Hello, hello! My name is Heather Smith. Here I am with my family — husband, three sons, and daughter. We were visiting Portsmouth, NH after hitting the beach. As we were walking around visiting attractions, unique shops, and admiring the beauty, my husband tried scrunching us all in for a group photo. Before we could snap the shot, a nice man walked over and asked if we wanted our picture taken. It is moments like these that remind me of how valuable community is. 

You see…I believe that happiness is not given to us or bestowed upon us. It is made up of trillions of moments of acts of kindness.  Dr. David Hamilton refers to “kindness” as the opposite of stress. Dr. Hamilton is an organic chemist that worked in R&D for pharmaceutical drugs in cancer and cardiovascular disease. He, now, is an author and motivational speaker that has proven, scientifically, that kindness changes the chemistry in our brain. 

As a child, we love presents, right? I discovered at an early age that I love to give presents. When I was seven years old, I was wrapping up my toys and handing them out to friends in the neighborhood. I just always and still do enjoy giving. This path has not always been pleasant. Growing up as a highly sensitive child had its toll of misunderstandings and misfortunes. I learned how to make loving boundaries, to stay grounded despite external chaos, and to trust my inner dialog or my “first voice” as I refer to it. I believe when we let in the light, it will guide us through everything. 

Here’s a brief backstory: 

I grew up in Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. After high school, I majored in psychology for one year. Thinking that “college life” was not for me, I worked in the dental field for five years before returning to my education. When I returned to school in 2002, I worked towards a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. My first son was born in 2004. While taking a break from school, I worked throughout the Upper Valley in the fitness field. In 2009, I returned to school to obtain a Bachelor of Art in Professional Studies with concentrations in psychology and business marketing. From 2009 to 2012, I birthed three additional children and graduated with my bachelor’s whilst eight months pregnant with my, now, nine-year-old daughter. I was working part-time, during this time, in marketing; first, for a for-profit software company, and then for a nonprofit senior center. My experience expanded when I returned to school in 2013 to obtain my Master in Information Technology with a concentration in web design. From here, I sought out small businesses and nonprofits that I believed could use my support with their digital marketing needs. Fast forward two years to 2015, I accepted a remote position as a web designer that turned into a digital marketing manager position for a biotechnology laboratory. Currently, I am a full-time employee for the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth as the Web Designer/Analyst.

My passions are in holistic healing and behavioral health; whether this is exercise, meditation, energy healing, nutrition, breathwork, dance—or anything that assists in natural healing and whole-body wellness. I grew up a dancer, then a yogi, and worked towards goals as a fitness professional. I exceeded all my goals as a fitness professional. However, this made for very little family time. Prime hours in the fitness field are early mornings and evenings/weekends and after two years of essentially working long days and nights, I was burnt out. 

I always knew I wanted more than one child. After ten years in the fitness field, I changed my focus and returned to college. I yearned for a degree that would assist in career placement suitable for family life. Within the first year of returning to school in Business Marketing and obtaining a part-time position as a marketing coordinator, I became pregnant with my second son now 13-years old. 

I swerved in and out of courses while maintaining my priorities with my family. I continued returning to marketing because I was so intrigued with why and how consumers make decisions to buy one brand over another. The more focused I became on businesses and the more I continued to rely on eCommerce shopping for my family’s needs, it just made sense to pursue a career in web marketing. However, in 2010 “digital marketing” was just emerging. Slowly and surely I researched how I can learn more about online advertising. And in 2016, I graduated with a Master of Information Technology with a concentration in web design. 

When I was a child, I was so intrigued by commercials. My father and I were obsessed with infomercials. We both were unsure why, exactly. I was fascinated with The Ginsu knives and my dad with the Shamwow. Later in life when I studied psychology, I realized I am intrigued by people’s behavior. Why do people buy products, and what exactly is entailed with what we refer to now as the buyer’s journey?

Infomercials may have been a common ground for my father and me; however, we are similar in many ways. My father was a giver as well. He taught me the joy of giving. He also inadvertently taught me that working harder and excelling produces extraordinary results. There is a great deal of truth to this belief. The question is…how much is too much? And how do we as businesses create balance? A work-life balance, as well as a balanced work environment, is the premise of my mission. Business Alignment is a strategy to create balance within business structures. It is a way for me to give back to my community in a way that is unrecognizable in a multitude of business models. These tools assist in every angle of organizations. However, the most important and valuable methods are embedded within our marketing attempts. 

In 2020, I lost one of my two jobs as a digital marketing manager, I was able to shift my focus and rediscover my passions. When I slowed down to listen, it hit me like a ton of bricks….the similarity between business structures and our chakras are identical in a business model. Wow oh wow! This excites me! Now, I have the best of both worlds to expand, re-discover, re-create and teach. 

My Goal

I would like to support the healing of our community from the Covid-19 impact. I was saddened to watch so many businesses and people struggle.

Throughout my life, I have noticed one similarity within businesses. The competition factor. Some say it is inevitable. I don’t believe business structures or individuals should be in competition nor do I believe it strengthens a business structure or people, especially when the competition is within the same business. There is always enough to go around, ALWAYS. Having this mindset has allowed me to change my perspective. Teams should work together, lifting each other up, guiding, and teaching one another. Instead, I have witnessed just the opposite. There is a strong-societal-core belief that there is not enough to go around. In fact, this is very much the opposite.

We are enough; you are enough! Diversity from one person or one business to the next is what strengthens us. Authenticity is the secret to happiness.

Competitive energy within a business or person can destroy business structures and individuals. It is my vision to teach my program to the world. And I am starting right here in my backyard. Once the program is complete, my community will have access to it for free provided an honest review is given. Cache the Wave, LLC is committed to supporting OUR community one person and one business at a time.