Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hanna Avlas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hanna, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Well, if I put it simply, the answer is love.
But if I expand on that idea, optimism is built on multiple layers of love. In my case, I was fortunate to be born into a loving and close-knit family, where I felt surrounded by warmth and support. That sense of safety naturally fostered a deep trust in the world — and I think that’s incredibly important.
That was the first layer of love, which later allowed me to discover the second: love for the world and the people around me.
Love at home creates a foundation of trust in the world. It sparks the desire to explore it, to taste it, to open every door that can be opened. It inspires a curiosity to learn everything you possibly can. In other words, growing up in an environment of love gives you a sense of freedom — and a constant drive to expand its boundaries.
That’s how I started traveling, exploring new cultures, and falling in love with the incredible diversity and beauty of nature. I met an amazing person from a different culture and built my life with him — I’m from Belarus, my husband is Turkish, and we’ve been together for 12 years. We deeply value each other’s freedom, love traveling, and have already lived in several different countries. Through traveling, especially with my husband, I’ve fallen more and more in love with the world. And at the same time, the more I see, the more I realize how different people are — each person unique and distinct in their own way. And I am unique. But that uniqueness is beautiful. It’s perfect.
And that realization brought me to the third — and perhaps the most difficult to reach — layer of love: love for myself.
Self-love is the foundation of wisdom, harmony, motivation, respect — and optimism. I don’t think we’re born with it. It’s something we have to discover through experience. But once you find it, it opens every door and stands at the very top of the pyramid of love in all its forms.
Optimism, I believe, is one of the most natural byproducts of loving yourself and the world around you.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve always felt like the heroine of a movie — blend of adventure, romance, comedy, and even thriller. That feeling wasn’t about pretending; it was an authentic sense of living a story, and it naturally pulled me toward creative expression.
It all started with dance. I began dancing at 10, and it quickly became my whole world. I performed at competitions, explored different styles, taught dance at university, and even signed a contract to perform with a show group in China. But even as I traveled and performed, I knew something was missing.
That missing piece revealed itself when I stepped in front of a camera for the first time. After returning from China, I was offered an acting contract with a major media company based in Cyprus, creating content for American audiences. The moment I faced the camera on a professional set, it clicked — my creativity had finally found a tangible form, something lasting.
Then life gave me a sign. I won the U.S. Green Card lottery while working in Cyprus, and with my best friend already living in Los Angeles, the path felt clear.
Moving to the U.S. was not easy, despite the fact that it was already the 7th country I had lived in. This one was the hardest. I left behind a stable career and a comfortable life, stepping into the unknown. And the truth is, here nobody gave a damn who I was in my previous life — how far I had come before or what I had achieved. Here I was starting from zero. I had to prove myself all over again. I juggled multiple jobs, attended acting classes, tried to figure out on my own how to take the first steps in acting in Los Angeles.
Now I am taking professional training at ‘The Studio’ acting school in Santa Monica, where I’ve had the chance to meet and work with incredibly talented individuals. I’m also participating in independent film projects and feel ready to make a big step forward very soon — because I’m surrounded by the right people. I feel truly blessed to have such an inspiring and supportive circle around me. Surrounding yourself with intelligent, positive, and open-minded people is a gift that you simply must treat yourself to. It’s the surest way to grow and thrive.
And even though I’ve found my creative home in Los Angeles, my adventurous spirit is still very much alive. I’m always hungry for traveling, so there’s a big chance I’ll change locations more than once in the future. I believe that the best way to expand your vision and grow creatively is to experience! Experience everything you possibly can: travel to new places, try new things, immerse yourself in cultures, taste diverse cuisines, meet people from different nations, and build friendships across different backgrounds. Every encounter, every culture, every story adds another layer to my creative voice.
That’s why I’m also an author, trying to tell stories about my travels and show the world the beauty I’ve been lucky enough to see and experience. I believe that sharing my stories through my Instagram and on my website https://annaavlas.com is an important way to continue expressing myself.
At my core, I’m a storyteller — whether through dance, acting, or life itself. My goal is to bring depth and truth to every character I portray, connecting with people on a human level.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When I reflect on my journey, three qualities stand out as having shaped my path the most: resilience, adaptability, and curiosity. These attributes have helped me navigate difficult situations and turn challenges into learning experiences.
1. Resilience – I’ve learned that true growth often comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. Facing challenges has tested me in ways I never imagined, but it has also strengthened my determination and ability to keep going.
