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Garden Marcus to Speak at Ozarks on March 9

February 16, 2023
By Larry Isch
Posted in About
Garden Marcus

Social media sensation Garden Marcus will speak at University of the Ozarks on Thursday, March 9, as part of the Walton Arts & Ideas Series.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Rogers Conference Center and is free and open to the public.

Marcus Bridgewater, known as Garden Marcus to his large social media followers, is a CEO, creator, and influencer. In 2018, he launched Choice Forward LLC, a wellness company that offers workshops, presentations, life coaching, and more to empower individuals and strengthen communities. In 2019, he began sharing videos online with messages of kindness, patience, and positivity. In 2021, he authored his first book, “How to Grow: Nurture Your Garden, Nurture Yourself.”

With features in Vogue, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times, Bridgewater is known for his nature metaphors connecting plants to personal growth. His work is focused on helping people improve mental health, physical fitness, and spiritual awareness, with his greater goal being to empower individuals, strengthen communities, and foster healthier environments.

Known as TikTok’s most popular gardener, Garden Marcus offers lessons for growth rooted in lessons from the plant world to help cultivate the soul. He has been described as a “gardener who shares tips about caring for one’s plants and oneself” (The New York Times) and “is not only a trove of information if you’re looking to flex your green thumb, but a balm for the pandemic-induced chaos happening in the world” (Vogue).

In the book synopsis of How to Grow, it reads, “his soothing observations on plants and life have made him a social media star. In caring for over 600 plants, Marcus has gained invaluable wisdom. Life inside us yearns to grow; like plants, humans maximize their potential when presented with the right conditions. Through care and attention, he reminds us, we can successfully cultivate growth.”

“Centered on a trinity of wellbeing—mental health, physical fitness, and spiritual awareness, How to Grow weaves together insights from the garden with stories from Marcus’s life to help you foster personal development. With lessons rooted in his experiences gardening—from how a replanted flourishing sweet potato vine is a reminder that all living things benefit from a change of scene, to how to embrace patience to foster growth—this inspiring guide helps you do ‘the dirty work’ to discover kindness, patience, and positivity within. ‘We cannot make anything grow,’ he advises. ‘But we can foster an environment where it may grow.’”

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