Rising Stars: Meet Adam Wood (also Known As Madam Woods) of Granville, Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Wood (also Known As Madam Woods)

Hi Adam Wood, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Absolutely! My name is Adam Wood and I was born and raised in a small town community known as Meshoppen, Pennsylvania (about an hour north of the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Area), where I graduated from a class of less than 100 students. Then I would graduate from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in 2013 with my Bachelors Degree in Organizational Communication and graduated from Kent State University with my Masters in Higher Education Administration. I’ve been working in Higher Education for 8 years and I currently work at Denison University as the Associate Director of Residential Communities & Housing.

In drag, my name is Madam Woods! I’ve been performing throughout Ohio since March 2022, I’m a member of the West Drag Family, and I am your reigning Miss Ohio All Star (2024-2025).

Why drag? Performing in drag is an outlet where I feel like can express my creativity in a way that no other creative outlet could do for me. More importantly, the main reason why I do drag is because it’s an outlet in life that brings me joy.

My first time ever performing in drag was when I dressed up as Lady Gaga and performed “Bad Romance” in front of my entire high school. It wasn’t until college I performed in my first drag show (Halloween 2012) and from there would then perform at a few college shows until 2016. It was during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 when I realized that should be doing the things in life that made me happy. At the time I was job searching and I decided to look for a job where it could give me a great opportunity to pursue the art of drag again.

Then, in March 2022, I performed at my first Open Stage in Columbus, Ohio at District West. District West hosted an “Open Stage” where anyone could sign up to perform as a part of the show and you could compete to win a cash prize at the end of the show (and I won!). It was such an exciting evening to be able to return back to doing something that I loved. From there on out, I continued to perform at Open Stages across various LGBTQ+ venues in Columbus and, as time went on, I started getting booked in various venues.

Within my first year of doing drag more consistently is that I entered a local drag competition, known as The Drag Master, where I would go through several weeks of various challenges and runway themes in order to challenge myself and to help evolve as a drag entertainer. I competed in the third season of Drag Master in 2023 and placed in the Top 4 out of 12 contestants. Shortly after, I was asked to return to compete in The Drag Master: Post Grad Season this year, where they invited contestants from previous seasons, and I place in the Top 2 and won Most Congenial of the season.

Thus far with performing in drag, I would say that 2024 has been a really big year for me! The first is that this year, I joined a drag family! As I mentioned earlier, I am a part of the West Drag Family here in Columbus, Ohio. What is a drag family you ask? A drag family consist of a group of other drag entertainers that not only perform together in shows, but also are there to support one another as well. Drag families can also be seen as chosen families. When it comes to the West Family, Virginia West (who is also my drag mother) is the matriarch of the West Family. What’s a drag mother you ask? Think of a drag mother is like a mentor to new drag artists to help them in their art form of drag.

Another reason why 2024 is a big year for me is that I competed in my very first state drag pageant and now I am the reigning Miss Ohio All Star. Miss Ohio All Star is a part of the Ohio All Star Productions System. Ohio All Star Productions is a state pageant system in Ohio that promotes creativity amongst their contestants and being an all inclusive drag pageant system. At first, I was hesitant in to competing in a drag pageant (outside of competing in local competitions) because I was nervous that I was going to have to compete where I felt like I had to “fit in” to a certain standard. While competing for Miss Ohio All Star, I felt so celebrated for being myself and I’ve never been more proud of how I stayed authentic to not only to my drag, but to how I just stayed true to myself. How I stayed true to the Adam behind the Madam.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say for the most part, yes it has been a smooth road with some twists and turns along the way. I would say sometimes when coming out as an LGBTQ+ individual that sometimes that you run into people who accept you for who you are and that there are some people that don’t accept you for who you are. There were several times growing up that I was bullied for just being myself.

I always remind myself of one of my favorite Dr. Suess quotes, “ Be who you are and say what you feel because those that mind, don’t matter and those that matter don’t mind”.

The adventure with coming out as gay and as a drag queen, it’s always a life long process. But as long as you continue to stay true to yourself and you have those family members, friends, or chosen family members that can be there to uplift you and support you, the haters don’t matter.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Out of drag, I work as the Associate Director for Residential Communities & Housing at Denison University. Specifically with my job, I work with a professional staff team who helps support the residents that live on-campus.

One of things that I’ve been proud of during my time at Denison has been my additional work helping support LGBTQ+ students at Denison. For the first three years of working at Denison, I served as a co-advisor for Outlook, which is Denison’s LGBTQ+ student organization, and would help advise them in their efforts to help support and develop community for LGBTQ+ students on-campus. I was also a part of a committee of professional staff members that created Denison’s Pride Week, which is a week of planned events in October that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community that happens the week of National Coming Out Day (October 11). I have also been able to help advise the coordination of drag show events that students host on-campus as well.

Due to this efforts, I received the Denison Forward Staff Excellence Award at Denison University this year. The Denison Forward Staff Excellence Awards looks to celebrate and acknowledge the work of staff members that promote the work of Denison Forward, which is the institutions plans to support efforts around Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism at Denison.

What matters most to you? Why?
That’s a great question. If I had to say what matters most to me, I would have to summarize it in these three words.

Relationships, Authenticity, and Joy.

Relationships – From family, friends, chosen family and personal relationships, I feel like I wouldn’t be the person that I am without their love and support. When I came out to my mom in high school, she looked at me and said “no matter who you are and who you love, I will always love you.” Even with doing drag, she’s shared that she is the president of my fan club, and I would agree to that. When it comes to drag, I’ve become such a better person in life because of the friends that I’ve made since performing. I am also forever grateful for Virignia and the West Family because this drag family has helped me feel like I belong in the drag community and I’ve met and have gotten to work with and have gotten to know some of the most incredible people and artists that there are in this community.

Authenticity – I’ve never been someone to who could actually hide who they are and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I would rather be judged for who I am than for who I am not. While it’s a lesson that I’ve had to learn throughout life, I wish that could be something that my younger self could have seen me now as someone who is so happy to live their life authentically.

Joy – Life is far too short to not do the things in life that bring you joy. I feel like we (as people) often push things off to do the things we enjoy to the future that we often forget to focus on the present. Why not focus on the things that bring you joy? Don’t be afraid to live in the present moment.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @themadamwoods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082048098905

Image Credits
Chay Creates, LLC & Newark Pride