Janet Palmtag, an entrepreneur from Southeast Nebraska, is our featured guest this week. A real estate broker, Janet shares her insights into the rural housing crisis. She also shares her insights into bringing a product to market thanks to her recent creation of TubTool, a cleaning device for bathtubs and showers. Janet has been a leader and volunteer throughout her community for several years, so she tells it like it is when it comes to leadership from a company and community perspective.

Amy Webb, Award-winning author and professor of strategic foresight at the New York University Stern School of Business, talks with Dr. Connie about the scope of futurists, the now-est mentality of the United States, our emotional relationship with change, the pathways for possible futures and so much more. Amy is the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures, and her new book, The Big Nine, released in March.

There is opportunity in fighting through fear says Garry Clark, Executive Director of the Greater Fremont Development Council in Fremont, Neb. Garry grew up in the Washington, D.C., projects where he witnessed drug addiction. When he had the opportunity to hop on a plane to Nebraska to accept a track scholarship, he took it. Garry talks about his journey and his deep love for rural places and Nebraska in his new book, Unlikely Viking and through this episode of our podcast.

Janell Anderson Ehrke is Founder and CEO of GROW Nebraska, a non-profit marketing, training and technical assistance resource for Nebraska entrepreneurs. Through their work and Buy Nebraska website, Janell and her team boost the state's economy at a national and global level. Their conferences, upcoming innovation center and grants in areas such as GoogleAdwords allow entrepreneurs to take advantage of today's tools to grow beyond their rural geography.

Aaron Yoder, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, shares his years of work merging agribility, engineering, wearable technology, social marketing, consumer-driven education and behavioral health. With his unique background Aaron advanced the tech transfer of Microsoft wearables for Ebola virus protection to agricultural heat illness.

Verizon marketing specialist Emily Murtaugh explores the definition and potential of 5G technology, which could offer mobile and wireless speeds as fast as fiber-wired connections. In her explanation, she explains the infrastructure needed and the fourth industrial revolution potential of 5G for rural and urban communities alike. She also discusses the magnitude of the tech in terms of impact on agriculture to feed 9 billion people, telehealth, robotics and autonomous vehicles.

Director of the Japan Society Innovators Network, Betty Borden is a rural innovator sparking global change. In this episode, Betty and Dr. Connie dig into more than a year of work that has brought them together across the world and includes creative solutions around recruitment and retention of residents, sparking female entrepreneurship, rethinking the rural-urban opportunities of agriculture and food production and, of course, the evolution of leadership.

Information technology futurist Robin Jourdan recently wrapped up a 25-year career in the automotive industry and shares a bit of her wisdom about autonomous vehicles, drones and vertical airspace legislation of the future with Dr. Connie in Episode 22. Robin's insights into the impact these technologies will have on the rural-urban dynamic are worth consideration in terms of community development and agriculture.

Joining us in the premier Episode 21 of Season 3 is Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of brand and reputation for Google Africa. Jola's technology expertise combined with her show-up leadership style make her a dynamic leader. Jola discusses several Google initiatives to empower female entrepreneurs with digital skills and her leadership advice focused on purpose. Dr. Connie and Jola dig into tech for rural-urban collaboration, agriculture and the future of jobs.

Connie Reimers-Hild, Ph.D., host of the Rural Futures Podcast, takes the hot seat in this bonus episode of our show! Dr. Connie serves as interim executive director and chief futurist of the Rural Futures Institute (RFI) at the University of Nebraska. During this episode, she shares her approach to leadership, her vision for RFI, her recent experiences traveling the world to provide the voice of rural, acceptable metrics to measure rural thriving and rural economic development of the future.