Guest Holly Parker went to college knowing she’d be an English major and a squash player and stumbled upon a passion for the environment and sustainability. She graduated with the thought of being a journalist and tried her hand at it at a boating publication. Though she didn’t want to turn into her mother—a teacher—she did have a small itch to try teaching. What she thought would be a short stint at a private school near her Massachusetts hometown became a 12-year career in which she led the English department.

But after having spent summers in Maine as a kid and working with boats her whole life, she felt it was spiritual home and one she was destined to return to. When deciding whether to stay in teaching, she decided to buy her first home in Portland and realized she wanted to stay in Maine but not really in teaching. In her mid thirties, she took some time dabble and take on a number of side hustles—including working at a historical schooner company, writing educational curricula, and running a non-profit boat shop that taught life skills to at-risk youth. It wasn’t until she “took another flyer,” as she calls it, in higher education and started asking some questions about how the new appearance of Icelandic ships in the harbor might be good for Maine that she brought all of her interests and experience together.

In this episode, find out from Holly how listening to your gut and taking a few chances can help you find your place …on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Holly Parker, is currently the director of UNE NORTH—the Institute for North Atlantic Studies of the University of New England—where she connects researchers, educators, policy makers and industry leaders from across Maine and the North Atlantic region to implement collaborative approaches to building resilient communities, healthy environments and thriving economies. Find out more at une.edu/UNE-north.

Mentioned in This Episode

A series published in partnership between the Portland Press Herald and The Boston Globe entitled “The Lobster Trap”: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/metro/2021/12/the-lobster-trap/

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com

Sense of Place: Holly Parker on listening to your gut and finding your place

Roads Taken