Futurist(Mom)

Hi, and welcome to the
Futurist Mom Podcast.

This is an idea that's been swirling in
my head and in my heart for many years.

And as any of you have ever had those
kinds of ideas that you really wish that

something would exist on the planet, it's
very exciting when you can actually get

it out of your head and into tangible form
and invite other people to share in it.

So I'm thrilled to have you here.

My name is Nancy Ano and I describe myself
as someone who is an advocate and an

activist for a safe and thriving future.

That is a through line in everything
that I have ever created and done.

And it's part of a, a really fundamental
part of what this podcast is all about.

Okay.

Professionally, I have a broad range of
roles that I describe as everything from

global futurist and system strategist
to an advisor to several AI startups.

I'm a gatherer and I've created events
that literally introduce people to

new ideas and new ways of thinking
about things, both in real life,

like for TEDx events and online.

As we describe the new story that
we're heading into, and I'm a global

keynote speaker, and I wrote a book
few years ago to help leaders rethink

what it means to be visionary.

I'll also add that I'm a real person,
that I'm not a bot, I'm not an avatar.

I'm not the figment of
someone's digital imagination.

That may sound funny to say, but as we
look at this into the future in the next

few years, right, we're gonna be bombarded
by a whole lot of video content and we're

gonna wonder, or audio content, we're
gonna wonder where it's coming from and

whether or not that person is very real.

So I will say, yes, I'm a real person
sitting in front of a microphone,

in front of a computer, inviting
you into this world that I'm very

excited about because I'm also a mom.

That's the role I'm the most proud of.

I'm the mother to three, flourishing young
adults in their twenties, 28, 25, and 22.

You'll hear a lot about Hugo, Zane,
and Harper over the next few, you

know, years or however long we do
this podcast, next months and next

few years as they are making their
way into the world and thinking a lot

about the careers that they're building
and the work that they wanna do, the

contributions they wanna make, the
kinds of lives that they wanna make.

So I spent a lot of time, obviously
in the last 28 years thinking about

the future, both through their lens
and through the business lens and that

weave between the two has been hugely
informative and has given me a lot

more confidence as a mother, right?

I've looked at around the corner at where
things are going, and I've been able to

then back cast ways in which I can make
decisions differently for my children.

You know, as a strategist, my work
is about pulling together a range of

disparate information to help make
sense of where we are and to lay out the

choices and the paths that we have ahead.

To get to the outcome
that we desire, right?

What is it that I want to
accelerate and move to faster?

What is a threat or something
scary that I want to blunt and

try and get out of the way?

And as a futurist, it pulls that
thinking forward to take even a more

broad view so we can better anticipate,
prepare, and drive positive change.

It's all again about embracing for
me the possibilities that become

only visible in mass transformation.

So I know that that change can be
really scary for many people, but

for me, I see it as an opening again
for huge transformative change.

I believe that we're in this moment of
upheaval that is, um, allowing us to

have a once in a generational opportunity
to redesign, rethink, and reimagine

every industry, and to reexamine
every social agreement around things

like identity and purpose and money.

You name it.

Right, which can be very, again,
overwhelming and daunting, but also

extraordinary and empowering if we
walk into it with a mindset that

believes that we can impact it.

So again, I continue to believe that
the fortunate, interchange between

being a futurist and being a mom has
really helped me make more active

decisions and feel like I'm walking
through the world, willing, again,

um, excited about what comes ahead.

And I made different choices along
the way that have impacted that.

Again, as a parent, uh, when I look
into the future, I can then decide

that I wanna make different choices
for my children that I might have

if I was only using the parenting
handbook from, you know, the past.

Uh, I've definitely had some moments in
time I had to really rethink something

and think about, well, if this is where
we're headed, I need to really, uh, change

the course or change my approach,
and certainly as a mom, it has

impacted my work as a futurist, right?

All the work I do is I want to
ensure that we're building a life

and we're building a, a, a society.

We're building a planet that my
children will wanna step into and

that their children wanna step into.

We think about this from
multiple generations, right?

We're not just thinking about
short-term decision making, but we're

really thinking about this through
a long-term lens, which is why this

podcast is so important to me now.

