WEST VIRGINIA WONDER WOMEN
MORGAN MORRISON Baking West Virginia Better
Right out of high school, Morgan Morrison took the leap to follow her dreams and bring everyone together through cake. From her small shop in Logan County to her storefront on Capitol Street in Charleston, Rock City Cake Company has become a community staple. After she and her business partner invested everything they had in their Charleston storefront in 2016, Rock City became an overnight sensation— proving that West Virginia can, in fact, support a high-end bakery. Two years later, they outgrew their first Capitol Street location and moved to a larger space on the street to add a music venue to the operation. Morrison was passionate about keeping her business in southern West Virginia, so she rooted her big-city baking techniques here and brought national music acts to the Mountain State to complement them. Rock City does whatever it can to help the community, she says, supporting charity events and fundraisers for various causes. “Cake brings everyone together. You can’t argue over cake—it is a very powerful thing.” At only 25 years old, Morrison is an inspiration to young West Virginians and proof that it is possible to follow your dreams without having to leave the state. MM
MISSY McCOLLAM Leading the Troupe A lifelong performer, Missy McCollam dreamed of providing her community with an establishment that would make the community more vibrant and colorful. The Old Brick Playhouse in Elkins was born.
MELANIE PAGE The Connector
Melanie Page is a big believer in going straight to the people she might be able to help. She also spends one-on-one time with as many faculty members at West Virginia University as she can get to. She works as the associate vice president for creative and scholarly activity in the research office and is charged with facilitating faculty success in achieving greater external support and recognition for their creative and scholarly work. The time she spends is critical in helping
McCollam has theatrical degrees that she uses to work with artists as young as 4 and as old as 104. The Old Brick Playhouse provides a number of after-school programs and uses art to work with the elderly at the Elkins Rehabilitation & Care Center. McCollam and her team are totally focused on spreading joy, kindness, and good in the world through their work. “Everyone is different, but everyone is important,” she says. Ultimately, McCollam has created a haven for those who may not fit in anywhere else and for people who know exactly where they fit in but, all in all, she has created a place that welcomes people of all kinds with open hearts. In addition to the work McCollam does at The Old Brick, she still performs regionally, is an active playwright, and collaborates with multiple organizations throughout the state. MM
faculty members achieve their highest potential, and she simultaneously thinks structurally and networks to develop support for faculty from a higher level.
Page’s typical day covers a wide range of topics and efforts, anything from mentoring to meetings on structural barriers or even roundtables on how to better support women in STEM. “I’m constantly on the lookout for who needs to know who,” says Page, who networks naturally to make faculty members’ lives easier at WVU. Page is committed to building a foundation for other women in West Virginia and facilitating connections to help faculty best help their students to succeed. MM
80 wvl • fall 2020
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