We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hannah Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hannah below.
Hannah, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I will be quite honest; if you had asked me this question 5 years ago, I would’ve told you I wasn’t very optimistic. Life will hand you lots of struggles, victories, ups and downs– and it’s ultimately up to you how you choose to handle each situation. Over the last 5 years I’ve had incredible highs and some serious lows… you have to have some of each to realize how beautiful life is and to take everything in stride. To me now, there’s no other choice than to be positive. Something isn’t going right? I’ll ask myself what is this trying to show me. How can I be better? It builds resilience and definitely helps me put everything in focus. We’ve only got one shot at life– be yourself, work hard, be kind, be positive. It almost always works out.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
The coolest thing about my brand, is it has expanded into something I never expected. There are so many things I love and that interest me, that I wanted to be able to allow it to become what it needed to be. And now I’m here! I’m a Lifestyle Photographer, Designer, and Creative Director. I work with brands on helping them zero in on what exactly they love, what story they are trying to portray, etc. and create a digital brand for them with the help of photography and graphic design. I love being able to hear about businesses that other people have created and need that extra push–creatively–that they can’t execute themselves. That’s where I come in– and I absolutely love what I do. Being able to help people is in my blood, so being able to do that while being creative is the greatest gift. I plan on working with more brands, expanding my business, and showing people the value of digital branding & marketing. It’s all about telling the story; I love helping tell that story.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I know this is going to sound cheesy but all of this is the truth– listen to yourself (even when you feel like you’re wrong), trust your gut (this is important), and always be kind. If I had been told this a long time ago I might’ve listened to myself and my gut a little more. I had a lot of people who thought my ideas were too out there, or weird– and in my early 20’s I let that get to me. A lot. Which ended up hindering a lot of creative progress for me. But as I got older I realized how important my ideas and my vision were; not only to myself but to everyone I helped along the way. Now I have an incredible business where companies rely on my creative process and my gut instincts to drive a story line for their brand. The best advice out of this I can give anyone, again– is to always listen to yourself. Bottom line. Things that you think about? Things that you dream about? They are all possible. And they should all be heard and put into the world. You never know what could happen. Trust the process.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
The power of collaboration is my day-to-day life. My main focus has been Product Photography and Interior Photography, but have shifted a bit to Lifestyle Photography where I’m photographing people for brand shoots also. I’ve fallen in love with being able to hone in on perfecting my skill-set with not only shooting product but also shooting humans as well. My collaboration with Rustler Hat Co. here in Nashville just landed the cover image in Southern Living’s ‘Best Places to Shop in Nashville’, and it is just the coolest thing to see worlds collide. It’s amazing when you have big— and small— personal wins like that. It gives you strength to keep going and to follow your intuition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.studiorancher.com
- Instagram: @hannahladdbrown
Image Credits
Headshot: Hayley Gjertsen Lifestyle Photos: Hannah Ladd Brown
