The lives and passions of Laurel Redington

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Laurel Redington sparkles when speaking of our Island: “I love this community because everybody holds space for each other.” Her bountiful soul first embraced Martha’s Vineyard in 1989, when she came to help her father build his house in Oak Bluffs.

Many are familiar with Redington’s resonant voice from WMVY Radio, where she spent 24 of her 34 years there on-air. Her passion began at age 7, when she incessantly called her local station WAQY to request “Rockin’ Robin.” She also routinely listened with her father to “Saturday Afternoon at the Met,” recalling, “I wanted to be the first female voice of the program. I just didn’t know how that was going to happen.”

Persistence turned out to be the key. Redington repeatedly knocked at MVY’s door until they hired her part-time in 1991, and she went full-time the following year. As a deejay, she realized, “I had this platform, and learned you have a lot of responsibility with what you say over the air. I took that very seriously. This was not to hear myself talk. It was about how to serve the community and make this a positive and uplifting experience for people.”

Redington worked at the station until 1994, and then spent four years off-Island. In 1998, she found herself living in the Berkshires with her husband. “I was pregnant with my daughter, and it was a turning point when you had to make a big decision. Was I going to go corporate and make a ton of money, but wake up at 40 and wonder where the time went?” When her father decided to sell the Vineyard house, Redington realized the Island was her heart’s home. The couple bought the property, moved back, and Redington became MVY’s news director. “I’d never done it before, but I think when you’re given an opportunity at a certain age or have a certain personality, you just say yes. That’s one of the things that has helped me in my life. I just took advantage of what was right in front of me. So I did the job for about a year, and then took a couple off just to be a mom.”

In 2006, Redington returned to the station again, surprising herself, being a night owl, by taking on the morning show. This she hosted until 2014, when she left the program to reassess everything after a bad car accident.

The next year, Redington discovered what she said was her true calling. Thinking about how to make a positive impact, she pitched the idea of starting a community outreach department: “You walk down the street, and every person you meet has so many layered stories, and has probably recreated themselves a dozen times. I wanted to tell their stories.” She initiated new interview shows, and took the station into the community, creating “Radio Games” for middle school kids at the library, and working with high school students to help them find their unique voice.

When COVID-19 hit, Redington says, “I did about 120 interviews in a month and a half. By January 2023, I was feeling burned out. I thought it was time to pay my job forward to someone who could freshen it up. I thought, Maybe I’m robbing the community of an opportunity to have somebody come in, give it new life, and see the world through their perspective –– and I was exhausted.”

Coincidentally, Redington mentioned her sense of burnout to Heather Seger, executive director at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, who asked if she would ever consider working there. Even though Redington had been interested in museums in college, and aced all her history classes, such a significant career change was daunting. She told Seger, “I’m not a museum studies person. I have a marketing degree, and 34 years of broadcasting.” Seger reassured Redington that she was telling stories at MVY and would do the same as the director of programming and audience engagement, but with a slightly different twist: “I finally said yes, inspired by my daughter’s determination to explore her many different interests.”

These days, Redington is creating museum programs in response to conversations with the community. She recalls, “The first year, I was trying to figure out what the job needed with the help of that amazing team.” Familiar with a handful of the staff before she arrived, Redington thrived in the collaborative atmosphere. “I knew they were sweet people and creative geniuses and good at what they did, but then I met everybody else, and it was such an atmosphere of teamwork, with everyone holding a different part of the mission. They welcomed me with a great deal of kindness and support to help me find my way. It’s been an exciting next chapter.”

Since she came to the Island, Redington has also held retail jobs. She now works with Ingrid Goff-Maidoff at Tending Joy, a store filled with beautiful items. “I’ve always loved retail because it’s about interacting with people more inconspicuously, to keep reminding myself of the importance of every interaction we have.”

Redington reflects, “The Vineyard has given me all my most precious things. It has given me my husband and allowed me to raise my daughter on this Island. The whole point was to be here so we could grow up together. And the Island has provided me with a community to mine stories. What fascinates me is I never would have planned this in my life. I have just responded. I look back, and I feel so much gratification. I was so excited, and still am.”