GIRLSCHOOL X SMARTIST: HEATHER SHAW
This article was written for Smart Girls by Adrien Young of GIRL SCHOOL.
“I feel like it worked in my favor to actually have a different perspective, and to have different experiences, to have a different view on life… That helped grow who I am and help be proud that I am a woman.”
- Heather Shaw, CEO and Chief Designer of Vita Motus
Coachella, one of the largest music festivals in the world, is just behind us. With daily attendance in the tens of thousands, one thing is clear — festival-goers are there not only for the music, but also for the experience. Meet Smartist Heather Shaw, CEO and Chief Designer of Vita Motus, a team of visionaries who design and curate that experience.
Shaw and her team completed the production design for performances by The Chainsmokers, Halsey, and Run The Jewels at this year’s Coachella. They have also designed stages for Pharrell Williams, MIA, and Janelle Monae using robotics, projection mapping, and custom LED displays. Since the company’s inception in 2006, Vita Motus has been steadily growing in size and scope, and changing the audience’s role from spectator to participant. We were fortunate to catch up with Shaw amidst her hectic festival schedule.
Heather Shaw’s parents noticed that she was drawn to art early in her life and enrolled her in art classes at a young age. From that point on, Shaw was constantly creating. When it was time for college, she started at USC with a focus in Fine Arts before transferring to ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA.
As a self-proclaimed car lover at that point in her life, Shaw researched what it would take to bring her art to automotive design. She explains, “I decided I wanted my art to be a little more functional.” Shaw learned engineering, CAD software, research and development, and design skills. “I could think of something and figure out how to get it made, whether it was a car or a structure or a model. I had learned skills at that point to be able to make anything.”
After she graduated, Shaw spent the first five years of her career working for Volkswagen/Audi with an automotive designer. The work afforded her an incredible learning opportunity, but also the bread and butter to support her passion projects. “The automotive world is definitely a large moving industry, and it doesn’t move very fast. So much of our vehicle is the same as [it was in] 1900, so it was difficult to do crazy things inside that industry, and I had Vita Motus as an outlet to do new things and make them quickly and have people use them quickly… That was what Vita Motus was about.”
In the wake of the economic collapse, Shaw was let go from her contracting position in 2009. “At that point, I just used whatever skills I could to build up Vita Motus, and in 2010, we did the Amon Tobin show, which helped garner a lot of attention.”
Halsey at Coachella, in Indio, CA, USA, on 22 April, 2016. Copyright: Goldenvoice | Photo by Ryan Muir
As she made the leap from designing concept cars to designing interactive musical stages, Shaw assumed a new leadership role to run and grow her own company. “I think I’m constantly evolving as a leader. I almost see myself more as a piece of the puzzle and not so much as leading the whole thing… but my style is that I definitely enjoy collaborating and I enjoy having a team that feels like we’re kind of on a similar level and that everyone feels equally inspired.”
Her biggest role model is her grandmother, an “independent and strong woman” who instilled in her the importance of family and community. “She’s always embedded that family is really important, which for me has grown into so much extended family. We always treat people like family. Even in the industry I’m in, I work with a lot of people I consider family and I think that’s something that’s really special that she’s connected to.”
These values carry over into her company. “It takes a team for sure, and that’s part of making the business successful — finding the right team. We have a really great team, and I think that’s a big part of it.”
Sometimes being a woman in a male-dominated field can be unwelcoming, but Shaw feels her differences in perspective and her knowledge from past job experiences, specifically from her automotive industry years, are welcomed. “I feel like it worked in my favor to actually have a different perspective, and to have different experiences, to have a different view on life… That helped grow who I am and help be proud that I am a woman.”
Now that Shaw has her own business, she’s learned, “[women] are emotional beings — we are groomed this way. Having an emotional view on business can be an interesting thing to navigate. There are a lot of men that are super pragmatic, that kind of work with a very business-oriented mind. I appreciate working with people I see as family, people I can trust.”
Shaw’s advice for the kids: “I definitely feel like being driven and being connected to what you want, knowing what you want and pushing toward that and never giving up is a really big thing… I think within love and passion and family, something really strong in its roots, you can survive a lot.”
If anything, Shaw stresses the importance of community and responsibility. One of the most rewarding parts of her job is that “there’s hope for the future and what we want… to be able to make a mark somehow in the world and make changes in the right materials or the right kind of design… As designers, we have a responsibility to be designing things for the future.”
The featured image is of The Chainsmokers performing in the Sahara tent at Coachella, in Indio, CA, USA, on 24 April, 2016. Copyright: Goldenvoice
