Episode 163 // Matt Dennis and Michael Stepp of Handlebend
On today’s episode of the Rural Revival podcast we're with Matt Dennis and Michael Stepp of Handlebend in O'Neill, Nebraska (pop. 3,575), where they make handcrafted copper mugs and use their space to bring new creative and entrepreneurial ideas to life. They're sharing how the resurgence of the moscow mule inspired an accidental business that brought them back to their hometown. Plus, how they’ve navigated an ever-changing business, how they refined their process and streamlined production, the move to their current building and their vision for this big space, and what it means for their small town to have this kind of space to build community.
These guys have built an incredible business these guys have built! You’ll love their focus on community and their intentionality around expanding and growing this business. This is a fantastic episode and I know you're gonna be inspired!
I know there's so much more to come from Matt and Michael, so be sure to go give them a follow. And if you're looking for a great Christmas gift, a Handlebend mug makes for a great gift! You'll find this and other ideas on our Rural Makers + Creators Gift Guide.
“The thing we’re interested in promoting is sitting down and slowing down and spending time with humans, kind of unplugging from technology and the rat race that our world has become.”
- Michael Stepp
“Remodeling a 14,000 square foot building in a town of 3,600 people and the amount of cash that takes, like you better be ready to go on some cash flow stuff because it’s hard to make a building worth that in a small town. So you gotta be ready to rock and roll.”
- Matt Dennis
“I think the reason it has worked is we’re out here in small town Nebraska and the narrative for 50 or 70 years has been that small town Nebraska’s drying up. Main streets are in trouble from the local economy standpoint, and that community mentality is what thrives here in rural Nebraska and rural America, and I think it has to. If we’re not looking out for O’Neill, who is?”
- Michael Stepp
“It’s always surprising how much work all of this takes. You know, you look back and you’re like, man this has been really hard. But you look forward and the new ideas are always exciting. So you just dive into them.”
- Michael Stepp
“By some stroke of luck, we have sold more mugs than the year before, every year since 2017.”
- Michael Stepp
“We knew early on that if this thing was gonna work it was gonna work from money outside Holt County. We had to figure out how to draw income from outside of Holt County. And we have.”
- Matt Dennis
“We have our copper brand that is mostly an online business and it’s kind of flipped the narrative on that whole, corporate America is sucking dollars off of Main Street in small town America. It’s like the inverse of that. We’re gathering dollars from all over the United States with our copper business and bringing them to this brick and mortar store and hiring people and paying people with those dollars on Main Street of our hometown. So it’s kind of this beautiful flip I guess.”
- Michael Stepp
PODCAST SHOW NOTES AND LINKS:
O’Neill, Nebraska
Omaha World Herald Feature Story
Normal Roasting Company
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