"I always want to have that posture of, like, what can I learn? How can I grow?"
– Danielle Keller
Danielle Keller didn't plan on becoming the steward of Northwest Arkansas's most beloved family magazine. She moved from California to Arkansas, built a life here as a mother and filmmaker, and somewhere along the way fell in love with the kind of community storytelling that big media rarely gets right.
In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, Randy Wilburn sits down with Danielle to talk about her journey—from film and podcasting to relaunching Peekaboo Magazine in August 2025 with a bigger, higher-quality print edition that bets on something most people have written off.
She makes the case for print in a digital world. Not as nostalgia. As intention.
Personal essays from local parents, in-person community events, and real voices from across NWA — Peekaboo is proof that a magazine can still be a gathering place. This conversation is a reminder that the stories closest to home are often the ones worth telling most.
Key Takeaways:
All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.
You can pick up a physical copy of Peekaboo magazine at local libraries, museums, and family-focused spots throughout Northwest Arkansas—from Fayetteville to Bella Vista and Siloam Springs.
Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"
*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
Thank you for listening to this I am Northwest Arkansas podcast episode. We showcase businesses, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in the Ozarks.
Consider donating to our production team to keep this podcast running smoothly. Donate to I Am Northwest Arkansas
Mentioned in this episode:
FindItNWA.com
Looking to discover the best local businesses in Northwest Arkansas? 🌟 From cozy cafes to essential services, FindItNWA.com has got you covered. Connect with your local community with just one click and explore something great. Visit finditnwa.com today! #LocalBusiness #CommunitySupport"
Winetopia 2026
Winetopia 2026 Date: Friday, October 16th Time: 7-10pm Place: Stonebreaker Hotel on Markham hill Winetopia is Restore Humanity’s biggest annual fundraiser and brings together the very best of Northwest Arkansas (restaurants, artisans, small businesses, and (community members) to support our work. While the event raises essential funds for children in Kenya, its heartbeat is entirely local. There are over 100 local businesses who contribute auction items, regional chefs and beverage makers who showcase their craft, and the hundreds of residents gathering to celebrate community generosity. Winetopia strengthens local partnerships, elevates homegrown talent, and reinforces Northwest Arkansas's identity as a place where global compassion is fueled by local collaboration. Winetopia is a beautiful demonstration of how a united local community can create life-changing impact for children and families worldwide.
Seven years in, I'm still discovering the people
Speaker:quietly doing the work that holds this community together.
Speaker:Sometimes that means watching a beloved local institution take a
Speaker:pause and then come roaring back with a fresh look, a new
Speaker:energy, and the exact same heart that made it matter
Speaker:in the first place. Danielle Keller is one of those people.
Speaker:She's a serial entrepreneur, filmmaker,
Speaker:podcaster, and now the owner and editor in
Speaker:chief of Peekaboo magazine, a resource packed with local
Speaker:stories, expert voices, and the kind of community love
Speaker:that keeps Northwest Arkansas families connected.
Speaker:Peekaboo was originally founded in February 2008
Speaker:by Kimberly Enderley. For over a decade, it was a
Speaker:digest sized fixture used you'd find thrown into
Speaker:diaper bags all across the region. Then in 2020
Speaker:hit and like a lot of things, it had to pause.
Speaker:Now it's back under Danielle and her husband, Jeff.
Speaker:Peekaboo officially returned in August 2025.
Speaker:A larger format, Premium matte finish, and an
Speaker:intentional commitment to high quality print and a world that
Speaker:keeps telling us print is dead. Danielle also co hosts
Speaker:the People of Northwest Arkansas podcast, which gives her a rare
Speaker:dual lens on what makes this community tick, both as
Speaker:a media maker and as a neighbor who's
Speaker:genuinely invested in the stories here. We talk a lot on
Speaker:this show about how fast our region is growing and what it actually
Speaker:takes to preserve our soul through that growth.
Speaker:There's no better person to dig into that question with
Speaker:than a media leader who's betting on it with her own time,
Speaker:her own money, and her own family. Coming up
Speaker:next, my conversation with Danielle Keller.
Speaker:It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest
Speaker:Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of
Speaker:business card culture, entrepreneurship and life in
Speaker:general here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a
Speaker:move to this area or trying to learn more about the place you call
Speaker:home, we've got something special for you. Here's
Speaker:our host, Randy Wilbur.
Speaker:Danielle Keller. Welcome to I Am Northwest Arkansas. Thank you,
Speaker:Randy. It's so exciting to be here finally. I know, I know.
Speaker:We've been working on this for a while. It's so funny. Nobody, nobody ever sees
Speaker:the sausage being made, right? And I know as a podcaster you can
Speaker:appreciate what goes in behind the scenes. To actually get in front
Speaker:of a mic. Yes, it's crazy. It sometimes takes a lot
Speaker:of planning, waiting, patience,
Speaker:rescheduling, all of the things that go into it. Yeah, well,
Speaker:you've been patient with me. We've worked it out and we're finally here.
Speaker:So I love that and I want to jump right into this because I have
Speaker:so many questions for you. You been doing so much in our community.
Speaker:You've described northwest Arkansas as this massive
Speaker:melting pot of transplants and transients, people who
Speaker:landed here by circumstance and ended up staying by choice. I feel like I'm
Speaker:one of those people. Same. When your family moved from
Speaker:Modesto, California, back around 2004, you
Speaker:were skeptical. What flipped it for you? What made you go
Speaker:from why Arkansas To. To somebody who now tells
Speaker:those stories for a living? That's a really great question. So my
Speaker:parents moved out here in 2004. My sisters and I, we weren't
Speaker:living at home anymore, and we kind of thought, what are you guys doing?
Speaker:Like, why are you moving to Arkansas? And they fell in love with the area.
Speaker:They fell in love with northwest Arkansas specifically. And I came
Speaker:out to visit. I honestly, I will.
Speaker:I'll be honest. I came in June of 2004,
Speaker:and it rained pretty much the whole time I was there or
Speaker:here. And I wasn't super impressed with it. I was like, I don't know, this
Speaker:place is hot. It's very humid. There's not a
Speaker:lot to do. You know, My parents were in Siloam Springs at the time, and
Speaker:there wasn't even a movie theater there. And I thought, what on earth? What are
Speaker:you guys doing? But they had a great house, great property.
Speaker:And then I went back to California, and I was kind of in between
Speaker:places in my life as far as work, career, job,
Speaker:school. And I ended up going back to college,
Speaker:and my mom had just, you know, as moms do, she put me on
Speaker:the mailing list for John Brown University, of course, because,
Speaker:you know, that's what moms do. And I was like, mom, I'm not
Speaker:ever moving to Arkansas. It's not happening. It's
Speaker:just not. And one day I was cleaning my apartment, and I
Speaker:came across this video that had been sent to me. It was like a
Speaker:DVD video of John Brown University. And I was
Speaker:kind of at a place like, I don't know what I'm doing next. Where do
Speaker:I want to go? And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to
Speaker:watch this and just kind of see what it's all about. And I was
Speaker:surprised at how awesome it looked and that it had
Speaker:opportunity for me to study film. At the time, I was finishing
Speaker:up my associate's degree in film and TV production, and I was like,
Speaker:oh, this school has a film program, an art program, and it seems
Speaker:pretty vigorous. And, okay, well, I'll check it out. I'll Apply. So I
Speaker:applied. I got accepted within a week or two weeks or something like that. And
Speaker:then a couple months later, I was moving to Arkansas. So it was a
Speaker:wild experience. And all my friends were like, what? What are you doing?
