The Rural Well

Welcome to the Rural Well! Your hosts Bridgette Readel and Lauren Van Ewyk are thrilled to have you join in our discussion. We have the well being of rural areas like yours in mind when building this podcast. We know the ag industry has its challenges, but we’re right alongside you and cannot wait to connect and inspire one generation's legacy to the next. Let's get started!

The Rural Well is a health podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 35 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Rural Well, a health show with 35 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #34

  Episode 34 - Farming Curious with Cam Ogilvie

  Oct 2, 202634 minS1

  Welcome to episode 34, featuring Cam Ogilvie. Here's a summary of what you have to look forward to this episode: A bit about Cam - Founder and Principal of Curioso Coaching & Consulting (Guelph, Ontario) - Certified Change Management Professional through the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) - Helps farmers, agribusinesses, and their partners work through adopting new technologies and practices - Spent four years at a U.S. soil-health nonprofit, leading McCain Foods' regenerative agriculture grower program across North America - Author of the upcoming book Farming Curious: A Guidebook for Making Change, Navigating the Chaos, and Future-Proofing the Farm (planned for fall 2027) Links - https://www.curioso.ca/ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-mark-ogilvie/ Episode Highlights - [01:02] Meet Cam: change management for the peopleside of farming - [01:20] Barn floods and forgotten hoses: even the best checks and balances fail - [02:57] McCain Foods' 2022 pledge to make all of its potato acres "regenerative," and how 300+ growers reacted - [04:18] The key insight: farmers needed help putting the practices to work on their own farms, not more education on them - [06:39] Cost is the surface problem. Successful adopters ask "How can I make this pay?" instead of "Can this pay?" - [08:00] Change vs. transition: something that happens to you vs. something you move through - [10:02] Succession, robotics, and AI: why even raising the topic can feel threatening - [10:33] "Change isn't just project management - it's people management" - [11:51] Is resistance really anger, or fear underneath it? - [12:52] Marshall Rosenberg's “Nonviolent Communication”: under every emotion is an unmet need - [14:15] Personality styles: analyticals and drivers need facts first, while amiables and expressives need time - [15:21] "Facts don't care about your feelings" - but feelings don't care about your facts either - [16:45] "Farmers are rugs": sweeping unresolved issues out of sight - [17:16] Asking "why" to understand someone vs. asking "why" to prove them wrong - [18:52] Coaching vs. advising: the farmer is the expert on their own operation - [21:21] Book announcement: “Farming Curious” and its chapter on enjoying change - [22:13] Building a change-positive culture on the farm, and why the coffee shop isn't one - [23:45] Featured quote (Amanda Zaluckyj, “The Farmer's Daughter USA”): "The story of family farming underscores a legacy of sustainability." - [24:32] Legacy as a shield vs. legacy as proof of adaptability - [26:40] Sustainability means change and legacy means tradition, and the two can coexist - [27:01] Curiosity, a learner's mindset, is what holds legacy and sustainability together - [28:57] Lightning round: if you wrote an autobiography, what would the title be? Resources Mentioned - https://www.curioso.ca/ - https://www.acmpglobal.org/ - Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg - McCain Foods Regenerative Agriculture Framework (published standard, available on McCain's website) - Amanda Zaluckyj - The Farmer's Daughter USA https://www.agdaily.com/writer/amanda-zaluckyj-farmers-daughter-usa/ - Land Rich, Cash Poor by Brian Reisinger (guest on Episodes 013 and 014) - Farming Curious by Cam Ogilvie, launching fall 2027 (book website coming this fall)

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #33

  Episode 33 - Farming at Worlds End with Steph Schmidt

  Sep 12, 202638 minS1

  Welcome to episode 33! We discuss Resilience, Redefined: Rural Mental Health with Steph Schmidt. Steph is: Registered psychologist, farmer, and rural mental health advocate Farms sheep and grain with her husband and 3 sons in "World's End," South Australia (low-rainfall district) Shifted from 1:1 clinical therapy to mental health promotion, prevention, and skills-building for farm families Runs workshops and speaks on rural resilience and psychological flexibility Links: Website Farm Life Psych Podcast LinkedIn Facebook Instagram: @stephschmidt.farmlifepsych Featured in: ABC Listen The Land GrainGrowers Preventive Health SA Also connect here: National Farmer Mental Health Alliance — connects farmers with agriculture-informed therapists Rural Minds , via Lilac Lane Media (co-host Bridgette Readel's company) Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeart · X

