Her Story
About Dagney
Dagny Wysong is a business consultant based in Naples, Florida, where she founded Strada de Oro, a firm focused on strategic branding and positioning before promotion. Her expertise spans branding, experiential marketing, luxury marketing, events, and social media. Prior to starting her business approximately one and a half years ago, Wysong served as the marketing director for Ferrari of Naples, where she helped the dealership achieve the number one ranking in the country and receive the Cavalino Award. Earlier in her career, she worked in the venture capital sector and as a government consultant partnering with universities, angel investors, and corporations on commercialization strategies, as well as for the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. She also worked as a clinician in a mental health center developing training strategies for individuals with severe mental illness to reenter the workplace. Wysong earned her bachelor's degree in health administration and marketing from Central Michigan University, becoming the first in her family to obtain a college education. She is actively involved in philanthropic efforts, serving as treasurer for a new nonprofit supporting children after parental trauma and supporting organizations such as the Love and Light Foundation and Path to Freedom. Wysong attributes her success to her upbringing by four remarkable women and her father, and she values kindness as currency along with discernment in business and community involvement.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dagney
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would have to attribute my success to my upbringing. I was raised by 4 amazing women: my mother who ran a nonprofit boxing gym for at-risk children with my father, my great grandmother who instilled family values and what it means to be a matriarch, my grandma Jackie who ran concerts for a music festival in Traverse City and taught me how to book acts and exposed me to healthcare, and my aunt who was a masterful businesswoman and taught me hard work, love, and family. My dad was also formative as a coach's daughter with no dad issues.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
When they zig, you zag. I got that from my best friend Holly Jo Swiak in Midland, Michigan. It was advice that her grandfather gave her. When they're going one way, look and see there's another way to go in the other direction, and that's how you differentiate yourself in the market.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Kindness is our currency. Discernment in business. Especially living in the wealthiest county, the true currency is kindness and giving back to your community. Being a good friend and family to the people around me.
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