Speaker:I was like, well, I'm going back to school, going to go live with my
Speaker:parents again, and I'm going to finish college. And it was just a wild
Speaker:journey. And so I came back, transferred to JBU in January
Speaker:2005, and I was going to be a double major. I was going to do
Speaker:youth ministry and digital media arts cinema. Ended up dropping
Speaker:the major and just did the digital media arts cinema with a minor in youth
Speaker:ministry. Went there for five semesters, finished, had
Speaker:a great time, got really involved on campus, did a lot of
Speaker:activities. Actually got to plan the first dance that ever happened at jbu. It was
Speaker:a very. I mean, it was a very. It was a lot of fun. I
Speaker:was in the New York Times, like, goodness. It was a really great experience.
Speaker:And then I went back to California to try to make it in, like,
Speaker:TV or film production. I was looking at different writers rooms. So I've always had
Speaker:a love for writing. Wrote for my school paper in high school and then in
Speaker:early college. And so I've always wanted to go back to that. And
Speaker:just got out there at perfect time. There was a writer's strike hitting, and then
Speaker:just worked a lot of random jobs. And one of the jobs I ended up
Speaker:working was working on a film that was produced and
Speaker:directed by JBU alumni. And that was kind of
Speaker:my connection back to jbu. And so we
Speaker:worked on the film. And then I came back to Northwest Arkansas to
Speaker:visit my family after we'd kind of wrapped some of the filming.
Speaker:And I was at the student center of jvu, and they offered me
Speaker:a job. They came out, they said, hey, this position opened. It was
Speaker:my old boss's job when I was a student. And that's what pulled
Speaker:me back to Northwest Arkansas, was a job at John
Speaker:Brown University. And so I worked at JBU for about eight years and
Speaker:did a variety of things. Oversaw student
Speaker:leadership, student activities, orientation. Got to plan some
Speaker:really fun concerts with students. It was a great experience. And then I met my
Speaker:husband, and then we ended up moving to Bentonville, and I ended up
Speaker:stepping away from my job at jbu. I'm trying to tell this really fast because
Speaker:I could go into a lot of details. Oh, no. Well, this is interesting. I
Speaker:mean, it's kind of the overarching. Yeah. A lot of people don't Know this part
Speaker:of my story because so much has just happened over
Speaker:the amount of time that I've lived here. I mean, overall, I've
Speaker:essentially been in northwest Arkansas for 20 years. There was like about a
Speaker:little over a year that I wasn't here and I was back in California. And
Speaker:so there's just. There's so many things that have happened as a result of
Speaker:that. I remember one of the things that was really kind of
Speaker:pivotal for me in getting back into media was the Bentonville
Speaker:Film Festival. And. And I remember they announced was
Speaker:the very first film festival happened when I had a. When I had a newborn
Speaker:baby sitting on my lap. Not sitting, laying,
Speaker:sleeping, nursing. And so I didn't get to attend the first one, but I was
Speaker:really excited. And the next year, next year we were already living in
Speaker:Bentonville. And so I'd stepped away. Was kind of being a stay at home
Speaker:mom, had a two year old and a newborn or a baby. And
Speaker:I ended up volunteering, kind of just trying to figure out
Speaker:what I was going to do next. And I was kind of starting to dip
Speaker:my foot back into media and TV production and video
Speaker:production and all the things. And then in 2017,
Speaker:at the Bentonville Film Festival, I met some women
Speaker:who had made this incredible film. It was
Speaker:just so remarkable. And it was about World War II and it had to do
Speaker:with Nazi Germany. And it was just this very. Just,
Speaker:I mean, like a very deep story. It was really. I wish I could remember
Speaker:the name of it because it had an impact and these women had an impact
Speaker:on me. And I remember telling them, I'm turning 40 this summer
Speaker:and the ship has sailed. And they were like, we're in our
Speaker:50s. The ship is not sailed for you. No, it is not.
Speaker:And you need to get back into it. And so that was a huge
Speaker:turning point for me. This was 2017. This was 2017. It was
Speaker:a wake up call. You met your halftime moment. I did. And you
Speaker:had some people kind of speak into you. It's always funny how
Speaker:individuals that are older than you have that
Speaker:collective wisdom and just the ability to kind of give
Speaker:you what you need to hear at that moment. Right. Because
Speaker:I read a book a long time ago when I was about to turn
Speaker:40 called halftime by a man named Bob Buford. And
Speaker:he postulates in that book simply that your best years
Speaker:are ahead of you, especially if you've lived a half life, because it's like you've
Speaker:figured out everything. You've made all the mistakes that you can make.
Speaker:Now you can start to move into a place of being an expert.
Speaker:Right. And I'm using air quotes now, but it's like you're finally
Speaker:figuring things out, because we all like to think, oh, well, yeah,
Speaker:you know, if you don't figure things out by your 20s or early 30s, then
Speaker:you're lost. And, I mean, it is a long game that
Speaker:we're playing here. I say that all the time to people when we talk on
Speaker:this podcast, but I sometimes have to be reminded of that. So hearing your
Speaker:story reminds me that you have to play the long game. Yes,
Speaker:I agree wholeheartedly. And I think that a lot of people. I agree with you.
Speaker:And a lot of people think they have to have life figured out in their
Speaker:20s and 30s, and that's just not true. And I think
Speaker:that some people think you have to figure out what you want to do for
Speaker:the rest of your life, and then you just keep doing it. And that's not
Speaker:true either. You know, it's okay to pivot. It's okay to change
Speaker:direction, even if it's just a slight pivot.
Speaker:Sometimes it can be a big pivot, and sometimes it can just be a really
Speaker:small one. I really appreciate people that have spoken into me over
Speaker:many, many years of my life. And I've always had a
Speaker:mentor in my life. I've always had people just encouraging me.
Speaker:I always loved those teachers that pushed me really hard.
Speaker:When I was at the junior college in Modesto and was getting my
Speaker:associates in film and TV production, the woman had in
Speaker:charge of that department. I mean, she was tough. She was
Speaker:really tough. And, like, so many students hated her. They did not like
Speaker:her because she pushed and pushed and pushed, and she is the
Speaker:reason I do what I do. Like, she really
Speaker:encouraged me in so many ways because I was like, yeah, okay, I will
Speaker:rise to that challenge. I will go after what you're trying to tell me, and
Speaker:I will go and do better, and I will take this little thing
Speaker:that I've learned and improve it because you're pushing me. And I've
Speaker:always appreciated people like that. And so when people are saying, like, no, it's not
Speaker:too late, I'm like, all right, game on. Challenge accepted. Let's go.
Speaker:And that keeps happening, Randy. Well, I like that.
Speaker:And you know what that's called, what that teacher did to you.
Speaker:It's a form of refinement. And I always like to
Speaker:say it's kind of like the refining fire. When you think of, like, any
Speaker:metallurgy, gold, silver, any of that, none of that
Speaker:gold never presents itself in its final form. Right.
Speaker:It has to be formed. It has to go through fire, has to
Speaker:burn off the impurities and all the other stuff before it gets to it.
Speaker:And so that teacher in your life burned off some
Speaker:things that you didn't need to carry with you as you progressed.
Speaker:And now look at where you are, where you're doing multiple things which we're going
Speaker:to get into, and you're not. You're not facing them with fear and
Speaker:trepidation the way. And some people that are on the outside looking in
Speaker:at your life say, man, how are you able to do that? Well, one of
Speaker:it is that you gave somebody license to speak to
Speaker:you, where you were at that moment in time. Because where you were
Speaker:in Modesto in getting your associate's degree is not where you are today.
