There are so many of us who feel deeply disempowered by our current economy, especially if you've

lived in a town or region where good jobs have shriveled up and opportunities to support yourself

and your family feel harder and harder to find. But our speaker today reminds us that we are

still part of the economy, even and especially when times are tough.

We have power in it, especially when we reinvest in the places we love and recognize the skills and talents that have always existed there.

I'm Madhupacanola.

This is Ted Business, a podcast from TED.

Molly Hemstreet is the executive co-director of the Industrial Commons, an organization which helps create and support worker-owned textile manufacturers and worker development programs.

Molly lays out how she went about revitalizing the rural economy in her community

without relying on extracting resources from the land.

Molly is a 2025 Ted Fellow, and she was featured in Ted's annual Fellows film series, where she dove

deeply into her project. We're bringing you an audio version of her film on the show today.

Then afterwards, all think about finding your connection to place and why it matters.

But first, a quick break.

And now, Molly Hemstreet takes the TED stage.

When you've had a lot of opportunity taken out of your community, you just feel incredibly powerless. You're not sure where to start. You also don't have the energy to figure out how do you impact something like an economy?

Often what we really need is a new imagination.

How do we create opportunities that can root wealth and overturn these cycles of generational poverty in our communities?

I'm Molly Him Street. I'm the co-founder and co-executive director of the Industrial

Commons, and I work to bring opportunity

to rural communities across southern Appalachia.

Appalachia for me is a really beautiful place, and it is where I call home. I always think

...