A business trip detour to poet Emily Dickinson’s home planted a midlife pivot idea for Marta McDowell. She transitioned from a career in insurance to horticulture, and now she’s the author of five books, focusing on writers and their gardens. She talks about how she prepared for her exit from the corporate world by taking classes at the New York Botanical Garden, her first steps toward becoming an author, and a surprise moment in the media spotlight.

Topics included:

• Credentialing for a new career through evening and weekend classes
• Finding the niche that speaks to you
• Establishing credibility as an author
• Success comes in finding similarities between your own life track and the subject you write about
• A moment in the media spotlight
• The value of online learning for both students and the institution
• Exploring new paths, and feeling free to course correct

Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and consults for private clients and public gardens. Marta's new book, Unearthing The Secret Garden: The Plants and Places that Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett, will be published in September 2021. She is the author of Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York Times-bestselling All the Presidents' Gardens, and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life.

Resources:

New York Botanical Garden

Unearthing the Secret Garden

Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life

All the Presidents' Gardens