He received his bachelor’s degree in 1994 from Kennesaw State University where he majored in history and studio art. While still in college, he began a decade-long career in commercial real estate in Atlanta for a division of the Equitable Life Assurance Company as an architectural services coordinator. He returned to graduate school in 1998 at the University of Georgia where he received his History MA in 2000 and PhD in 2004. Nystrom has held teaching positions in the history departments of Georgia Southern University, Virginia Tech, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and as a member of the History and Southern Studies Departments at the University of Mississippi.