After decades of helping organizations
and leaders around the world grapple

with change, it's clear that a rapidly
changing world is putting so much

pressure on the shoulders and minds of
parents, caregivers, and kids today.

You know, we're all bombarded by headlines
that warn us of tech domination and job

loss and severe weather catastrophes
and violent behavior, and arguing

politicians that at some point also,
sometimes Mik is very afraid that

we might be heading into New Wars.

An old roadmap just don't help us today.

You know, I've been in rooms where
the same parents, like one set of

parents believes one thing, and the
other parents believe very differently.

One set of parents can be relieved
that their children have never tried

chat, GBT or even been on a screen.

And other parents in that same room can
be just as proud that their children

are using those applications or those
tools to build, you know, new solutions

to build a new application, to be,
you know, create an AI generated film.

So it's complicated, right?

We all have to make decisions about what
we think is the right way to prepare

our kids for this world that we're into,
which I guess is why it's not surprising

that after I give keynote talks, often
all the conversations of people who come

after me come, come to not come after
me, but the people who come up to me

after I have given a talk and want to
talk about what it is that I just shared,

want to talk about it, not want to talk
about it, not just through the lens of

their, uh, offices or their enterprises.

But how it is also showing up
potentially for their children.

They wanna tell me about their
anxious and overwhelmed kids and

what it feels like to be at home.

Thinking about questions like technology
use and privacy and even motivation.

I've had parents tell me that
they're really worried that their

children don't even wanna, you know,
necessarily graduate from high school.

They don't really see the point.

They don't know if it's really
preparing them for this world

that we're heading into.

Is it really worth the way in
which they're being taught now?

Uh.

To, to think through what it is that
they want to go do as they move forward.

And they wish that their, again, their
anxious or overwhelmed child could

have heard me speak to, could see
some of the examples that I give about

how things are taking shape in really
positive and fascinating ways around

the future of healthcare or renewable
energy or urban design, or the space

economy or food production or housing.

Like there's so many amazing
things that you think about in

terms of vertical farming and 3D
printing and you know, autonomous.

This, that and the other.

Like, it's exciting when you can, you
know, see about, see it from that lens.

But I'm also really aware again that
the gap between the excitement that

I have about what's possible in the
future and the very real concerns

around ethics and use of resources and
equitable distribution of all these

technologies, right, is creating a
tremendous amount of concern and fear.

The research shows us how real
those concerns are and why

they're important to address.

There's something called the World
Uncertainty Index that I was just

introduced to recently, and the chart
that I saw showed from 2008 to 2024

the fluctuation in our sense of,
how uncertain we feel was, you know,

relative, you know, went up and down.

But it was within a more narrow
band and it suddenly in 2025,

it shot up like a rocket is
exponentially, multiple times higher.

Our levels of uncertainty now, which is
not surprising when we see all the things

that are happening in the world around us.

Right.

And as a result, it's not surprising
that our sense of anxiety and stress

and depression and even existential
doom and most tragically are, you know,

those who feel that the only way through
is through, um, death by suicide.

I just, I can't even imagine like
how horrible someone needs to feel

about the world around them to be
able to make those choices, right?

But if we feel like we've got no
control or understanding about

what's happening around us, it
does feel very, very overwhelming.

Not just to adults, but certainly
also to our children, right?

They can feel this, I have been talking
about for decades, that we've been

seeing the numbers climb around these
really, really sad statistics and

often tragic statistics, and we need
to be thinking about this so much more.

Um.

I impactfully and so much more
aggressively than we have, right?

Any society that only measures its,
you know, progress or productivity

through GDP or job creation, or
how rich our 4 0 1 Ks are, and not

thinking about how well our children
are doing is 100% missing the point.

Right.

It is completely distorted then, and
it needs to be turned upside down.

The most important metric should
be how our children are thriving.

And right now they are not.

They do not feel well held.

They do not feel well supported.

They do not feel secure.

The world is heading in the right
direction, and it's our job to

turn that story around, right?

Their concerns are valid, but I really
do, again, they believe that they

deserve a better narrative, a better
perspective on where things are going.

