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January 30, 2025 21 mins

Have you ever wondered how a simple need can ignite a thriving, community-driven business? Meet Rochester, Minnesota entrepreneur Becky Montpetit, the visionary behind Rochester Local, La Crosse Local, and Twin Cities Mom. In this conversation, Becky shares her journey—from launching the Rochester MN Moms Blog to filling a gap in family-friendly resources in Rochester. What began as a passion project grew into a network of local platforms dedicated to fostering connections and providing accessible community information. She opens up about the challenges, victories, and the driving force behind her mission to make community engagement easier for families and individuals.

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Episode Transcript

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Bill Von Bank (00:00):
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought
to you by Experience Rochester.
Learn more about Minnesota'sthird largest city, which is
home to Mayo Clinic and featureswonderful recreational and
entertainment opportunities, byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.

Becky Montpetit (00:16):
My passion lies with connecting communities.
I truly believe that a family,a community, an individual feels
more connected to their placeby how much they know about that
place.

Bill Von Bank (00:36):
Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneur.
On a wide range of topics, fromtourism and entertainment to
economic development andentrepreneurism, and much more.
I'm your host, Bill Von Bank,Rochester, Minnesota, native.
Becky Montpetit is anentrepreneur and the visionary

(00:57):
behind Rochester, Local, AcrossLocal and Twin Cities Mom
platforms dedicated to buildingconnections, celebrating local
culture and empowering familiesand communities.
In today's episode, I sit downwith Becky to explore her
remarkable journey as amulti-market entrepreneur.
We'll discuss her ambitions,the challenges she's faced and

(01:18):
the opportunities she's embracedalong the way.
Whether you're an entrepreneur,a community builder or simply
someone who enjoys stories aboutfostering meaningful
connections, this conversationis sure to inspire Becky
Monpetit.
Welcome to the GrowingDestinations podcast.

Becky Montpetit (01:34):
Hi Bill, I'm so happy to be here.

Bill Von Bank (01:36):
Finally, I've been wanting to get you on the
podcast.
I know, I know here we are.

Becky Montpetit (01:40):
It's finally happening here we are.

Bill Von Bank (01:42):
I admire your work.

Becky Montpetit (01:44):
Thank you and the growth.

Bill Von Bank (01:45):
I've seen it.
I've seen growth in real timewith Rochester Local and then La
Crosse in Minneapolis.
Yes, take us on yourentrepreneurial journey.

Becky Montpetit (01:55):
Well, I have to take us back in time to
Collider.
When we sat up in Collider?

Bill Von Bank (02:00):
In Rochester.
In Rochester, what's Collider?

Becky Montpetit (02:07):
Collider In Rochester.
In Rochester, what's Collider?
Collider is a hub forentrepreneurial efforts and
people with creative vision.
Amanda Leitner and her teamover at Collider are incredible
at fostering connections andresources for entrepreneurs in
Rochester.
So big shout out to Colliderand Amanda and her team.
But Collider at the time wasabove Blue Duck and that's when
I first-.

Bill Von Bank (02:26):
Restaurant Beautiful restaurant.

Becky Montpetit (02:28):
And I think it was 2016, 2017.
Really, the site got startedwhen I became a parent.

Bill Von Bank (02:34):
Rochester local.

Becky Montpetit (02:35):
Rochester local got started when I became a
parent, it became clear to methat the way that I was used to
knowing the city, in terms ofwhat to do and where to go, as a
person without children was notmatching the information that I
had as a person with kids.
I didn't know.
I felt like a.
I felt like I didn't know whereI was in my own hometown.

Bill Von Bank (02:57):
So interesting.

Becky Montpetit (02:58):
I, I, I hated that and I would complain about
that.
And my husband said to mefinally one day he's like either
you have to do something aboutit or you have to stop talking
about it.
And I said, fine, I will.
I started a site calledRochester MN Moms Blog and it
was really for moms in thecommunity to share information

(03:21):
and stories about raising kidsin Rochester and along the way
we would share our informationabout discovering story times or
things to do with kids or thesesorts of things.
And so from there it reallygrew.
It really grew to the pointwhere we had people in the
community saying I'm not a mom.
I read your website and I'mlike I know, I know we're

(03:42):
working on it.
We're working on it, and thenthe plan was, right before the
pandemic, to change our name,but we didn't because the
pandemic happened, and soinstead we changed our content
strategy to be resources,information, things to do.
People needed things to doduring the pandemic and they
didn't know quite where that wasor where to look, and so that

(04:04):
really marked a shift forRochester Mom at the time.
And then, in 2022, we didformally change our name to
Rochester Local to more embracethe vision that we had for those
that would use the website inthe city.

