With warmer weather upon us, everyone is looking forward to spending more time outside. But that doesn’t mean that every day is a vacation – or does it?
Let us introduce you to Heather DeSantis, CEO and Founder of Publicity for Good, a PR firm for wellness, beauty and food brands, and Forbes 30 under 30 nominee.
Fun facts about Heather:
- She travelled the country with her husband to find the perfect place to live
- Chose to settle down in the mountains of North Carolina
- Bought 22 acres and is currently building her own homestead, sawmill and a barn to live in
- Lives full-time in 23-foot Airstream
- Baby #1 is due at the end of June!
This spring marked 3 years of Heather building and continuing to grow her business virtually through her Airstream.
We were excited to connect to get her take on being self-sufficient and living the retired life dream – without having to wait until retirement.
Wander: Hi Heather! Thanks for taking the time to speak to our readers about your journey.
Heather: It’s my pleasure to share my story with you and the readers!
First, some background: as a busy PR professional and business owner, how did you end up on the road initially?
My name is Heather and I run a publicity agency, Publicity For Good, and through a lot of hard work, I am able to travel and work anywhere. I have been a publicist since 2012; I worked for an advertising agency and then started Publicity For Good in 2016.
My husband, Austin and I wanted to travel when he got out of the Navy and we wanted to see the rest of the country and at the same time manage PFG while we were on the road.
Our intention in travelling across the country in our Airstream was to find a land that we can call our forever farm for homesteading.
Tell us about your new project in the mountains of North Carolina! What inspired you to want to homestead?
We are currently living in our Airstream in Morganton, North Carolina. Right now, we have chickens, bees, goslings, and ducklings and are growing a garden. We are planning to build our own barndominium in the near future and I am pregnant for the first time.
Our intention of homesteading is to get back to the basics, raising our very own cows and chickens and having our own garden and just, and to teach our future children sustainability and how to take care of the earth.
What has been the biggest challenge thus far on the journey to self-sufficiency and homesteading?
The biggest challenge was learning to live a minimal lifestyle AND having a great internet connection. It’s a balance between running your own business and becoming self-sufficient.
We have our own land and there is nothing better than having farm-fresh eggs every morning!
How important has social media been in your journey to homesteading? Do you see it becoming more or less important for you personally in future?
Social media played a very big part in our journey. For many months before we purchased our Airstream, we read every blog, every review, and watched every YouTube channel to see if we were ready to commit to Airstream living.
Social media will remain important for me personally because it is an integral part of my publicity agency. It also allows me to connect with like-minded purpose-driven people, holistic moms, Christians, entrepreneurs and homesteads.
Connect with Heather on Insta @heatherdesantis and follow the journey at @hna_adventure!