Speaker:Correct. It's very far different. I
Speaker:mean, that was, like, over 20 years ago as well. So
Speaker:it was quite a bit of time since then. But
Speaker:it's really great to look back at those experiences and know
Speaker:how much they impacted my life. And just the things I went through, even at
Speaker:JBU as a student and then working at jbu, the things that
Speaker:I experienced and then working on different film sets and
Speaker:with documentary film and working in marketing and media and seeing
Speaker:the rise of social media and just getting to be a part of all those
Speaker:different experiences and have really impacted and shaped who I
Speaker:am today. Sure. And just in that vein of, like,
Speaker:refinement, this is something that has really been
Speaker:on my heart over probably the past five plus
Speaker:years. Probably more like almost 10 years at this point of
Speaker:just looking at every experience that I go through and saying, how can I
Speaker:learn? Or how can I grow from this experience? And sometimes it's not like, ooh,
Speaker:I'm, like, really thinking about, like, how can I grow from this experience? It just
Speaker:kind of sometimes happens. Yeah. But knowing that there is opportunities
Speaker:for small growth and there's opportunities for big growth. And like I was
Speaker:telling you before we started recording, it's been a hard month, and
Speaker:I just had to have, like, that reminder of, you know what? Like, you've been
Speaker:through hard things before and you've come out on the other end and
Speaker:you can learn from this. And recently there was something we went through that was
Speaker:really hard with the business, and I was just like, oh, gosh. Like, I just
Speaker:want to throw in the towel. Like, I just want to be done. Yeah, make
Speaker:it stop. Exactly. Like, I just want to say, sit here and cry and
Speaker:eat and eat. Bonbons. In bed and watch some, you know,
Speaker:TV show. I don't know what I want to do, but that experience
Speaker:helped me learn something, and I was able to lean into that and
Speaker:know that there is growth that's going to come from that. And I always want
Speaker:to have that posture of, like, what can I learn? How can I grow? You
Speaker:know, earlier you were talking about, like, oh, you've got it figured out and you
Speaker:don't make any more mistakes or what? You're not making mistakes anymore in your 40s.
Speaker:That's not true. No, it's not. It's not. I'm making a lot of mistakes, and
Speaker:I'm going to make them in my 50s and my 60s and probably for the
Speaker:rest of my life because I'm a human. But I get what you were
Speaker:saying at that junction, but it's just. I don't know. I think
Speaker:that I always want to be that person. I always want to
Speaker:learn and grow from the things that I've experienced, whether it's mistakes I've made or
Speaker:just an experience I've had or an opportunity to learn and grow.
Speaker:It's just important to me. Well, I mean. And I think it's important
Speaker:to us as adults, specifically, because we are both adults.
Speaker:And I think, you know, you came here where we met today. We're actually
Speaker:recording this at the Fayetteville Public Library. Shout out to the best library in the
Speaker:region. No shade to any other library in northwest Arkansas,
Speaker:but this library sets the standard. But as you came here with your son,
Speaker:I am reminded of how much of an example we set
Speaker:for those that we. Whether we bring into the world or.
Speaker:You just never know who's looking up at you, right? Oh, absolutely. And you
Speaker:have to set that example and show them what it's like to go through
Speaker:challenges and hard things just so that they can find
Speaker:success in their lives. Because your son and your daughter's success
Speaker:is going to be different than your success, but it is predicated upon the
Speaker:lessons that you leave them as you guys go about your
Speaker:time here. Right. So it's the cats in the cradle and the silver moon,
Speaker:right? Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely. So, man. No. Well, we could
Speaker:riff on this forever. I want to. There are actually a number of
Speaker:questions that I have for you around this, because we always like to
Speaker:focus on people that are doing interesting things in northwest
Speaker:Arkansas. And I want to be very clear. I think everybody's doing something interesting. I
Speaker:agree. It's just being able to define it. And if you have a platform.
Speaker:It's good to be able to put yourself out there because you never know who's
Speaker:watching. I agree. It really is. And so I wanted to ask you
Speaker:this. Your path to actually staying here reads like a
Speaker:movie. Here in northwest Arkansas, you went to college at jbu, a
Speaker:local film project. You met Jeff documenting places like
Speaker:Dogpatch USA before they were gone. I mean, you've done a bunch of
Speaker:stuff. How did that early work in film and
Speaker:documentary especially shape how you think about
Speaker:northwest Arkansas's history and what's worth preserving?
Speaker:Oh, that is a really good question. That's kind of a hard question,
Speaker:I think, you know, when I think about my
Speaker:opinion of just Arkansas, back when I was
Speaker:living in California and just kind of being a little snooty about it
Speaker:and thinking like, I am not going to Arkansas,
Speaker:it's beneath me. Yeah, that's like, I don't even
Speaker:know. It's a flyover place. It is a flyover place. That's what they said. I
Speaker:mean, I honestly had no idea where it was. Right. Like, as far as
Speaker:geography, I was like, where even is Arkansas? I mean, I do remember
Speaker:a lot about Arkansas because I was a teen in the 90s, and so
Speaker:that was the height of, like, I'm ready to vote. I want to really
Speaker:have an opinion and what's going on in the world, in the country. And so
Speaker:that was a huge, high time for Bill Clinton. And
Speaker:so Arkansas was definitely on my radar in that sense.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Very, very much so. I would say that just
Speaker:some of that early work, as I came here and learned more about Arkansas
Speaker:and learned more about the region in northwest Arkansas, I think that there's just
Speaker:so much value in the people here. I will always
Speaker:go back to the people and how they have shaped this place. And there's the
Speaker:obvious people, there's, you know, the Walton family,
Speaker:the J.B. hunt family, there's the Tyson family,
Speaker:There's the big families that have really poured into this region and there
Speaker:is so much value in what they've poured in and what they continue to pour
Speaker:into this region. Yeah. But there's also the small
Speaker:businesses and the people that are doing the day to day work
Speaker:and who are investing in one another and who are building
Speaker:each other up and who are making an impact in this
Speaker:area on a smaller level or on just like a more intimate
Speaker:level. Well, I always like to say on their level. Right. I mean, I think
Speaker:you need to, you know, what is it? Get in where you fit in. And
Speaker:we all Fit in somewhere. Correct. And so some of us are
Speaker:just going to have larger platforms than others, but. But whatever your
Speaker:platform is, work with what you got. Yes, right. Yeah,
Speaker:I agree. And I think, you know, I really think back, because we've been doing
Speaker:the podcast for three years now, and just some of the people that
Speaker:we've met are just so fascinating, and you just don't
Speaker:even realize who walks among you here in northwest Arkansas? Have
Speaker:no idea. No idea. I mean, when I first even heard about
Speaker:Dogpatch, I was like, I'm sorry, what? A theme park
Speaker:based on hillbillies? Like, oh, that's where I got my
Speaker:impression of Arkansas the first place was. Right. Was it because of Dog
Speaker:Patch? Perhaps? Yeah. But it was such a fascinating
Speaker:opportunity to go through, and it was so cool to learn about
Speaker:the origins of the place and how it came to be and even how it
Speaker:did have an impact on this area, but it didn't define it completely.
Speaker:It had an impact, but I don't think it defined all of what Arkansas
Speaker:is or what northwest Arkansas is. And I think that. That
Speaker:it's really interesting. I really love learning about people. And
Speaker:just this area that seems to have helped you kind of cut
Speaker:your teeth in the whole motive of
Speaker:storytelling. Right. When you think of that. And so. And after a
Speaker:while, it starts to. Not that it comes naturally. I think we have to work
Speaker:at being able to tell stories because you want to kind of capture
Speaker:the interest of others through words and through
Speaker:examples. And so, I mean, it requires a lot of work. It does.
Speaker:It really does. It really does. Sometimes a lot of research, sometimes a lot of
Speaker:finding the people that need to be found. I remember when I found.
Speaker:So I was a producer on the doc, a documentary about Dogpatch usa,
Speaker:and for those of you that are listening, it's a theme park that is based
Speaker:right out of Ark or right outside of Harrison in Boone county,
Speaker:based on a little comic strip called Li' L Abner.
