The Found Podcast with Molly Knuth

Picture me on a Saturday night at the end of August: a wig with flips I can only describe as aggressive, a fake mustache I've sweat off more times than I can count, and a hanky in my back pocket assigned to one job. Upper Lip Patrol. I looked like a NASCAR driver who lost a bet.

That's scavenger hunt night in Cascade. Every year I write the riddles, laminate everything in sight, glue tiny race car drivers to popsicle sticks, and send my family and friends all over town in teams. It makes me zero dollars. And this year, right in the middle of it, I realized it had taught me more about running a business than a lot of the webinars I've sat through.

If you've been quietly running on empty (maybe without even clocking it yet), this episode is my case for play. We talk about writing without AI, looking ridiculous on purpose, why I keep refusing to sell this thing, and the branding, storytelling, and word of mouth lessons I didn't go looking for. I came out the other side remembering something I didn't know I'd forgotten.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR

• Why I wrote every clue by hand on a legal pad this year, and what writing without AI gave back to me

• The freedom of looking absurd in public when you usually spend a lot of energy on how you're perceived

• Why I keep saying no when people ask me to turn the hunt into a kit they can buy

• How play and silliness make the heavy parts of business more sustainable

• What a little Jeff Gordon on a popsicle stick taught me about consistent branding

• Why stories (not the details) are what bring people back year after year

• Bonus: word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing channel there is, especially in a small town

• The question to sit with: what's your scavenger hunt?

RESOURCES AND LINKS

• Back catalog episode: Just Have F*cking Fun

• Recent episode: Using AI Without Losing Your Voice

FREE RESOURCE

Grab the free Small Town Founders Workbook, your 2027 business and marketing strategy built for rural and small-town Founders: https://mollyknuth.myflodesk.com/smalltownfoundersworkbook

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YACTbRulN4NooX32NgzgV?si=eeab33fd432844ee

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-found-podcast-with-molly-knuth/id1530616432

SHARE THIS EPISODE

If this one hit you somewhere in the feels, send it to the friend who needs a little permission to play. Then tell me your scavenger hunt. Tag me or send me a message... I'd love to hear it.

mollyknuth.com · @mollyknuth · [email protected]

We stopped recording...and then kept talking. (As one does.)

In this bonus clip from my conversation with Kristina Heinzen and Gina Martin, co-founders of Moms Connect Dubuque, we get into a question every nonprofit leader, funder, and community builder runs into sooner or later: how do you measure impact when the work is relational and generational?

Counting is easy for most of us. A thousand meals served, fifty-five packs of diapers handed out.

But Moms Connect is building relationships with moms as they work to break patterns that kept them alive for years, and that kind of change doesn't show up in two months or by the end of a grant cycle.

They do have some early numbers, though. Kristina shares what they've tracked informally so far: 17 moms who closed their child welfare cases and haven't had them reopened, compared with roughly 85 Dubuque cases reopened within a year of closing. And not one active Moms Connect mom has experienced termination of parental rights.

What you'll hear:

• Why relational, long-term impact is so hard to fit into traditional metrics
• The early numbers Moms Connect is seeing on case closures and family preservation
• Why survival patterns take a lifetime (and a generation) to change
• What funders, grant makers, and the rest of us could learn about measuring success differently

If you haven't heard the full conversation yet, start with their full interview How Two Foster Moms Built a Nonprofit to Keep Families Together: The Moms Connect Dubuque Story.

Connect with Moms Connect Dubuque:

• Website: momsconnectdbq.org
• Facebook: Moms Connect Dubuque
• Ask them about volunteering for or donating to the Dignified Christmas Market this December

Listen and subscribe:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YACTbRulN4NooX32NgzgV
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-found-podcast-with-molly-knuth/id1530616432

If you work at a nonprofit or a foundation, or you sit on a grant committee, send this one their way. It might change how they read the next impact report.

Now...go find something.

I'll pull back the curtain a little: I walked into this interview with my questions prepped, sent, and tidy. Then Kristina Heinzen and Gina Martin answered the very first one and the whole conversation went somewhere else entirely. (The good kind of somewhere else.)

Kristina and Gina met in foster parent licensing classes in 2019. They went in believing they'd be the ones rescuing kids from hard situations.

