Mays HisToracle Consulting

Nick Mays, Ph.D. CEO & Lead Historian

History as a Tool for Insight

Guiding clients to use the power of history, knowledge, and storytelling to shape the future.

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An open ledger, folded maps and a bundle of handwritten letters on a wooden desk in an archive reading room

Understanding the past to shape what comes next.

Mays HisToracle Consulting guides clients to use the power of history, knowledge, and storytelling to understand their path, clarify their purpose, and make informed decisions that shape the future.

I believe there is transformative power in merging historical inquiry with human-centered storytelling. When history is connected to lived experience, it becomes a tool for insight, empowerment, and meaningful change.

I don’t just research history. I help you use it.

Six services, offered alone or together, each shaped to the question you are trying to answer.

  • Historical research

    Careful work in archives, records, and published sources to establish what happened and why it matters to you.

  • Interviews and qualitative data collection

    Thoughtful conversations that gather the knowledge people carry, recorded with care and with consent.

  • Oral history projects

    Design and execution, from the first question to the finished collection, with the community as a partner.

  • Consulting

    Strategic, historical, and narrative-based advice that brings context to the decisions in front of you.

  • Presentations and public talks

    Talks that make history clear, engaging, and relevant for the audience in the room.

  • Curriculum development

    Learning materials for educational and community use, grounded in sound history and ready to teach.

A vintage reel-to-reel tape recorder and a desk microphone beside two notebooks
Every community carries its own record. Oral history helps it be heard.

Who I work with

  • Nonprofit organizations
  • For-profit organizations
  • Government agencies
  • Community institutions
  • Individuals and families
Archival boxes and folders tied with cotton tape along a reading room table

My approach

  1. History as a tool for insight

    When history is connected to lived experience, it stops being a list of dates. It becomes a way to see your situation clearly and decide well.

  2. Empowerment through storytelling

    Your story matters. I help you tell it truthfully and well, so it can guide your next chapter.

  3. Community collaboration

    Communities are not subjects but collaborators. I work alongside the people whose history it is, and I practice ethical storytelling at every step.

About

Nick Mays, Ph.D.

CEO & Lead Historian

I am a historian with formal training in American history, African American history, and African history. I earned my Ph.D. in History at Kent State University in 2021, and I have taught history at Baldwin Wallace University since 2017. I have spent years as a researcher, as an educator, and in public history.

My work has also taken me into community-based initiatives, nonprofits, and volunteer and civic work. Those years taught me something I carry into every project: communities are not subjects but collaborators.

Mays HisToracle Consulting is where I bring historical inquiry and human-centered storytelling together, with ethical storytelling at the center. I help you understand the past so you can shape what comes next.

Education
Ph.D. in History, Kent State University, 2021
Teaching
Baldwin Wallace University, since 2017
Nick Mays, Ph.D., CEO and Lead Historian of Mays HisToracle Consulting

Latest insights

All insights

Your story matters. Let history guide your next chapter.

Tell me about your organization, your community, or your family, and what you hope to understand. Send a note here, or email or call, and we can start there.

Phone
216-776-8089

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Nick reads every message personally.