Speaker:And the author and the comic of Lil
Speaker:Abner, who wrote it, Al Capp, his son
Speaker:actually, was the one who ran Dogpatch usa, the theme park.
Speaker:And I found him, and it was so
Speaker:awesome to find him and to just dig, dig,
Speaker:dig. And then I found, like, a sister and then a daughter and a cousin,
Speaker:and then I think it was the daughter that was able to get me right
Speaker:in touch with him. And he just lives still in Little Rock, and since then,
Speaker:he has passed away. But it was really cool to be able to find him
Speaker:and get him interviewed for the documentary. Is that documentary on
Speaker:YouTube. It isn't on YouTube, but I have. I have copies of
Speaker:it. And so I think that the director is wanting to potentially
Speaker:bring it back and put it into film festivals, because we didn't do a film
Speaker:festival run with it. Oh, interesting. And so he wanted to just go straight to
Speaker:dvd, was working with a distributor on that. And then
Speaker:things kind of fell apart as they did, as we got closer to Covid.
Speaker:And then Covid happened, and everything kind of just went to the wayside.
Speaker:So I feel like there's a resurgence of other things happening. Maybe this
Speaker:podcast will stimulate that and people will start reaching out to you, saying, hey, I
Speaker:want to see this video. It's really fun. Well, my daughter, the other day, she
Speaker:goes, mom. She goes, I've been learning about abandoned places. She's 11.
Speaker:I've been learning about abandoned places in Arkansas. And there's this one place called Dog
Speaker:Patch. Have you heard of it? And I was like, really? I
Speaker:have, yes. And we've actually been there. She's like, what We.
Speaker:She goes, oh, when it was open, I go, oh, no, no, not when it
Speaker:was open. I was like, I have pictures of you there when you were little.
Speaker:Like, probably. She was probably about 3 years old when I worked
Speaker:on that documentary. And so it's kind of fun. She's like, can we go there?
Speaker:I mean, it'd probably be trespassing, but can we go? And I was like, I
Speaker:don't know that it's safe anymore. Is the site still there now? Some
Speaker:of it is still there. It's been purchased and handed over and
Speaker:over. And at one point, I think the owner of Bass Pro Shops had
Speaker:purchased the land, and that was the last I heard of it. And that was
Speaker:right on the cusp of 2020. And so I don't
Speaker:know that there's been a lot. Yeah, I've kind of lost track of it. Yeah,
Speaker:that's. That's really cool. Well. Well, yeah, I hope that we'll put some information
Speaker:in the show notes so people can kind of look that up and do their
Speaker:own research. Right. You know, go to Dr. Google and search
Speaker:Dogpatch USA and learn a little bit more about that.
Speaker:Because you said Little Abner, and I know what Little Abner is. Most people don't
Speaker:know. Most people of a certain age don't know who Little Abner is. No, they
Speaker:don't. I think that will be interesting as well. Well, what people will know, which
Speaker:is really interesting, is Sadie Hawkins dances. Of course.
Speaker:Absolutely. What I thought this was probably one of my
Speaker:favorite parts of working on the documentary and the things that I learned. I mean,
Speaker:I learned a lot, but because I grew up in an era of
Speaker:Sadie Hawkins dances in high school, and I was like, oh,
Speaker:Sadie Hawkins. Like, Sadie Hawkins dances. And it originated from
Speaker:Dogpatch, from the comic strip first, and then it
Speaker:became a thing at the park. And I think it was the University
Speaker:of Alabama that first adopted it to be a dance
Speaker:and to, like, kind of make it, like a thing where the girls ask the
Speaker:guys and, like, it's the whole thing. But in the park and in the comic
Speaker:strip, for those of you that are interested in. So
Speaker:hillbilly. And it's about, like, this woman whose dad wants her to
Speaker:get married, and she's, like, super ugly, and so these men have to, like, run,
Speaker:and she chases them, and if she catches one of them, then they have to
Speaker:marry her. It's like a whole thing. Yeah, it was a whole
Speaker:publicity, scent marketing scheme that they did back in, like, the 30s
Speaker:or something crazy like that with the comic strip. And then it became like a
Speaker:foot race that happened every day at the theme park.
Speaker:Yeah. Where they would come out and they would run and chase each other, and
Speaker:so. That's hilarious. And the St. Hawkins dance all over the country, I
Speaker:think. Oh, yeah, all over the place. There's even a song about it. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. Absolutely. Anyway, that's exciting. All right, so I want to
Speaker:kind of. This is really interesting to me, and it's something that, as
Speaker:you've talked a little bit about it, but when you and Jeff decided
Speaker:to bring Peekaboo back, you didn't just try to recreate what
Speaker:existed. You went bigger format, premium matte
Speaker:finish. A deliberate, tactile experience. I really love opening
Speaker:your magazine and smelling it. Actually. Don't tell anybody, but it smells good.
Speaker:It's just interesting. Right. But walk me through that decision,
Speaker:because when you talk to most people nowadays, Right. When somebody's
Speaker:like, yeah, I'm going to start or buy a magazine, and I'm going to double
Speaker:down on making sure we print a lot of copies of this. In this
Speaker:day and age. Right. When I'm looking at my iPhone and thinking, man, okay,
Speaker:everything that I need is right on this device. That was a.
Speaker:I would call that a bold counter move. Yes. To
Speaker:where the established practices are of consuming information.
Speaker:How did you come up with that? Yeah, no, that's a great.
Speaker:You have really good questions, Randy. I see why your podcast
Speaker:is so popular and you've done hundreds of episodes. I would
Speaker:say Gosh, we talked about it a lot, the
Speaker:format that we wanted to do and bring back. We are
Speaker:still working with the same local printer that we kind
Speaker:of. So when we decided to buy the brand, we shopped around for different
Speaker:printers. We decided to go with just US printers, which is
Speaker:based out of Springdale and it's a third
Speaker:generation family owned printer here in the area.
Speaker:Great, great people and they print on site.
Speaker:And we had great conversations with him, talked about different types of
Speaker:paper, touched a lot of paper through this process,
Speaker:had a lot of conversations with people, friends, family, things like that.
Speaker:And while that little digest size of a magazine
Speaker:is easy to like throw in a bag and things like that, we wanted this
Speaker:to be a little bit elevated. We wanted it to
Speaker:stand out as a premier family magazine
Speaker:with seeing the new magazines like the City lifestyle
Speaker:magazines coming out and shout out to Randy being in the Fayetteville City
Speaker:lifestyle magazine for the month of June. Appreciate that. Thank you. I
Speaker:love, I love the City lifestyle magazines and have
Speaker:gotten to know the publisher for the Bentonville and the
Speaker:Rogers one really well. And I just really loved how it
Speaker:felt, what it looked like and said, okay, this is
Speaker:kind of what we want to model it after as well. And our printer was
Speaker:giving us advice on just the types of paper and things like that.
Speaker:So we wanted it to be something that was an experience, you
Speaker:know, something like you were saying, it feels good to touch,
Speaker:it smells good. It's funny that you say that about the smell because when
Speaker:we first started, when we first brought it back, we were doing a lot of
Speaker:the deliveries and as we were handing it out to people, they were like,
Speaker:oh my gosh, this smells so good. Yeah, it's crazy, right? You
Speaker:think like it's a magazine, but no, it smells good too. So.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. And so we've kind of coined that like term, like that new
Speaker:magazine smell. And it's really. I think that there's
Speaker:something really valuable in bringing people together in
Speaker:physical ways, in person, in front of you,
Speaker:something you can touch, something that you can spend time with rather than
Speaker:just doom scrolling, rather than just getting that
Speaker:fatigue from being, you know, digitally just.
