When a hashtag takes on an entire town!

It has been 3 weeks since our town found out we did NOT win the Small Business Revolution TV series, but oh what a whirlwind it has been! My amazing town came in 2nd place, of thousands of small towns submitted! That is a WIN in my book, but not exactly the win we had geared up for… So what do we do with that?

A few days before Amanda Brinkman was to announce the top 5 cities chosen, I began a photo journey through downtown The Dalles, with a wooden sign and camera in my hands. It was my effort to help get the town excited and ready to start voting if we were to win the top 5, and it was also a way for me to introduce myself to the town more personally.

After watching every single episode of The Small Business Revolution, I noticed one very important thing each business needed in order to market itself well - great photography! Photography that told their story, AND showcased who they were as individuals. It has been a huge inspiration to me to help put a face to each small business.

This was just a small sample of the image, click here to read the entire finished project.

This journey has taught me so much about community. I am so proud of the small businesses, and community members here who came together and showed such strong support. Even though we did not win the season 5 spot, I have seen so much encouragement come out of this. I know our small town will continue to support our local businesses. This has proven to me that we have an incredible community.

MANY Thanks goes out to Lindsey over at Toasted Maple for helping inspire this amazing photo journey, and providing me with the incredible #TheDalles sign I used throughout the project! Check out her website for more custom wood tokens and ideas!