Superpowers: Listening well and making connections
Executive Director, Hampshire County Convention & Visitors Bureau
As an eighth-generation Hampshire Countian, Tina Ladd’s family roots and love of West Virginia run deep. “I moved away for a year or two a couple of different times, but I would get homesick,” Ladd says. “Without the mountains around me, I feel completely exposed. That’s hard to explain to friends who aren’t from around here.”
After working at the Hampshire County Clerk’s Office for 10 years in estates, she saw a help wanted ad in the newspaper that caught her attention. She decided to apply and landed the role as the executive director of the Hampshire County Convention & Visitors Bureau nearly five years ago. “I didn’t realize how much I was going to enjoy it,” Ladd says. “It’s about promoting my community and helping the people who live here. I’m trying to remind people of what we have and how special it is here.”
While Ladd doesn’t think tourism will solve all the state’s problems, she does believe community support can go a long way in growing the industry. “You have to have your community believe in themselves. If they do, they’re more likely to welcome visitors, to mentor young people, to volunteer.” She’s especially proud of establishing the Farm Crawl—borrowed from Pendleton County—which allows folks to visit working farms in the area and meet the farmers who operate them.
Ladd is always working to bring small businesses into the mix, both to welcome existing ones to events and activities and to develop new businesses in untapped markets. Overall, she aims to blend traditions and change, and she hopes the community can share common goals. “I love West Virginia enough to want both its roots and its future. I don’t want to preserve it by freezing it, but I also don’t want to stifle it from growth.”
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Since 2014 WV Living magazine has been honoring West Virginia Wonder Women, amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. WV Living is proud to celebrate these Appalachian mothers, millennials, and mavens proving that in a time full of uncertainty, divisiveness, and hate, love for one another is all we really need. No need for bulletproof bracelets or a golden lasso of truth—these women are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.
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