GET TO KNOW ME BETTER

Molly Knuth pouring coffee from a thermos into an enamel mug

Molly Knuth smiling at a wooden desk with a laptop and lamp in an Iowa pasture

Molly Knuth working on a laptop at a pasture desk with cattle grazing behind her

I’M MOLLY, A STRATEGIST, PODCASTER, AND VOICE FOR THE SMALL-TOWN MIDWEST, FROM CASCADE, IOWA

I did everything the way I was told to. Got the degree, got the job, got married, had kids....checked every box on the list somebody handed me. And somewhere along the way I realized: there's a better way than the blueprint I was given.

So I built a different one, from a small town in Iowa, on the belief that the strongest businesses don't outgrow their communities. They help build them.

PROUD TO BE PART OF

Molly Knuth laughing and balancing a podcast microphone on her head

I DIDN'T START OUT IN BUSINESS.

I STARTED OUT IN A CLASSROOM.

a little bit about my story

I taught high school English before I ever built a marketing plan. Teaching turned out to be the best business training I never asked for. You learn to explain hard things plainly, to read a room, and to keep going when it's 2:40 on a Friday and nobody's listening.

When I started Molly Knuth Media in 2017, I thought I was building a marketing company. What I was really doing was learning how small-town businesses actually work, one relationship at a time. That's what I bring to the table now.

the values that guide me and my work

Think Global. Act Local.
Stay Curious.
Creativity Wins.
Connection.
Storytelling.
Humanity Is the Whole Point.
Underneath all of it: integrity, respect, openness, elbow grease, and a sense of humor, because you'll need one.

my vision

Here's the world I'm working toward: small-town people who believe that making their communities better is a collective responsibility, working side by side to improve business, economy, education, and the everyday gathering places that hold a town together. Full storefronts. Kids and elders working alongside each other. The past preserved while something new comes in. That's not nostalgia. That's the plan.

Molly Knuth sitting on a stool by a tall window, planning her next big idea

I HELP FOUNDERS BUILD THE BUSINESS AND BUILD THE TOWN

Molly Knuth standing by a sunny window holding a notebook

my mission

To empower people to build businesses that support their families and contribute to something bigger than themselves.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER

270+

podcast episodes released

100+

clients served

2,500

population of my town

Molly Knuth surrounded by her husband and four small children in the middle of a lush green field.

2003-2010

paying dues:
odd jobs and experiences add up

Before any of this had a name, there were just jobs. The kind you take because you need one, not because they're part of some five-year plan: waitressing, bartending, office admin support, the floor of a manufacturing company. Looking back, every one of them taught me something I'd eventually use, even the ones I couldn't wait to quit.

Molly Knuth in a blue and gold cap and gown waving to someone she knows at a graduation ceremony.

2011

Step into the classroom:
my first full-time teaching job

I started as a middle school teacher at a private Catholic school in our small town before moving to the public school to teach high school English, language arts and oral communications. It turned out to be the best business training I never asked for. You learn to explain hard things plainly, read a room, and get everyone working toward a common goal.

Molly Knuth smiles at the camera in a "back to school" style photo.

2014

A different kind of full-time:
I become a stay-at-home mom

I traded a classroom of students for a house full of kids. It wasn't a step back from the work, it was its own kind of work, and it reshaped how I think about time, priorities, and what actually matters.

2017

it starts by accident:
molly knuth media is founded

I didn't set out to start a marketing company. I started helping one local business tell its story while my kids had nap time, then another inquired, then another, until there was a business of my own underneath it. Small-town word of mouth built this from the ground up.

UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

How I got here

2026

the return and rename:
Molly Knuth Media becomes simply Molly Knuth

Nearly a decade after it started by accident, the business gets a name that actually fits what it’s become. Less marketing company, more strategy, leadership, and my own voice, speaking up for small towns and the people who build them.

2023-2026

A LEADERSHIP CHAPTER:
Molly works with The Restoration Project

Four women stand in front of a library with their arms on each others' shoulders

I stepped into a Managing Director role with The Restoration Project, work that stretched my leadership in ways client work never had. It's part of why I can build what comes next with more confidence than I had before.

2021

A new classroom:
mkm launches educational programming

Teaching never really left me, it just found a new classroom. I started building courses and programming so the lessons I was teaching one client at a time could reach more people at once.

Molly Knuth looks surprised as she looks at a laptop computer covered in stickers with her hands raised and a ring light in the foreground.

2020

now streaming:
the found podcast is born

Molly sits at an l-shaped desk with a desktop computer pulled up to her website. She looks over her shoulder and smiles at the camera.

It started as The Small-Minded Podcast, a name built for small towns, small businesses, and the people who love them. The spirit never changed, just the name. By the time it became The Found Podcast, it was clear what the show was really about: helping people go from lost to Found in their own businesses.

Molly Knuth holds a podcast microphone and laughs at the camera while sitting in a rattan egg chair. A fiddle leaf fern stands in the background and a white shag rug is on the floor.

2018

no longer solo:
mkm hires first contract employee

What started at a kitchen table became something bigger than one person could carry alone. Bringing someone else in meant the business was real, and that it was finally time to build like it.