Bill Von Bank (04:21):
From there, you continued your growth strategy
into other communities.
Tell us about that.

Becky Montpetit (04:25):
Yes, Earlier in 2022, there was an opportunity
to buy a website that hadexisted prior to the Rochester
Mom website and that was TwinCities Mom.
That site had actually beenaround longer than the Rochester
site.
It came up for sale and I havea friend in another market she
owns Madison Family andMilwaukee Family and we decided

(04:48):
to purchase that site together.
That was in May 2022.
And so then in November 2022,we changed the name from
Rochester Mom to Rochester Localand then in January 2024, I
purchased an existing website,again in the La Crosse market,

(05:08):
and that website actually hadthe same name as Rochester Local
.
It was La Crosse Local.
I had no idea, just 60 milesapart, but these same names and
kind of these same visions fortheir communities.
And I approached them and theysaid well, interestingly, our
site is for sale.
Would you like to buy it?

(05:29):
And I said oh, no, no, thankyou, no, thank you.
And then a week later I ownedit Something changed.

Bill Von Bank (05:36):
Something changed .
What was the inspiration to addthese additional communities?

Becky Montpetit (05:42):
My passion lies with connecting communities.
I truly believe that a family,a community, an individual feels
more connected to their placeby how much they know about that
place, and sometimes thatinformation is not easy to find

(06:04):
for one reason or the other, andso I really wanted to take what
I viewed as a skill set of minewhich now we jokingly call it
I'm a professional know-it-alland make it readily accessible,

(06:26):
easy to read, easy to find forfamilies, individuals, residents
, visitors to find out thingsthat are going on.
And ultimately, my passion lieswith finding connections within
people.
People find things to dothrough my website, then they
meet people that are like-minded, then they build community, and

(06:47):
that is just a benefit for all.
Strong communities is truly theheartbeat of what I do.

Bill Von Bank (06:55):
If I go to Rochester Local today, what will
I find?

Becky Montpetit (06:58):
Our website has several different ways to
utilize it.
The first is our eventscalendar.
We have an events calendar onour website.
It's full of things to do forfamilies, individuals, young
people, empty, nested, retired,whatever.

(07:20):
We're going to be adding eventsto our calendar that really
cater to those who live in thecity and who visit the city.
That's one of our main ways tocommunicate with the city.
Another way is through ourguides, our information, our
resources.
We want to put out things thatpeople might be thinking about.
I just got cold.
Well, what do people want to dowhen they're cold?
Well, they want to go iceskating Maybe not today.
They want to go sledding, theywant to do something that's
outside, they want to do thewinter activities.

(07:41):
So we'll have, we'll collateall of that information together
in a really easy to read guidethat is accurate and it is
timely, and that is a hugefeature of our website.
And another thing is we havesponsored resource guides on a
certain topic.
Upcoming is our guide to summercamps.
So it's going to be time tosign up for summer camps very

(08:05):
soon, believe it or not.
So it's going to be time tosign up for summer camps very
soon, believe it or not, andwe're going to have all of the
summer camps in the area in oneguide.
That's super easy for parentsto use.
They want to click, they wantto register, they want to find
out more information?
Great, and that's also how wework with businesses and
organizations.
They will purchase anadvertising listing in some of

(08:27):
these resource guides.

Bill Von Bank (08:28):
Each of your ventures caters to distinct
regions.
You have Rochester, you havethe Minneapolis-St Paul area you
also have La Crosse.
How do you ensure each brandremains authentic and relevant
to its audience?

Becky Montpetit (08:40):
Great question.
The secret sauce, so to speak,is finding someone local who
shares that passion.
So it's easy in this marketRochester it's me, I have that
passion, but when I wasexpanding or thinking about
expanding into other markets,it's inauthentic if someone from

(09:03):
another market is that personto express the passion for that
city.
I can share a love of La Crossebut I don't live there, I am
not from there.
But finding someone who is fromthere, who shares that passion
for building strong communityand wants to join you in your

(09:25):
vision, is the key, is the keyto unlocking an engaged and
interested community.

Bill Von Bank (09:34):
What unique challenges have you faced,
specifically as you've grownyour business?

Becky Montpetit (09:37):
Yeah, this is non-traditional media.
My websites are non-traditionalmedia in a sense that they
offer advertising, but it's notin the traditional sense.
It's not TV, it's not radio,it's not print.
But the opportunity is thereand I think one of the biggest
challenges has really beenexpressing and really proving

(10:02):
that these resources, thesewebsites, are a very valuable
place to put your brand'smessaging.
That has often taken a lot ofeducation, a lot of patience, a
lot of consistency, a lot ofrepeat meetings and phone calls
to explain how this is amarketing opportunity.