And I believe that it's possible, you
know, in my work and in my family.

I strive every day to try
and turn fear into curiosity.

'cause with that, I can make calmer,
more informed decisions, right?

Again, ones that stand the test of time.

By having a futurist mindset, I
have the confidence to walk in and

question the patterns of the past and
to think about different ways that

we can approach things as we walk
again into a world of exponential

technology, planetary stress, cultural
polarization, and reinvention of work.

And have our children then feel
more secure and more hopeful.

Really, that is the key to all of this.

'cause the question today's parents and
caregivers are going to face are going

to be even more complex as we move ahead.

Things like how AI enabled toys
impact privacy and imagination.

How we talk about catastrophic storms
and fires, how we value college or not.

What really, you know, are the kinds
of choices that we make around how

we want our children to be educated.

What are the things that are most
important for them to be spending

their time and attention on?

Because what kind of jobs are going to
exist or not as we move into the future?

And what will be the metrics
of success as we move ahead?

The intent of this podcast is to explore
how these changes and emerging questions

impact our kids, and to give us a clearer
peek over the horizon so that we can have

greater confidence again in our choices.

As we stand with our children at the
threshold of an exponentially changing

tomorrow, and we're gonna have all
kinds of provocative and fascinating

guests to talk to along the way.

In my work, I'm privileged to meet
the people who are actively designing,

shaping, and impacting the future.

I describe them often as thinkers,
people you need to know, and we'll

be inviting these ERs into the
conversations that we're going to

have, both as guests and sometimes
just, or just referring to their work.

And when they're parents, it'll be also
really interesting to dig into how their

view of the world and in their work
impacts how they do things at home.

Right?

How are they shifting and changing
potentially some of the strategies?

How are they using technology or not?

What has worked and what hasn't worked?

I think it'll be just really fascinating
to dig into that with them as well,

because here's a statistic that has
really stuck with me since I've heard it.

There's a thing called the
Edelman Trust Barometer.

Every year they do a study with tens
of thousands of people around the world

to dig into how they feel, right, how
confident they are about the future,

who they trust, and how they're
feeling about the world at large.

And in 2025, they described it as
the age of of trust in the age of

grievance, that there's a tremendous
amount of polarization and again,

a tremendous amount of fear.

And the stat that I was most concerned
about is that it seems that 30 per, only

30% of American families believe those
children are going to have a better future

than they had a better life than they had.

That means 70% don't believe
that, and that's lower than

even the global average of 36%.

So, although I really appreciate that,
that is real, what if I told you that

instead, you could think about that, you
know, your middle child, middle school

child could have the capacity to very
realistically become a Nobel Prize winner

or have a Nobel Prize level breakthrough.

We'll be discussing that
in one of our podcasts.

What if there's some really interesting
and provocative new approaches to, again,

to learning in the future of schools and
role that AI versus guides have in terms

of academics and life skills, which is
what our kids most want to learn about.

I will be discussing that.

What if I could introduce you to student
led innovation and activism and empathy

initiatives all over the world that
are having a tremendous impact in not

just allowing children to wait until
they're adult to make change, but

allowing them to actually be active,
uh, contributors and stewards of the

world around them, even at a young age.

Right.

Would that change the way
you feel about the future?

Would that impact the conversations
that you have with your child and the

expectations that you have for them
and decisions that you make on their

behalf, but also hopefully with them,
could these give you even yourself

reasons to be excited about the future?

That is my hope.

Now this podcast is not
just for moms and dads.

It's hopefully for grandparents and aunts
and uncles and neighbors, and teachers

and academics, and anyone who cares about
children and not just our own children,

but hopefully the world's children, right?

Everyone that we are.

Uh, you know, privilege to be around that
is going to, uh, grow up and take on the

responsibilities of the future, right?

We owe them our very, very best and
we owe them a story, and again, the

capacities to be able to feel as though
they're prepared as we move forward.

And as we mentioned, the topics
are gonna range everything from

a lot of technology topics 'cause
that's certainly on our minds.

Uh, and again, how that impacts
education, what that will look like for

the work of the future, and how that's
being redesigned and reconsidered.

