This year presented me with a problem I never anticipated.
It is a problem of my own doing, and one I am learning to come to terms with.
You see, I never thought I would become a “famous gardener,” but this is the position I find myself in and I am taken quite seriously for it as a result. I’ve made good money working with highly-reputable gardening brands on social media, contributed to national gardening magazines, and shared houseplant & gardening tips on television.
How could this be a problem? Although it has felt like a problem for the past year or so, perhaps I should reframe it as “a dilemma.”
I never sought out to become known for gardening, and when I began going viral online, my garden was not the oasis it is today. My house was home to a dozen or so plants, not the 230+ currently growing in it. Gardening was a hobby I enjoyed when I had the time for it, and I found that it helped me explain to others my observations on personal growth.
Where gardening was a hobby, helping things - particularly people - grow was a passion, and I was encouraged to share this passion with others by someone who thought I had valuable insights to share.
A couple years later, we launched our wellness company so I could offer services focused on my personal growth insights and were tasked with marketing: Getting people to take us seriously, and getting people to pay us. Many of those close to us were certain the endeavor would fail and that I had little to offer in the realm of personal development, but we saw potential.
To try achieving my marketing goals, I was told to make videos about the connections I saw between the plants in my garden and the growth of people, and to share them on a newish app under the name “Garden Marcus.”
The marketing experiment went better than any of my small team and I expected, and Garden Marcus was going viral, getting press inquiries, and soon, clients. The world had shut down and people were desperate for two things that my content offered: Positivity, and nature.
My co-founder (and now wife) and I were thrilled. We were getting traction! We were getting paid! And, we had proof of concept: Everyday I received messages from people telling me my videos were helping them out of depression, quit addiction, or rekindle strained relationships with family.
I had absolutely no idea what a “plant-fluencer” was before I became one, but it seemed like a profound blessing that my becoming one happened without clear intention. Instead of breaking into one market - personal growth/professional development/wellness - I had established myself in two. Plants & gardening welcomed me into the fold, and in my first full-time year of business, I was presented with more opportunities than I could take.
But there was a problem. No, there was a dilemma.
Although I was uniquely renowned for my “plant & personal growth” angle, it became apparent that many people saw me as a gardener first and a wellness educator second. I cannot blame them; social media does not show every video to every person, and if someone had seen more of my plant tutorials & tours than my life lessons, it would make sense that I seemed more plant-focused than not.
But it was not how I wanted to be seen, and this was exacerbated by two things: My book, and my local community.
I had the great honor of writing my first book with HarperCollins, and I chose HarperOne out of the other 10 publishers to make an offer because the imprint wanted me to write the book that I wanted to write (on top of a great offer). My book proposal combined gardening with personal growth, much like the content that had garnered me attention from agents and publishers in the first place, but it was interpreted differently by different publishers.
Some wanted a book that was heavier on the practical side of gardening with the personal growth insights to be embellishments (even though I was forward with the fact that I am not a formally trained gardener and everything I know is from personal experience).
The editor at HarperOne saw the potential and the value in my insights to personal wellness, and it came to be that I got to write a book on my philosophy that was explained by what I saw in my plants.
And yet, despite online retailers describing the book with the following line: “How to Grow isn’t a gardening book. It is a self-help book that draws inspiration from the garden,” and the book itself is physically marked as a “Self-help/Motivational & Inspiration” book; people still mistook it as a gardening book.
Around this time, the world opened up again and I figured it was time to break out of the virtual world and into my local business community. As a new author with a large online following and a wellness company, I came to realize I didn’t know how to describe my work in the three seconds people give before losing interest, and “gardening” is generally what stuck.
Even if people understood it was more complex, when it came to describing what I do to others, “gardening” managed to be a key focus. People weren’t incorrect - gardening was a key part of what I did - but it didn’t necessarily help other businesses see how we could partner together.
What was I to do? How could I get people to see the impact I’d had online, hear my book title, and still understand the essence of my work - wellness? Who did I want to primarily be seen as; Garden Marcus, or Marcus Bridgewater?
In summary, I created a brand so strong that I lost sight of how to use it, but my mission and goal has remained the same: Empower individuals, build stronger communities, and foster healthier environments. I continue to achieve my mission through my writing, content, and engagements, but when people ask me how to start a vegetable garden, I wonder if I’ve confined myself to a box.
I’ve spent recent months contemplating my next steps, and the path I should take. Do I lean further into plants and further establish myself as the guy for gardening & personal growth? Do I step away from plants and try to forge a different image for myself? What do I want, and what will best support my growing family long-term?
I am at the point where I understand what I am dealing with is not a problem or a dilemma; it’s an opportunity, one that I welcome and am thankful for.
Which path do you think I should take? Do you see another route?
So I have experience in branding and I came across you on IG in no way because of gardening. I follow the like of Yung Pueblo, and the algorithm served you to me eventually.
I’ve fully and thoroughly enjoyed your live talkbacks and even requested your book to be ordered for our KC library system.
From my perspective, there’s no dilemma. Your calling oozes out of you. Maybe you are holding on tight to gardening as a “primary” out of fear? Gratitude? I don’t see your plant work going away... but evolving. What will never go away is the impact you can and will have as beautiful human and black man who has so much to offer for our souls. There’s no conflict: “How to Grow” as a brand is who and where you are now and it’s beautiful, with the opportunity for connection, earth grounding, evolving as humans and other cultural/political aspects that are so needed and meaningful. I hope that makes sense... if not, ask me!
Another thought concerning the name "Garden Marcus".... it could also relate to the mind as a garden. You are tending the brain as a garden is tended thus making the name very reasonable.