Take a closer look at Melissa Burdick
Melissa Burdick works in one of those hidden-gem landscapes in Iowa that break up the corn and soybean fields, tend to be prized by the few who know about them, and are poised to get a lot more attention.
Burdick runs the Brenton Arboretum near Dallas Center, just east of Adel and maybe 20 minutes from Des Moines. She answered a few questions exclusively for Lift IOWA readers during an earlier Business Record interview (Insider content.)
Have you experienced anything in your professional life that seemed to indicate you were treated differently because you were a woman?
No one discouraged me from going into my field. Horticulture tends to be predominantly a female field. I don’t see too many differences or limitations because I am a woman. However, there have been individual places where the fact that I was a female played a role.
Can you give me an example?
On one job, a co-worker was having difficulty working with female co-worker. The HR director suggested that (the female co-worker) use her “feminine wiles” to get her way. Which is kind of flabbergasting that happened in this century. They wanted her to flirt, or be sweet. Basically what they were trying to get out is that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But they never would have said that to a man.
Did you see any other evidence of gender issues?
Really, more of the stigma of working in horticulture is the pay. For example, I was working (at another facility in another state) and doing hands-on gardening, pulling weeds and things like that. I was near the front visitors’ center, and on more than one occasion, a teacher with students would walk by, or a parent with a child would walk by, and say, “Kids, this is why you need to go to college so you don’t have to do this as your career.” And I’m like, “You know, I have a master’s degree, and I know more about this stuff than you’ll ever think about.” What job doesn’t have grunt work?
Do you approach management differently because you are a woman?
My management approach is unique. It’s mine. I don’t think it’s gender-based. I have long felt that you learn as much from a bad manager as you do a good manager, if not more. My core philosophy is just be nice. You don’t have to be a jerk to be a manager. It’s really more of a personality trait then a gender trait.
What advice would you give a girl in middle school who is interested in a scientific field?
The advice I would give anyone is, as you go through life, just be honest, sincere and kind. Don’t be a doormat, but be kind. Whether it’s science or management or business, it really doesn’t matter what it is. Be honorable. You be who you are.
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