(10:23):
So that truly is one of thebiggest challenges.

Bill Von Bank (10:27):
Have you conquered it to some extent?

Becky Montpetit (10:31):
Yes, I would say that, yes, I have conquered
it.
There are many businesses andorganizations that I have worked
with for many years and theybelieve in the vision, they
believe in what we're trying todo with these websites, and
there are some people who,frankly, they just don't see it,

(10:51):
and you know what?
That's okay.
It's truly okay, because thiswebsite doesn't need to be the
be-all, end-all, fix-it formodern advertising.
It's not that, it's justanother non-traditional option,
and if that doesn't fit the paceor the style or the tone of

(11:11):
what an organization is lookingfor, that's okay.
That's okay.

Bill Von Bank (11:15):
How do you identify the resources and
topics that resonate most withyour audience in each location?

Becky Montpetit (11:21):
Conversations, communication, checking in on
what else is going on online,staying up to date on everything
that's going on in town.
There are other Facebook groupsand communities that people
will say hey, I really need X orcan somebody tell me about Y?
And my favorite thing to do isgo to my website and copy and

(11:45):
paste a post that we havealready created for what they're
looking for.
But if I don't have something,well then file it away.
File it away to create aresource because someone is
looking for that, and if oneperson is, that usually means
another person is too.
How do you stay innovative?
I'll be honest, I don't mindchange.

(12:05):
I think change is exhilarating,I think it's fun, I think it
keeps me on my toes.
This sort of sector you have tostay on top of it or you are
already irrelevant.
You need to know the latest andthe greatest, you need to know
what the trends are, you need toknow the latest tools, and I

(12:28):
think it's my passion and mydesire to really strive for
excellence that keeps memotivated to stay innovative.
I love trying new things.
I love seeing what reallyresonates or really hits with
the community.
So what I would really say isthat my hobby.
People say what are yourhobbies?
Well, my hobbies are ensuringthat I again a professional

(12:53):
know-it-all related toeverything that's going on out
there.

Bill Von Bank (12:57):
How do you measure the success of your
business beyond just financialmetrics?

Becky Montpetit (13:02):
Anytime I am in the community and I meet
someone and the conversationturns inevitably to what do you
do?
And I say, well, I own a seriesof you know resource and
lifestyle websites in thesemarkets and they're like well,
what do you own in Rochester?
Oh, I own Rochester, Local, andif they've heard of it, there
is some story.
They have found something to dofor their family, they have

(13:25):
shared a resource with someonewho needed it.
They had an out-of-town familycoming to the Mayo Clinic for
treatment and they've used thewebsite.
Those stories carry me.
They truly do.
They carry me throughchallenges and struggles.
I keep all of those storieskind of collated.
I'll write them down in alittle note in my phone.

(13:48):
If it's an email, I have alittle starred folder.
That is, for me, a measure ofsuccess those anecdotal stories
that I hear from people who havefound true value in the
websites.

Bill Von Bank (14:02):
Through my research, I've found that you're
a self-described Harry Potterlover.
How have your interests andpassions influenced your work?

Becky Montpetit (14:11):
I am a dreamer, I am a visionary.
I guess I oftentimes willassociate movie storylines or
book storylines with real life.
I'm like, well, if it canhappen in a book, why can't it
happen in real life?
And I just equate them.
They're equal.

(14:32):
These grand storylines, I'mlike why can't we have that?
And storylines I'm like whycan't we have that?
So I think that that lends alot of whimsy, it adds a lot of
fun to what I'm doing, becausetruly that's what I want.
I want what I'm doing to matchthese really wonderful,

(14:53):
outrageous storylines.
And I do love a Harry Potter.
I'm reading it to my kids rightnow.

Bill Von Bank (14:58):
Very cool, what does?
A typical day look like to you,or do you even have typical
days?

Becky Montpetit (15:04):
Well, I have desk days and then I have
community days.
Desk days are just going to besitting down at my home office.
I share.
Well, I don't share, but myhusband and I both have our own
home offices His is upstairs,mine is downstairs and we sit
down once the kids are to school.
And I'll go through my emails.
I'll make sure the sites areproperly functioning.

