Feb 24, 2025
Our small towns are ours to save–no one is coming to
do that for us! However, sometimes it can feel nearly impossible to
make changes in our small towns. Our guest this week has a
different approach, and it’s different than The Way We’ve Always
Done It but it really works, and is more accessible to small-town
changemakers who want to get things done.
About Becky:
Becky McCray believes small towns have a future. She watches the
global trends in the economy, technology, and society, then she
delivers practical steps rural people can implement right now to
shape the future of their town. Her advice is based on her
real-world experience as a lifelong entrepreneur and cattle
rancher. She makes her home in Hopeton, Oklahoma, a town of 30
people. She doesn’t just talk about rural issues; she lives
them.
In this episode, we cover:
Why we need to empower small communities to save themselves
Why our solutions have to change with the world around us
Becky’s “Start Small” approach to community transformation
How starting small can lead to tackling the big stuff, too
Links + Resources Mentioned:
10 Years of Rural Insights webinar: https://learnto.saveyour.town/10-years-of-rural-insights-webinar
SaveYour.Town Website: https://saveyour.town/
SmallBizSurvival.com:
https://smallbizsurvival.com/
Invite
Becky to your town or event: https://www.beckymccray.com/
Becky’s
only current social channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckymccray/
Episode 49 with Becky and Deb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMo32Jzm5aM
Small-Town Shout-Out!
This week, we’re celebrating Lander County, Nevada. They’re making
the most of a recent boom in gold mining (yes, seriously) and
focusing on how to make their community a better place to live by
making it easier for people to clean up and improve their own
property.
They’ve got a unique approach that we love: with funding from the
county, everyone in the community gets up to $500 to the local
hardware store to get what they need to improve their property,
whether it’s paint or weedkiller or something else. We love
tailor-made, interesting approaches to small-town improvement so
all the confetti for Lander County!
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:
“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.
“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!