From Cookies to Community: Our Business Reboot Explained

The components of a rural business reboot

Sometimes, if you are a business run by people who are better at writing songs and drawing pictures than “calculating KPIs” that are “circling back” on “synergistic deep-dives”, you find yourself needing a good reboot a few times. That is certainly our business’ story.

If you’ve ever read our About page you know we’ve iterated, to say the least. We’ve come a long way from Coyote Cookies and kid’s crafts. It’s even been a minute since flower bouquets and mealworms.

That’s why it is time to explain our newest rebirth. While the logo and the name have stayed the same, and still betray an affinity for cookies, we are no longer making and selling things, per se.

We are a community preparedness hub. The elevator pitch is this: create a place that models and facilitates education on the theme of Community Preparedness.

(Jump to the end to skip the backstory and learn how others are helping.)

And here is the equation:

No cash, ample space

Like so many rural families across the country, we have been blessed with a little bit of family land. We didn’t buy it, we never could have. We have a decidedly limited income. But we have land. No cash, ample space. It is a common modern story in rural spaces. And we, like many, want to honor the land, our place in its troubled history, and not sell it to developers.

+ an uncertain future

It is clear that the ordinary days we took for granted at one time are disappearing. Have disappeared, that is. There is no denying it. Arguably every segment of the life of an Arkansan is morphing into something…else. Our weather is growing more unforgiving, our educational structures are stumbling, our food systems are growing more fragile, our civil rights are being trampled, the governmental agencies created for the purposes of protecting the most vulnerable being erased. Etcetera.

All signs point toward continued instability at the very least.

+ what history has taught us

History has taught us so much. Most applicable here is that eventually, every community is forced to look to each other for what they need to survive. (Geographical communities as well as social communities like networks of friends and family.)

If the community doesn’t have its own established resources, or figure out how to find them, they disappear. The “resources” being anything from open lines of communication, skills and knowledge, access to healthcare, materials, reverence for each other, patience, and a daring and creative spirit.

A fire needs fuel, heat and oxygen to burn. Lose one component, the fire goes out. A community’s “fire” will not burn for long when they lose, for example, the knowledge of how to put food away. Or when they demonize an important portion of their population. Or when their elders lose value as a citizens after they leave the workforce and can not contribute to the economy. Or when we can’t break away from a reliance on ever-more-expensive natural resources to build our structures or drive our cars and tractors.

Rural communities are already needing to get incredibly crafty. Anywhere in recent years there has been deadly flash floods, hurricanes, drought, and fire, for example.

= Community Preparedness Hub

So what does this all mean? It means we need to create learning resources now, joyfully and energetically, mindfully and urgently. We need to find our leaders and enable them. We need to find our teachers and gather around them, share spaces together again. Feed each other humbly and graciously, again and again, while we learn how to feel and live with these new social pains together. And we must feel the absolute delight that comes with learning new skills. And the comfort of knowing our neighbors and discovering the neighbor who smokes meat, the neighbor who builds sheds, the neighbor who resolves conflicts, the neighbor who repairs cars, the neighbor who calls politicians, the neighbor who writes poetry, the neighbor who reuses seemingly everything making new things out of nothing.

The goal of the Community Preparedness Hub at Sulphur Springs Truck Patch is to start the process of learning the logic of creating the open lines of communication, sharing skills and knowledge, knowing the location of materials, discovering reverence for each other, crafting patience and perseverance, and a daring and creative spirit in our community. To learn how to create networks small enough and independent enough that they’re quick, adaptive and most importantly prepared for as much as possible.

We’ll do this by bringing in guests who can teach us, hosting workshops, crafting videos, and more. But each of these resources (especially the teachers who deserve to be compensated) take funding.

So here’s how we do it. Before we acquire greater funding, we have decided we must reach a stable lodging income through the May House and Juniper House. You know how it goes, when you have a stable income, you can think straight, with clarity, more mindfully. We aren’t business professionals. We’re a busy family with property taxes and flat tires and ideas.

Guests mean growth

So for us, guests mean growth. We have a goal of $40,000 from lodging and related income in 2026. That will be a challenge. There are a lot of new slick, more expensive joints in town the last several years. But when we are on track to reach $40,000 we can keep hosting workshops, conduct interviews, paying experts (I believe “thought leaders” is the current lingo) to the teach their communities, etc.

So while we are no longer selling mealworm frass and zinnias at the farmers market anymore, there are still ways for our community (that’s you!) to help to meet our goals.

Here is a list of 15 ways you can help us create Arkansas’ first Community Preparedness Hub.

1. Click through to the houses and poke around!
2. Tell your friends and family to stay at the Truck Patch when they visit you.
3. Book a small business retreat using both houses! (Contact me for help coordinating days!)
4. Book a guys night out
5. Book a girls night out
6. Book a mom’s night out
7. Book a small friend reunion
8. Meet your crew before your Mt. Nebo wedding
9. Book the May House as a mountain biking rendezvous
10. Finish your novel, soundtrack, or thesis at the Juniper House
11. Comment below on our blog posts to help us increase engagement
12. Comment on our reels
13. Follow us on Facebook
14. Follow us on Instagram
15. Subscribe to the newsletter using the form below
16. Tell us about people who might love what we’re doing and vice versa
17. Feed the animals using the food we provide during a tour (donations encouraged!)

Everything helps. Love you bye!