Sep 10, 2019
Heather recalls her first experience with desert
was on a road trip with her grandmother and says that wasn't
the one that put the desert in her heart. At 14, on a Nile river
cruise to Egypt with her mother and grandmother, the desert set her
soul alight.
Years
later, living in Silicon Valley, Heather traveled to LA for work
and planned a solo motorcycle trip back through the Mojave, up
through Tahoe. She’d camped in Joshua Tree National park overnight,
waking up to the sound of coyotes. Heather tells us as she drove
out of the park into 29 Palms and heard a voice inside her say,
"you’re going to live here someday".
Heather bought a property in Wonder Valley and
after taking a writing sabbatical at one of her own desert
properties, she found a sense of feeling more energetic and
creative in the desert, which spurred her to move here full time -
that was about a year ago.
Heather finds being in tune with nature, the
mountains, the sky and the ability to be a bit isolated has been
very beneficial for her work. She feels a deep connection to
this desert, to the earth and the rock.
In this
episode Heather tells us about the painting from a
friend that helped her extend the threshold of her desert home
while working for a company that required extensive and regular
global travel.
As a
futurist and security researcher, Heather studies things that are
happening today to predict certain future outcomes. We talk
about considering future outcomes that result from present outcomes
and making strategic decisions that will lead to more predictable
outcomes.
Heather's clients include US & UK governments,
SWIFT, Disney, IEEE, mid-size companies and start-ups. Her research
has been covered in the New York Times, CNN, American Banker, CNBC,
Fox and the Atlantic.
She is
the author of the Cyber Attach Survival Manual,
published by Weldon-Owen and is the writer/producer of 14
documentaries and short films about future technology. Her work has
won multiple awards from the Association of Professional
Futurists.
Watch some of Heather's films and
learn more about her at her website: www.heathervescent.com
Heather on Twitter: @heathervescent
Heather on Instagram: heathervescent