Perspective + Stories + ExperienceThese stories and experiences are my own and mine alone. The opinions and truths stated do not reflect any company that employs me for my skills. I hope my thoughts and ideas inspire more people to come up with their own individual thoughts and share them too. Truth wins and there's a freeing feeling when you can create your own voice to inspire laughs, joy and internal discovery.

HeatherPandemic Thoughts

I think this is it. It’s been fun though.

This is probably my saddest and most negative story ever and I didn’t intend for it to be. It’s like whats inside me now and it’s so heavy it’s effecting everyone around me so I have to get it out. This could very well be my last personal writing piece for some time. Maybe all time. I know deep down in my heart that’s not true but then again if I can continue forcing myself into this new mindset perhaps it is. I’m going to stop. Forceably stop myself from creating any ideas outside of normal life. I know, I know, many of you are relieved. Finally! She’s going to shut. Up. No more random interruptions of some hair brained…
Heather
January 9, 2022
HeatherPandemic Thoughts

I started to cry in a meeting! AHHHH LOL

Excuse me please. Yeah. That totally happened. It's happened before but I've always pulled through and fought it back. It's very rare but today I had to excuse myself and chose to not return. Yet I feel proud of myself. Sure, some of the suits may write me off as some emotional girl or something but dang it felt good. They weren't tears of frustration or tears of lacking girl resilience. It was rather because my body no longer knew what to do at that point but start flushing. I had the Best Day!!! Last evening a college student who's been assisting on some data trending on customer spending preferences asked to meet to show where she's at and where…
Heather
December 28, 2021
Heather

What will you make?

I’ve changed a lot of ways I spend my time that I get to choose how to spend. As I get more and more aligned with letting a job be just that and seeing my youngest start learning to drive – I seem to have more time to determine what I do while it burns away anyway. Less people need me, I suppose. After I shake off that moment of sad realization, I quickly perk up realizing that it’s a fun time of deep exploration into myself and what I can do to heal from within and make really cool stuff happen with this increase of time that I find myself craving more and more of. Both my husband and…
Heather
December 23, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Cauliflower

I grew up calling those white flowering florets wrapped in plastic at the grocery store call-ah-flower. Now I can't say if it just took me 45+ years to notice it, or it's because it sounds so different it struck me to pay notice now. But sometimes, I hear English-as-a-first-language people refer to it as cuh-lee-flower. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that everything you can replace with cauliflower is now in high demand so there's a grand influx of people having cauliflower discussions making the usage more prominent. Usually, the only time you would say that word in a small talk discussion was over making a veggie tray. Now there's radio ads promoting the latest pizza crust…
Heather
December 5, 2021
Heather

Wonderful West Virginia – A Story

My Pappy, Noil Clarence Hall, was the subject of my son’s ancestry project for school. Turns out, I was born 7th generation in West Virginia. I didn't realize how deeply rooted in the same area we are. Pap Noil looking quite dapper That means, when West Virginia succeeded from the confederate's democrat plan to forcefully claim 11 states of their own to make a new country and keep slaves at their disposal – my family was part of the group that stood for something. Not today, dems. That just ain't right. That bad thinking of 'take what I want' to 'do what I want' is probably what got us in trouble with Native Americans in the first place. West Virginian's…
Heather
November 11, 2021
HeatherPandemic Thoughts

What we’re used to, and how to not be anymore

We're not supposed to bring up all the bad stuff that everyone has accepted. You know, the stuff we’re used to. I am. Here it goes. If we accept that some people are more deserving than others, something happens. We get used to stuff, because, obviously, it's not us. It's them. We are used to looking away at the homeless. We are used to commercials soliciting donations to get disabled veterans a home or sick kids free health care or animal rescues, because our taxes don't go to that. We are used to the government blowing our social security savings on whatever they decide and not repaying it. We are used to autism. We are used to food allergies, pollution…
Heather
October 28, 2021
HeatherPandemic Thoughts

Painting Sasquatch

I’m starting to try stuff I haven’t done to see if I can do it. Last weekend I found a picture of a Van Gogh Night Sky with Sasquatch. It’s my favorite painting and inspired my ankle tattoo but I wondered if I had what it takes to paint it myself. I used to paint all the time and like it. I just not wonderful at it. I’m ok. Decent. It’s relaxing. And I did it. I made my own version while trying to follow along. I like to buy chunky canvases from goodwill. At $3 and two inches thick- you can’t buy it for that. Most canvas you buy is skinny and I wanted it to look real old…
Heather
September 4, 2021
Food for thoughtHeather

