculously good, farmstead artisan cheese, made by Alise herself. After working out of state for other cheesemakers, Alise brought what she learned back to her family dairy farm and started Redhead Creamery — something that has been her dream since she was 16. She’s sharing...

This week on the podcast we’re with Andrea Stordahl of Minnesota Rust in McIntosh, Minnesota (pop. 625). Andrea’s sharing her story of how she and her family are giving back to a community that gave so much to her and her family when they needed it most - by restoring main street and bringing in a handful of new businesses. And it’s turning this town of 625 into a destination that both serves the...

This week on the podcast we’re with City of Jefferson, Iowa Building Official Nick Sorensen. Nick has played a key role in saving and restoring a number of historic buildings in Jefferson (pop. 4,345), and he’s sharing the strategies that have worked to make these projects successful. This episode is jam packed full of information and resources, so if you have dreams of fixing up a historic buildi...

This week on the podcast we’re talking with Dirt Road Dietitian Sheri Glazier from Loyal, Oklahoma (pop. 79). Shari was just named Oklahoma's Outstanding Dietitian of the Year and is helping us better understand where our food comes from, making the connection between farm life and nutrition. She’s sharing how there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition, plus food myths, shopping your pant...

This week on the podcast we’re in Kilbourne, Ohio (pop. 139) with Josh Scheutzow of The Kilbourne Project. The Kilbourne Project is the story of four Ohio families who are helping preserve the historic town of Kilbourne for future generations. These families are risking it all on this passion project as they seek to restore 11 historic buildings and bring 40 new jobs to the town — including their...

This week on the podcast we’re talking with Lindsy Trotter of Chilled in Center Point, Iowa (pop. 2,421). Chilled provides freezer meals and menu planning with options for paleo, keto, whole 30, gluten free, vegetarian, and more. What started out of necessity due to Lindsy’s daughter’s food sensitivities has quickly turned into a booming business. Lindsy’s sharing about her jump into entrepreneurs...

This week on the podcast we’re in Seneca, Kansas (pop. 1,991) with Liz Feldkamp of Liz's Bridal & Formal Wear. Liz’s business all started with her buying a building in downtown Seneca, not really knowing what she wanted to do with it. She soon bought out a local bridal shop and moved it to her building, and now has a second building that is an event space. Liz is sharing her story and how a ma...

This week on the podcast we’re in Wakefield, Nebraska (pop. 1,451) with Hannah Borg. Hannah is a sixth generation farmer who decided to come home to the family farm after college to make her own path — raising poultry. As someone who didn’t know anything about chickens until the day 60,000 arrived at her barn, Hannah is sharing her story and teaching us all a thing or two she’s learned along the w...

This week on the podcast we’re in Choctaw, Oklahoma (pop. 11,146) with Matt Floyd of Matt’s Bat, where he makes handcrafted custom wood bats. Matt’s sharing how he and his family moved from downtown Oklahoma City to their farm in Choctaw, where he has grown his bat business and started a farmer’s market. They even have a ball diamond in the back yard, where they host team bat making parties that b...

This week on the podcast we’re in Ainsworth, Nebraska with Haley Miles of Sandhills Blue. Haley is a small town love wedding photographer serving rural and ranch couples. Beyond photography, she has a heart for entrepreneurship and a passion for creating opportunity in small towns. You will love Haley’s focus on serving her clients and appreciate her perspective on small towns and seeing the oppor...

This week on the podcast we’re with Keith and Sandi Mitcham of Mitcham Livestock, a custom cattle feeding operation in Cherokee, Oklahoma (pop. 1,498). Keith and Sandi decided to move across the country with a few cattle and their life savings to go all in on reviving this feedlot that had a great past but needed a little love. This is an important story because it’s about an escape from urban spr...

For this week’s podcast episode we met up with Tess Maune in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to talk all things outdoors. Tess is an award winning journalist and founding board director for the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation - alongside Blake Shelton, we might add - who works in the city but maintains a rural lifestyle. She is an avid hunter, noodler, and outdoorswoman. Today she’s sharing about her...

