Meet Hannah Strumner

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Strumner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.
When I was younger, I used to not talk at all in school. I was extremely quiet and shy. So shy that one would have to come up real close for me to whisper to them. Although speaking words was quite scary, I remember singing in front of my class a song about spring. I realized that I was able to feel best confident in communicating if I was conveying something with music. This was the beginning of my journey of communicating ideas and thoughts that I had.

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?
Throughout my life, I have battled many medical challenges, and it started in my childhood. I didn’t have a lot of friends at school, and usually, I wasn’t included. This was due to me being at frequent hospital visits and doctors appointments trying to figure out what was going on with me. Instead of talking to my peers about what I was going through, I started to write music about it. The writing began on the piano, then to the ukulele, and finally I had gotten more serious with the guitar and started to write on that as well. I began posting my music online and doing a lot of frequent live streams. Eventually, people began to join, especially from 2020 to now. I was so excited to begin a musical journey and reach people all over the world. I feel the skills that matter are being able to use difficult situations to inspire you. Your hardships will help you write the most emotional and beautiful music. Practice is also very important and finding a producer that you can record with that believes in you!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three important qualities I feel that are super important are:

Hard work and perseverance. Hard work is extremely important, but it is those who also have perseverance that are able to push through. Realize that not everyone will like what you bring to the table, and some people may skip your song. That is okay, and that is what makes us different! Music is extremely subjective and not taking that personally is something that is huge in the music business.

A smile. I know it sounds extremely cheesy, but it is true. Smiling will not only make others feel happy but it will help you as well. Even when things don’t go exactly the way you want or you made a huge performance mistake, realize that you are human, and just smile, learn from your mistakes, and continue to move forward.

Lastly, I feel being open to others’ input. As a songwriter, I know the feeling of wanting to create everything yourself. I think that is awesome, but also realize that taking in others’ input or advice from a teacher to a family member, can really help end up inspiring you more. They see an angle you do not. They are in the audience and they are giving you tips from a different perspective, take those tips and use them!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I tend to write down how I am feeling. Writing things out can make me realistically see if I am being overwhelmed by something that I do not need to be. Just know, everyone has been overwhelmed, nervous, scared, and has faced many anxieties. Our anxieties take on our worst fears. Instead of being overwhelmed, just like you would for others, allow yourself some time to grow and make mistakes. Don’t be so hard on yourself and give yourself some time for you to breathe!

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