Time, Time Everywhere is Time

Time. You can share it, donate it, commit it, dominate it, sell it and cherish it. It spends all the same, alone or together. Where were you when 9/11 happened? This is a question that everyone has an answer to because they spent it in that moment of realty with you regardless of where they were and it brought you to a shared moment of emotional connection. I think of the singular moments I spend alone in time and all the moments I spend, like currency, at big events in time with thousands of people sharing that moment. Yet, the moment I lived in our big ole house in Iowa, rocking my baby boy in our bedroom. The windows were…
Heather
June 12, 2021
Food for thoughtHeather

It’s My Pleasure

I found this article over the weekend and wanted to share it because I feel it's a helpful reminder to look at how words really matter. Just as simple as whether your glass is half empty or half full, it's how you look at it. I am confident that we all want to have the best conversations and outcomes with ourselves and our customers every day. Sometimes, it's tough.  Whether it's disagreeing on solutions to problems or working with people who have problems they expect us to solve, how we frame it up and serve it back can have more likely positive outcomes simply by what we say.  A couple weeks ago, Tai found an article from our guy Dennis…
Heather
April 15, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Beneath the Gates

I decided to dig out the mixed media art mindset I used to have. At times when there were no words, I would make art speak for me. Been a loooooong time as words tend to come easy for me. Yet the hours spent in searching, cutting, gluing and mixing textures and pictures to articulate reality is actually rather relaxing. I recommend everyone explores ways to express their original feelings derived from their own opinions in ways that release you from reality. Only if for a little while. I call this piece, Living Beneath the Gates. For me it displays how I feel we, the majority and working class fuel the financial engines of the elitists - at a high,…
Heather
March 24, 2021
Food for thoughtHeather

Ain’t My First Rodeo

As my generation hits the half way point of life here on earth averages, and start to see a higer percentage of risks adding in to the inevitable, I take comfort in knowing at my age I can use the phrase, This ain't my first rodeo More and more into relevant conversations about experience. I suppose it's the little things that make up for the bigger things. Like rodeos. Go find some rodeos and some firsts and enjoy some little things for yourself. Thanks for reading, Heather
Heather
March 14, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Keep on Keeping on

Things the mean girl in my head says to me: Why do I spend all this free time on building web posts and podcasts? I'm already sitting for my job as it is and now I sit in the same position even longer to do it. I bet people think you're crazy for doing it too and are tired of you talking about it. Me, in response to my own worst critic to nicely shut up: Why do I write and say things in a permanent record format? ie podcasts and public website entries of thoughts, ideas and beliefs? Because when is the last time they can say they sat alone with their own beliefs and original thoughts out loud,…
Heather
March 14, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

The Silence I Fear Most.

The silence keeps growing. More and more silence.  We talk to less people.  We share less and less original thoughts.  We fear what may happen to our job, friends, family, marriage, children ... if we say what we think. And feel.  We walk on egg shells without crushing any more. Tread silently. Not realizing what all this silence means.  What staying silent will mean. They have taken our voice.  We have let them in a chance of finding a better version of ourselves. We are now Ariel in a new dry world.  How will we find the happy ending? How will we once sing freely again? One thing I can’t be silent about. Sadly. As a woman entrepreneur, I don’t qualify…
Heather
March 7, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Here’s Your Shirt and Here’s Our Reality.

I can’t help but see these photos of the flocks of people- victims to criminals to traffickers and everyone in between from countries unknown - thousands upon thousands at a time. No waiting in line. No registration. No documents. To make this even more hysterical as we defund police and military, while increasing perks to living off the American grid for free, they get a free Biden t-shirt on their way across. Pass on thru. Here’s your free t-shirt. Enjoy the ride. bahahahahhahahahhahahahahah. This is real life. This. Is. Real. Life. I think about the logistics, implementation and system necessary to get some poor dedicated interns to have the balls to go outside our border to ask in fifty languages…
Heather
March 6, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

I double-dog dare you to disagree

I started thinking about all the ways the media is trying to make each other hate each other while losing sight of the values that bind us together. It's down right head scratching maddening. And then I realized I bet everyone - no matter what 'sides' you decided to sign up for - I think you'd agree and question how we got here. It wasn't like this and we all know it. We all just want freedom and the American dream we painted on our definition canvas of #Winning. Same Skies to thee so Shine So there's the first thing we can agree on. If we can agree with that one thing... What else can we agree on? What else…
Heather
February 26, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Pitbull and me.

Thank you, Pitbull. I can't believe it took nearly five months to stumble upon this truth he spoke openly last fall. His wisdom on the double standards and how many CEO's 'buy low and sell high' validates my thought of why more influencers like Pitbull need to speak out, regardless of the short-term ramifications NOW. Perhaps he believes it's time to buy low and bet on more than 75 million of of who will support him for standing tall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5KIAftglPM We know at least 75 million adults were counted who voted for the Americans First movement versus selling us out overseas. The 75 million of us who are hopeful that together, we can finally get all of us in the…
Heather
February 16, 2021
Food for thought

Don’t Forget to Water the Plants.

