S5:E12 - Making Room for New People with Meredith McMurray
Release Date: 04/28/2025
S5:27 - Cattle, Creativity, and Community with Tesa Klein
The Growing Small Towns Show
This episode dives into the amazing creative journey of Tesa Klein, the cowgirl-turned-entrepreneur behind Wildflowers, who rebuilt her business after years in the rodeo world and rediscovered her spark. She’s deeply rooted in rural (she lives in a NoDak town of 50!) but has had her share of big-time viral moments. It’s an inspiring look at trusting yourself even when your dreams don’t seem to match your zip code, and we love hearing her take on balance and dreaming big from her tiny ND town. About Tesa: Tesa is the owner, operator, and creative artist behind Wildflowers, a western and...
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S5:26 - Generational Perspectives in Small Towns with Jackie Knutson and Lisa Schulz
The Growing Small Towns Show
In this episode, we sit down with “Oakes Folks” Jackie Knutson and Lisa Schulz, a mother–daughter duo who represent two generations deeply invested in their hometown. They talk about leaving and returning, building belonging, showing up for community, navigating change, and why small towns need to both embrace the future and remember the past in order to thrive. It’s a heartfelt, grounded conversation about loving where you live, even when it’s not perfect. About Jackie and Lisa: Jackie Knutson and Lisa Schulz are a mother–daughter pair deeply rooted in GST’s hometown of Oakes,...
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S5:E25 - Rural Housing Data with Ben Winchester
The Growing Small Towns Show
One of our favorite guests is back! Ben Winchester is a rural researcher who digs into the intersection of housing, demographics, and community vitality. In this episode, we’re going over some of his latest research and the trends he’s seeing, and why now is the time to make plans for growing our small towns. There are tons of opportunities, but we have to go out and grab them! Our favorite thing about Ben is that he provides context and action around data (even tough data!) and provides communities with real options for addressing some of their most pressing concerns, like housing and...
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S5:24 - Learning As We Go in Economic Development with Ashley Geigle
The Growing Small Towns Show
This week, we’re chatting with an amazing human about amazing stuff. Okay, fine, every week we talk with amazing humans about amazing stuff, but this episode is a great one. Rebecca visits with Ashley Geigle, Economic Development Director for Murdo, South Dakota, about how she built a brand-new role from scratch. (Like, from scratch, like growing and milling the wheat for the flour level of scratch, not box mix scratch.) Ashley talks about learning through challenges, building trust, and finding beauty in small progress. She, like Justin Neppl, has reimagined what economic development...
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S5:23 - Reimagining Economic Development with Justin Neppl
The Growing Small Towns Show
In this episode, Rebecca talks with longtime friend and former economic developer Justin Neppl about what it really means to reimagine economic development for small towns. For years, economic development has focused on the same things, but the future looks different. This episode is about collaboration, trust, and people-centered leadership and how they can come together to update traditional models to make futures brighter for our small towns. About Justin: Justin Neppl is a community-focused entrepreneur from Breckenridge, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife, Jamie, and their three...
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S5:E22 - Love Notes to the Lonely, Uncertain, or Scared with Rebecca Undem
The Growing Small Towns Show
Sometimes things are rough, whether it’s for a little bit, a season, or longer. This episode is straight from our founder and leader, and she’s sharing reflections and encouragement for anyone who’s felt exhausted, uncertain, or overwhelmed by the weight of showing up for their community or business. It’s lovely work, but it can also feel heavy and lonely, so if you’ve ever felt that way, this episode is for you. In this episode, we cover: That your energy is a limited resource. Why it helps to stay in alignment with your internal values/beliefs/deeply held truths. Why...
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S5:E21 - Innovative Community Childcare Ideas with Alexandra & Tyler Rupe
The Growing Small Towns Show
Childcare is a huge challenge for many families, and this is of course true for small towns. When Alex and Tyler’s daycare closed their small town of Ottertail, MN (pop. 500), Tyler half-jokingly said, “We should just start our own daycare.” Well, that’s pretty much what that did. Two days later, he had a plan and three years later, they’re opening a nonprofit daycare to serve their community that could change how rural communities approach childcare. And we are so here for it! About Tyler & Alex: Tyler and Alex Rupe have been married for nearly a decade, bringing together...
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S5:E20 - Would College Kids Return to Our Towns? with Jaci Praska
The Growing Small Towns Show
One of the most common concerns we hear from small-town leaders and residents is the idea of the “brain drain,” or the fear that young people will leave and never return. This is a very valid fear, but there is so much we can do about it! We are so excited to welcome one of our very own, Jaci Praska, who grew up in our small town of Oakes, ND, to talk to us about just how we get to keep people like her! About Jaci: I attend the University of North Dakota, where I am double-majoring in Accounting and Public Affairs. While attending UND, I also work as a Peer Mentor in the Nistler...
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S5:E19 - Small Town Talent Attraction with Alissa Henriksen
The Growing Small Towns Show
We’ve heard it, and you probably have too: “People don’t want to move to rural communities.” Or, “Talented people don’t want to live in small towns.” Well, we’re happy to say we know that’s not true, and so does Alissa Henriksen. This episode is all about attracting talent to our small towns, how not to write people off, and why sometimes it’s good for a business to run on vibes. About Alissa: Alissa Henriksen is the co-founder and co-president at Grey Search + Strategy, where she leads the community-centric team culture and drives revenue goals for the...
