We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hannah Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hannah below.
Hannah , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I developed my confidence through self-advocation. I have experienced trauma beyond most children my age—moments where I just had to survive. During such moments, I tell myself to ignore my fear and instead focus on my intuition.
My intuition knows what I deem right and wrong, the importance of honesty, and that I have always survived. Therefore, I stay righteous and honest, and I persevere. I strive to be like someone I can trust, love, and depend on so that I know I can always be my own best friend.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I began Smart Girl Stories along with my dad’s help in 2020. During the coronavirus quarantine, I read books, I watched movies, I went on long walks, and I did my homework, but I needed a creative outlet to keep me distracted. Therefore, we put SGS on the web, and I would research and write interesting facts you would never otherwise know about influential women. Eventually, I began to write full essays on their life stories. Fast forward to 2024, we started having women write their own stories and publish them on the website. Now, we have plenty of women who have put their stories out there through our site. Some prefer to write their own stories, some have a friend or their PR agency write theirs, but I also interview and transcribe the stories that women share with me. My favorite part of my job is interviewing and conversing with women through video calls. I’ll be speaking to a woman in Australia at 5 and then a woman in Los Angeles at 5:30! It is incredible to meet so many inspirational role models! In 2025, we’ll be partnering with like-minded associations and brands whose missions align with ours. We are also incredibly excited for upcoming podcasts, networking and speaking events, and obviously sharing the stories of many more super cool women.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The skill with the most impact on my journey is reading. I started reading at a young age and never stopped. Reading books with powerful women and strong female leads inspired me to create Smart Girl Stories. Every day, I read stories, write, edit, and communicate with many people. And then, before I go to bed, I read the book that sits on my nightstand. Reading is one of the most important abilities one can have. There are so many books to read and so many stories to write!
Ever since I was little, I have loved to learn. I was taught always to ask questions, as searching for answers is the origin of all human knowledge. I ask that everyone ask some more questions and be more open-minded when they answer.
Persistence is another quality I have learned to have. Failure is inevitable, but success isn’t. Those who succeed get back in the saddle once they fall and try as many times as necessary to accomplish their goal. Roll with the punches and know every single person has failed in their life. Quitters never win. Winners never quit. As cliche as it is, they say it for a reason.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I just finished reading Lord of the Flies about a week ago for my English class. The book is often considered cynical, but I think it just teaches lessons readers are too scared to learn. Through symbolism, it teaches that sometimes you have to save yourself, and there won’t always be an adult there to pick you up. That hope needs to be kept because it might just keep you alive at the very last second. That once logic is gone, everything is gone. Fear is the most powerful emotion because it will make you think and act irrationally and outside your character, and people can be controlled by fear, which we know causes violence and hysteria. It also touches on mob mentality, id, ego, superego, innocence loss, and morality. I would recommend this book to anyone and to read very deeply into it. It will teach you about how humans, society, and politics work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://smartgirlstories.com
- Instagram: smartgirl.stories
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smartgirlstories
Image Credits
Smart Girl Media Corporation
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