Dr. Mandy Wriston: Empowering Appalachia Through Education, Innovation, and Purpose

Welcome to our interview with Dr. Mandy Wriston, founder of Appalachian Queen Consulting and Public Relations, LLC. Dr. Wriston shares her journey from growing up in Appalachia to founding her consulting company, focusing on serving the needs of the region. Throughout the interview, she discusses the challenges and opportunities in Appalachia, offers insights into effective teamwork and unity, and provides valuable advice for startups. Join us as we explore Dr. Wriston's inspiring story and her dedication to empowering her community.

Early Life & Education

Dr. Mandy Wriston has lived in the Appalachian region her entire life. She grew up between a very rural area and a small city. Some of the things she learned to do early in life were how to plant and care for a large garden, cure a pig, and cook on a wood stove. When she must introduce and share an interesting fact about herself in public, she always shares that she has dug a hole for an outhouse, which usually causes a few comical reactions.

She was an average student in secondary education and college. It was because she wasn’t doing well in college that she decided to research the possibility that she had a learning disability. She was having a tough time staying focused and paying attention in class. She visited the disability services office of her college and was told it was too late to test her for a formal diagnosis. She left the office determined to conduct her own research to see how she could help herself.

After learning a few tips and tricks on how to deal with her inability to stay focused and some test anxiety, her grades improved. In fact, in her last year of college, she realized she loved the classroom setting. She wasn’t just learning better; she was enjoying the new information. She graduated on the Dean’s list with an undergraduate degree in Travel and Tourism with a concentration in Food and Beverage Operations. After graduation, she was an assistant catering director for a brief time. However, family responsibilities led her to full-time work in the tourism industry of West Virginia. She began working for a photography company that takes pictures of whitewater rafting.

She worked in the rafting industry for four years until she was offered a position with a county recreation authority where she acted as the Director of Operations & Finance. It was here that she met one of her board members who would change the course of her life. He offered her a position working for him at a nine-county region convention and visitors bureau (CVB). She was excited to work for an organization in the West Virginia tourism industry that she loved. The CVB is where she was able to network with group tour buyers from around the nation. She received two certificates in grant writing and coordinated a large grant with multiple partners. She learned about marketing, including developing and maintaining a brand. They had a great director of public relations, and this helped her learn about press releases before the era of social media. Unfortunately, a change in leadership meant a change in industries for her.

In 2006, she transitioned to higher education by becoming a student life coordinator. Working at a university was another life-changing experience for her. During this stage of her life, she realized that she missed being on a college campus. She missed the routines of the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Tourism and campus life may seem to be on two different ends of the employment spectrum; however, students are like tourists. Both are essentially guests or customers of the organization. Both want to be entertained for the duration of their visit and both need to be kept safe. The best thing about working at a university is that staff members can move around to different departments to learn different skill sets. She spent some time in student affairs and was promoted to Director of Student Affairs. She then moved to the private on-campus middle/high school as an Assistant Dean. From that department, she transitioned to the Department of Leadership and Professional Studies to become the first coordinator of the Doctor of Executive Leadership program.

Finally, she came full circle in the university and became Dean of Students and Campus Life. Throughout her journey at the university, she learned event planning skills, exercised her marketing and PR skills, learned new software, discovered how all the departments in a university worked together, and even learned how an academic program is built from the ground up. She was fortunate to learn such a variety of skills in this context. She also enrolled in a Master of Strategic Leadership program while employed at the university. She was excited to be re-engaged in the learning process and reaffirmed to herself that she enjoyed learning, researching, and writing about new things. She learned that the concept of leadership is so broad that it applies to everything.

The university she worked for closed in 2012, and she found herself back in travel and tourism. She landed a job at the local Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau. This position was primarily focused on marketing and public relations. She used skills from her previous position at the regional CVB as well as skills she learned at the university, including implementing new software for the chamber to keep track of its members and events.

She also coordinated the state’s largest one-day extreme sports festival, Official Bridge Day. This was event coordination on both a state and national level. It took many organizations and people to produce an event on this scale. What most people didn’t know was that there were only two full-time employees of the chamber of commerce who were ultimately responsible. She remains very proud of that accomplishment.

During her time at the chamber/CVB, she enrolled as a doctoral student at Indiana Institute of Technology’s Ph.D. in Global Leadership program. This was another life-changing decision for her. She thoroughly enjoyed her time in the program and met people from all around the world. She not only grew as a researcher in the program but also as a person. The faculty were more than educators; they were mentors as well. Her dissertation chair became both a mentor and a cheerleader for her and remains a very dear friend to this day. The last portion of her program took place during Covid-19. Doctoral students often talk about how lonely the dissertation phase can be, but this experience was on an entirely different level. She had lost the social interaction of her online courses and in her personal life. Therefore, she used the opportunity to focus on her research and writing. In 2021, she received her degree and was also awarded Dissertation of the Year in her concentration of Higher Education Administration. Her dissertation is entitled, A Case Study of How Leaders in an Appalachian County View Themselves in a Global Society, and can be accessed for free on ProQuest.

