We recently connected with Danielle Foulk and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Over time, the Farmhouse Storyteller Collective has evolved into a multifaceted platform, expanding its reach and offerings to inspire others in their journey towards living their best life. It all began with returning to country living and the restoration of our 1837 farmhouse, which served as the catalyst for personal transformation and self-discovery. As I shared the history of the farmhouse restoration, its history and the lessons learned along the way, I realized the power of storytelling in connecting with others and igniting their own passions. This realization led to the creation of the Farmhouse Storyteller Journal, an online publication where authentic narratives and practical tips for living a more meaningful life are shared with readers. The journal is meant to be a source of inspiration, guiding individuals on their own paths towards self-discovery and personal growth.

Building on the success of the journal, I recognized the potential of audio storytelling as a powerful medium to engage and connect with a wider audience as well as connect listeners. Thus, the Grounded in the Middle Podcast was born. Every Monday I welcome listeners to the virtual front porch of our farmhouse as a platform to share stories and lessons of life in the country as well as other’s personal stories that inspire, challenge, and encouraged listeners to live authentically and pursue their passions.

Wanting to expand the reach off the virtual front porch, the Farmhouse Storyteller Collective recently began offering speaking engagements where personal stories, insights, and the wisdom gained from my own journey are shared with participants. These engagements are aimed to inspire audiences to find their own paths towards living their best lives, offering practical tools, and empowering individuals to embrace their authenticity and pursue their dreams.
By offering diverse platforms for storytelling and personal connection, it is my hope to create a ripple effect of positive change, helping individuals rediscover their true selves, embrace their passions, and live authentically. The Farmhouse Storyteller Collective is dedicated to being a beacon of inspiration and a supportive community, encouraging others to find their own unique path towards living their best life.

The evolution of the Farmhouse Storyteller Collective has been a journey of constant adaptation and growth. What started as solely a home restoration project transformed into a movement that encompasses a journal, a podcast, and speaking engagements. With each expansion, my aim remains the same: to inspire and guide others in their pursuit of a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

I am always looking to collaborate with others who would like to share their story of self-restoration by having guests on the Grounded in the Middle podcast as well as featuring guests on the Farmhouse Storyteller Journal found at www.farmhousestoryteller.com. I am also currently booking speaking engagements.

Danielle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a wife, mother, sister, daughter as well as a steward to a 186-year-old farmhouse. I’ve returned with my family to the country and have found value in the stories of the lives that came before us at the homestead. Because of their stories and the experiences living in the country I now have a better sense of the value of a life that seeks a meaningful story and who is willing to be shaped by it. Country living has led to my personal self-restoration but has also become a ministry for helping others find their own path towards living their best life. By sharing my experiences and the transformative power of country living through the Farmhouse Storyteller Journal, Grounded in the Middle podcast, and speaking engagements I hope to create a ripple effect, where individuals are encouraged rediscover their true selves, restore their own lives, and live a more fulfilling life.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Since the first grade I knew I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. It was an idea I held onto until I graduated college and landed a job teaching kindergarten in the greater Cincinnati area. Flash forward eight years I knew it was time to step away to be more available for my family. It was not an easy decision but one I knew I had to make. What I didn’t expect when leaving teaching, was that I was would lose part of my identity. For several years I felt I lost my purpose. Many times, I stood in my own way of believing that if I was going to have a career again, I needed to have a degree in a particular field. But I’m here to tell you now, you don’t.

Over the past few years, I have become a published author, podcaster, and speaker. I utilized the skills I learned in college and married them with my God given talents but the hardest part of doing it was stepping out of my own way and believing that I could carve out an entirely new career path for myself. It is incredibly difficult, especially the older we get, to make career changes and it can be even more difficult to step away from what we once identified as. But there is no better feeling than when you move into a position that is even more motivating and fulfilling than your previous role. Sometimes experiences, like our careers, are steppingstones leading us to who we are meant to be today.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When thinking about your social media presence, have you ever thought about how you want people to feel when visiting your account? Many claim the only way to grow your account and gain followers and likes is through studying your insights and investigating what is working well for others. While these are certainly helpful tools to be considered when planning your content, lingering in the analytics can result in missing the forest because of the trees. In other words, it is easy to get lost in the details and it can lead to stifling your own creativity and missing out on what is right in front of you. While it may be hard to believe a sense of hospitality can be brought to social media when we are aware of the algorithms that do exist, it is in fact possible to grow a sustainable online community through being intentional in creating evergreen content, collaborating, and authentically engaging with those who reach out.

If country living isn’t isolating enough, throw in a pandemic and you can really feel disconnected from the world around you. Like many, I took to social media during the pandemic as a way to connect with others. But what was different during this time compared to before the pandemic was how people were interacting with one another. Whether people realized it or not, when interacting on social media they were more intentional with the way they interacted with the platforms and that is what is key to building an audience on social media.

To simply make a post on social media is not enough to grow your audience. It is when you take the time to respond to direct messages and posts responses where you will have the most impact. Creating genuine conversation with those who follow you not only keep you showing up in their daily feed but keeps the follower coming back for more of your content and are more apt to share your content when they feel they have a connection to you. But the same goes for you too. You should be spending time connecting with accounts that are both smaller and larger than yours. By doing so you not only will find inspiration from the social media community, but you will in turn develop a relationship that will keep them as a follower and can become who you partner with for a collaboration.

By acknowledging and intentionally networking with your social media community, you will foster an engaging and collaborative community which will, in turn, create a balance between authentically showing up and the algorithms and you will retain followers because they know and trust you. These are the followers that will stick around and support you and will ultimately lead you to opportunities for collaboration and even more growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.farmhousestoryteller.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/farmhousestoryteller
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farmhousestoryteller
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-hart-foulk-5081165b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/daniellebfoulk
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FarmhouseStoryteller

Image Credits
Danielle Foulk