DECEMBER 2025
COVER STORY
Danger at the Counter: Synthetic Opioids Are Flooding Gas Stations — What Rural Leaders Need to Know Now, pg.8 GetRuralLeaderMag.com | DECEMBER 2025 1
Contents Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Kuanita E. Murphy, PhD Rural Leader Magazine, LLC is a digital publication that highlights every day people doing extraordinary things nationally and abroad. www.RuralLeaderMag.com www.GetRuralLeaderMag.com
About Us
Launched in March 2014, Rural Leader Magazine, LLC is a digital publication with a mission to highlight every day people doing extraordinary things in business, education, music, community, art, sports, and leadership nationally and abroad. Rural Leader Magazine honors exemplary individuals on a variety of levels, such as the 20 under 20 Honors, 40 under 40 Honors, Best Small Town Restaurant, Small Town America’s 100 Most Influential People, the Scholars of Collegiate Distinction, Fifty under Fifty, and the Eagle Elite Club.—
7 The Light Between Us: How Small Towns Shine Brightest in December
12 ‘Share the Love’ and grant wishes this holiday season
COVER STORY 8 Danger at the Counter: Synthetic Opioids Are Flooding Gas Stations — What Rural Leaders Need to Know Now
14 Anesthesiologist-led research improves care for patients of all ages
10 Barbershop Talks Brings Community to the Table: A Holiday Dinner With Purpose
17 How AI agents help the ‘Fortune 5 million’ thrive
Reproduction in any manner, in whole or in part, in English, or other languages, is prohibited without written consent. Send editorial ideas to Kuanita Murphy, PhD, Editor-in-Chief Contact Us ruralleadermagazine@gmail.com Tell us what you think about our publications, if you have a great idea for a story, or to just share. We may print your comments in Rural Leader Magazine. By sending us your comments, you’re giving permission to call you for an interview. Please be sure to include your name, address, email address, and phone number so we can reach you. Write to us at RuralLeaderMagazine@gmail.com— 2
RuralLeaderMag.com | DECEMBER 2025
Editor’s Note
The Light We Carry Into the New Year By Dr. Kuanita E. Murphy, Publisher Rural Leader Magazine
December always arrives with a kind of quiet wisdom. It asks us to pause, take stock, and remember that even in a year that stretched us, blessed us, and challenged us, we are still here — still building, still rising, still showing up for the people and places we love. As I flipped through this month’s issue, I was struck by how perfectly it reflects the heart of rural leadership. You’ll see it in the holiday artwork on page 6 — a peaceful winter street lined with warm windows glowing against the cold. You’ll feel it in our feature on page 7, where we talk about how small towns shine brightest not because of what we have, but because of who we are. And you’ll see it again in the powerful reminder etched boldly on
page 4: What you do matters. This month’s stories prove that truth again and again. From the urgent call to action in our cover story on synthetic opioids — an issue that is finding its way into the very places our youth visit daily — to the Barbershop Talks community dinner bringing people together in honest conversation, the message is the same: rural leadership is rooted in vigilance, compassion, and community. We close out the year spotlighting resilience — in children facing critical illnesses, in families navigating hardship, and in the quiet heroes working behind the scenes to make their corners of the world better. December reminds us that hope isn’t always loud. Sometimes it looks like porch lights glowing on a cold night, a shared meal at a barbershop, or a neighbor checking in “just because.” As we step into a new year, I want to leave you with this thought: Your presence is a gift to your community. Your work is a thread that strengthens the whole fabric. Your light — yes, yours — helps someone else find their way. Thank you for every bold idea, every late-night planning session, every time you chose to pour into people who needed you. Thank you for leading with heart in places the world doesn’t always see, but desperately needs. May this season bring you rest, clarity, and renewed vision. And may you never forget: what you do matters. Warmly,
Dr. Kuanita E. Murphy Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Rural Leader Magazine
What you do matters. @RuralLeaderMag GetRuralLeaderMag.com | DECEMBER 2025 3