Christina Entenmann, Editor-in-Chief of HASHTAGWV expresses ingenuity, creativity, service, and dedication every day and every month with her work with National Apprentice Day and HASHTAG WV.

Christina shared her thoughts with me on service, business, and personal subjects this month.

So why “LB Spy”? Not the name necessarily but your creative concept and drive?

The publication is modeled off a typical free city paper. Growing up, I always picked up the city paper locally or wherever I traveled. My favorite paper is the “Village Voice”. All of these papers are a useful resource to learn about the local culture. My drive to launch LBSPY, now HASHTAGWV was my son. He was 3 years old at the time and I was a single mother. During this time, which was in 2011, there was no local city paper and I wanted to work from home so I could care for my son.

So who are you? Before HASHTAGWV during the years since you started and NOW?

Before the paper, I was just an MBA graduate and single mother trying to figure out a new life in West Virginia. I moved here in 2008 and I grew up in Connecticut. My parents are Hungarian immigrants who came to this country to pursue the American dream. My goal in life was never to start a paper but given my interests, it seemed like a fun idea that would keep me interested. Today, my family is growing with my recent engagement and my fiancé’s two children. Life in West Virginia has never been so fulfilling.

Describe “service” in your life now.

I work alongside extraordinary contributors and advertisers to serve thousands of readers about the best places to eat, shop, drink, and happenings. This paper keeps going each month with the support of advertising revenue. We seem to serve students, too, as I’ve seen the paper’s Lewisburg Map posted in elementary and middle school classrooms. It helps them understand the general geography of the town.

Whether I’m offering a service for an advertising client who needs help with an ad campaign, or I am writing an article on a specific person or event, the goal is to always offer the best service.

Service is a huge part of the ApprenticeDay.org program as well. The US economy faces an impending skills gap and by working with businesses, year-round, to introduce kids to their dream job for a day of job shadowing, we can ignite a desire in these kids to learn valuable skills.

Both the Hashtag Lewisburg publication and the Apprentice Day program serves two types of clients. No matter who the person is that I’m working with, they are served with the same involvement and interest.

Tell us a few important things about Natl. Apprentice Day and your involvement.

To date, ApprenticeDay.org has connected over 180 youth to their dream job since its launch in September 2015. This program is free for kids and businesses.

I am the president/founder and started this program through the inspiration of my son. He wanted to spend a day job shadowing a local professional and there was no program in existence offering this type of service. ApprenticeDay.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and donation funded. To make a donation, please visit ApprenticeDay.org/Donate

What drives you to meet the deadline for a monthly paper?

Deadlines are the driving force. No matter what is going on in my life, the paper has to be published on time. There is always time to print this paper and if there isn’t time, I make the time.

– Diana Hunt, HashtagWV #103. July 2018.