If you use Alexa to do what she recommends you to do- remind you to water your plants and other mundane yet memorable tasks, you scare me. It’s more than convenience at stake. We seriously are becoming more and more away from thinking for ourselves for simple conveniences that we done lost our minds and can’t think. For ourselves. C’mon. We’re closer to Wall-E than we realize. Remember to water your plants on your own. Unless your a senior or impaired like Drew Barrymore on fifty first dates.  Who, by the way, is who my grandson always says reminds him of me when he watches it. Awwww. thanks for reading. by the way, I’m 45 chapters in to Stephen King’s the…
Heather
February 15, 2021
Food for thoughtHeatherPandemic Thoughts

Here’s the download…

Have you noticed the commercials on your streaming channels say Ad on them with a box to point that out? That’s new for a TV ad. Because it’s streaming. The cables and antennas are gone. It’s modems and routers plugged into the internet. Faster than ever and so everyone can have a device streaming as individuals, not families and gather that data. So is it now internet and therefore I assume no longer regulated by FCC? or are they? In my analytics conversations with media sales, we were very locked down even though we technically were collecting the data, the FCC prohibited sharing or analyzing it.   Is that why main stream media is so blatantly obvious on its political stance…
Heather
February 12, 2021
HeatherPandemic Thoughts

90 Day American

You know, I'm sitting here on the eve of an awesome Mexico excursion with our best friends and should be writing other stuff than flexing the muscle to tell a story for personal, non-profitable reasons. I've got three musts and three wish I coulds but I can't even fathom how I would structure that into my disciplines long enough to accomplish them. Someday though. If I'd just write for the other two reasons other than my own. Oh well. I'm not tired. The mix of emotions of leaving right now distract me from the focus on the other 2/3rds. Hoping the next 5 days of UV and no plans is just what we all need about right now. So when…
Heather
January 16, 2021
Heather

Where will we go?

I had a memorable conversation with a remarkable young woman a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Anna, I'd guess her to be in her later 20's and although her appearance remained unaltered by American celebrity influences of fashion, hair and makeup - she is stunningly beautiful. I've known her for some time through work and she carries herself properly, confidently and exudes a kind, gentle aura. I picture her as a brunette Briar Rose who hasn't realized she's actually Sleeping Beauty. I wasn't sure how we were on the subject, but she mentioned she was born in Ukraine. "Oh, wow, you're Ukrainian... you must tell me more. How did you leave?" She made eye contact with me to…
Heather
January 9, 2021
Food for thought

Holy Buckets of Balance.

I've been out of sorts lately. I don't think that means I need to call a doctor or zoom a therapist type of out of sorts... yet. And as of right now, I've given myself the prognosis of good that I'll get out of this funk. I'm hoping to make the right strides in to get away from those uneasy mental and emotional waters noticeably ahead. The first step is realizing there's a storm coming, right? I'm processing through all of the warning signs and symptoms and can't help but feel like this self diagnosis stuff of my mental state is very similar to the coronavirus from China. Who'sa What'sa? I feel like there's many signs and symptoms that might…
Heather
December 30, 2020
Food for thought

A Day Off? Oh, It’s On.

Poetry is tricky. It’s more of an art form of painting words together in such a profound way it becomes someone else’s quote when they post something. Post something. Not say it. Do you ever wonder if how you tell a story stays best consumed in the platform from which it was created? What if stories you type tend to always stay typed…and copied and pasted. Is that why the movie is rarely ever if at all better than the book it was inspired from. Perhaps its why there’s such a cross-cultural appreciation of rap music because it takes a poem and is able to transcend over to being sung by people of all ages and demographics. Even pop country…
Heather
December 16, 2020
Heather

Another Memory on the Story Wall

Read the headline and cue in the Dave Chappelle bit when he references the DJ guy and says, "Another one..." Then add in the sound effect of the HodgeTwins saying, Yeah.....  I shifted my story wall today and had to reconfigure to see how I squeeze something else in or phase out store-bought items with real-life experience material - souvenirs, milestone pictures, cool vacation memorabilia err yeah.. souvenirs. Story wall.  We went home to Iowa for Thanksgiving and collected new pictures as a gift from my brother and sister-in-law for an awesome vacation we had together this year in Gatlinburg and prints of pictures we took together when we met in Chicago for a weekend last summer to watch the…
Heather
November 29, 2020