SMALL TOWN STORIES
Where small town stories meet modern marketing and meaningful business.
Small Town Stories is the chart climbing podcast celebrating the businesses shaping small town life, the people behind them, and the strategies that help them grow. Hosted by award-winning marketing strategist and top ranked podcaster Jan Ditchfield, the show blends storytelling, modern marketing, and thoughtful conversations about building something that lasts in the heart of your community.
COMING JUNE 2026AS SEEN IN...
Small towns have always been built on good stories.
The stories behind the cafés people gather in every morning. The storefronts that have stayed open through changing seasons. The businesses passed down through generations. The creative ideas being built quietly behind historic brick walls and along main streets that still believe in community.
But building a small town business today comes with its own unique challenges. Most marketing advice was created for big cities, fast-moving online brands, and businesses that don’t rely on relationships, reputation, and word of mouth in the same way local businesses do.
Small Town Stories was created to explore a different kind of business growth — one rooted in connection, visibility, community, and sustainability.
Through honest conversations with local business owners, creatives, founders, and community builders, the podcast blends storytelling with practical insights about what it really takes to build something meaningful in a small town today.
Because behind every small business is a story worth preserving. And behind every thriving community are the people willing to keep showing up for it.
Hi There,
I'm Jan Ditchfield.Â
I’m a small-town girl from Merrickville, Ontario who grew up surrounded by historic storefronts, tight-knit community, and the kind of stories that quietly shape who you become.
Like a lot of people from small towns, I eventually left to build a career. Over the years, I became an award-winning marketing strategist and host one of the top-ranked marketing podcasts globally — helping thousands of business owners grow through modern marketing and storytelling.
But no matter where life took me, I always found myself drawn back to the kinds of businesses and communities that made small towns feel special in the first place.
The café owners who know your order by heart. The shops that become part of a town’s identity. The people quietly building meaningful things behind historic brick walls and along main streets that still believe in community.
That’s why I created Small Town Stories.
Each week, I sit down with local business owners, creatives, marketing experts, community builders, and notable guests connected to small town life for thoughtful conversations about business, visibility, community, and what it really takes to build something that lasts.
COMING JUNE 2026
Catch the Latest Episode of the Chart-Climbing PodcastÂ
New episodes drop every Thursday starting June 3rd, blending storytelling, local business insights, and honest conversations about marketing, visibility, community, and what it really takes to build something meaningful in a small town today.
If you believe small businesses are part of the heart of a community — you’re in the right place.
DEBUTING JUNE 2026Do you want to be a guest on Small Town Stories or know someone who should?
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