Justin Draplin is a visionary entrepreneur who is going vertical with tiny house development by building tiny homes, developing tiny home communities, and also developing and manufacturing technology for the homes in-house. In this wide-ranging interview, Justin tells me why “tiny house” is a bit of a swear word in his company, his mentality about finding land for development, and some of the features of these impressive cottages.

Michael Bartz talks to me about all things tiny houses, environmentalism, and climate change. When Michael hand-built his own tiny house on wheels, it set him on the path to thinking more about how what we do and how we live impacts climate change and inspired him to start his podcast, Over My Head, to discuss that with others. In this interview, we talk about his show, his tiny house and its special features, and more.

Joe Callantine has both the desire and the vision to live tiny in community. He has already built and lived in his own tiny house, he owns the land for the tiny community, and now he is working through the legal and regulatory steps to make his dream a reality. Joe is incredibly patient, kind, and does a great job of describing how this process works. As more and more people build tiny houses, the demand for legal tiny house parking is rising so that people who do want to live legally don’t have to question whether they’re allowed to live in their tiny homes.

I was excited to finally sit down with Melanie Copeland because it seems like her name is everywhere! Between a book that is charting on the Amazon bestseller list and involvement with Tiny House Alliance USA, Melanie is a mover and a shaker in the tiny house world. She also has an amazing personal story of renovating a tiny house in just 7 days.

This is a conversation about a family coming together after a tragic accident and the DIY. Alex became a diesel mechanic in order to learn how to work on the bus that she converted and then ultimately went on to convert a skoolie that had special features for her brother who was the victim of an accident that left him a quadriplegic. It’s an incredibly uplifting story and a fascinating look at how tiny houses can solve so many unique problems.

Rex Holbein started a Facebook page that has become a thriving nonprofit called Facing Homelessness. Among other things, Facing Homelessness reaches out to local homeowners and places ADUs in their back yards to help house homeless people in their communities. There’s more to it than that and I hope you stick around for my conversation with Rex as we talk about the causes of homelessness, the way that society looks past homeless people, and what we can all do about it.

The road to tiny house living can sometimes be bumpy, but my guests today, Justin and Juby, show us that a life of adventure is possible when living tiny – even with a child. Justin and Juby have been sharing their skoolie adventure on Instagram and YouTube for a while now. I'd heard about them from both members of Tiny House Engage and previous guests on the show, so I knew I had to have them on for an interview. In this episode, we talk about what it's like to live on a bus, what it takes to set up then pack up to travel, and mistakes they've made along the way, and how they manage their businesses from the road.

Erica Smith Ewing is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice and she is leading a lawsuit against a town in Georgia that is preventing somebody from building tiny houses solely based on a minimum square footage requirement. According to Ewing and the Institute for Justice, this is a violation of the Georgia constitution. I've been fascinated by stories of people and groups striking down restrictive tiny house laws based on the constitutionality of land use and size restrictions. in this conversation, Erica will shed light on her thinking behind the case, why she thinks that they are going to prevail, and makes a call to our listeners for anybody that may be experiencing restrictions on building a tiny house to potentially get in touch to see if there might be a legal case or a legal basis for going into court.

Guillaume Gabriele has been working for the builder, Ma Petite Maison, who is building some of the most beautiful tiny houses in all of Europe. I've been following them for a while and I'm excited to finally get to sit down with Guillaume to talk about the designs that Ma Petite Maison uses and how they're different in Europe than tiny house designs are in the United States, the state of the tiny house movement in Europe, and his own personal tiny house story.

Solar heaters can make a lot of sense if you live in a cold climate with sun because they essentially provide free heat during the day. The designs haven't always been great, though. Erik Latoki, DIY tinkerer and lifelong fabricator, has incorporated his industrial oven design experience into a DIY solar heater build that can be built with common materials found at local big box stores. His plans, which are completely free, don't require any welding or special knowledge and if you're already building your tiny home, you most likely have the necessary tools and experience already. In this conversation, Erik explains everything from what a solar heater is to how it's installed, what it can be used for, and other important details. If you're looking for alternative ways to heat your tiny house, this episode will definitely open your eyes to some new possibilities.