Let me introduce our Okies. (Yes, our original 3 contributors are from Oklahoma!)
Becky McCray is a small town entrepreneur. She writes about small business and rural issues, based on her own success and failures. She is the co-owner of a small town retail liquor store and small cattle ranch. As a consultant, she helps tourism related businesses from Oklahoma to Africa to maintain their web presence and helps rural nonprofits and governments with grant writing.
Previously, she was worked as an antiques dealer, city administrator, nonprofit executive and newspaper reporter. Becky also writes a personal blog, Out Standing in My Field, and an African hunting safari blog.
Becky is a noted speaker on small business issues, having made presentations to business associations all across Oklahoma, as well as in Ohio and North Dakota.
Posts about Becky:
Interviews:
You can connect with Becky through:
Maesz: Glenna Mae Hendricks is an entrepreneur and income tax consultant, and the proud mother of Becky. She is an oenophile (look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's), and a wine enjoyment teacher/guide who also writes wine notes at the
Allen's Retail Liquors site.
Maesz is also on Twitter.
OkieJ:
Jeanne Cole is an entrepreneur and business development specialist with the
Small Business Development Center.
OkieJ is also on Twitter.
New Contributors
This year, a couple of really fine writers have joined us as regular contributors. Even though they aren't Okies, we're proud to have their thoughts, and I'm proud to call them my friends.
Zane Safrit
Don't let Zane Safrit's Iowa cornfield backdrop fool you. He's a sharp CEO-level business guy. In the cornfields.
Since 2006, Zane has been exchanging ideas with us. We seem to write about many of the same topics: failure, innovation, small towns, customer service. But he also brings great knowledge on word of mouth, health care, branding, and a whole raft of other topics.
Zane understands, really deeply understands, that it is
outstanding performance that makes your business work. From having the phone ring to his desk if not caught by a certain number of rings, to celebrating failure on Fridays, to killing all advertising spending, he did the things it took to build up his people, build the company, and succeed against enormous outside pressures.
Today, Zane is consulting with startups and small businesses.
You'll find more of Zane's writings at his main blog,
Zane Safrit, and on Duct Tape Marketing under
Business Life.
Jon Swanson
Jon has been a regular reader and occasional contributor around here since 2006.
Jon works as a pastor, but he understands business better than many so-called business people. He may claim to be too chicken to be an entrepreneur, but he wrote the
best small business post that I have ever read. He gets that it is about people, relationships, service, and yes, even love.
He offers insight from a customer's perspective, and he is a storyteller. He knows how to choose just the right words to get his point across, clearly and simply. Not surprising, given his background in teaching communication.
Jon's regular internet home is Levite Chronicles, where he talks about faith, family, productivity, and relationship. I love how he looks "at normal things in odd ways and difficult things in simple ways."
Now that you've met us, let us t
ake you on the Guided Tour.
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With a population of only 1,200 spirited residents, little Buffalo, located on the Eastern-most edge of the Oklahoma Panhandle, hosted a Centennial Celebration rivaling large cities across the state.