What they found instead were moms who loved their kids fiercely and had nobody. No support system. No steady people. So they did something that really shouldn't be revolutionary...they sat down with moms who had lived it and asked what would have made a difference.

The answer was relationships. That conversation (and some tacos) became Moms Connect Dubuque, now a 501(c)(3) walking alongside moms as they navigate systems, access resources, and build the skills to care for themselves and their families.

Fair warning: we go deep quick in this one. There are tears. There's talk of trauma, addiction, and the foster care system. Listen all the way through, because as Gina and Kristina will tell you, hearing someone's story is where empathy starts.

• How fostering unraveled everything Kristina and Gina thought they knew about parents in the system

• The "I'm too late" moment that became Gina's catalyst for change

• Why Kristina came to see the mom of the boys in her care as those very same children, ten years earlier

• The May 2023 conversation with two moms that shaped everything Moms Connect does

• Why proving you deserve help, one transaction at a time, keeps moms stuck (and what a warm handoff looks like instead)

• Inside a Moms Connect gathering: childcare, a shared meal, a donated party bus, and a new curriculum on survival responses

• The employment program launching this fall: a cleaning business paired with an education track through NICC and Iowa Works

• How "let's meet with some moms, let's have tacos" turned into a nonprofit with a board, partners, and two co-executive directors

• What Kristina and Gina have found about themselves: how much they don't know, and the power of receiving

• Dignified Christmas Market

• Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC)

• Iowa Works

• Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (and catch Ep. 258 with Josie Manternach of CFGD)

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Website: momsconnectdbq.org

• Facebook: Moms Connect Dubuque

• Follow the show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YACTbRulN4NooX32NgzgV

• Follow the show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-found-podcast-with-molly-knuth/id1530616432

If this conversation cracked something open for you, send it to one person who would get it. And if you're anywhere near Dubuque, the Dignified Christmas Market could use your hands (and your gift drive) this December.

You probably couldn't tell me what your county auditor actually does. I couldn't either, until I sat down with Whitney Hein.

Whitney is the Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, and by the end of this conversation I had a whole new appreciation for how much of our daily life runs through that office: elections, property taxes, payroll, budgets, the courthouse itself. It's a job most of us vote on without fully understanding, and that's exactly why I wanted her on.

We get into what drew her to the role, what six years in has taught her about resilience, and the behind the scenes work that keeps Jones County elections free, fair, and trustworthy.

If you've ever wondered what actually happens to your ballot after you drop it off, this one's for you.

Whitney Hein is the Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, first elected in 2020 and now in her second term. She's a wife to her husband Ben, a mom to their daughter Laney, and lives in rural Jones County, where her family farms. Before stepping into county government, Whitney worked in ag business and animal science.

• Everything the auditor's office actually handles, from elections to payroll to property taxes

• Why Whitney left a career she loved for a job she had little experience in

• The behind the scenes security measures that keep Jones County elections accurate, down to numbered seals and hand counted test ballots

• Why local elections deserve just as much attention as national ones

• How to plan ahead for early voting, absentee ballots, and Election Day itself

• What six years in the role taught Whitney about her own resilience

Jones County Elections: https://www.jonescountyiowaelections.gov or on Facebook

Ballot tracking tool: available here through the Iowa Secretary of State's website

For the fastest response, call the Jones County Auditor's office directly. Full contact info is listed at jonescountyiowaelections.gov.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

If this one opened your eyes even a little, share it with someone who votes in Jones County (or wherever they call home). The more we understand these local roles, the more we trust the people doing them.

Okay, let's just say the thing out loud:

You've seen the captions that sound like a robot wrote them.

You've seen the flyers that look like every other flyer on the internet this month.

Maybe you've decided AI just isn't for you because of it.

Here's my confession: I use AI, specifically Claude, in my business every single day. And I still (mostly) sound like me. Not because I found some secret tool nobody's told you about, but because I took the time to actually set it up before I asked it to do anything.

So this week I'm walking you through exactly how. No hype, no fear-mongering, just the actual steps I took (and still take) to keep my voice in the driver's seat.

What You'll Hear

• Why AI is already in your toolbox whether you've opened it or not

• Why leaning on every platform's built-in AI at once quietly erodes your brand voice

• My "20 Questions" trick for teaching your chat how you actually talk

• Why guardrails matter more than a good first prompt

• How I built my own "Molly Operating System" out of my Enneagram, Human Design, and CliftonStrengths results

• Why you're still the last line of defense, no matter how good the draft looks

Listen and Subscribe

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

If this one hit home, send it to the small business owner in your life who's still typing everything into a blank chat box and hoping for the best. And if you try the 20 Questions exercise, message me at @mollyknuth or [email protected] and tell me what your chat figures out about you.

