 She was educated at Hastings Girls' High School from 1971 to 1975, before going on to university.She completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at Victoria University of Wellington in 1979, a Diploma in Business Administration at Massey University in 1985, and a Master of Business Administration with Distinction at Massey in 1994.Wrightson worked for a decade for TVNZ, including in the programming department, and was head of commissioned programmes from 1989 to 1991.