Camille Preston
CAMILLE PRESTON is a psychologist, executive coach, consultant, speaker, and internationally recognized expert on Virtual Effectiveness. She is the founder and CEO of the organizational consulting firm AIM Leadership, and the author of two books: Rewired: How to Work Smarter, Live Better, and Be Purposefully Productive in an Overwired World and Create More Flow: Igniting Peak Performance in an Overwired World.
For more than twenty years, Camille has guided leaders, executives, policy makers, professionals, and individuals alike to new heights of leadership, performance, efficiency, and greater happiness and fulfillment. Her clients span industries and fields around the globe, including executives from NBC, Zappos, MGMMirage, Citrix, the Corporate Executive Board, Mars, Verizon, GE, CapitalOne, the US Army, and many others.
Beyond work, Camille is an avid runner, yogi, and adventure traveler. She has worked on five continents, traveled to 39 countries, and currently lives in Cambridge, MA with her husband, Mark, and their son, Preston and daughter, Adeline.
3 words to describe Nature?
Life-source (vital, energizing)
Teacher
Diversity (if you connect with how amazing, vast, diverse and profound nature is - it transforms your interactions elsewhere…. if you know the dessert and the ocean and the mountains - it helps you deal with different personalities, different life experiences)
3 things Nature taught you?
Centering
Humility (so beautiful, so powerful, so ever-changing)
To recharge OFTEN (being in nature recharges…)
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sitting in a kayak in the center of Squam Lake - especially early morning, at dusk.
Top of Powder Mountain, in Utah - vast views, diverse landscape, intersection of so many forces - wild and beautiful.
Church Island Chapel - Squam. It is a sanctuary in a pine grove, surrounded by water… where I have gone with my greatest heartaches and greatest desires
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Any type of water is profoundly powerful for me as I have a lot of fire in my personality. I need to be around water otherwise I’m off balance. I always seek out water - on my morning runs, on my ideal vacations, etc.
Something about the moisture in the waves, the space that sits above the ocean.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Reminded that I am just part of a larger system, a speck on this earth. You see the grandeur, the longevity, the strength - and it gives me focus.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
It gives me the force to change, surrender to greater things. I loved driving in Chile - so many roads are built to frame a volcano. Almost as if there is deep reverence for their force to create and destroy.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Morning - I think about where / what to create, how to leave a mark and feel a sense of deep possibility.
Evenings - I think about all that is, all that I have been blessed with. There is a sense of gratitude to be.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Humbled by the powerful force of nature - AND all that I don’t understand about it.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Grateful to snuggle deep into bed. For having safety, protection, and emotional community.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’m a water person… I need to be.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10…. I can tell when I haven’t been “in it”. Nature drives where I live, how I engaged, the ways I create balance within myself.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Every summer I spent at Squam Lake. All this time unplugging, slowing down, learning a new rhythm, adapting to a new pace of life. We would also spend 3-4wks as a family backpacking. Now, as a mom - I’m humbled that they would leave the lake and “choose” a harder interaction with nature - to teach us life skills.
David Nihill
DAVID NIHILL is the author of the best-selling book Do You Talk Funny? and the Founder of FunnyBizz, a community, writer platform, and conference series, where business meets humor to abolish boring content. His work has been featured in Inc., Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, The Irish Times, WSJ, and Forbes. A graduate of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School he calls San Francisco home when immigration officials permit, and was named on the 2017 Irish America 100 List, which recognizes the accomplishments of the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring, awe, wonder
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience, appreciation, fear
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Annanpurna Nepal, Tofu Mozambique, Salt Flats Bolivia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Like kiteboarding or swimming
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like running but also like stopping
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like kiteboarding
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9..but why not 10, it should be 10 :)
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
When I was 7 years old I went fishing for tadpoles by a small river. I urinated without surveying my surroundings and had an argument with an electrical fence. Exactly as memorable...and painful as it sounds :)
Anique Coffee
ANIQUE COFFEE grew up in the US where she studied Marketing + Entrepreneurial Ventures. After a four-year stint working with Creative Services at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Anique started her own agency, providing a range of services to companies, with a focus on corporate identity and branding. After selling the agency, Anique moved to California and joined the Silicon Valley life in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she helped launch and grow various startups. Anique is driven by relationships and results, and loves connecting with others through shared ideas and celebration of unique differences. Stemming from a love for travel and new cultures, Anique recently relocated to Barcelona, Spain and runs The Collective remotely, embracing the digital nomad lifestyle, enabling her to connect with people and brands all over the globe.
3 words to describe Nature?
Vast. Organic. Expansive.
3 things Nature taught you?
To breathe. To wander. To be open to the things nature shows you when you wander.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Chuckawalla trail inside Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, near St George Utah
Dipsea Steep Ravine Loop Trail near Stinson Beach, just over the Golden Gate Bridge, north of San Francisco
Monterosso al Mare along the Cinque Terre trail in Italy
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm. I had my energy read a few times and every single reader immediately said that water was my element - the natural element that I use when I'm seeking calming. It's true.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Grateful. Trees are so amazing. They are living, breathing network of organisms that provide oxygen for us to breathe and work WITH each other to survive. I highly recommend this radio lab podcast to understand how amazing forests and trees really are: http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Cautiously optimistic.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Renewed.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Homesick. I grew up in Central Florida where thunder and lightning storms are almost a daily occurrence. I used to love sitting on the front porch watching the storms, and when a hurricane was on the way, it would be fun to watch some of the natural debris like Spanish moss whipping around in the huge oak trees in our yard.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you Feel?
Nostalgic for Florida. I have many memories of stormy days and hurricanes there.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Can I be all of them? I love the ocean, but frequently crave the quiet mountain life. I love the lush bright green varieties you can find in the forest. I also lived in the desert in St George Utah for a bit and while I won't live there again, I really miss the red rocks and gorgeous succulents.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11. Given our current tech-obsessed culture (which I am often guilty of as a business owner), I find myself craving a hike or a quiet sit on beach weekly. I try to give in to these cravings as much as possible to hit the reset button on myself.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping as a family was a big part of my childhood. We'd often pack up the car and caravan with some other friends to a campsite. I specifically remember one evening at dusk - my favorite time of the day - where I found myself in a field, surrounded by fireflies. I had seen and caught them before, but this time was different. Its one of those moments in my life that's frozen in my memory and was also some kind of out-of-body experience. I can almost see myself swirling around the field, delicately touching the fireflies one by one. Magical bugs. I love them!
Dave Freeman
DAVE FREEMAN have traveled over 30,000 miles by kayak, canoe and dogsled through some of the world’s wildest places, from the Amazon to the Arctic. National Geographic named him and his wife, Amy Freeman, Adventurers of the Year in 2014. Their images, videos, and articles have been published by a wide range of media, from CBC, NBC, and FOX to the Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, Outside, Backpacker, Canoe and Kayak, and Minnesota Public Radio. When Dave and Amy aren’t on expeditions or speaking tours, they guide canoe, kayak and dogsled trips near their home on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. Check their educational company - Wilderness Classroom.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calming, dynamic, grand
3 things Nature taught you?
Confidence, humility, happiness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Lake Superior
Amazon Rainforest
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Young
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alert
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
It depends on the situation anywhere from excited to terrified.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean and Forest, but lakes and rivers more than anything.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I remember by first canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when I was 12. I remember listening to loons calling on calm evenings and catching small mouth bass. It felt like we were in the middle of a vast Wilderness even though we had just scratched the surface.