The Found Podcast with Molly Knuth: Small Town Business Strategy and Marketing

We're back with Part 2 of my two-part series on 10 things I know for certain about building a business, not from books or courses, but from almost a decade of living it. If you missed Part 1, go back and listen to Episode 255 first. We covered lessons one through five, and this episode picks up right where we left off. Today we're finishing out the list with lessons six through ten, and honestly these might be the ones that hit the hardest. We're talking money mindset, why you can't do it alone, what a coach...

It's a solo cast! It has been a while since it was just me and you, and I'm glad to be back in this format because I have some things to say. This episode was sparked by a moment that happened in March of 2026 at the You Conferences in Cedar Rapids. I was the 3:00 PM speaker and somewhere between the nerves and the sound check and a very unexpected karaoke moment involving Gloria Gaynor, something clicked for me about identity, confidence, and what it actually takes to build something from scratch. So I came here...

Lindsay Leahy is back on The Found Podcast for the third time, and this one is unlike any conversation we've had before. You might know Lindsay as the founder of The Restoration Project, the author of Take It All Apart (a USA Today bestseller!), and someone who has spent the last several years helping leaders and organizations do their most meaningful work. But in this episode, Lindsay shares that she's stepping away from what she built, into something she never saw coming. We talk about the book, what happened after it hit those bestseller lists...

This is Brooke's third time on The Found Podcast. Every time she comes back, she brings something that stops me mid-conversation and makes me reach for my notebook. Brooke Fitzgerald is the Energy Builder at The Restoration Project in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and as of June 1st, she becomes the sole owner of the practice. She's a coach, a speaker, a mom of two boys, a recovering people-pleaser, and one of the most convicted, passionate humans I get to have in my corner. In this episode, we dig into the work that has defined Brooke's...

Have you ever stood in the middle of a life that looks really good on paper and still felt like something was off? Like a quiet voice whispering, this isn't it anymore...and you didn't know what to do with that? This week on the Found Podcast, I'm bringing you a conversation with my own coach, Katrina Klooster, and I think this one is going to land somewhere deep for a lot of you. Katrina is a life and leadership coach who specializes in helping high-achieving women navigate transitions, those in-between seasons when you've outgrown...

In this episode of The Found Podcast, Molly sits down with Sarah Hermanson, founder of One Above HR, pumpkin farmer, and people-first leadership expert. With over 30 years of experience in human resources and recruiting, Sarah has seen firsthand what makes businesses thrive and what causes them to struggle. And here's the truth she keeps coming back to: it's not just the product, the service, or the strategy…it's the people. Together, Molly and Sarah explore what it really looks like to build a business rooted in care, communication, and culture, and why those "soft skills" ar...

This one feels really special. Back in 2020, The Found Podcast started with a simple idea: to share what I was learning about building a business, becoming a person, and navigating all the in-between moments. And now…here we are. 250 episodes later. Instead of making this episode about me, I wanted to bring it back to the people and the moments that made this podcast what it is today: you and the incredible guests who have shared their stories along the way. In this milestone episode, I'm taking you through snippets fr...

There's a leadership gap in our communities...and it's not what you think. It's not about titles. It's not about experience. And it's definitely not about a lack of talent. In this episode of The Found Podcast, I sit down with Melissa Reade, Executive Director of Leader Valley, to talk about the real gap we're seeing in schools, businesses, and communities—and how we can start to fix it. From working with over 12,000 students to equipping current leaders in the workforce, Leader Valley is rethinking how leadership is developed at every st...

What actually makes a small town thrive? Hint: it's not population size, location, or luck. It's leadership. In this episode of The Found Podcast, Molly sits down with Liesel Seabert of the University of Northern Iowa Institute for Decision Making to talk about the real, often overlooked work behind strong communities and why leadership development might be the most important investment we're not talking about enough. From moving to Iowa without knowing a single person to becoming one of the most connected leaders in the state, Liesel shares how showing up...

What if wellness wasn't another thing to optimize… but something you actually got to experience? In this episode, Molly sits down with Dominique Farrar, founder of Well in France — a Paris-based community and experience brand helping women slow down, connect, and redefine what it means to live well. Dom shares her journey from fast-paced tech life in Silicon Valley to building a wellness business in France — and how her version of success shifted along the way. Together, they explore the tension so many women feel: trying to "do wellness right" while already carrying too mu...

