Meet Hannah Graham

We were lucky to catch up with Hannah Graham recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome is a difficult thing to overcome, especially as an artist. When you are surrounded by extremely talented, kind, creative humans, and are on a journey of self discovery it was easy for me to get lost, questioning my abilities and if I was truly good enough to be in that space. I was extremely inspired by every single person and each of them were very unique and you could see that in their movement and artistry, and it often felt like everyone knew exactly who they were and they were able to express that through their movement, they were very sure of themselves. I was unsure of myself, and I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be in the room, and that others thought the same, but I was there for a reason and it’s because I was good. As time continued on I started to find myself, and my movement but within that I started to feel as though I was becoming someone else in terms of artistry and movement because we had similar qualities or did the same movement, and I thought I was becoming my own person but I ended up in the unknown for awhile, questioning my every move. But when I was riding the train with my friends we would always discuss the day and how we felt, and what we could do better, and my one friend told me that although I may feel like I’m doing other peoples movement, we all had different approaches because we are different people. That was when I really started to think about how I could take the inspiration, and qualities in the room and apply it to myself rather than comparing myself to others because that can send you into a spiral. I started to find my own strengths, and the qualities I have to offer, but acknowledging that I have my own barriers within myself to overcome helped me shift my focus completely to myself and help myself better myself without allowing my mind to shift in a direction that would hurt me instead of helping me. I really had to recognize that I was there for a reason and although I sometimes thought I wasn’t good enough to be, I used that to push myself to become better. I eventually started to find comfort in myself, and working on trying to understand myself worth, and that I don’t need to feel like I’m not good enough, or that I’m someone else because I am my own unique self and although I still have barriers to conquer, I have been taking the time to understand who I am, and what I have to offer, how I can make an impact, and using my voice. Being surrounded by the right people, your people pushes you, and helps you overcome any challenge that comes your way. All of this, and all of the beautiful humans I had the honor of sharing a space with has changed my life and everything I have experienced has helped me take my power back.

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?

I have been dancing since the age of two and started competing at the age of four, I took my first ballet class when I was just two years old and haven’t looked back since. As I’ve continued my training, I have had a lot of obstacles come my way that made me believe that the end of high school was the end of dance. But I made a drastic decision that I wanted to move away for my last year of high school and see if dance as a career was possible for me. Thank you to my mom for helping me, and believing in me, and to all of the faculty that opened me with open arms. I thought that that was it, I moved and I can’t go any further than this, but the idea of moving somewhere else to continue my dancing and make a career out of dance, and to know that it was possible for me was mind blowing. Who knew a small town girl from Prince Rupert could go to New York because I never thought so, it never even crossed my mind and that was the moment I knew the possibilities were endless. New York is phenomenal, extremely inspiring and the perfect place for me to further my passion for dance, and for teaching me how the industry as a dancer works. It can be really difficult, but in the end it is worth it, New York has been the best experience in my life, especially once I found myself apart of a company where I found my people, my safe space, very special people and they pushed my creativity and abilities past my limits, to a place I never thought was even possible or even existed. So I am working on a few things at the moment that I am excited about, it’s kind of an add on to something I have done, amongst some other projects.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Every individual I met along my journey has provided me with an overwhelming amount of valuable knowledge that has impacted my daily life. I think curiosity was something that helped me continue on this path as I made many discoveries of myself, but also my movement and my artistry. Plus being curious will take you a long way because there is always more, and it will continue to push you past your potential because it can be so unexpected and that makes it all the more exciting, and rewarding to discover things about yourself that will help you grow as both an artist but also as a person. Something that has played a big role in my journey is perseverance because I have had many challenges come my way. For example during my first year in New York I had a seizure, and when I went home for the summer I was diagnosed with epilepsy. That took me into a spiral because it felt like it was over, like I had no control and that the possibility of not returning to New York made me feel scared because I had worked for so long and so hard to make this my career, and I felt my opportunity and my dreams slipping away. However, I was able to get what I needed in order to return to New York but there were still many challenges as this was new to me and I no longer knew how to navigate my life, it was no longer clear to me what was going to happen. I had to find a new normal which was really difficult to find as I am also trying to follow my dream, and it felt like it was holding me back because some things I could no longer do. However, I’ve overcome this obstacle in my life through perseverance and finding new ways to continue following my dream while also staying safe and healthy. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it, no matter what obstacles come up following your dreams. Continue to better yourself everyday so you can always be the best possible version of yourself, and always be yourself never shy away from being yourself because it is one of the most important things, continue to push yourself and never settle.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

There are 3 people that I look up to immensely, they have truly guided me throughout my hardships while also pushing me to continue my work to make myself better everyday. Each person taught me valuable lessons, I actually have notebooks full of the knowledge they have shared. They are 3 extremely inspiring and powerful individuals who I admire the most, and have taught me the most valuable knowledge and ideas, that I will continue to use in everyday life as they apply to both myself as a dancer, but also as a human. Each person has taught me something different, but in the end they all intertwined and helped me grow as both a dancer and human, finding a deeper understanding of myself, how to use my voice and how to find my power. All 3 have pushed me so much and I can confidently say that I would not be where am I today, or who I am today without them. My creativity has exceeded what I thought I was capable and the life lessons they have taught me have given me a new perspective on life itself, and what it means to live life to the fullest enjoying every moment of it. These people will forever be an important part of life holding a special place in my heart for everything they have done for me,

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hannah._.gale_ -for creativity. hannah.grahamm1