Somebody pulls me aside about once a week now and says some version of the same thing: I've been thinking about starting a podcast.

It happens in client sessions, at conference tables, in DMs from people I've never even met in person. And every single time, my gut reaction is identical: just go do it.

So this week I'm pulling back the curtain. Not the polished, "look how easy this was" version...the actual seven step process I used to launch this show, the one I'd use again if I were starting from absolute zero today, minus the six months I let a microphone collect dust on the corner of my desk before I did anything with it.

This one's part pep talk, part field manual. Numbers, mistakes, the actual tools I use, and the real talk nobody puts in a "how to start a podcast" listicle.

• Why the "podcast market is too saturated" fear doesn't hold up (and the stat that proves it)

• The seven step process I used to launch this show, step by step

• The three tools I consider non-negotiable (and why I don't overthink the rest)

• Why I built a list of 30 episode ideas before day one, and why most people skip it

• The 80/20 truth about launching versus marketing a podcast

• What changed between 2019 Molly starting this show and the version of me behind the mic today

• The Podcast Lab by Jenna Kutcher

• Blue Yeti microphone (my mic of choice)

• Descript (editing software mentioned in this episode): use this link to get 50% off your first 2 months!

• Libsyn and Captivate (hosting platforms mentioned in this episode)

• Podcast strategist Jill Carr, for launch support

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

If you know someone who has been sitting on a podcast idea for six months (or six years), send them this one. That's how this show grows, one share at a time.

Back in 2022, I had a marker board covered edge to edge with ideas. I'd write a launch date right next to each one, feel the rush of excitement, and sprint at it with everything I had. And then somewhere around week four, I'd realize I was building the plane while flying it. Sound familiar?

If you've ever had a big idea that fizzled out somewhere between the excitement and the finish line, this episode is for you. Today I'm walking you through the shift that changed how I plan every launch, every program, every big scary idea since 2022...backwards planning.

I'll break down the five steps I use with every client who shows up with a big idea in their head, walk you through Rory Vaden's eight core departments of a business, and take you behind the scenes of something I'm working on right now in my own hometown of Cascade, Iowa, so you can see exactly how this plays out in real time.

• The worst business plan I ever made, and what it cost me (credibility, energy, and a little bit of faith in myself)

• The real difference between forward planning and backward planning

• Rory Vaden's eight core business departments, and how to use them as a lens instead of a checklist

• Why naming what could go wrong isn't pessimism...it's leadership

• Where I still struggle to ask for support (hint: it's a Human Design Manifestor/Enneagram 3 thing)

• A real, in-progress example: backwards planning a downtown revitalization effort in Cascade, Iowa

• Rory Vaden's eight business departments framework

• Follow along with Molly: @mollyknuth on social

• Email Molly: [email protected]

If this one hit home, send it to the person in your life with a big idea and no map yet. And if you're backwards planning something right now, I want to hear about it. Message me @mollyknuth or shoot me an email at [email protected].

This week I'm bringing you another one from the Molly Invites the Boys to the Podcast series, and this one is personal. Nick Kleitsch has been my coaching client for the past two years, and I have watched him take everything he has learned in that season and turn it into his own coaching practice. That's not a small thing to witness.

Nick lives in Marion, works at Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust, hosts his own show called Life with Nick, and just launched his coaching business, Kleitsch's Coaching Collective, through a program he calls The Modern Warrior. In our conversation we get into his CliftonStrengths (Learner and Activator, and yes, you'll hear exactly why that combination makes him who he is), the moment that ended his baseball career and cracked his identity wide open, and the difference between a major failure and a minor one.

We also talk about why nobody stays coached past college, the value of a 90-day sprint, and why a one-song dance party in your kitchen might be the most productive thing you do all week. This one is funny, it's honest, and it will make you rethink who's allowed to be your coach.

