The altruism of Owassoisms

By Mallory Sepúlveda

Most people know Owassoisms as the easiest place to be notified of an Owasso business closing, or a car accident, or an upcoming special occasion from a local group. With daily posts on their website, Instagram, Facebook and X, as well as the other community groups under their umbrella, Owassoisms runs like a large-scale operation. However, it is mostly managed by Owasso’s own Cyndi Knoten, who dedicates her time, energy and passion to uplifting Owasso through community engagement and selfless pursuits.

“Other cities wanted us to do things like what we’re doing here.” Knoten listed the pages she keeps updated: “We have Discover Collinsville; we have Discover Green Country; we have Discover Broken Arrow; we have Discover Rogers County. Plus … I’m an admin on 42 different pages. So if you follow Wheels and Thrills, part of that is me. If you follow Baja Jacks, all of that is me.”

Thanks to her connections around the city, Knoten can stay up to date with the latest Owasso news.

“We work really close with the police department. I think a good majority of the police department has my phone number, and they use it. The [police] scanner is always going in the background; they’ll even dispatch to us on the radio,” Knoten added. “We’ve helped find lots of kids; we’ve helped find lots of pets; we’ve helped a lot of different things.”

During our interview, Knoten’s office neighbor Tim Rich stopped in to say hi. During his quick visit, he gushed praises about Knoten and her work ethic.

“This lady is like the cornerstone, the bedrock of our community for communication,” smiled Rich. “I’m serious; I’m not just saying that because she’s sitting there.”

Rich’s claims were corroborated by Knoten’s obvious passion for her job.

“I have not taken a salary in fifteen years. I’ve never written myself a check since I’ve worked here.” Knoten expressed, “To me, it’s a mission … to uplift Owasso and start things that are community oriented.”

Photo of Cyndi Knoten’s desk taken by Mallory Sepúlveda

Now that Owasso Reporter is no longer publishing, Owassoisms stands as the only main source of information for the city. Knoten does not claim to replace Owasso Reporter as a news source, but instead to be a news outlet with a different perspective.

“When we first began, I did [consider Owassoisms a news source],” admitted Knoten. “But I have flipped that to a community organization. We are all about the community; if there’s anybody we can help, we do.”

In fact, Owassoisms found its beginnings in Owasso Reporter.

“Actually, I worked for the Reporter for eight years. And it was at a time where newspapers … were closing left and right,” described Knoten. “[New Owasso Reporter owners] came here and immediately wanted to change [the paper] into a glass half empty situation—sensationalizing all the headlines and punishing writers for not doing that. I was in the advertising end of it.”

Knoten did not take well to this new standard of negativity. Around the same time, she noticed that social media was gaining influence and proposed an addition to the paper.

“My advertisers were saying, ‘What are you going to do to change the paper’s image?’ I thought, ‘Well, we could incorporate more social media into offerings for advertisers,’ and I was told it was a stupid idea. A couple months later, [the paper] didn’t get any better, and I just thought, ‘I’m gonna leave.’” Knoten continued, “So I left and started Owassoisms—not to make it a business, but to prove it could be done. That was fifteen years ago. Within less than a week, we had more followers than the Reporter did.”

Knoten founded Owassoisms to create a community outlet that was different from Owasso Reporter.

“At the newspaper, my job was to sell advertising so they could do their job and keep the newspaper going. We do [Owassoisms] to support our advertisers. It’s just the reverse,” acknowledged Knoten.

Photo of Owassoisms license plate taken by Mallory Sepúlveda

Knoten works tirelessly to uplift the community. Even through major life obstacles, she kept Owassoisms active.

“About a month after I hired [my first employee], I started having weird medical symptoms. They decided that it was MS … but a … kind which shows up like tumors. I was in the hospital for two weeks. I still worked through that, but it was very difficult,” Knoten shared. ”[I] had to read one word at a time because I couldn’t put a sentence together. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This job has just allowed me to work through any issues like that.”

Through thick and thin, Knoten has used Owassoisms’s influence to help Owasso.

“It’s been a blessing to be able to give back to the community,” exclaimed Knoten. “One of the biggest things is when I’ve had people that were in the military that said, ‘You were my connection to home when I was overseas … and I could still feel what was going on at home when I was gone.’ And that was worth it right there to me.”

Knoten posts every day and keeps the police scanner running even while she sleeps. She is always on call to post important information, like updates on car accidents or construction. Over the past fifteen years, she has had very few days off.

“It does get tiring,” admitted Knoten. “[But] Just being able to help somebody [makes it worth it.] You can’t really quantify what my job is because there’s really nothing that is like Owassoisms out there. Because [we’re] not really news, and [we’re] not really advertising, but [we’re] more community.

Thanks to Knoten’s endless commitment to Owassoisms, she has helped countless families and businesses. Her community-focused approach to social media has connected Owasso for fifteen years, and she is determined to continue being a beacon of positivity in Owasso.