ABOUT
MAE LIN
Mae Lin Plummer is an adventurer, traveler, story collector and storyteller, enthusiastic lover of plant people and plant places, and a change agent. And she is vocal about it. Instead of trying to stifle her love of speaking and connecting with others, she decided to lean into “you talk too much” and channel it in a way that serves others, while ever learning to be a better listener and change leader.
It is not only about her voice but elevating the voices and experiences of all the diverse people out there who want to make change happen and live their joy and dreams. Mae Lin's dream was to work in a botanic garden and help create a world where everyone experiences “plant love”. Why? Connecting with the plant world leads to healthier people, a healthier planet and joy - a world where people are better towards one another.
Mae Lin connected with the most joyful part of herself in the process of becoming a gardener and sharing it with others. She found peace and satisfaction in working with what she had, cultivating and sowing endless possibilities of what could be created, and being able to change and adapt with her surroundings...and live in a perpetual state of curiosity! This is what inspired Mae Lin to leave a nearly 20-year career in the corporate financial industry to pursue a passion for the plant world, with the belief that cultivating and sharing the world of plant love contributes to creating a better and more connected world within ourselves and with others. Yet it became obvious that there are not many people “like her” in the plant world and its benefits are not available to all. Why is that?
Mae Lin's motivation and commitment to learning about the barriers to those benefits led her to dedicating her personal and professional experiences to becoming a change agent through conversations, especially topics about inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. It also comes from a life defined by curiosity, change and transformation, and bold leaps, but also a struggle to feel a sense of belonging. In looking and being different and often an outsider as a biracial Chinese American, military brat who grew up around the world trying to fit in and yet not being “Chinese enough” or “American enough”, Mae Lin has committed herself to learning about change and the complexity of personal identity to help others navigate and celebrate the diversity of the human experience, but also shift how we approach change. Is it really as hard as we say and think it is? Can it be playful, fun, inquisitive and joyful?
Never Stop Talking Associates was created to promote and facilitate real and authentic conversations about difficult topics to help organizational transformation by identifying and celebrating the diversity of our valuable distinctions, but also position organizations to approach change in a way that treats individuals with humanity and dignity and not as commodities or transactions. The "Plant People in Plant Places" podcast is a platform created to share the knowledge and wisdom of travels to plant places and conversations with plant people to elevate the diversity of their voices, experiences, and dreams.