Business Overview

Dr. Mandy Wriston resigned from her position at the chamber/CVB to work on her dissertation full-time. While that may sound a little crazy, she had already been in two different terminal degree programs. The first one was at the university that closed, which meant she had to start from scratch in the new program. She felt she needed to focus on the huge project that had been dragging along for several years.

As many may remember, it was difficult to find a new position during the pandemic. This prompted her to start her own small consulting company. She decided to put all the skills and experience she had gained over the years under one roof. The concept of Appalachian Queen was the result of many hours of consultation with her dissertation chair, Dr. Brenda C. Williams. During one of their mentoring sessions, Dr. Williams referred to her as her “Appalachian Queen.” She had never heard those two concepts in the same sentence. As a result of her studies, she became acutely aware of the strength and resilience of Appalachian citizens.

Appalachian Queen Consulting and Public Relations, LLC is also the product of several conversations with Appalachian citizens who are trying to make a difference in their communities. These individuals have families and full-time jobs yet still find time to participate in volunteer organizations. They expressed a need for assistance with event promotion, grant writing, and content writing. Dr. Mandy Wriston also volunteers in her community and recognized a need for board consulting services that would provide solid research before making decisions on behalf of organizations.

Since opening her business, she has provided consulting services to a wide range of clients. For instance, she has helped coordinate and handle public relations for events in the local paranormal community. She has consulted with members of the pagan community about grants. She is currently working with three different non-profits to create programming for Appalachian youth, strategic marketing plans, and long-term strategic planning. She also currently assists two businesses with social media and marketing. She has done very well by keeping an open mind.

Growth & Expansion Plans

Growth and expansion in the Appalachian region are slow processes. Dr. Mandy Wriston found in her research of global leadership in Appalachia that residents are still very much focused on what it takes to get by day to day. Resources still need to be improved in the region. Many areas still do not have access to good broadband because of the geography. Good-paying jobs with benefits are hard to come by, as is adequate healthcare. To answer the question, right now she is focused on taking care of the clients she already has with a limited workforce. Her first goal is to help the Appalachian professionals around her. She believes it is too early in the game to start thinking about expansion. If she does expand, it will be further out into the Appalachian region.

2023 was a slow year for Dr. Mandy Wriston. She likes to think of it as the year she tried to get her name out there. She had a few small projects that allowed her to prove her competence and abilities. Appalachians are not very trusting, mainly because so many outsiders have taken advantage of their people and resources. This year, however, has been great for her business. It has taken off significantly. She has gained several new clients and even made some great connections with people who can refer clients to her.

Her business offers public relations, grant consultation, content writing, motivational speaking, leadership development, resume writing, and board consulting at an affordable price to people who live and work in the Appalachian region. Most people in Appalachia, especially small entrepreneurs, cannot afford current competitive market prices.

Building Effective Teams

From what Dr. Mandy Wriston has witnessed, most leaders attend leadership programs but do not implement what they learn. She believes the first step should be implementing the lessons learned from these programs. It is not enough to say, “I’ve been to the program so that makes me a great leader.” She believes organizations should research the individuals who make up their teams. For instance, in her dissertation research, her recommendations suggest that Appalachian employees should be recognized as minorities just like any other minority group. Appalachians should be treated with cultural sensitivity by global leaders and organizations they interact with. Furthermore, orientation and training programs of global organizations should acknowledge that Appalachian employees think and lead differently than their colleagues. She emphasizes that organizations should stop thinking in terms of “team first” and instead think in terms of the individual before building the team.

Her company’s focus is on Appalachians living in the region. Dr. Mandy Wriston is a professional researcher and conducts a significant amount of her own research. Going in a slightly different direction from the previous question, she wants to be part of the movement that has begun to control the narrative that has long been perpetuated about the people who inhabit the Appalachian region.

Startup Tips

Keep an open mind. Don’t limit yourself until you see what your clients want. Meet them where they are, and their needs are. Keep going even if your pace is one step at a time or one day at a time. Find someone you trust to be your cheerleader. Don’t be afraid to brag or talk about your successes. If you can’t do it, have your cheerleader speak the words and use them to your advantage! Patronize local businesses as much as you can. That’s how I’ve made several great connections and have been able to connect with other people.

conclusion

In conclusion, Dr. Mandy Wriston's journey is a testament to the resilience and determination found in the Appalachian region. Through her consulting company, she is not only providing valuable services but also reshaping the narrative and empowering her community. As we conclude this interview, we invite you to learn more about Dr. Wriston's work by visiting her website. Additionally, we encourage you to connect with Dr. Mandy Wriston on LinkedIn to stay updated on her endeavours and join the conversation on transforming Appalachia for the better. Thank you for joining us on this enlightening journey with Dr. Mandy Wriston.

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