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #32

  Episode 32 - Showing Up for People: A Conversation with Shawna Percy

  Jul 31, 202640 minS1

  Episode Summary Bridgette and Lauren sit down with Shawna Percy, a farm-based mental health advocate and suicide prevention trainer, for a candid conversation about how to truly show up for people who are grieving or struggling, without adding to their pain. Shawna shares the story of losing her first husband to suicide, how that loss led her into full-time work training programs like ASIST and safeTALK, and why lived experience and evidence based knowledge together create the most effective support. The conversation covers the practice of "sitting shiva" (being present without trying to fix), why oversharing personal trauma in group settings can retraumatize others, the unique grief challenges facing farm families and farm widows, and why agriculture, despite being slow to talk about mental health is culturally positioned to lead national conversations on suicide prevention. Shawna also introduces Ag Care Connect and its Protective Planning Tool, a proactive safety-planning resource for producers, and shares the story behind her books, Breathe and The Healing Place . How Shawna's path into suicide prevention and mental health training began after she was widowed by suicide The difference between lived experience and evidence-based/evidence-informed knowledge and how both can help or harm Vicarious trauma: what it is and how oversharing details of loss can retraumatize listeners Why grief groups need guidelines and boundaries to stay safe for everyone "Sitting shiva" supporting someone by being present without trying to fix or match their story Prolonged and complicated grief in farm families, and the added burden of keeping a farm running through loss Farm widows who take on the farm business before they've had space to process their own grief Cultural silence around death and funerals, and how naming loss openly helps future generations talk about it Ag Care Connect and the Protective Planning Tool - proactive mental health safety planning, described as "PPE for the brain" Farm stress data from a University of Guelph pandemic-era study (1 in 4 of 1,200 producers surveyed had thoughts of suicide) Why agriculture's close-knit culture is positioned to lead a national suicide prevention strategy The "translation issue" in mental health outreach, why farming communities need sector-specific language and scenarios Closing quote discussion: "The beauty of agriculture is that it is a culture" (Katelyn Duban, The Rural Woman Podcast) About Shawna: Shawna Percy lives on a small farm between Fergus and Guelph, Ontario. After her first husband died by suicide, she trained in ASIST and safeTALK and went on to become a full-time mental health and suicide prevention trainer. She is the founder of Ag Care Connect, a mental health resource platform built by and for producers, and is affiliated with the National Farmers Mental Health Alliance. She is also a TEDxUW speaker and the author of two books drawn from her own experience of loss and healing. Ag Care Connect — mental health resources for producers, including the Protective Planning Tool: https://agcareconnect.ca/ Protective Planning Tool (PPT) : https://agcareconnect.ca/protective-planning-tool/ National Farmers Mental Health Alliance : https://nfmha.ca/ The Rural Woman Podcast (hosted by Katelyn Duban) — source of the episode's closing quote: https://open.spotify.com/show/7KXbU1SMv7A2thoE8miFT4 Breathe: A True Story About Marriage, Faith, and Attempted Suicide by Shawna PercyAmazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Breathe-Shawna-Percy/dp/1627462341 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/228910627-breathe The Healing Place: Navigating Grief and Healing After Suicide (Breathe series) by Shawna PercyAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Place-Navigating-Suicide-Breathe/dp/1069350168

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #30

  Episode 30 - Farm Rescue with Tim Sullivan

  Jun 17, 202637 minS1

  What happens when a farm family faces a medical emergency, serious injury, or natural disaster and the crops still need to go in? In this episode, we sit down with Tim Sullivan, Executive Director of Farm Rescue, to talk about what it really means to show up for farm families in crisis. Farm Rescue is the only nonprofit of its kind in North America sending volunteers and equipment directly to farms to plant, hay, harvest, haul commodities, and feed livestock at no cost to struggling families. Since 2005, they've helped over 1,300 farm families across 11 states keep their operations running when everything else is falling apart. Tim and the team at The Rural Well explore the intersection of operational support and mental health, because for a farm family, losing the crop doesn't just mean financial loss. It can mean losing the land, the identity, and the legacy that holds a family together. In This Episode - What Farm Rescue does and how to qualify for help - The emotional and mental health weight that farm families carry through crisis - How volunteers become a lifeline - practically and emotionally - Why operational support is also mental health support - How to get involved as a volunteer or supporter - Tim's perspective on what farm families need most in their darkest moments About Our Guest Tim Sullivan serves as Executive Director of Farm Rescue, a nonprofit he has helped grow into a $6 million organization powered by 700+ volunteers operating across 11 states. Farm Rescue provides free planting, haying, harvesting, commodity hauling, and livestock feeding to farm and ranch families facing injury, illness, and natural disaster. 🌐 [farmrescue.org]( https://www.farmrescue.org ) Key Takeaways - Farm Rescue provides free operational support - no cost to the family, ever. - They operate in 11 states and have assisted over 1,300 families since founding in 2005. - Hardships they respond to include: illness, injury, accident, and natural disaster. - Volunteers are always needed - equipment operators, mechanics, drivers, and more. - Asking for help is one of the hardest things for farm families to do — and one of the most important. Links and Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.nfmha.ca/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - National Farmer Mental Health Alliance ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.lilaclanemedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Lilac Lane Media Facebook -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: info [at] theruralwell.com

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #29

  Episode 29 - Communication, Mental Health & Marriage with Kate Nesheim

  May 22, 202642 minS1

  <p>In this episode, Bridget and Lauren sit down with Kate Nesheim, founder of Solid Signal Communication, who shares her personal story of navigating marriage, mental health, and loss. </p><p>Kate's husband Matt, a two-tour Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, developed psychosis years after his service, turning their communication-strong marriage upside down. Kate shares what she learned, what she wishes she'd known, and the practical tools she now teaches others.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode:</p><p><br></p>How psychosis slowly dismantled communication in a marriage built on itThe biggest warning sign Kate missed — and what to...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on The Rural Well. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.