The Growing Small Towns Show

S5:E7 - Building Possibilities in Small Towns with Deb Brown


Listen Later

Deb Brown is one of our favorite people in the world, and we’re so glad to have her on the show with us to share her words, her new book (!!!) and all the work she’s doing to help small-town dreamers just like you. This episode is all about approaching big problems in small towns in idea-friendly ways and starting small to build big. About Deb: Deb Brown is a dynamic small-town advocate and community development expert with a wealth of experience empowering rural communities. As the co-founder of SaveYour.Town, she has been working alongside Becky McCray for a decade, providing practical advice and innovative solutions to shape brighter futures for small towns.

Deb's background is diverse and practical. She served as a Chamber of Commerce Executive Director for 4 years, holding certification from the Institute for Organization Management. Prior to that, she was a Tourism Specialist for 4 years. Her varied business experience includes roles as a foreign casualty insurance underwriter, retail manager, and bartender.

Deb specializes in addressing common rural challenges, including:

- Revitalizing empty buildings - Downtown rejuvenation - Youth retention - Marketing and promotion for small towns - Business development and economic growth - Innovative rural business models

Deb excels at building connections, storytelling, and active listening. She guides people in taking small steps toward their ideas and helps them find the resources and connections needed to bring those ideas to fruition.

Her presentations are interactive and engaging, designed to provide attendees with actionable ideas they can implement immediately. Deb has spoken at local and national conferences, addressing chambers, economic developers, tourism specialists, museum experts, volunteers, residents and business groups.

Deb is the author of "From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town with these Uniquely Do-able Ideas, Projects, and Success Stories," a comprehensive workbook filled with practical strategies and real-world examples for small-town revitalization. 

Through her work with SaveYour.Town, Deb provides weekly newsletters focused on small-town challenges and offers exclusive video content to Megaphone Members.

Deb Brown's passion for community development and her ability to provide real-world, practical solutions make her an invaluable resource for small towns looking to create positive change and build a thriving future.

In this episode, we cover:

  • The process of writing and publishing her book

  • Who and what her book is for

  • Why you don’t need permission to do cool stuff

  • Her favorite stories and concepts from the book 

Links + Resources Mentioned: From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town with these Uniquely Do-able Ideas, Projects, and Success StoriesSaveYour.Town - Practical steps your rural community can take now Free Newsletters - Get your tips to address rural challenges Deb's Speaking Site - Take a look at how Deb can help you Andrew Laddusaw’s YouTube ChannelTrolls in DL website (from Small Town Shout-Out) Episode 49 with Becky and Deb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMo32Jzm5aM

  Small-Town Shout-Out! The biggest shout-out to Becker County, Minnesota’s Project 412. They had the audacious goal of bringing world-renowned Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo to the area--and it happened!

“Trolls in DL” is one of 130 permanent art installations around the world. We love a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) and we’re proud of you, Project 412. Thanks to Cody Piper for sharing this big freaking deal with us. 

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: 

  1. “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. 

  2. “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 [email protected]

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!

 

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Growing Small Towns ShowBy Rebecca Undem

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

31 ratings


More shows like The Growing Small Towns Show

View all
The Strong Towns Podcast by Strong Towns

The Strong Towns Podcast

419 Listeners

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast by BiggerPockets

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

16,800 Listeners

The Glenn Beck Program by Blaze Podcast Network

The Glenn Beck Program

25,681 Listeners

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe by The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

40,933 Listeners

Ologies with Alie Ward by Alie Ward

Ologies with Alie Ward

23,870 Listeners

The Bottom-Up Revolution by Strong Towns

The Bottom-Up Revolution

83 Listeners

The Charlie Kirk Show by Charlie Kirk

The Charlie Kirk Show

49,732 Listeners

SmartLess by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett

SmartLess

58,196 Listeners

The Dr. John Delony Show by Ramsey Network

The Dr. John Delony Show

7,179 Listeners

We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle and Audacy

We Can Do Hard Things

41,508 Listeners

Morning Wire by The Daily Wire

Morning Wire

26,555 Listeners

Discover Ag by Tara Vander Dussen & Natalie Kovarik

Discover Ag

331 Listeners

The Mel Robbins Podcast by Mel Robbins

The Mel Robbins Podcast

20,604 Listeners

The Messy City Podcast by Kevin Klinkenberg

The Messy City Podcast

22 Listeners

Good Hang with Amy Poehler by The Ringer

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

7,762 Listeners