Maggie McQuown considers herself a life-long learner who is curious, always exploring, eagerly leaning into new ideas, and tackling new challenges. She grew up on the Red Oak, Iowa, Century farm that has been in her family since 1899. After graduating in 1974 from Iowa State University with a degree in fashion design & merchandising with minors in advertising and business, she moved to New York City to work in the heart of the fashion and advertising industries. Clients included Vogue/Butterick Patterns, Cotton Incorporated, Cone Mills – the leading denim mill in the U.S. – plus leading consumer products companies Lipton Tea, Hershey Chocolate, Ore-Ida Potatoes, American Express and Allstate Insurance. Maggie’s 40-year marketing communications career included stops in Chicago and Dallas.
In 1997, Maggie founded VisibleEDGE Resources – a brand image consulting firm – leveraging her fashion, branding and marketing skills to help businesses and their employees navigate how to project professionalism in the era of business casual. Seeking her next challenge, in 2007 Maggie became the Development Director for Black Tie Dinner, Inc. – the largest LGBTQ+ non-profit in the country. Annually, Black Tie Dinner distributes over $1 million to support organizations providing services benefiting LGBTQ+ people in North Texas and nationwide.
Upon inheriting her family’s farm and increasing awareness of the challenges our environment and farmland are facing, Maggie, along with native-Texan husband Steve Turman, returned to her Iowa farm in 2012. They’re farm endeavors are fully focused on sustainability, soil health, regenerative Ag, re-establishing native prairie, mitigating climate disruption in rural Americaare , and promoting nutrient-dense, local food systems.
Maggie and Steve are members and supporters of Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), the ISU Prairie STRIPS Cooperators, Climate Land Leaders, and Nishnabotna Water Defenders. In 2023, they retired from managing the Red Oak Farmers Market. Maggie serves as an Assistant Commissioner of the Montgomery County Soil & Water Conservation District; Steve serves as a Montgomery County Conservation Board member. She was named the 2020 Iowa Conservation Woman of the Year. In 2018, Steve and Maggie received the PFI Legacy Landowners Award and Trees Forever Environmental Stewards Award.
Maggie and Steve live in their low-energy PassivHaus powered by a solar array overlooking their produce garden. The farm is guarded by their extreme-mouser cats Lady Gray and Phantom.
Maggie chairs the Donor Stewardship Committee.