Welcome to episode 1 of Small Town Big Stories!  I am the host, Jill Szoo Wilson and I am honored that you are joining me on this journey.

Imagine!  You are on the ground floor of a podcast that is going to explore the real life big stories of people from small towns all over the world.  We are beginning in the university town in Missouri where I have been living and working for the past 12 years.

Small Towns Big Stories is a podcast about finding purpose wherever you are. It is about turning your focus outward so you can see the beauty in both the small and big things around you. It’s about noticing the people around you and taking steps toward getting to know them better and learning their stories. Along our journey together, you and I will talk with people who live in my small town and, eventually, people who live in other small towns around the world. The people I know here have big stories. Stories of going off to war, stories of fighting through depression and suicidal ideations, stories of photographing wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, stories of building wells in third-world countries . . . stories of lives that are more than just one thing.

Onward and upward!