This week on the podcast we’re in Brookville, Kansas (pop. 262) with Ryley Wimer of Savannah Sevens, an online western boutique that mixes mainstream fashion with rodeo and western style. As someone who had never worked a day in retail before this business, Ryley’s sharing about her journey from a degree in construction management to creating an online boutique. Plus, how she’s created a sustainab...

This week we’re in Enid, Oklahoma with Kent and Becky Evatt of Red Bird Farm. Red Bird Farm is a working Christmas tree and blackberry farm that also hosts seasonal events and workshops, a petting zoo, and offers fresh produce and apparel. We have a great conversation about the land and returning to our roots, as well as the importance of agritourism and a strong work ethic. You’ll love Kent and B...

This week on the podcast we’re in Virden, Illinois (pop. 3,354) with Katie Dowson of Seed Life. Seed Life is a lifestyle brand and one stop shop for all things seed. From selling seed to treating seed to agronomists on staff and even a great apparel line, Katie’s sharing all about how she’s built this business and carved out her own unique spot in the ag world. The heartbeat behind this business i...

We’re in Riverside, Iowa (pop. 993) this week with Lynne Thomas of Barnstorm Coffee. Lynne is a self-taught barista with a mobile coffee shop, where she does pop ups and events all over the midwest. She loves collaborating with other small, local businesses and has become a favorite everywhere she goes. She’s dishing on  how she learned the coffee business and built her brand, and the great p...

This week we’re talking with Hannah Esch of Oak Barn Beef in Unadilla, Nebraska (pop. 311). Hannah started Oak Barn Beef to sell her family’s beef direct to consumer, and has built this business from the ground up while she has been a full-time student at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She’s talking about all the things she’s learned along the way about educating customers and working with...

This week we’re in Moville, Iowa (pop. 1,613) with Melissa Nelson of Hungry Canyon. Hungry Canyon is a farm and ranch-related greeting card business that got its start from a valentine Melissa made for her husband when they were dating in college. She shared the card on social media, and her designs have been in demand ever since. She also talks about the importance of ag education and how she bui...

This week we’re with David Hernandez and Tereasa Surratt of Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisconsin (pop. 10,084) — a camp with a very storied past that includes the mob, a madam, and the Vatican. David and Tereasa have transformed the camp from a dilapidated property into what has now been listed as one of the top 100 hotels in the world. Throughout this adventure they have found themselves right ah...

This week on the podcast we’re in West Salem, Wisconsin (pop. 5,026) with Cassie Everson of Wanderlust Skulls. Cassie’s sharing about her journey from agronomist to stay-at-home-mom to entrepreneur, which came together when a skull she decorated for herself started getting a lot of attention on Facebook, and the idea to make more would just not leave hear alone. She talks about how she’s reached a...

This week on the podcast we’re in DeSoto, Iowa (pop. 1,050) with Jason and Nicole Smith of DreamDirt, a Midwestern-based farmland auction and real estate company. They’re sharing about their journey from careers in law enforcement and computers to land auctions. From being among the first to have online auctions to creating their own online auction software and expanding into online machinery auct...

We’re in Red Oak, Iowa (pop. 5,415) this week on the podcast with Daric and Jill O’Neal of JMercantile and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture. We’re talking all things community revitalization and development - including expanding Daric’s architecture company from the city to a small town, and Jill getting to bring her dream of a design and home decor shop to life, from a pop up to a storefront...

This week on the podcast we’re in Natoma, Kansas (pop. 334) with Adam and Dayna Kocinski of French Press Coffee. They’re sharing how their journey as entrepreneurs came to life when they decided to turn a literal dream that Adam had into reality. Now they’re serving the community more than just coffee — they’re creating a space where they can invest in people, make a space for local artists, and p...

This week on the podcast we’re in Lenox, Iowa (pop. 1,407) with Bonnie Ramsey of Ramsey’s Market and Ramsey’s Ace Hardware. Bonnie’s telling us all about how she and her husband Theo have turned a grocery store into an entertainment business that’s focused on providing a unique, one-of-a-kind experience for their customers. We also talk about why grocery stores are so important for our rural commu...