Start In Your Own Backyard
Start In Your Own Backyard is a mini-series about how the choices we make, both big and small, can transform the world around us. For host Steve Nygren, this is personal. Two decades ago, while running through the woods on his beloved family farm, he spotted bulldozers toppling trees for what he feared was another soulless suburban development. That sobering moment sparked a question that changed the course of his life: Isn’t there a better way to build community? One that works with nature, not against it?
The answer became Serenbe, a community built on biophilic principles, sustainable living, and the idea that well-being starts in the everyday spaces where we live, work, and connect with others.
Through stories, guest experts, and personal reflections, Start In Your Own Backyard invites listeners to find their own sense of agency. Whether it’s rethinking your diet, running for school board, planting edible landscapes, or advocating for change in your city, the podcast explores what it means to take action right where you are.
With a strong belief in the power of optimism, even when things feel tough, this series shows how each of us can create ripples of positive change.
The question is simple: What gifts do you bring? And are you ready to use them?
Want to dive deeper? Steve’s book, Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense, comes out on October 7th, 2025, and is available for pre-order now wherever you get books. Part memoir, part guidebook, it offers a blueprint for building sustainable, connected communities, places where wonder exists in the everyday and people of all ages can truly thrive.
Start In Your Own Backyard
The Spark of Possibility
In this final episode of the Start In Your Own Backyard mini-series, Steve Nygren reflects on the journey of building Serenbe. What started out as an unlikely idea, sparked in a moment of fear and panic is now a living, breathing community where nature and people are woven back together.
You’ll hear from neighbors like Gil Mathis, who traded a corporate finance career for a more authentic life rooted in connection, and Gigi Wilborne, an artist and entrepreneur who has poured her creativity into nearly every corner of Serenbe. You’ll also meet Price Bell, whose visits to Serenbe inspired him to spark change in his own hometown.
Together, their stories remind us that change doesn’t always start with grand plans. Instead, it begins in backyards, on front porches, and in everyday choices that ripple outward to transform lives.
As we close this series, we return to the bigger lesson running beneath it all: you don’t need to wait for permission to imagine a better way of living. Wherever you are, the spark of possibility is already in your hands. Sometimes all it takes is the courage to begin.
Show Notes
- Pre-Order Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Steve Nygren
- Start In Your Own Backyard Substack
- Learn more about Serenbe
- Serenbe Stories Podcast
Keywords: Serenbe, community building, placemaking, biophilic design, sustainable living, connection to nature, intentional communities, local food, community gardens, shared meals, walkability, small sparks of change, starting in your own backyard, radical common sense, meaningful change, authentic living, neighborhood design, creativity, wellness, joy, beauty, possibility, better way of living
Now through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.
Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle Today
Pre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.