Hi, I’m Heather D Hiatt, owner/founder of Stella Strata LLC. I’m originally from Muncie, Indiana, and was raised by semi-nomadic (military) parents. I graduated from Boise State University in 2010 with a technology degree, and I’ve worked in the IT field most of my adult life. My two sons and I now happily reside in the South Eastern United States.
Why Music?
My affection for music started early – when I was in first grade, my piano teacher mom gave me the choice each evening of helping with the dishes or practicing music. If someone would make me this offer today, I would still absolutely take the deal. I studied classical guitar through my teen years and started playing bass at church when they needed me. When a pastor who knew me well lifted me up from the waters of baptism, he whispered in my ear “As much as you want to play instruments, God wants to use you as an instrument.”
It’s highly unlikely you will ever see me on stage with an instrument in my hands. My, ahem, slightly introverted self is much happier privately playing and creating music as time allows. I’m grateful, though, for the role music has played for me through the years.
One experienced hiring manager asked me which instruments I play.
“Who outed me as a musician?” I asked, genuinely curious who was spilling my secrets.
“Oh nobody, it’s just my observation that pretty much every good software developer grew up playing music.”
Science backs him up. Studies consistently show that creating music opens unique pathways in the brain and strongly impacts the way humans think. Long-term instrumental music training is intense, multi-sensory, and engages both your mind and your body in powerful ways.
It is never too late to start, either. Playing music helps people of all ages with memory, cognition, and sense of well-being. It may be harder to pick up new skills as we age, but hopefully we can employ a growth mindset, and find joy not just excelling or winning at a pursuit like this, but the very process of learning.
Why Art?
Creating art is my growth area as an adult. I loved drawing and painting when I was kid, as many of us pre-iPad kids did, and filled piles of sketchbooks with crazy cartoon faces, elaborate dragons, and unicorns with flowing rainbow tails.
I’ve been called out for doodling in work meetings but have found that drawing while listening actually increases my ability to retain what I’m hearing, rather than decreasing it. I just have to make sure my workday doodles aren’t too distracting. For example, it turns out that drawing a caricature of the person leading the meeting as a sasquatch will cause a disruption if you aren’t careful.
Professional art training? I have none. I wanted very much to attend art school when I was young, but it was not in the cards. In retrospect, it may have been for the best, as these days I’m blending my techie skills with my creative side & I enjoy the flexibility and tidiness of making in art in digital mediums. I’m working on my skills in this area as often as I can. Feel free to follow my @hezsdoodles Instagram account to see what I’m up to here.
Why Stella?
Usually my brain feels like the huge tub of Lego blocks I had as a kid; full of raw possibility (with maybe some random buttons and cool rocks and green army men floating around). I truly enjoy the actualization of ideas and seeing thoughts become “things”. That’s really what Stella is.
“Wouldn’t it be interesting if…?” Out comes the Lego box. Because of my professional experience, these ideas tend to end up as a series of tasks on a digital kanban.
In the end, if my designs can help or entertain someone else? Bonus! Oh, and help provide for my little family too? Perfection.