Heather Nauman’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Heather Nauman and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Heather, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
It’s the holidays, and we take a lot of joy in doing advent calendars for the entire season. We’ve already gone through our Halloween calendar, we’re in the middle of our Autumn Blessings one, and of course we’ll have a December countdown going into the New Year. Every day has a lot of activities involved to make the entire experience special. We’ll always have a film or TV special to watch, we’ll usually have some kind of hot drink (hot chocolate for me), and do something crafty together. We love to do these together every year, and I’m happy to be in the middle of that season right now.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello readers! My name is Heather Nauman, and I run DIYEntertainment. DIYEntertainment is a nonprofit I came up with to help human creators create, and provide different kinds of assistance to anyone who needs it. We advocate for small businesses, independent artists, and local projects that provide a positive impact on others. It doesn’t matter whether its proofreading your passion project, making flyers for your theater, or providing wellness assistance: we’re here to help and we don’t use any AI to do it.

Besides the support we provide for your projects, we also put out ones of our own. The creative ones range from books and audio stories, to our YouTube channel dedicated to “All Positive Reviews” of stories and media. Additionally, we work to rescue and find homes for stray cats in the area in order to protect them from the dangers of being unhoused.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I have dyslexia, but I grew up in a small mountain town where no one was aware that such a learning disability exists. My teachers didn’t know, so most of them just thought I was stupid because of my reading difficulties, and would rather pass me off to anyone else than try to help. My parents didn’t understand the problem either, so they just thought I was slow, and for a long time, so did I. But as an adult, it was eventually pointed out to me that I wasn’t stupid: I just had a learning disability that meant my brain processed visual information differently. After discovering tools and tricks that could help for reading and retaining information, I realized how intelligent I actually was. Just because my brain functions differently and I needed to adapt accordingly doesn’t mean I am any less intelligent than anyone else.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell myself that “you’re not weird. You just haven’t found your people yet, and one day you will. When you do, you’ll know it, because their energy will match and support your own.”

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Fostering a positive and collective community of people to enrich our planet is something that I am both personally committed to, and professionally committed to through DIYEntertainment. I strongly believe that pooling our resources, promoting the creative imaginations of the different voices around us, and working together towards a sustainable future are all the best ways to proceed as a community of human beings. To that end, I will always work towards helping others tell their stories and raising awareness for positive action.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope to have lived such a life that when I die, there aren’t loads of people celebrating it because I was a terrible person. I’d like to be missed, or to at least have some people react to the news by saying, “I’m sorry to hear about that. She was nice.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://diyentertainment.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diyentertainmentnet/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diyentertainment.net
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@diyentertainment2862
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@diyentertainment

Image Credits
The photo credits include photos of myself (Heather Nauman), myself with my husband (Edmund Poliks), myself with my son Zachary Nauman, and myself with Tim Russ.