In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Dr. Krista Mincey—public health professor, researcher on Black men’s health, and daughter and granddaughter of first-generation college students and rural Southern farmers—shares how courage has shaped both her life and her work. She talks about picking up and moving across states alone to say yes to opportunities that scared her, walking away from relationships that didn’t honor her worth even when it meant letting go of deeply held dreams, and learning when to stay quiet to survive a system and when to use her voice to protect those coming behind her.
Dr. Mincey also reflects on the inherited values that live in her—education, persistence, and pride in where she comes from—and why her vision for public health includes Black men at the center, public health woven into every sector, and a world where everyone understands that health is shaped far beyond the walls of a clinic.
Meet Dr. Krista Mincey
Dr. Krista D. Mincey is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Public Health Education and Training at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Public Health. She is a proud rural Georgia native whose upbringing centers her and the work that she does. She started her academic career at an HBCU in New Orleans and then moved back to Georgia to teach medical students and prepare doctoral students in rural health. Her research focuses on the social and cultural factors that influence health behaviors and health outcomes of college attending Black men. She is passionate about training and developing students so they can be successful personally, professionally, and academically.
Conversation Highlights
- Coming From “Good Stock” — Dr. Mincey shares how her grandparents’ and parents’ stories—farming in the segregated rural South, domestic work up North, and first-generation HBCU journeys—shaped her belief that “it’s in me because I come from it” and made a doctorate even imaginable.
- Taking Jobs She Wasn’t Sure She Wanted — She talks about moving to New Orleans with three weeks’ notice after a grant-funded opportunity reappeared, arriving in a city where she knew no one, and how repeatedly starting over alone has been one of the most courageous (and exhausting) patterns in her professional life.
- Saying No When the World Says “This Might Be Your Last Chance” — Dr. Mincey reflects on ending a relationship that seemed to offer the possibility of marriage and children, and what it took to choose her own worth over fear of “this might be your last opportunity.”
- Finding and Using Her Voice in Academic Spaces — From being the youngest in her doctoral cohort and feeling dismissed, to saying “no” when colleagues tried to erase public health from a department name, she explains how getting the letters behind her name changed how she spoke up—for herself, for students, and for those not in the room.
- Reimagining Public Health Education and Practice — Dr. Mincey lays out a vision where public health is integrated everywhere: in high schools, community colleges, law, journalism, teaching, and policy—and where Black men’s health, implementation, and real community experience are centered rather than treated as afterthoughts.
“I don’t need you to like me, but you do need to respect who I am and what I bring to the table—so that you’ll respect the next person who comes to the table after me.”— Dr. Krista Mincey
Stay In Touch
With Dr. Krista Mincey:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/krista-mincey-81b4431b/
Email: krista.mincey@gmail.com
Instagram – @drkristamincey
With Dr. Kristi McClamroch:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch/
Website: www.CourageousPublicHealth.com
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