Speaker:It's gotten so overwhelming and just so
Speaker:oversaturated. And I think there really is. I think you're going to see a
Speaker:resurgence of magazines, books being printed
Speaker:again. I really do. I mean, I'm reading articles about it,
Speaker:I'm seeing it all over. And also what was really cool about going with
Speaker:the matte finish pages, I like how it feels. It
Speaker:reminds me of like Matte finish photos back in the day, I love. I
Speaker:remember it's like, I'm going to check matte finish when I go get my pictures.
Speaker:I don't want to get any smudges on it. No, I want to get the
Speaker:matte. And so that. I mean, it's really funny because it's. It
Speaker:is different. It's not traditional magazine,
Speaker:but I just kind of love the aesthetic of Matte, and it didn't
Speaker:cost any different. And that was really kind of interesting to me because
Speaker:usually I would think matte finish would cost a little extra, but. Yeah, so
Speaker:there were lots of things, and we wanted it to stand out. We wanted it
Speaker:to be an experience for people. So, yeah, I think people
Speaker:are interested in having some
Speaker:experiences in real life, you know, irl, as the cool kids like to
Speaker:say, because, I mean, everything is so virtual nowadays. Young
Speaker:people struggle, especially men. Young men struggle with
Speaker:loneliness and what have you. And so I think it's kind of bringing you
Speaker:back to a former day and time. I remember this. You'll find humor in this.
Speaker:But, like, I was like, you know, when I was in college and as I
Speaker:started adulting and I would travel, I remember would just. I would have to travel
Speaker:with my magazines. I would have my Conde Nast travel magazine, my
Speaker:gq, my Esquire, you know, I had all these magazines
Speaker:that I carried with me. And then, of course, the iPhone came along and the
Speaker:iPad, and you could put all that on your, you know, on your digital device.
Speaker:So it was kind of cool. The novelty of it was great. But then I've
Speaker:kind of come back to a place where, like, I get the Atlantic, and
Speaker:I actually get the actual physical magazine. I love that for the Atlantic.
Speaker:And it comes to my house. It's the only magazine that I get that physically
Speaker:comes to my house outside of the magazines that I go around town
Speaker:getting, like, cityscapes and yours and the new Fayetteville
Speaker:magazine. So I think it's. You know, there's. People are kind of craving
Speaker:that. They really are kind of coming back to that coffee
Speaker:table mentality of, like, sitting around the coffee table,
Speaker:picking up a book, picking up a magazine, and reading and just,
Speaker:you know, perusing through. Yeah, and I love that we're
Speaker:really focusing on stories and being hyper local and
Speaker:making sure that we're putting real stories by real people in the magazine. I love
Speaker:that. Well, I mean, I was actually. I'm a real person, and I actually got
Speaker:a real spot. Wait, you are a real person. That's great
Speaker:to know. And I had a chance. I mean, I was so honored when you
Speaker:asked me. You have a dad column? We do. And I was
Speaker:honored when you asked me to write an article and I wrote an article
Speaker:about my relationship with my grandmother. And you know, I've mentioned,
Speaker:I've mentioned my grandmother before on this podcast. And you know, one of the things
Speaker:that she had said to me early on was that I was going to have
Speaker:three boys. She knew this. I don't know how she knew this because she was
Speaker:dead and gone long before I had my first child, but she said I was
Speaker:going to have three boys. And she said, and I'll never forget this. They're going
Speaker:to do to you what you did to me and your grandfather. And not
Speaker:in a bad way, but just like, you know, you're going to have a lot
Speaker:of the same experiences that we had raising you. Because I, I mean, I live
Speaker:with my mom. And when, I'll never forget when my grandmother, my parents got
Speaker:divorced at a really young age. My grandparents told my mom, listen, you've got a
Speaker:great job. You should save your money so you can buy a house. Come live
Speaker:with us, Bring Randy. And we all lived in the same town in New Jersey.
Speaker:And so I, you know, I was kind of raised in a multi generational household
Speaker:where I had, I had a grandfather and a grandmother. I had two mothers,
Speaker:basically. Yeah, you did. So, yeah. But my grandmother always said, yeah,
Speaker:what you did to us, you know, these kids are gonna do to you. And
Speaker:man, she was not lying at all. And so that article which
Speaker:I will link to in the show notes, was kind of like my
Speaker:ode to my grandmother. But I appreciate having
Speaker:that opportunity to kind of share and tell that story. And as I've read
Speaker:other articles that have come out since then, I'm just like,
Speaker:yeah, I mean, Brian Fitton and a few others people that I know have
Speaker:written really great articles. But I mean, there's just, there's something to be said for
Speaker:that when you can, especially for a more localized publication where you
Speaker:can read articles written by people that you actually know in
Speaker:real life, which is kind of cool. And that's something that I am
Speaker:not, I don't take lightly at all. So listen, I want to ask
Speaker:you this because this is around the whole storytelling thing, but
Speaker:Peekaboo runs a lot of first person blog style storytelling
Speaker:from local parents rather than just traditional journalism. Right.
Speaker:But getting that content requires real relationship work.
Speaker:Meeting people for coffee, hearing their story, then writing
Speaker:custom prompts to actually help them write it. Why does it have to be
Speaker:that hands on. Well, that's a good question. I keep saying that. That's a
Speaker:good question. It really, it gets to the
Speaker:heart of people's stories oftentimes because of
Speaker:the format and how we're doing this, because we're having it
Speaker:written, first person point of view. And not everyone is a writer,
Speaker:so not everyone. You know, we talk to people and they get really nervous. They're
Speaker:like, well, I want to share my story, but I don't write. And I'm like,
Speaker:I promise I can help you through this. Sure. And so in a way, it's
Speaker:an opportunity for them to share their voice. And the
Speaker:relationship part of it is important because this is the community
Speaker:that we live in. And those relationships are so valuable and
Speaker:so important and integral to how that story gets
Speaker:written and read eventually. And I love
Speaker:the process. I love that that is how Peekaboo was
Speaker:back in the day. A lot of the stories were first person point of view,
Speaker:not all, but a lot of them. And I wanted to carry on that tradition
Speaker:because I think it hits you in a different way. I think it makes it
Speaker:a little bit more personable. I think it gives people in our community
Speaker:an opportunity to share their voice, an opportunity to use their
Speaker:words, to share their story. And I don't know that I'd do it
Speaker:any other way. I've thought about that a lot. I've actually thought about that recently
Speaker:a lot too, of like, oh man, we should get some like writers up in
Speaker:here and kind of do more of a interview style. But it's working
Speaker:right now how it is, and I love it. And what would you say to
Speaker:somebody listening to this that is wondering how they can kind
Speaker:of make their imprint here in northwest Arkansas
Speaker:with regard to the relationships that are required to be able
Speaker:to even do this? Right? Because again, you just reached out to me kind
Speaker:of casual, you're like, hey, you want to write an article for this? And I
Speaker:was like, because I didn't ask you to write, you came to me. And I
Speaker:was like, but again, it's because of a relationship that exists, right?
Speaker:Our paths have crossed in a million different ways. And I think
Speaker:that one of the things that I've enjoyed about northwest Arkansas, which I want people
Speaker:to hear, whether you're relocating here, you're already here.
Speaker:I think the minute that you take a moment to just lean into
Speaker:what's happening in northwest Arkansas, you'll find a lot
Speaker:of like minded people, a lot of folks that are on the same path
Speaker:and journey that you Are. And you find that, like. So I have
Speaker:a. I feel like I have a kindred connection with what you're doing because
Speaker:I identify with it. Right. We're of a similar age range and
Speaker:all that. And I think it's important for people to understand that. That
Speaker:none of us are alone on this ride that we're on. Right. I mean,
Speaker:there's a lot of folks around there, and you'd be surprised who's
Speaker:willing to raise their hand and say, I'll help, or how can I help?
