Essays From West of 98: A Revival Afoot
My friend Danna Larson is a native of rural Iowa. A few years ago, she started a website called “Rural Revival” and her website was one of the first outlets to carry my weekly essays. In conjunction with her website, she launched a Rural Revival podcast, which interviews business owners, leaders, and creative types who are doing cool things and making an impact on their own individual piece of rural America.
As I’ve written over the years, and as we are seeing play out on national television with small town renovation shows on HGTV, there is a movement afoot across rural America. Folks are looking for opportunities to move to small towns (maybe their hometown or maybe just a place with the right quality of life). Small town leaders are working to energize and revitalize their communities and make them an attractive place to live for young singles, couples, and families. It’s a “rural revival,” which is why Danna hit the jackpot when she named her website and business. She is full of passion, energy, and good ideas, and in many ways, she is helping embody the spirit of revival across small towns in dozens of states.
Last week, she hosted a “Mastermind Workshop” in which rural entrepreneurs came together to learn from one another and take good ideas back to their own businesses and communities. They held the workshop in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, which was a perfect location. If you are not aware, Pawhuska is the home base of Ree Drummond, better known to Food Network fans as “Pioneer Woman.” Ree’s fame and success in the food world have made Pawhuska a destination community and it’s not much bigger than many of the small towns where the readers of this essay reside. The Drummonds’ impact on Pawhuska is a conversation for a different day, but in Pawhuska, some great minds came together for Danna’s multiday workshop that she hosted with some other folks.
After the workshop concluded, Danna sat down and compiled a few of her takeaways from the event and with her permission, I thought it would be important to share those takeaways in my weekly essay. If you are a small town business owner or a community leader, I would be surprised if you weren’t impacted by many or all of these points yourself:
1. Your dreams are not by mistake. They are in you for a reason,
2. You have your own unique skill set to offer to the world. Stay true to your unique voice and offerings.
3. It is okay to change and re-evaluate as your passions/seasons/priorities shift.
4. It is good to have some big goals in mind to work toward, but if you don’t have those figured out, then figure out what’s the next best step that makes sense for your business/brand.
5. Nothing is predictable. There is always going to be risk. There is always going to be change. Learn to embrace it.
6. Entrepreneur life is not instant gratification. Keep the end goal in mind. It may be hard, but it is worth it!
I could do an extended riff on each of those points, but today, I will let Danna’s words stand on their own. If you are a small town business owner or leader and you are struggling with any of those issues, well, you are not alone. You are feeling what a lot of folks feel and what a lot of successful folks pushed through to reach their own goals.
Give Danna’s social media a follow, check out the cool content on her website (https://www.ruralrevival.co/) and podcast, and join us. A Rural Revival is afoot. Figure out how to make your mark and be part of the revival.
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and podcast. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to West of 98 wherever podcasts are found.