Meet Robert Hanna

We were lucky to catch up with Robert Hanna recently and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Overcoming imposter syndrome is actually like watering a garden, it’s not something you just do once and then it’s done — over my career it’s something I’ve run into frequently and I have to constantly remind myself to trust the process and trust my work, and everything will fall into place. My best advice is just to know that likely the overwhelming majority of creatives out there face imposter syndrome constantly.

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 think of my work as storytelling, and what I do for my clients is to uncover new and creative ways to tell their own stories, whether it be through photography, video, print and web design, or copywriting. I started my journey in creative writing, which bled into a series of other media and skill sets. I pivoted into photography after graduating college and then combined my writing with photography as I ventured into journalism work for the next years. I realised a lot of my photography clients needed graphic design as well, so I went back to school and finished an Associate’s degree in Visual Communications Technology and began working in the nonprofit sector. I’ve been working with a nonprofit social enterprise in Seattle called The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., and have done a lot of branding, design, and video projects with them over the years.

I prefer to work with nonprofits and small businesses because their missions and ideologies align with my own. I think that the stories of these “underdog” companies and groups are far more interesting than that of larger corporate entities, and I’ve chosen to dedicate my work to helping tell these stories. For years

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?

Over my career, the three skills that have had the most impact on my work are: technical ability, reading/listening, and communication. These are underlying factors that play into everything I do — making videos or doing graphic work are intensely skill-oriented trades. They require constant continuing education, learning, and understanding. I spend several hours every week microlearning, doing e-courses, watching videos, and doing anything I can to expand my skills.

Reading and listening are absolutely key components to being successful. Being able to actively listen to your clients, to thoroughly research their organisations, their fields, and to keep yourself well-informed of what is currently out there is essential to doing a good job.

Communication is everything — it’s the way you speak, the way you write emails, texts, empathy, understanding, caring.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest obstacle I face everyday is a lack of time. I’m constantly running up against deadlines, not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to accomplish, so time management and efficiency have become top priorities to me in the last years. I’ve found time blocking to be quite effective and have incorporated some new tools like Notion to help in the race against time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://robhanna.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannihilation.time
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robhannadesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbhanna/
• Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/roberthanna
  Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/roberthanna