Living In The Ozarks

Living In The Ozarks
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Living In The Ozarks is a conversation-driven podcast shining a light on the people, businesses, and stories that make the Ozarks what it is — full of life, heart, and hustle. Hosted by Duston Farrell, each episode features honest, unscripted conversations with local business owners, creatives, leaders, and community builders. We go beyond the surface to explore the person behind the work — their journey, lessons learned, and what this region means to them. Real stories. Real people. One conversation at a time.

  1. 2d ago

    Does Your Cattle Farm Actually Make Money? — Noah Graham

    Living in the Ozarks is a project that I've been building for the last eight months focused on highlighting the people, businesses, and culture that makes our region great. This one's with Noah Graham — a fourth-generation farmer from Patterson, Missouri, and the founder of AcreView Analytics. When Noah asked his dad if there was a place for him back on the farm, the answer was "You can come back. You may just be surviving." So he started running the numbers. We get into what it actually costs to raise a calf, hay barns and haylage, the airbox company he started in high school, what a banker sees when a 21-year-old walks in asking for a loan, and the stress farmers carry that nobody talks about. Recorded at Clear Spring Ranch in Texas County — thanks to Anne for having us out. CHAPTERS 0:00 Meet Noah Graham and the family farm 2:34 Forward-looking numbers vs. the accountant 5:45 14 clients, 30 head to 300, and spray drones 8:23 Why row crops are easier to figure 13:58 Backgrounding, feedlots, and the hay barn math 18:25 Hay vs. haylage: the pickle and the cucumber 20:33 The objections: "I don't have my numbers" 25:57 Nobody else does this 28:53 What you actually get: the spreadsheet and the dashboard 31:50 Patterson, Missouri, and FFA 36:06 The airbox business he started in high school 40:55 Why Mizzou 42:29 What's next: school or full-time 44:21 Six farms, $26,000 a year 47:30 "Sit out here and talk to the cows" 50:26 "This is my fun": the four burners 55:08 Family 57:02 Who should be on the show 1:01:36 Getting into farming without a family farm 1:05:24 The banker story 1:10:25 The stress nobody talks about 1:13:57 Thanks to Clear Spring Ranch Real Stories. Real Ozarks. livingintheozarks.com

  2. 5d ago

    Why We Do SATO 48: Will Carter on Filming at the Rail Haven

    Will Carter picked the Rail Haven motel on Route 66 before he knew what SATO 48 was going to throw at him. Then his crew of 25 shot Safe Haven there until five in the morning, and there wasn't a dry eye on set. Will got into SATO 48 in 2023 over backyard barbecues with his cinematographer James, made every first-year mistake, and now runs a film company between Springfield and Kansas City. His 2024 short Cold Heart took Best Set Production Design. Safe Haven was the one where he pushed past comedy and sci-fi into something that mattered — a script written for two specific actors, a subject he doesn't take lightly, and mental-health checks they stopped for on set. We talk about why he'll never bend on how people are treated on a set, what six location changes taught him in year one, why audio matters more than the camera, and why he thinks independent film is having its moment right now. Recorded at SATO 48, Springfield, Missouri. Thanks to Kyaw Tha Hla, Jeff Clinkenbeard, and the SATO 48 crew. Watch the video: youtube.com/@LivingInTheOzarksMO LivingInTheOzarks.com

  3. Aug 31

    Allison Cash — Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement (LORE)

    Ask ten people in southwest Missouri what region they live in and you'll get ten different answers. That's exactly the problem Allison Cash is working on. Allison is the first executive director of LORE — Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement — a young organization asking a question nobody else is: who's looking out for the region as a whole? Not Springfield versus everybody else, but one region that plans together, competes together, and eventually goes to market under one identity. And they're not inventing a new name — they're digging into what people here already call this place. Her story runs deep in this region: born and raised in Christian County, Nixa schools, a marketing career that took her from Noble & Associates to Nestlé Professional, a beverage startup, Askinosie Chocolate (that one starts with a chance meeting in San Francisco), and the C-suite of a global coffee and tea company — before coming home to work on the place itself. We get into the regional identity research underway, why housing is likely next, what 186 conversations in six months taught her about this region, and why the family-name analogy might be the best way to think about who we are. Learn more about LORE at ozarkslore.org, or find Allison Cash on LinkedIn. Every corner of the Ozarks has a story worth telling — a person worth knowing, a business worth supporting, a community worth celebrating. That's why we do this. Find us at LivingInTheOzarks.com Facebook: facebook.com/LivingInTheOzarksMO Instagram: instagram.com/livinintheozarks YouTube: youtube.com/@LivingInTheOzarksMO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/living-in-the-ozarks