We were talking about economics.

We'll be talking about the
planet and we'll be talking about

the role of parenting itself.

Right.

What are the expectations?

How does that shift, um, how does our
own sense of self, again, as we're

navigating change, how are ways that
we can build our adaptability quotient?

And then how does that turn
into, um, again, a more sense

of security around parenting?

We will have sponsors and
partners that will help us shape

this podcast and amplify it.

We'll be experimenting with
different formats and thinking

about what works best, and we
really appreciate your feedback

and invite you to be part of this.

You're gonna have questions
that we'd love to hear.

I'm sure you'll have ideas that
you'd love for us to consider about

who would be a great guest on this
podcast or conversations that would be

valuable to dig into and to explore.

And the hope is that you also feel
inspired enough by these conversations

to take them then into your home
or into your community to extend

the conversation, to let them live
right, to continue to flush them out.

Ideas like maybe rather than just
having a book club, you actually have

an exploration club, which these ideas,
again can expand and take on new forms.

You can find me on LinkedIn,
you can find me on Signal.

You can find me at
curious@futuristmom.com.

And I'll share with you also that
you know, again, these are ideas

that I very much have used in
my own life and in my own home.

And while I recognize that parenting
right now is very different or certainly

more complex than in the last 28 years in
which I raised mine, I will say there are

some things that I think that, you know,
hopefully still stand the test of time.

If you walked into my house in Austin, you
would see four words stencil on the wall.

Very big words.

And they've been there since my children
were very young, and it's very much

influenced, sort of become the blueprint,
I guess, for how they've been raised.

Sometimes subliminally,
sometimes very actively.

They've written about them in
their college applications.

The four words are
wonder, think, do, repeat.

Again, if we don't know the exact
skills that the future demands, we will

know that there are certain capacities
and the ability to be curious and to

wonder the ability to work in gratitude
for both the, you know, inspiration

you were given and the people who
can help you do something about it.

To have a sense of agency that you
can create the solutions that you

think exist on the planet, or the
new ideas and inventions that you're

excited to offer to the world, right?

And to have the capacity to
do that over and over again.

So as we step into this podcast together,
I invite us to do the same thing, right?

To walk in with a sense of curiosity
about what will come next, about

what does it mean again, to have
AI guides in the classroom, or

robot nannies in our homes, right?

Ways to address eco anxiety
that are really empathetic

and hold our children well.

Ways to appreciate the growing impact of
gaming and or, you know, sports betting,

which is also a pretty scary thing.

So there's like gaming, which is
having a huge impact on our children.

And some of the, you know, outcomes
around some of that more risk taking

behavior that may not be, um, as, uh,
healthy and things that we need to

be paying more attention to and be
really curious about ways that we can

instill confidence and self-confidence
and sell some agency from day one.

Right?

As a young mother, I really
studied what does it mean to raise

children in such a dynamic world?

And I found a, a parenting philosophy,
a child rearing philosophy that I

felt, again, gave me a tremendous
amount of confidence that my

children were gonna be more prepared.

And so far, I have to say it's
turned out to be, um, a good choice.

So we'll introduce you to that
way of thinking too, and just

give you a. Another option.

And again, the range of children is again,
from infant all the way to young adults.

So some of the conversations might
be more relevant for young parents,

some maybe even for grandparents.

But the fact is that most of it will
cover the range across all of it

because these are the universal concepts
as we're navigating this together.

I thank you for sharing your time and
your attention, and I'm deeply grateful

that you care so much about children.

Again, both ours and the worlds
to have these conversations

and to spend time listening.

To these guests and to the topics
that we're gonna be digging into.

It makes me feel a lot better
about the future when we spend time

really invested in thinking about
how we can make it better for them.

So let's actively and intentionally do our
best to calm our anxieties and create a

path that prepares them for this new world
versus retreats to the roads of the past.

Well, that offers a sense of security, a
more positive story and confidence that

they're prepared for whatever lies ahead.

Welcome again to The Futurist Mom Podcast.

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Help us grow this community and
trust that we're in this together.

Thank you.