Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Ferguson.
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always had a passion for making my life beautiful, in as many ways as possible. I love to tell stories, I love to write, I love to sing, and I love see what I can of the world! All of this has turned me into someone who wanders intentionally, and that is how I have found myself where I am today. I have written books, short stories, and film scripts that I hope to turn into movies soon! I try to release music and new songs a few times a year, and I never stop playing around on Instagram! I have always had an interest in the story-telling element of everything I do, from song lyrics to my novels, I have always cared about the words and what is HAPPENING and how it can connect to emotion and lessons in life. Ever since I was a kid, I was DOING things in the hope that they would land somewhere. I wrote novels in my early teens, I wrote so many songs, and contacted producers to get them made in high school. I took initiative early on, and it helped me build networks from a young age.
I grew up being largely free to try new things and dive into my interests, and I am lucky to have been in an environment where my talents, whether emerging or solid, were celebrated. This meant that I could really poke and prod at them, and see what I liked and where I could take my ideas and crafts. I have found support systems in my family, friends, and my loving boyfriend, that have helped me grow and use my various skills to create fun projects that I am proud to have under my belt. I think my ability to reach out to people has also helped me get to where I am today – I shamelessly reach out to people, on Instagram, at events, and when I was in school, in my classes. I found my producers and writing teams through DM, and many other connections have stemmed from my extroversion.
Growing up, too, I felt I had a lot of expectation to do good and to do great. I did try to accomplish a lot as a kid, and I think that set a standard within my communities (school, church, family, friends). I had to keep pushing forward, and luckily, I enjoy doing more and more and more! I want to expand my reach and become an influencer, so as to step foot into roles one day that help me help people. I have political goals that I thought I would end up working on through law school and what typically follows (working a law office, starting a firm, eventually running for office). However, I realized I wasn’t going to get where I wanted through that method. I want to be able to garner an audience in a way that aligns more with me, and who I am. So I want to use my influence for good, one day. If I can.
“How I started” seems to have come from a combination of exploration, my own boldness, and a community of people in my life that allow me to be myself and try what I want to try, make my little projects, etc… I am so grateful.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a smooth road, in large part due to the people I surround myself with. But it has not always been easy. I think a lot of what I want to do has been tainted by time constraints and/or decisions I had to make. I have always been torn between my love for entertainment and the arts, as well as my desire to create — and my desire to help change the world in specific ways related to foster care and foster children. I was adopted, but I got the best possible outcome from being orphaned. I gained a loving family, that has supported me and done a lot to make sure my life is easy and fulfilling. I know not everybody gets that, and the foster care system is a prime example of where people get the short end of the stick. I hate that I get to bask in my wonderful life, and kids suffer everyday under a broken system, where they lose access to people who should be there for them at every turn. I want to enact a lot of change in that area, and rebuild the system in a way that promotes healthy, happy families, and true adoption, not just foster kids that have to bounce between families, and then potentially end up alone. I care so much, and I could have decided to go to law school or go for social work. However, I was never too sure if I could commit myself to that right after undergrad. That has been something that has weighed on me, and I have to remind myself that I am still young, and have time to NOT be so hard on myself.
I feel pressure to make something of myself in the areas I love/have talent in, AND to commit my life to helping others. These simultaneous pressures can be quite at odds with one another in the big, scary world, and I think I sometimes struggle with whether I am making the right decision today, right now, am I doing enough to help others? Or am I just so focussed on myself, that I am losing track of larger, more far-reaching goals that I have in exchange for my own wishes? I have always felt a lot of my talents outside of the arts, public speaking, being social, putting myself out there, are very much in line with being a good politician and social advocate. I could potentially do a lot of good by using my talents for greater good. But I also want to use my assets to be able to break into industries I have always dreamed of being a part of…
I also struggle with making each thing I do BIG enough. I want everything to be perfect, and elevated, so sometimes perfectionism gets in the way. I also have always done things early, and I have always felt pressure to be ahead. I went to live with my boyfriend right after school, and we immediately went to go and live “the high life” as 22 year olds, living in a nice/expensive place, going everywhere, traveling a ton. Because I have always tried to stay “ahead for my age,” I put a lot of pressure on myself to do extraordinarily well. I am lucky my parents set me up to be able to do this, but I also want to do some things on my own!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I write and I sing most days of the week. I also love taking photos and being in them! While I love singing, I do think my true talents lie in writing and crafting stories. I am very proud of the songs I put out with my producer team, Goldlove, a pair of twins that I work with on a regular basis in LA/NYC. Our song “Saw it in a Movie” amassed a decent amount of streams on Spotify, and it was really the song that made me believe I could do music full time, maybe one day!
I also wrote a couple film scripts that I believe will be incredible movies one day, and I am actively working on one of them right now.
I wrote a novel when I was 16 that developed into a world of other tales and ideas that I’ll turn into a series one of these days.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think my extroverted-ness helps me a lot! I have no problem reaching out to people I want to be friends with, work with, or learn from. This has given me opportunities that I would not have had otherwise, and connected me with people that help me transform my ideas into tangible projects that I can share with the world.
I also am eternally optimistic about most things, and that really keeps me going through anything that could hinder my success.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah.fergyson/ (@hannah.fergyson)