  4. Aug 28

    Elise Crain — A Life Built in Ozark, Missouri

    Elise Crain has watched Ozark, Missouri grow from 1,000 people to 20,000+ — and she spent a career in construction and public service helping build the Ozarks along the way. Her first name is Martha, and she's never used it. Elise grew up in a 1931 house in downtown Ozark, the same house her parents bought when she and her twin brother were 11 months old. From there she built a career nobody would have predicted: keeping the books at a Springfield, Missouri engineering firm, building highways in Arkansas, handling the mobilization for $180 million of construction work in Cairo, Egypt, and coming home to manage the restoration of Springfield's historic Gillioz Theatre and the green addition to the Discovery Center of Springfield. She also served as executive director at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, where she took the idea of "Attractions" highway signs all the way to the Missouri Senate. She's the fourth generation of her family elected to public office in Christian County — and the only woman. In this conversation: jumping off the Riverside Bridge at six years old, her mentor Anne Drummond and what it means to pass it on, training women for the construction trades, brownies on the job site, and why the volunteer spirit of southwest Missouri gets noticed across the state. She's retired now, but you'll hear it pretty quick: she's not done. Every corner of the Ozarks has a story worth telling — a person worth knowing, a business worth supporting, a community worth celebrating. That's why we do this. More stories at LivingInTheOzarks.com

  5. Jul 27

    Building a Gun Company on C-Street | Stephen Grove, Sigwo Arms

    In this episode of Living in the Ozarks, we sit down with Stephen Grove, owner of Sigwo Arms on West Commercial Street in Springfield, to talk about building a custom firearms and manufacturing shop from the ground up. We cover the morning he woke up falsely named in a Minnesota shooting — Facebook account gone, wanted posters with his business address on them — and what 23 years in the Army National Guard taught him about treating customers and employees like people worth keeping. This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series, focused on the people behind the work shaping our region.

  6. Jul 4

    From Pizza Driver to Franchise Owner | John Lepant, Craft Axe Throwing

    In this episode of Living in the Ozarks, we sit down with John Lepant, owner of Craft Axe Throwing in downtown Springfield, Missouri, to talk about what it actually takes to go from employee to franchise owner — and build a business that keeps people coming back. We cover the unlikely path from Papa John's to escape rooms to axe throwing, what he's learned about people, pricing, and persistence, and why genuine connection is the hardest part of ownership nobody talks about. This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series, focused on the people behind the work shaping our region.

  7. Jul 2

    Jingles, Decades of Music & the Ozarks Scene | Nick Sibley

    In this episode of Living in the Ozarks, we sit down with Nick Sibley — Ozarks musician, songwriter, and jingle writer — to talk about a 50-year career built entirely outside the spotlight. We cover how he accidentally launched a jingle business in Springfield in the early '70s, what it was like demoing songs for Wayne Carson that ended up recorded by Elvis and Willie Nelson, and why his son Captain is now touring with Lee Greenwood. This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series, focused on the people behind the work shaping our region.

  8. Jul 1

    Building Gig Salad | Mark Steiner

    In this episode of Living in the Ozarks, we sit down with Mark Steiner, founder of Gig Salad — the largest event entertainment marketplace in the US and Canada — to talk about what it actually takes to build something from scratch over 23 years. We cover how a lucky break on a New York film set set Mark on a path that eventually landed him in Springfield, and how he turned a simple directory idea into a platform that connects performers and event planners across North America. This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series, focused on the people behind the work shaping our region.

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About

Living In The Ozarks is a conversation-driven podcast shining a light on the people, businesses, and stories that make the Ozarks what it is — full of life, heart, and hustle. Hosted by Duston Farrell, each episode features honest, unscripted conversations with local business owners, creatives, leaders, and community builders. We go beyond the surface to explore the person behind the work — their journey, lessons learned, and what this region means to them. Real stories. Real people. One conversation at a time.

Information

  • Creator
    Living In The Ozarks
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Living In The Ozarks
  • Show Website
    Living In The Ozarks