LESLEY BROOKS

After spending close to two decades working in advertising in Dallas, NCTC alumna Lesley Brooks says she was “fed up and burnt out” – and “then the stars opened up.” While visiting her parents who have a home in Gainesville, she says she often drove past the NCTC campus, and once she found out about its horticulture program, she quickly formulated a plan. “I gave up my apartment, downsized and moved back in with my parents, and signed up for classes,” she says. “It just all came together.” Citing a dream of being self-employed and running her own green business, Brooks earned her associate degree in Horticulture Management in May 2019, then opened up her own sustainable horticulture business, Flourish Plant & Land (flourishplants. com). She runs her business from her home in Valley View and says every day is different, with new opportunities and new people, and endless fun with plants – doing garden rejuvenation projects, planting scheme design, vegetable bed construction, and more. A 1995 graduate of Coppell High School, Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech and also holds a master’s degree from UNT, but her NCTC studies allowed new dreams to take root. On the path to her associate degree, she earned a Landscape Design Occupational Skills Award and certifications in Horticulture Management and Sustainable Horticulture.