Work experience with Gillian Mawrey on the magazine Historic Gardens Review quickly ensnared me in the subject and I ended up spending a decade there, marking the beginning of an unexpected career.
My work at Historic Gardens Review was part-time, fitting with other freelance jobs in publishing and a local bookshop. Friends on a more traditional career path laughed at my higgledy-piggledy working life in such a niche field, but it did the job for me. I remain a proactive champion of the ‘portfolio career’, and indeed of those who choose not to do an office-based 9-5, but instead prefer to get their jobs done in whatever ways work for them. In particular, it has been a huge blessing for me that flexibility meant I could somehow be both a stay at home parent and build a career at the same time – that juggle wouldn’t suit everyone, but it did me, and I hope we can continue to make employment flexible enough not to have to make unnecessary choices between family and work. The next piece in my ‘portfolio career’ was an additional part-time job, as Conservation Casework Manager with the Garden History Society (GHS). A question at the GHS interview asked what I was aiming for in my career, and I replied, honestly, that it was exactly this.
