DLD| Heather Vescent |Ep 105

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