Welcome to the Quixotic Heights Podcast, where we share stories of people who challenge convention, embrace the impossible, and remind us that sometimes the bravest thing we can do is take back control of our own narrative.

Today’s guest knows the digital world from the inside out.

Heather Henderson is an author, speaker, and former Big Tech insider who spent a decade working inside companies including Google and Uber. She saw firsthand how technology competes for our attention, influences our habits, and quietly shapes the choices we make every day.

Now, she’s turning that insider knowledge into a powerful invitation to live more intentionally.

In her book, Reclaim: How to Stop Scrolling Through Your Life and Start Living It, Heather explores why so many of us feel overstimulated, distracted, and disconnected—and what happens when we begin reclaiming one of our most precious resources: our attention.

Today, we’re going beyond screen time and asking ourselves: Who—or what—is deciding how we spend our lives?

Heather Henderson is the author of “Reclaim: How to Stop Scrolling Through Your Life and Start Living It.” A former Big Tech insider, university recruiter, and longtime advocate for emerging professionals, she helps people understand how technology shapes their attention, and how they can reclaim the ability to choose what matters most.

A first-generation college graduate who grew up on a college campus, Henderson began her career as an academic advisor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She later spent more than a decade recruiting talent for Visa, Accenture, Google, and Uber, including the engineers who helped build many of the digital products people use every day. Her work gave her a rare perspective on both sides of the screen: the people designing technology and the people adapting their lives to it. Over time, she saw a growing pattern among ambitious students and professionals: achievement accompanied by distraction, exhaustion, and disconnection.

In “Reclaim,” Henderson challenges the idea that individuals are failing because they cannot simply put down their phones. Instead, she asks readers to consider a more revealing question: Did I choose this, or was it chosen for me?

Through her writing and speaking, she explores attention, digital habits, presence, and the quiet ways technology influences human behavior. Henderson speaks at universities, conferences, and organizations across North America, helping audiences build healthier relationships with technology and thrive in the attention economy. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner and Boston Terrier, Ziggy. Meet her on her website: iamheatherh.com

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