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WHEELING -- Former West Virginia Commissioner of Tourism Amy Shuler-Goodwin isn't yet certain what her next job will be, but she is pretty sure it will involve community and promoting West Virginia's resources and businesses.
Goodwin termed her time as tourism commissioner "an unbelievable experience" that was just one part of a 25-year career in public service.
"I thought of it as more of a calling than a job," she said. "I'm not sure of the things I'm going to be doing, but I will be continuing in the same vein. There are things I know I can do to promote 'Wild, Wonderful West Virginia' -- not just from a tourism standpoint, but a business one.
"I have been encouraged to do several things, and I'm taking careful consideration on what should be doing. I'm think about not necessarily what I want to do, but what I should do. Then I'm going to follow that passion through."
Goodwin hinted a run for political office could be in her future, but she is still considering her options. She admits to being influenced by her grandmother, the late State Sen. Thais Blatnik, a Democrat who represented Ohio County.
"Government is where my real passion lies," she said. "I want to put my energy into making things happens in the future."
Goodwin was replaced as commissioner earlier this month upon the swearing in of new Gov. Jim Justice. Her husband, Booth Goodwin, opposed Justice in the Democrat gubernatorial primary last year.
A 1989 graduate of Wheeling Park High School, Goodwin went on to obtain a degree in journalism at West Virginia University. Prior to her job at the Division of Tourism, she worked as a reporter, as communications director for the city of Charleston, and as spokesperson for governors Bob Wise and Earl Ray Tomblin.
"I like to fix things and tell a story," she said. "I like to be the person who puts things on a board to see what needs to be done."
Goodwin's journalism background served her well as tourism commissioner. To save money on a slight budget, she often took needed photos and edited videos promoting the state.
"But I was always on the outside looking in, and it's so freeing being able to say the things you believe -- not just what is in press release or the things people need to hear," she said. "And there is so much we need to do and hear in West Virginia."
She said political factions in the state "don't coordinate well."
"They don't sit on the same side of the room," she said. "We all have to realize nobody owns any one single part of the state and its resources."
Changing this dynamic starts with educating "the youngest folks in the state" about West Virginia's culture and history, according to Goodwin.
"We have to remind them of what the future can be for them," she said. "They have a promising future, but it's up to them to be active. We have to tell them not allow someone to make decisions about future, but that you have to make decisions about your future for yourself. You have to make destiny for yourself."
Goodwin said West Virginia too often is extremely wasteful with its talent and finances, and that state leaders need to look to where the state will be in decades to come.
"Nobody 10 years ago would have said we would need more media directors than photographers, or folks who know how to code," Goodwin said. "The world is changing so fast, and West Virginia is so far behind."
Amy Shuler-Goodwin poses with a cow at the West Virginia State Fair.