(15:24):
I'll update plugins.
I'll ensure that any teammembers have their questions
answered.
I will plan out the editorialcalendar, I will confirm
appointments, I will schedulepodcast guests, I will think
about our next resource guide,and that's a desk day.
A community day is when I'm outdoing something like this,

(15:45):
having a podcast episoderecorded, having a meeting with
a new client, having acontinuing meeting with a
long-term client One of myfavorite things to do is get
content.
I love it Just going out intothe community and saying to a
business hey, we're doing a newresource and we're featuring you
.
Can I get a photo?
Not once has anyone ever saidno, thank you.

(16:08):
And that just gives me anopportunity to meet people and
to get to know people and tomake sure that I know what's
going on.
So days can look totallydifferent than there are the
days that just blow my mind,like the days when you are hired
to go to Vikings training campand get content for Vikings

(16:28):
training camp.
That kind of stuff just is realpinch me moments.
Is this what I do?
Yes, it is indeed what you do.

Bill Von Bank (16:39):
You mentioned podcast.
Tell us more about your podcast.

Becky Montpetit (16:42):
I have the Rochester Local Podcast super
innovative name.
What we do is we feature peoplewho live in Rochester.
They could live here for sixmonths, they could live here for
six weeks, they could be herefor 60 years, it doesn't matter.
I want to get a broad view ofpeople who live in Rochester and
we took it kind of a stepfurther.

(17:02):
A lot of conversation revolvesaround what do you do, what is
it that you do, and we talkabout that on the podcast.
But I am 10 times moreinterested in learning about how
people live.
How do you live in the city?
So again, we'll talk a littlebit about what they do if they

(17:24):
have a career, what that lookslike, what brought them there.
But then we dive into a seriesof questions that I've kind of
cultivated and created to seetruly how people live in the
city.
So we ask them things likewhat's the best adventure you've
ever been on in Rochester?
Rochester needs a fill in theblank.
What's the best burger inRochester?

(17:47):
You have eight hours ofuninterrupted time in Rochester.
What are you doing?
These sorts of things reallyfoster that fun conversation
about how people live in thiscity.

Bill Von Bank (18:01):
What's next for you in your business ventures?

Becky Montpetit (18:04):
I tend to shy away from things like five and
10 year plans.
I have never really subscribedto that because then I find
myself truly with blinders ongetting to that five and 10 year
goal and I lose, lose thatability to pivot, to see

(18:27):
opportunity when it presentsitself.
What's next for me is keepingmy eyes and ears open for
opportunity, for excitement, forchances to take.
We have some interest in someother markets for bringing
something like Rochester Localthere.
I'm thinking about what thatlooks like.
What does that look like?

(18:47):
Do I have the capacity to addfour or five, six sites?
What does that look like?
How can I bring this model toother communities with still
maintaining a healthy familylife, a healthy marriage, these
sorts of things?
So I for me, I don't think thatmy creative energy will ever
wane.

(19:07):
I don't.
It's just, it's intrinsic, it'spart of who I am.
I don't feel tired, I've got alot of capacity.
So it's just constantly keepingmy eye open for that right next
fit.

Bill Von Bank (19:21):
What advice would you give to aspiring
entrepreneurs looking to createcommunity-driven businesses like
yours?

Becky Montpetit (19:29):
I would say the number one thing is to do your
best to fall in love with whereyou live, To find other people
who not only share that but havea passion for making it better.
Align yourself with the peoplethat truly fit your vision.

(19:50):
Not only that, but make yourhobby, make one hobby, something
that you choose to spend youroff time at, related to your
business, and then find joy inthat, Find some sort of
fulfillment in that piece of howyou spend your free time that
ultimately relates back to yourbusiness in a hobby.

(20:14):
And I say that because being anentrepreneur is so full on.
There's no on or off switches,You're just on and it is a ton
of work.
And if you can't trick yourselfinto believing that some of the
things that you do in your offtime that are fun, that bring

(20:34):
you fulfillment, is actuallywork, then you kind of come to
this dichotomy you fulfillmentis actually work.
Then you kind of come to thisdichotomy of like is this work?
Is this play, what is it?
But if you can somehow makethat switch to something that
you're doing that relates toyour endeavor, it won't be as
hard because it truly isall-encompassing.

Bill Von Bank (20:54):
Well, this has been a great conversation.
Love your passion and it soundslike you've truly found your
joy.

Becky Montpetit (21:00):
Oh, thank you, Bill.
I love what I do, I do.

Bill Von Bank (21:04):
Becky Monpetit, thank you for being our guest on
the Growing Destinationspodcast.

Becky Montpetit (21:08):
Thanks so much, Bill, for having me.

Bill Von Bank (21:10):
Thank you for tuning in to the Growing
Destinations podcast and don'tforget to subscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Advertise With Us

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