Community Spotlight: What Rural America Teaches You About Self-Reliance
Founder Ashley “Lee” Anderson with her dog “Waylon”.
In Northern Maine, life moves differently. Resources are limited, distances are long, and when something goes wrong, there isn’t always someone to call. For the owner behind Anderson North, coming to this region wasn’t simply a change of scenery—it was an education in how much of America actually lives.
“Coming up here felt like stepping into a whole new world,” they said. “Living rurally really showed me what America looks like when convenience is stripped away.”
Rural America, they explain, operates on necessity rather than abundance. Help is not guaranteed, infrastructure is thin, and people are often left to figure things out on their own. That reality forces a kind of honesty—about what works, what doesn’t, and what survival actually requires.
“You don’t have much help up here. You don’t have many resources,” they said. “But what it teaches you is self-reliance—how to depend on yourself, how to problem-solve, and how to survive.”
Those lessons reshaped not only how they live, but how they work. Anderson North didn’t come from a desire to chase trends or scale quickly. It grew out of seeing a disconnect between what people in rural communities actually need and what is often offered to them.
“I didn’t start this to build something flashy,” they said. “I started it because people needed things that fit real life, not ideal conditions.”
Community, in that context, takes on a different meaning. It isn’t a marketing term or a slogan—it’s accountability. In rural places, what gets built becomes part of someone’s daily survival, especially during long winters and periods of isolation.
“When you build here, your work has consequences,” they said. “If something fails, there’s no easy fallback. That responsibility stays with you.”
Living in Northern Maine also brought a personal reckoning—one that now shapes the philosophy behind the work.
“Being here changed me,” they said. “It made me realize that at the end of the day, all I really have is myself. It’s up to me to get up, to make things happen, and to do what needs to be done.”
That understanding of self-reliance is something they hope to pass on to others.
“I want to create what I didn’t have,” they said. “I want to give people the tools and confidence to live more independently—especially other Americans who are trying to make it work where help isn’t guaranteed.”
The Community Spotlight Series was created to share stories shaped by realities like these—stories rooted in place, lived experience, and the often unseen work of survival in rural America. Rather than focusing on headlines or trends, the series centers on real conversations with people whose lives and work are shaped by where they live.
The full audio interview appears above, offering additional context and firsthand insight into the experiences and perspectives discussed in this feature.
