Her Story
About Marian
Marian Greene serves as Manager and Director of Outreach at the Exquisite Creatures Exhibit, a role she has held for one year. Her background is in Montessori education, where she worked for at least 10 or 11 years in roles progressing from teaching assistant to administrator and director of admissions. She is trained and certified as an AMI Montessori administrator, having participated in the first administrative course that AMI offered in the United States. Greene specializes in reaching out to schools to book field trips and facilitate low-cost visits through her volunteer work with Bee Meats, drawing on her experience in Montessori education administration. She is a member of the Museum Educators of the Puget Sound, and the exhibit participates in the Museums of Washington Association and works with the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association. Greene attributes her success to her honesty and straightforwardness, and she advises casting a wide net, including unconventional approaches like responding to an Instagram post, which led to her current position. She values integrity, honesty, and knowing when to quit without burning bridges. Her educational background includes unschooling and homeschooling, a high school diploma, some college, and her AMI accreditation, with no degrees.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Marian
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think my honesty, truthfully, and straightforwardness has served me very well. Not always, you know, it doesn't always rub everyone the right way, but in general, I think I've gotten to where I am because of my straightforwardness.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice was when I was in undergrad and someone I considered a career hero pushed me not to go into forensic entomology because it was expensive and I could follow it as a hobby without the debt. It felt like the worst advice at the time but I took it, pursued other things, and now I work with insects every day so it worked out pretty well.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I got the job that I'm in by kind of responding to an Instagram post. It was very weird, very random... So I think I would say cast a wide net, and, you know, even if you think that something might be an unconventional way to go about it... You never know what is going to work out.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is the arts and museums losing a lot of funding, and continuing to maintain access for people who wouldn't be able to afford it. The greatest opportunity is that when times are hard, the arts thrive, and we are going to see a lot of incredible artwork coming forward in the coming years if funding and access is still fought for.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is really, really important, learning what that means to people, because it often means different things. And honesty, I think you really have to be an honest person, even if it's an uncomfortable truth. The third one is knowing when to quit, and knowing when something isn't right for you anymore, and being able to walk away in a good way without burning bridges.
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