Today, Maria speaks with Tania Marien. Tania is a freelance botanical educator and the host of the podcast Talaterra. Throughout her career, she has created illustrations and shared resources on her website and in-person to make plant science more accessible to a larger number of people. As a bookstore owner for many years, she connected communities around a shared love for plants, nature and learning. During her sabbatical year, she immersed herself in peer-learning workshops created by Seth Godin including the altMBA, the Marketing Seminar and the Podcasting Fellowship. She started “The Freelance Condition Project” in 2018 to bring the spotlight on freelance environmental educators who are making learning happen in their communities. In January of 2019, she launched the podcast Talaterra, a platform where she shares their stories and helps them build an intimate community. Through her current work, Tania wants to put freelance educators on the map by sharing their work that is mostly under the radar. Together, they unpack her learning journey, the small triggers and the forks in the road that led her down her current path.
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Mentioned in this episode
Tania's blog post about The Podcast Fellowship by Seth Godin
What Tania used to do: https://artplantaetoday.com/about-2/
Her Podcast Talaterra
The Society of Botanical Artist
The Guild of National Science Illustrators
Seth’s Udemy Course: The Freelancer Course
Nina Simon - The Art of Relevance
Seth Godin - The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
Listen to this episode and explore:
Tania’s childhood in the backyard and playing teacher at school (2:57)
Learning at school: homework as a refuge and free-style writing (7:00)
Studying biology in college (8:36)
Creating a support course for the introductory biology course (10:40)
After the Masters Degree: working in education and quickly taping out (13:54)
Discovering botanical illustration and becoming a freelance educator (14:46)
Educating people about botanics through her website, bookstore and plant illustrations (16:59)
Getting the word out about her freelance business (19:43)
The lessons she learned in her first 16 years (22:32)
The Dip in her business (25:01)
The importance of courses and workshops in her learning and work journey (28:48)
A Sabbatical year that started with the AltBMA (31:36)
How to choose workshops and seminars in the plethora of offerings (33:24)
The Freelance Condition Project: putting the freelance environmental educators on the map (35:47)
The Talaterra Podcast: creating a community of freelance environmental educators (40:05)
The most critical decision in her learning journey: letting go of her business endeavor (45:26)
A new way to live, learn and work: peer-learning and the power of the community (46:37)
The hardest lesson she learned: letting go faster (50:52)
The mark she wants to leave during her lifetime (55:46)