What if the biggest shift in your leadership didn't come from doing more… but from understanding yourself better? In this solo episode, Molly shares a behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal leadership moment inside her work with The Restoration Project. One that revealed how overperformance, urgency, and independence can quietly create disconnection on a team. Through a personal story about building the Difficult Conversations course, Molly unpacks the leadership patterns she didn't realize she was carrying and how reconnecting with herself changed everything. This episode walks you through the Restoration Process: Rebuild Connection Re...

This week on The Found Podcast, Molly reconnects with returning guest Erin McGuire-Henson, a nervous system healer, coach for soul-aligned entrepreneurs, and newly published author of The Art of Unraveling. In this deeply honest conversation, Erin shares the long and winding journey behind writing her book, a 15-year process shaped by personal healing, nervous system work, and the courage to finally be seen. Together, Molly and Erin explore how trauma responses like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and fear of visibility can quietly shape our lives and businesses. Erin opens up about growing up in a volatile environment...

This week on The Found Podcast, I'm joined by brand photographer, mother of four, and longtime friend Erin Moore for a deeply honest conversation about courage, community, and what it really takes to rebuild your life and business again and again. 👉 Real talk: The audio quality in this conversation isn't perfect. But Erin's courage, perspective, and heart made this episode one we couldn't keep on the shelf. I hope you'll stay with us through the tech hiccups — her story matters. Erin shares her experience of moving across states multiple times, relaunching her photography business in new p...

This week on The Found Podcast, I'm joined by Danielle Letayf — founder of Badassery, personal brand strategist, podcast guesting expert, and the perfect woman to help us kick off our Women's History Month interview series. Danielle helps thoughtful executives, authors, and experts turn their stories into something unforgettable. But in this conversation, we go far deeper than personal branding and podcast pitches. We talk about what it really looks like to build a business as a woman, how comparison can keep us stuck, why your path does not have to look like anyone else's, and ho...

It's officially Women's History Month, and this year, instead of starting with statistics, I'm starting with a question: In 2026, are we elevating hot takes…or high character? When I was in seventh grade, I wrote a research paper on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I was fascinated by the way she carried herself through public scrutiny, personal grief, and cultural change. Today, we live in a very different media landscape. Algorithms reward outrage. Virality rewards speed. Money rewards attention. Integrity? Not so much. In this episode, I ex...

What if education wasn't a one-time phase of life, but an evolving journey designed to meet people exactly where they are? In this episode of The Found Podcast, Molly sits down with Amy Lasack, Vice President of Business and Community Solutions at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), to explore how workforce development, education, and community collaboration intersect to create real opportunity. Amy shares how nearly 25 years in Iowa's community college system shaped her belief that workforce is an ecosystem, not a straight line. Together, Molly and Amy discuss how education must adapt to modern learners...

If you've been here for years or you're only a handful of episodes in... this one is for you. After recently stepping back into the guest seat on another podcast, I realized it had been a while since I reintroduced herself here on The Found Podcast. So today, I'm doing just that. But not with a résumé. Not with a tidy bio. With the real story. In this episode, I walk through the winding, nonlinear path from waitress to teacher, stay-at-home mom to accidental entrepreneur, agency owner to Ma...

Some people build businesses. Some people follow a calling. And sometimes… those two things become the very same path. This week on The Found Podcast with Molly Knuth, I sit down with fellow Iowan and "Molly Squared" guest Molly Schreiber, founder of Challenge to Change and the nonprofit Mindful Minutes. What started as a young teacher's love of education became something much deeper after unimaginable loss. After losing her first husband in a car accident at age 30 while raising three children under three, Molly found herself returning to one unexpected anchor: yo...

This one is a little raw. A little unpolished. And very real. After batch-recording months of episodes and stepping into a new season of leadership, I sat down at the mic for the first time this year and realized something: The most helpful thing I could share right now isn't a strategy or framework. It's the truth. Because even 10 years into business… even 200+ podcast episodes later… even as Managing Director of The Restoration Project… I'm still relearning lessons I swore I already knew. <p...

In this final episode of The Found Podcast's Ages & Stages Series, I sit down with Nancy Lynk — Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking at US Bank, community leader, mentor, and lifelong learner — for a conversation that spans generations of leadership, resilience, and self-discovery. From growing up on a Century Farm in rural Iowa to navigating the 1980s farm crisis as a young ag lender to leading complex commercial banking portfolios to now guiding others through career and life transitions, Nancy's story is a masterclass in listening deeply, honoring your values, and becoming fearless with your own growth. <...