Speaker:Or yes. What do you need? Right. And I just think
Speaker:it's important. And so I drive this home to my kids. I don't know if
Speaker:you. I'm assuming you share this with your kids, but relationships mean
Speaker:everything. They really. It is the really only economy
Speaker:that I have ever operated in, especially here in northwest Arkansas.
Speaker:But just in general, you know, your only real value
Speaker:is the people that you're able to connect with. Right. That is your true
Speaker:worth. It really is. I think it's important. And I think that
Speaker:one thing when I. I am an extrovert. Yeah. So I have
Speaker:no problem talking to every stranger that exists in our world.
Speaker:Right, Right. I got that from my dad, actually, in our June issue. I actually
Speaker:wrote the Dad's Corner this month because we have a lot of
Speaker:dad stories and the magazine overall. And so I
Speaker:wrote it from the perspective of being a daughter, a wife, and a mom.
Speaker:Sure. And my dad, he talked to everyone we. Grocery store
Speaker:line. And I used to get embarrassed and be like, why do you have to
Speaker:talk to every single person? And that's what I do
Speaker:now. And I love it. I absolutely love meeting people.
Speaker:Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet. Exactly. Exactly.
Speaker:But that's. Not everyone. Not everyone can be an extrovert. Not
Speaker:everyone can just strike up a conversation with a stranger, and
Speaker:that's okay. So I really want to just. Just kind
Speaker:of just encourage those out there that if you aren't an extrovert,
Speaker:find an extrovert and tag along with them and they will help
Speaker:you. Danielle, who is my co host for People of Northwest Arkansas
Speaker:podcast, she laughs because she is not the person
Speaker:that will go up to people and talk to people. Like, we've gone to events
Speaker:together, and we went to the TEDx talks in
Speaker:Bentonville, and they had us do an activity where
Speaker:we were getting up and we were gonna go talk to a stranger and meet
Speaker:them and ask them these questions. And she just leans over and goes, this
Speaker:is my worst nightmare. And I was like, I Got you.
Speaker:I got you. And she did fine. Just follow my lead. Yeah, she did
Speaker:fine. All fine on her own. But she laughs and it's kind of a joke
Speaker:amongst us. If we're having a meeting in a coffee shop,
Speaker:I'm talking to everybody and then she's meeting all of those people because she
Speaker:doesn't have to meet them initially, she gets introduced to them. And
Speaker:so find yourself some extroverts to tag along with and,
Speaker:you know, go to some places where you can find people like you,
Speaker:you know, like go to the coffee shops, the libraries, the music stores, the
Speaker:places where you're going to find like minded people. And it's okay, you don't have
Speaker:to talk to people either. But relationships are so important and so
Speaker:valuable and I love that we're so connected. Like you were saying, I knew you.
Speaker:So I reached out to you for the Dads column and you said yes.
Speaker:Not everyone in the issue I know initially. And so having
Speaker:people who can connect to me with someone else and say, hey, I need a
Speaker:story about adoption, or I need to know. I need some people
Speaker:recommended to me about childhood cancer. And so then people are
Speaker:recommended and then I get to know them and have coffee with them or a
Speaker:conversation with them and get to hear their story and kind of present
Speaker:it in the way that we're presenting it through a magazine and through an article.
Speaker:And it's been really awesome. Yeah. And no, I can only imagine.
Speaker:And I mean, again, you know, people always ask, how do you get so many
Speaker:people on your podcast? And I'm like, you know, I just made connections with
Speaker:people. I mean, it's all relationships. I mean, eventually it took on a life of
Speaker:its own. Yes. But at the onset, I tell people all the time, like
Speaker:my first 15 or 20 episodes, it was all because of one
Speaker:person. One person introduced me to somebody that introduced me to somebody
Speaker:that introduced. But I can trace it all back to one individual. So you
Speaker:don't. That's awesome. You also don't need to know a gajillion folks. So true.
Speaker:You can have a couple of strategic friends. And I guarantee you there's
Speaker:one strategic friend out there that's like Danielle, that's that
Speaker:extrovert that, you know, has never met a stranger that she didn't
Speaker:want to say hi to that will be able to make those
Speaker:introductions for you. And it doesn't take much. And I'll give folks another
Speaker:tip that I learned from A young man, Dr. Joe
Speaker:Daniels, and he did this exercise when he was in grad School
Speaker:at the U of A. And he just sat down and had coffee with a
Speaker:hundred people. I love that. Like, no agenda. There was
Speaker:no ask. Because I always try to make that very clear. I'm not. You know,
Speaker:I don't go around asking people for anything. As a matter of fact, I keep
Speaker:all my asks in my pocket because I want, you know, you never know.
Speaker:When you really need something, then you can make an ask. That's true.
Speaker:But, yeah, he did this whole exercise where he just met 100 people for
Speaker:coffee. I was one of those. I was privileged enough to be one of them.
Speaker:And, yeah, I mean, that for me was. It was just a reminder
Speaker:that something as simple as a cup of roasted coffee,
Speaker:sitting down for a half an hour and just chatting with somebody and getting to
Speaker:understand them, where they come from, their world perspective,
Speaker:what they're working on, what really keeps them up at night,
Speaker:what wakes them up in the morning, all of these things play into
Speaker:it. Because, I mean, again, none of us are. You know, that would.
Speaker:I think what people don't understand is that especially for folks that are
Speaker:going through things, a lot of times, people tend to
Speaker:separate themselves from everybody else, but that's actually the time when you need to be
Speaker:connected with other people. I agree. Right. I mean, there are moments and times
Speaker:when you need to shut the door from all the outside noise so that you
Speaker:can focus on yourself. And that's an ongoing thing. But I think for
Speaker:individuals, and I know I'm like this. I thrive
Speaker:off of these connections. Like, this is like, you know, and people are like,
Speaker:how are you able to do that? I'm like, listen, me doing podcasting
Speaker:and interviewing people is like breathing. Right? It's just. It's
Speaker:that easy. I don't think about it. I'm not like, oh, this is a chore,
Speaker:or whatever. I was. I've been looking forward to this conversation all day long. And
Speaker:I've been like, man, I can't wait to. You know, this is like. This is
Speaker:like my lunch break for me, that I'm just. I'm just coming and having this
Speaker:conversation because it feeds my soul in terms of, you
Speaker:know, what matters to me, and I think we all need to
Speaker:find that. What does that. And I. I would venture to say that in a
Speaker:lot of instances, and I'm going off on a diatribe here, but in a lot
Speaker:of instances, it's a good one. It's those connections with other people
Speaker:is ultimately what feeds us. That's why. And I'm going back to especially Young
Speaker:men that struggle with this even more than young girls. The loneliness
Speaker:thing is a curse. And I'm trying to help young men, my sons
Speaker:included. I'm going through this with my boys. I have a 19, a 21
Speaker:year old and a 16 year old going on 30. But
Speaker:I'm trying to get these guys to understand that
Speaker:they can't sequester themselves in their room. You know,
Speaker:World of Warcraft and all this other stuff. These games are great, but you've got
Speaker:to be able to get out and be around people. And, you know, I'm really
Speaker:thankful that my sons have started to kind of pick up on that. But I
Speaker:know there are people listening to this that are struggling with that, with their kids,
Speaker:and it's real. And so my encouragement is to keep
Speaker:pushing, keep trying, and sometimes you just need one person
Speaker:to make that difference. Right. And to kind of help them out. And so
Speaker:that simply is my encouragement. But for any one of us, especially if you're here
Speaker:and in northwest Arkansas and you feel alone, I'm telling you that there
Speaker:is always an opportunity to do something. From Bella Vista
Speaker:down to West Fork, there's always something going on, everything
Speaker:in between. So there is no excuse. And you can start out
Speaker:small. And I say that. And now as I'm talking about this,
Speaker:I realize that there is an event tonight that's at the day that
Speaker:we're recording this episode. There is an event that they've never done before
Speaker:called speed friending. Oh, and it's fun. Yeah, it is.
