Celestine Maddy, 35, Los Angeles
Claim to fame: By day, she's marketing director of the business consulting firm Undercurrent; by night, she's founder of Wilder, a cult gardening magazine.
Origin story: Maddy started gardening after moving in with her boyfriend and his buddies in Brooklyn. "They were using this amazing backyard like a party playground. I said, 'We should do something with this.'" She first tried to grow grass, but it wouldn't take. "Finally, I called my mother in Philadelphia, and she was like, 'Well, do you have any sunlight?' I was like, 'Oh, my God, I know so little about what I'm doing.'" Maddy found that gardening mags were typically for "a woman who is 60 and has an acre." So she launched Wilder in 2011 as a stylish guide to the natural world, filling each issue with stories about Pacific Northwest mushroom foraging, making rosemary ice cream with chef Christina Tosi, and the California landscape that inspires Rodarte.
Role models: Her mom and mother-in-law, neither of whom get too academic about their "totally different" gardens. "Both of these women have been gardening for 20 years. I'll ask, 'Hey, what's that thing?' And they'll say, 'Oh, I don't know.' It's just this lackadaisical ease."
Daily uniform: Anything from cutoffs to a floral Marc Jacobs dress. "Wear what makes you comfortable. As long as there isn't too much dirt on you, head to the office. I've been outside in heels—like, Oh, let me trim this really fast."
Next up: The Wilder Annual, a book, out next spring.
Celestine Maddy at The Cook's Garden in Venice, California.