Up until 2020, all I wanted to do in the world was sing and perform on cruise ships. I spent my whole childhood taking singing, acting, and dancing classes, and continued that trend into my young adulthood by earning my BFA in Musical Theater. I moved to New York City with my then-boyfriend to chase my dreams, and after a year and a half of working four jobs, I finally got a contract as a lead vocalist on a cruise line. Everything I had ever worked for was finally coming true.

After rehearsing in Europe for three months, we boarded our ship… on March 14, 2020.

Needless to say, my dream didn’t last much longer.

Since I disembarked from that ship, I haven’t performed outside of an occasional late-night karaoke session with friends. I didn’t want to perform anymore because I was afraid of getting the immunocompromised people in my family sick - including myself.

I thought I was a failure. I thought to myself, “I’m becoming exactly what I told myself I would never become - someone who gives up.”

It took so much time, self reflection, and therapy to teach myself that just because I changed my mind, doesn’t mean that the time spent performing was a waste. It also doesn’t mean that I won’t perform again someday. I can change my mind about what I want to do at any given moment, for any given reason… and that’s a testament to my ambition and resilience more than my dedication to theater ever was.

We only get this one singular life. This isn’t a test run and we don’t get any re-do’s. This is it. You have to do what you want to do no matter what it looks like to the people around you (and for the most part, people aren’t even paying attention to you anyways… everyone is far too focused on themselves to worry about you).

So from February 2021, I decided to stop giving a damn about what people think about me. It was a harsh reality to lose friends and family along the way who didn’t agree with my decisions, but for the first time in my life, I had to do what was best for me, and not for other people’s perception of me.

I’ve never felt more free.

So here I am, talking to you, because it’s become my life mission to encourage and empower other people to become the best version of themselves that they can be. The journey isn’t easy, and it certainly takes work… but man, is it worth it to feel so happy, healthy, and whole.

Hi friend, I’m Hannah. It’s a great day for a great day.