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S5:E18 - Being a Developer with a Heart with Dylan Cinti
The Growing Small Towns Show
Housing development is a key focus for many small towns, and for good reason: we need places for people to live! But, sometimes development can bring gentrification and sameness, which is not what we want for our small towns. Dylan Cinti combines construction with stewardship to restore and update small-town properties while keeping their heart and charm. About Dylan: Dylan Cinti is co-founder and Head of Operations at Yarrow, a real estate firm dedicated to creating a better renting experience in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Working with local tradespeople, Yarrow buys, remodels, and manages...
info_outlineMeredith is easily one of the most interesting and unusual people we’ve ever had on the podcast, and her story is a testament to just how much small-town living appeals to all kinds of people, even people that you may not expect. This episode is all about how Meredith–a Marin County, California native–found herself in rural South Dakota, and what we can do to make our small towns more welcoming for all different kinds of people who want to make their lives here.
About Meredith:
Meredith McMurray was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. She was home-schooled for all but one of her twelve grade school years.
Then, in 2006, she enlisted into the US Marine Corps at age 18 and served four years active duty, deploying twice during that time. After an Honorable Discharge, Meredith began an exploration into the world of health and healing practices such as yoga, neuromuscular therapy, meditation, self-inquiry, and performing arts!
She began learning Aerial Acrobatics in 2012, at first as a hobby. By 2016, Meredith began making a living off of teaching and performing Aerial Acrobatics.
In May 2019, Meredith was presented with an opportunity to take over ownership of Aerial Arts Fairfax (IG account no longer managed), a local beloved Aerial Academy in Fairfax, CA. The offer was for Meredith to purchase the business and facilitate over 200 actively enrolled students to continue their training—or watch it close and cease to exist due to the original founder opting to retire earlier in 2019.
Out of pure love for the art form (and a lack of awareness of what was to come), Meredith took a risk and invested five figures of borrowed money into purchasing the business. Aerial Arts Fairfax had eight great months under Meredith's leadership, and then March 2020 came along...
Obliterated by the statewide lockdowns and dysfunctional social practices implemented by the majority in the San Francisco Bay Area, Meredith consciously chose to no longer serve that community with her business nor her physical presence.
Meredith had heard former Governor Kristi Noem say, "All South Dakotans are Essential." So, after sixteen total months of fighting to regain any sense of meaning or purpose in California, Meredith packed her Prius and drove to South Dakota with no plan.
Once she arrived, Meredith was able to shake hands with Gov. Kristi Noem and thank her for standing up for the people of South Dakota and their occupations. Then, Meredith was able to work a seasonal job in South Dakota and earn enough to pay herself back from the five-figure financial wound created by the State of California.
After that, Meredith moved across state lines four times before eventually returning back to South Dakota, where she has been living for the last 2.5 years.
By no means is Meredith walking off into the sunset... She continues to wake up every morning wondering how she can best serve the community, make real friends, and express important messages in whatever form.
Please enjoy the speech Meredith recently gave at the Black Hills Aerial Cup:
https://youtu.be/Y15XccuXMFw?si=IGgYzsz8jtsfQqpA
In this episode, we cover:
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How Meredith went from Marin County, CA to small-town South Dakota
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What she loves about small towns
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What she’d love for her own small-town experience
Resources Mentioned:
Freedom Fest: https://freedomfest.com/
Speech for anyone who's ever felt "non-essential”: https://youtu.be/Y15XccuXMFw?si=IGgYzsz8jtsfQqpA
Meredith’s website: www.DanglingDance.com
Get in touch: DanglingDance@gmail.com
Small-Town Shout-Out!
Big high fives to Ellendale, our county seat! A major economic development project—Applied Digital—is happening right there, and the revenue it brings is game-changing. But we’re especially cheering for Ellendale because growth like this brings big challenges, too. Just because something big is happening doesn’t mean anything was ever wrong before. We see you, we support you, and we’re in it with you.
New Segment Alert!
We think some of the best parts about radio shows and podcasts are listener call-ins, so we’ve decided to make those a part of the Growing Small Towns Podcast. We really, really want to hear from you! We’re introducing two new parts to the show:
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“Small town humblebrags”: Call in and tell us about something amazing you did in your small town so we can celebrate with you. No win is too small—we want to hear it all, and we will be excessively enthusiastic about whatever it is! You can call in for your friends, too, because giving shout-outs is one of our favorite things.
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“Solving Your Small-Town People Challenges”: Have a tough issue in your community? We want to help. Call in and tell us about your problem, and we’ll solve it on an episode of the podcast. Want to remain anonymous? Totally cool, we can be all secretive and stuff. We’re suave like that.
If you’ve got a humblebrag or a tricky people problem, call 701-203-3337 and leave a message with the deets. We really can’t wait to hear from you!
Get In Touch
Have an idea for a future episode/guest, have feedback or a question, or just want to chat? Email us at hello@growingsmalltowns.org
Subscribe + Review
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Growing Small Towns Show! If the information in our conversations and interviews has helped you in your small town, head out to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver relevant, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more small-town trailblazers just like you!