Speaker:It's just kind of like going through, like, imagine going through and meeting with different
Speaker:people that you've never met before. They're doing it at the library now. Originally
Speaker:they had set it up for like 30 or 40 people, but they've had an
Speaker:overwhelming response. And now all of a sudden. Yeah. All of a sudden they're
Speaker:like, we had to move the room from one, you know, and that's a good
Speaker:problem to have. I told, I told the programmer that's doing it here at the
Speaker:library. I said, that's a good problem to have where you're at the last
Speaker:minute having to move the room because you've got. And I
Speaker:said, if nothing else, that speaks to the state that we're currently in right
Speaker:now that people are lonely. Yeah. And they need, they want, they're
Speaker:craving connection. Yeah. And I'm here to tell you that that connection
Speaker:can be had in northwest Arkansas for the small price of zero.
Speaker:Yeah. Doesn't cost a lot. But you do have to put yourself out there
Speaker:and make some connections. Yeah. You have to put yourself out there. And if you're
Speaker:one of the people that's part of the organizing of those events or
Speaker:you're an extrovert at those events, look for those people. Look
Speaker:for the people that are on the fringe. Look for the people that are
Speaker:not approaching others and are not being approached. And
Speaker:go and approach them and make them feel welcomed and make them feel
Speaker:like they belong there. Because there are so many people in this world
Speaker:who are not like Randy or I, where we just go in and we
Speaker:talk to everybody. There are tons of people that know,
Speaker:need to be approached and. Because it
Speaker:takes so much guts for an introvert to push themselves out
Speaker:there and to go to these events and then they show
Speaker:up and no one talks to them. Exactly. And it just. That just sucks.
Speaker:Don't let that happen. If you see people standing there by
Speaker:themselves, go talk to them. Yeah. I constantly want to be that
Speaker:person that's like. And I have no problem talking to everyone. Right.
Speaker:Yeah, I have no problem. Well, and it's so funny because. And I will give
Speaker:some people hope is actually. I am not a textbook
Speaker:extrovert. Okay. I'm actually an ambivert. Okay. Which is, you
Speaker:know, an amber version's a real thing. It's been studied. Daniel Pink
Speaker:has talked about it. But amber version is somebody that kind of lives in the
Speaker:spectrum between introversion and extroversion. I can
Speaker:kind of go both ways when I need to. I can be out there and
Speaker:you think, oh, man, this guy's a car salesman. You know? But then there are
Speaker:times when I am a little bit more reserved, and so I kind of can
Speaker:navigate, and I get it. And then I read Susan Cain's book Quiet,
Speaker:which is a really good book, especially if you're an introvert and you're
Speaker:listening to this and you've never read Susan Cain's book about
Speaker:what really makes you tick. That's a good book to read because
Speaker:it really is helpful for people to kind of have language
Speaker:around how they operate and how they see things. Yes.
Speaker:Right. Because I know a lot of people that are very introverted but are very
Speaker:successful. Yeah. So, you know. Yeah, for sure. My daughter is an
Speaker:introvert. She's in a family of extroverts, bless her
Speaker:heart. We'll have to pray for her. That's right.
Speaker:Exactly. So she does. Okay. She's so sweet.
Speaker:She's so creative, and she actually writes for the magazine. Oh,
Speaker:that's. I love that she has the things that she's passionate about
Speaker:and does a really great job at writing. She actually is
Speaker:an amazing reader too. She's in fifth grade and has a ninth grade reading level.
Speaker:I love that she's like, when can we go to the library? She wants to
Speaker:go to the library. Yeah. She should be here with you. I know. She should
Speaker:be putting her on notice whenever she listens to this episode. We're shaming you because
Speaker:you're not at the library today, but it's all good because we know you'll be
Speaker:here soon. So. Yes, I'm glad you mentioned that, though, because again,
Speaker:you know, doing this magazine has been a family affair for you. Right.
Speaker:And I do want to talk just as we wind up a little bit about
Speaker:the entrepreneurial heavy lifting that exists. The realities
Speaker:of it. You've been really transparent about leaving a stable corporate
Speaker:marketing job to come back to serial entrepreneurship. It's been hard.
Speaker:There've been late nights. Yes. Family sacrifice.
Speaker:Reeducating advertisers on a pricing model that hasn't been
Speaker:updated since 2008. What does it actually take to
Speaker:keep your momentum going when you're deep in those
Speaker:early stage trenches of trying to overcome some of those
Speaker:challenges? Yeah, I mean, it's tough at times.
Speaker:I think being a little. What is it? What's the word that
Speaker:I want to say? Delusional, maybe.
Speaker:Might be part of it is, you know, I think that there's got
Speaker:to be a little bit of delusion when you're doing something
Speaker:this big and doing something that is taking up so much
Speaker:of your time, so much of your money, and just so much of
Speaker:you as a person. I think the things that
Speaker:really keep me moving forward and driving me forward in
Speaker:this is the people and the stories
Speaker:and this community. Because it is. I just, it's one of those
Speaker:things where I can just see that, like, horizon, like,
Speaker:we are hitting it, we're getting closer to it and closer to it. I mean,
Speaker:it's always going to be a journey. There's not going to be this like, oh,
Speaker:we've made it. Because I'm going to always want more because I'm that person that
Speaker:I'm like, we're going to do this and now we're going to do this. And
Speaker:my husband's like, can we just, can we do good at this for a while?
Speaker:Like, can you slow down for a little bit? I'm like, we're going to start
Speaker:this thing and this thing and this thing and this thing. You know, we have
Speaker:a lot of goals. I mean, I have several Year goals that I
Speaker:have set for myself and for the publication, for our business.
Speaker:And we are. Technically, our business is Peekaboo Family
Speaker:Media. And we want to be more than just a
Speaker:magazine. The magazine is the heart of it. The magazine
Speaker:is the first touch point for people, but it will go beyond
Speaker:that. And so I think knowing that we're trying to build more
Speaker:keeps me going. I think my team keeps me going. The
Speaker:people that are contributing keep me going. Our photographer, the
Speaker:advertisers that do believe in us and that are like, yeah, these
Speaker:prices make sense. And, yeah, we want to partner with you because it's more than
Speaker:just ads, you know, like, we're developing relationships with our
Speaker:partners, and we're putting them in our magazine in different ways, and we're
Speaker:interacting with them in ways beyond just the
Speaker:printed advertisement. Yeah. One of the things that we started
Speaker:doing this year is we. Speaking of IRL, we started
Speaker:doing these monthly IRLs for Peekaboo, and we
Speaker:are meeting with our partners and our
Speaker:contributors once a month, right. When the magazine comes out, so they can see it
Speaker:first. They can get their hands on it first. And just interacting with them and
Speaker:just having time to take pictures. You invited me to one of those. Yeah. And
Speaker:I. Yeah, you're invited to the next one, too. We're actually. The next one's going
Speaker:to be in Fayetteville. All right. Because we have a lot of. Put me down.
Speaker:Well, and also because we. I need to send this out to
Speaker:all the podcasts. We did a page of local
Speaker:podcasts hosted by Men. Like Men. Podcasts hosted
Speaker:like local Men. And so you are on this list. And so. Cool. Cool.