• Why Nick doesn't define his ideal client by age or industry, but by willingness

• His CliftonStrengths of Learner and Activator, and how they show up (for better and worse) in his coaching

• What baseball taught him about daily motivation, mental toughness, and the difference between a major and a minor failure

• The moment that ended his baseball career and the identity crisis that followed

• Why he believes everyone should have a coach, and what neuroplasticity has to do with it

• The one-song dance party habit that unlocks his best ideas

• What he's learned building the Kleitsch's Coaching Collective and The Modern Warrior from scratch

• His go-to reading list for anyone who wants to understand how their brain and habits actually work

• The Five Major Pieces of the Life Puzzle by Jim Rohn

• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

• Emotional Agility by Susan David

• Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

• Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza

• Life with Nick

• Life with Nick Podcast

• Email: [email protected]

• Spotify

• Apple Podcasts

If this one hit home, send it to the person in your life who needs to hear that willingness matters more than having it all figured out. And if you've got 30 seconds, leave us a review. It helps more than you know.

I have a confession. I've been bragging about our school district to basically anyone who will listen lately (sorry to my friends and acquaintances, you did not ask for this)...and today's guest is exactly why.

Dr. Dan Butler is the superintendent of Western Dubuque Community School District, and he's spent 23 years building a career here, starting all the way back at his student teaching days at Bernard Elementary.

Teacher. Coach. Assistant principal. Principal. HR facilitator. Now superintendent. Dr. Butler has done basically every job in the building, and you can hear it in the way he talks about this place.

We cover a lot of ground in this one: what makes a 555 square mile school district (half the size of Rhode Island, for the record) actually work, why Western Dubuque ranks fourth in student achievement in the state, the real numbers behind school funding, and why Dan believes, without apology, that this district is simply the choice for education in our area.

What You'll Hear:

• How a 555 square mile district made up of 19 communities functions as one school system

• Dan's 23 year journey through nearly every role in the district, from student teacher to superintendent

• What "better every day" actually means as a strategic vision, not just a slogan

• Why Western Dubuque ranks 4th in student achievement among comparable Iowa districts

• The NICC and Kirkwood concurrent enrollment partnership that's saved local families roughly half a million dollars in college tuition

• The real challenges facing public education funding in 2026, explained without the jargon

• Molly's own story of switching her kids from parochial to public school, and what changed her daughter's mind

Connect with Dr. Dan Butler:

• Website: danpbutler.com

• District: wdbqschools.org

• Western Dubuque Schools on Facebook and Instagram

Listen and Subscribe:

• Spotify

• Apple Podcasts

This month on The Found Podcast, we're doing something a little different. We're bringing the boys in for a few episodes (don't worry, we'll be back to our women founders soon), and first up is somebody I've admired for a long time: my friend Ed Raber.

Ed is the Director of Planning and Development for Dubuque County here in Eastern Iowa, but honestly, that title barely scratches the surface.

Ed is a connector. A mover. The guy with an $8 Staples name badge who has spent thirty years showing up to Rotary, to library meetings, to coffee shops, to whatever room needed one more person willing to raise their hand.

We talk about what it actually means to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a place like Dubuque County (spoiler: it starts with "no wrong door"), why farm ground and residential zoning matter more than you'd think, and the advice from a pastor that has shaped Ed's entire career: if you want to make a difference, you've got to stick with it.

What You'll Hear

• Ed's path from urban planner to nonprofit economic developer to Dubuque County's Planning and Development Director

• Why he still wears a name badge everywhere he goes (and why you should too)

• What makes Dubuque County's rural population unlike almost anywhere else in Iowa

• The "no wrong door" philosophy behind a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem

• How 1 Million Cups came to Dubuque and why it works

• The Farley library project that started with one meeting Ed called himself

• Ed's answer to The Found Podcast's closing question, and the pastor's advice that changed how he shows up in the world

Resources & Links Mentioned

• 1 Million Cups Dubuque

• Rotary International

• HACAP (Hawkeye Area Community Action Program)

• Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

• Iowa Rural Development Council

• Dubuque County Library system (Farley, Epworth, Peosta, Holy Cross)

• Community Vitality Center, Iowa State University

• Small Business Development Center, Dubuque

• The Innovation Lab, Jones Street, Dubuque

Connect with Ed

Find Ed on LinkedIn

Listen and Subscribe

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Share This Episode

If this episode reminded you to go order your own name badge, or hyped you up to finally show up to that thing you've been putting off... send it to a friend who needs the nudge. And tag us. We love seeing who's listening.