My advice: take your time and don’t rush through life. Achieving success, especially in a new environment, can take time. Patience is essential for personal growth and to thrive in such a fast-paced world. But remember, patience should not be confused with waiting. Patience is about taking action when you feel the impulse to, but not rushing the response from the world and not falling into despair. Waiting is not about action — it’s about being passive. Patience involves knowing when to act and when to step back and let things unfold.
2. Adaptability – Moving to a new country brought with it an entirely new set of rules, cultures, and expectations. This forced me to become adaptable, learning to adjust quickly and embrace new experiences. If you’re starting out, I encourage you to be open to change. The ability to pivot and find solutions in unfamiliar situations will serve you well as you progress in life and your career.
3. Curiosity – My curiosity has always driven me to explore and learn. It’s what pushed me to travel, study new fields, and take on various creative challenges. If you’re starting on a similar journey, I believe the key is to never stop learning. Dive deeply into what excites you, experiment, and approach each new experience with an open mind. Staying curious and willing to try new things helps you grow and evolve in ways you never thought possible.
Additionally, I’ve come to understand that Love plays a crucial role in fostering these qualities. Finding love within yourself — truly embracing who you are — makes a huge difference in how you approach the world. When you cultivate self-love, you naturally nurture resilience, adaptability, and curiosity. If you’re in a place of frustration or resistance to life, it’s challenging to create anything of quality, whether it’s work, art, or even simply setting the right goals. Love for yourself provides the foundation for everything else.
Authenticity, too, is a guiding force. I’ve realized that embracing who I am and staying true to myself draws the right people and opportunities toward me.
One important lesson I’ve come to realize is that the small victories truly matter. I’ve become more conscious of them, and they have shaped my perspective on success.
My advice is: Focus on building resilience, adapting to change, and feeding your curiosity. Take the time to grow, stay open to new experiences, and stay true to who you are — and don’t forget to love yourself along the way. It will guide you to where you want to go.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
Parents are the most influential figures in shaping an individual’s character. It’s widely understood, isn’t it? While much of psychology focuses on the trauma that close family members — especially parents — might cause in childhood, I personally believe it’s just as important to focus on the positive ways they shape our personalities.
For instance, my parents gave me enough love to develop a strong sense of self, free of insecurities, and to trust the world around me. This allowed me to fall in love with “creative self-expression” and to approach life with curiosity. My openness to the world, coupled with a fearless desire to explore its possibilities, came from the security I felt growing up. That sense of safety is something that forms in childhood, and parental love is the foundation of it. So, above all else, I am grateful to my parents for their love.
Secondly, my parents never tried to ‘clip my wings’. They never imposed their own hopes or expectations on me. From an early age, they gave me the freedom to explore my interests — letting me choose which classes, clubs, and study groups to join. This freedom to explore my passions taught me to trust my own instincts and decisions and allowed me to try so many different sports and arts. Of course, they expressed their desires for my future, but it was always done with love, not control or pressure. They trusted me to make my own choices and allowed me to experience life in my own way. It was also my parents who first encouraged me to find a university abroad, which ultimately opened the door to the world for me at the age of 17.
Now, as I hear countless stories about the consequences of overbearing parental control and excessive protection, I realize how fortunate I was to be spared from that.
I’ve always loved to travel — so far, I’ve visited 44 countries and lived in 7. Do my parents worry when I embrace my “gypsy” lifestyle? Of course. Do they try to stop me? Not at all. I love when I tell them something like, “I’ve decided to quit my International Marketing office job at the university in Cyprus and move to China to dance,” and my mom sighs and says, “Fly, my little bird.” In that, I feel nothing but support and trust. And I know that no matter where life takes me, there’s always a place I can return to — where I can reconnect with my childhood self, be enveloped in love, and take a moment before embarking on the next big leap in life. My parents’ home is the safest, most beautiful place on earth to me. It wasn’t until I had experienced many other places that I truly understood and cherished that, no longer taking it for granted.
So, build gratitude for your parents. Any harm they may have caused you was unconscious, as they too are navigating this life for the first time. But everything good they tried to give you was a conscious choice, often made at their own expense, for your benefit. Don’t focus only on the negative aspects of their parenting in the therapist’s office, as is so common today with the rise of psychoanalysis. Focus instead on what your parents were able to give you, not on what you feel was taken away.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://annaavlas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_avlas_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avlasanna
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