Speaker:There you go. So you definitely need to come to it. And it's. I will
Speaker:do that. It's a lot of fun. And it's fun to see people's faces and
Speaker:get excited to see themselves in print, because it's a novelty.
Speaker:It really, truly is. Can I tell you how many copies
Speaker:of Peekaboo I have sent around the country? I love it. I sent. I want
Speaker:to say, because I have family all over the place, but I sent, like, 15.
Speaker:I love it. Of course, my mom got four. She wanted, like,
Speaker:send me five. She kept saying, I want more. And then I sent them
Speaker:everywhere. Yes. In North America. So, Mama Wilburn, we
Speaker:can send you more if you want. I have. I still have plenty of copies
Speaker:of that issue, so. No. And so I love that. And that
Speaker:speaks of one last question that I have for you. And there was a story
Speaker:that kind of stuck with me, and it was the piece that you published from
Speaker:a father here in northwest Arkansas writing about his two year old son's battle with
Speaker:stage four cancer. And then the social campaign you
Speaker:built up around this, you figured out a way to shower
Speaker:that family with birthday love. How do you think about the
Speaker:relationship between local media
Speaker:vulnerability? Because I think whenever we tell a story, we can become
Speaker:vulnerable in that place. And then the community compassion
Speaker:that exists, especially here in northwest Arkansas, I think it's really
Speaker:high. I'm not sure if that's the answer, what you're looking for, what you're
Speaker:asking, but I think that there's a lot of people
Speaker:that will, that relate to it. Whether
Speaker:it's something that they've been touched by or a friend that's been
Speaker:touched by it. It also brings awareness to things that
Speaker:maybe they weren't aware of before and
Speaker:families who need help that maybe aren't getting. You
Speaker:know, I think that there are so many
Speaker:stories out there about XYZ or
Speaker:a person here or person there and not everyone's going to be
Speaker:featured. You know, and so when there's, when there's different
Speaker:outlets and different media outlets, from TV to radio
Speaker:to documentary films to magazines and newspapers,
Speaker:there's just so many different media outlets that exist. And so if we're all
Speaker:telling all the same stories, we're missing out on
Speaker:more people. Sure. And so being able to tell stories of people that maybe
Speaker:aren't in every other magazine or in every other
Speaker:TV station, that's, you know, there's, I feel like I'm stumbling over.
Speaker:I get what you're saying, but I think, and I think people need to understand
Speaker:is that first of all, that individual who wrote that article,
Speaker:they are not the only father that has a child
Speaker:that has, you know, childhood cancer in northwest Arkansas.
Speaker:So him writing and being transparent about the challenges that he's
Speaker:going through right now with this and struggling as a father seeing. Because I
Speaker:don't think any parent wants to see their kid struggle. Right. Or be sick.
Speaker:And so it's like, man, you know, they are speaking volumes to
Speaker:other parents that may be going through something very similar. Yeah. And that's why I
Speaker:think it's important for people to share their testimony, to share what they're going through.
Speaker:Because you just never know who's also going through the same exact
Speaker:thing. And I guarantee you there's somebody going through the same
Speaker:exact thing. Oh, absolutely. When we announced that we were purchasing
Speaker:the brand and bringing the magazine back, a woman had reached out to me
Speaker:who I've Known for years, and her kids are
Speaker:older. And she told me a story about how when Peekaboo was in
Speaker:print before and she read a story about
Speaker:adhd, a parent had shared their personal story and their
Speaker:journey with their child's adhd. And this was probably
Speaker:back in, like, probably somewhere between 2008 and
Speaker:2010, I want to say, is when this story probably came out. And
Speaker:there wasn't as much information about it then. And she was sitting in a
Speaker:doctor's office, read the story, and she just started going, huh, well,
Speaker:that's interesting. And because of that parent's story
Speaker:in Peekaboo magazine, she was able to ask her
Speaker:daughter's doctor about ADHD and her child and
Speaker:got her child on medication, and it changed her life.
Speaker:And, like, I get goosebumps. I get kind of emotional, because
Speaker:that is powerful. Yeah. And that's just one story.
Speaker:That's just one story. Exactly. And so. So how
Speaker:many more stories like that exist to where not only do we
Speaker:feel seen as people and in this community, but we can
Speaker:relate and we can connect, and who knows if somebody is
Speaker:gonna pass by somebody that they read about and hopefully
Speaker:they take the opportunity to meet them. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I
Speaker:think that is a clear answer for why
Speaker:Peekaboo magazine, why you started it back up in
Speaker:2025. I mean, just answering that question is
Speaker:perfect for that. So. Yeah, I appreciate that. So a couple of rapid fire
Speaker:questions for you as we close out. We've put you through a number
Speaker:of things. What's your go to casual date night spot? Ooh, a casual
Speaker:date night spot is going to be Parkside Public. Okay. In
Speaker:downtown Rogers. Okay. Parkside Public. Love,
Speaker:love their burgers, love all their loaded
Speaker:fries or messy fries or whatever they're called. They have, like, they have a few
Speaker:different varieties, and they're really good. They're really good. Okay. Parkside Public.
Speaker:All right. And what about where do you like to go to fuel
Speaker:up on coffee during a big production week? Oh, obviously
Speaker:Confident Coffee. There we go. Okay. If you follow me at all, you know that
Speaker:I'm going to be at Confident Coffee. It is one of her Cool. So,
Speaker:yeah. And she's out in the community doing a lot of great things. She really
Speaker:is. But honestly, there are so many great coffee shops around here too. And I
Speaker:like to frequently all of them. And so thinking about that guy who did the
Speaker:hundred coffee dates, I was like, I kind of want to do that. So many
Speaker:of my coffee times are meetings. And
Speaker:so right now. And so it's just like, nice to have coffee and get to
Speaker:know somebody that you don't know. I want to do that again, man.
Speaker:Yeah. Well, listen, Danielle, this has been a great conversation. It's a
Speaker:real reminder that no matter how fast the tech moves
Speaker:and it is moving fast, people still want to be seen. They want to
Speaker:hold something in their hands, and they want to read a story about their neighbor.
Speaker:What Danielle and her family are doing with Peekaboo is exactly the kind of
Speaker:work that keeps this region from losing itself. In all the growth,
Speaker:they're making sure families feel seen, connected, and
Speaker:celebrated. The legacy is in great hands. So we want to
Speaker:thank you so much for joining us on this episode. Thank you for having me.
Speaker:Absolutely. It's a lot of fun. To find a physical copy of Peekaboo
Speaker:magazine, check local libraries. The Fayetteville Public Library carries it.
Speaker:Museums, family focused spots from Fayetteville up to Bella
Speaker:Vista and Siloam Springs. You can explore their themes and
Speaker:digital [email protected] and
Speaker:follow the beautiful layout on Instagram
Speaker:Peekaboomagazine NWA all right, and if you
Speaker:haven't yet, search your favorite podcast app. For people of Northwest
Speaker:Arkansas, Danielle and her co host, the other Danielle, are
Speaker:telling more of these great stories on a regular basis.
Speaker:That's a wrap on this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas. If this conversation left
Speaker:you with something, a name to look up, a magazine to grab, or
Speaker:just a little more appreciation for what's being built here, pass it along,
Speaker:leave us a review and share it with a friend. And as always,
Speaker:keep showing up for this community because it will keep showing up for
Speaker:you. I'm Randy Wilburn, and this has been I Am
Speaker:Northwest Arkansas. Peace.
Speaker:We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest
Speaker:Arkansas. Check us out each and every week. Available
Speaker:anywhere that great podcasts can be found. For show
Speaker:notes or more information on becoming a guest, visit
Speaker:imnorthwestarkansas.com we'll
Speaker:see you next week on IM Northwest
Speaker:Arkansas.