Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hannah McClendon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Being misunderstood. This topic was challenging to put into words, but I’m thankful that I’m able to. Socially, I can become a chameleon. I can navigate and work through any social situation with any personality type. As for my own, I’m an INFP. I’m a very animated and intense person with the limitations of a social battery.

When I was a teenager, I noticed the way I was being perceived as different from the way I saw myself. I was often called ‘stuck up’ when I knew I just preferred to be careful and reserved as far as my personal lifestyle. In college, I was bullied quite often when it came to that lifestyle. I would chose to write in solitude and just spend time thinking in my dorm room, and that rubbed several people the wrong way. I never enjoyed parties, so the thought of forcing myself to go to one, just because I was in college seemed counterproductive and repulsive to me. If it is something I’ve tried and did not enjoy, why would I do it? I also fumbled around trying to still be a ‘Christian’ before getting sucked into a worldwide known cult for two years and having to be rescued from that; thankfully. Again, very many stories.

People are very drawn to me, but I’m not exactly very drawn to people anymore. The people I trust and who know me very well, understand the guilt of how this plays on me mentally. Yes, I have so many wonderful qualities to offer… Through trial and error, I’ve understood why that side of me needs to remain safe until the trust is there. I was speaking with my mentor a few weeks ago about how I felt so desperately uninterested with people and conversations, and he was explaining to me how it is about the quality of the conversations that are uninteresting. I rarely get to talk about subjects I’m interested in, because the vast majority of people don’t care for what I enjoy. Being forced to always talk about things I don’t care for everyday is where the desperation comes in, because I almost never get to have those conversations that leave me speechless and pondering for several moments. Being misunderstood is realizing and accepting that I’m already different, I always have been, and always will be perceived this way… After a very long time of trying to understand this, or pick it apart, I accept it.

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Hannah D. McClendon, originally from Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. I’m a 26 year old writer and author. I’ve been writing for about as long as I’ve known how to. I’ve always written stories, whether they are my own or fictional. I enjoy telling stories most of all; I use writing as a way to use my voice and give a voice to these stories. The main genre I’ve focused on was poetry, but over the last couple of years, I’ve wanted to explore different genres within poetry and prose itself. When I published my first poetry novel, it was a bit discouraging that it took me a little over five years before my next work was ready– but that’s the beauty of creating. Instead of focusing on the ‘next big thing’, I just continue to write and hone my skills until I decide the work is complete. The advantage of time passing also proves that I’m not the same writer I was five years ago. Continuing to practice, fail, collaborate, experience… All of these tie into making me a better writer than I was yesterday.

For people that may not know me, I can seem a bit sporadic and inconsistent… Which is true to a degree. I’ve taken this feedback constructively, as I work to make sure I’m sharing while I’m creating. I’m a very intense and passionate person… I’ve also heard the word ‘addictive’, which can be unsettling but it is not untrue. I’m an Aries and this could be an explanation for the intensity. I’m a very thoughtful person and one of my favourite ways to relax would be sitting in my room and thinking while listening to classical music. I enjoy playing many video games in my free time, there are times where I can become fixated on it as well. I’m quite obsessed with true crime documentaries, paranormal stories, as well as Bigfoot investigations. Simply put, I am a nerd.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that ‘receiving a diagnosis is bad news’. A couple of months ago I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and about five years before that, I was diagnosed with BPD.

As diagnosis in my mind is like an added quest to my journey. That quest is to both heal and learn as much as I can. When it came to my BPD diagnosis, I learned why I reacted to things the way that I did and I why I tried to hard to sabotage things I’ve worked tirelessly for. About a year ago, that diagnosis was re-evaluated, and I no longer meet the criteria for a BPD diagnosis, although I still have tendencies. That journey could have gone one of two ways for me. I could have taken that knowledge and used it to mask all of the inefficiencies in my life (which is what I truly wanted to do), or I can work intensively with my therapist to unlearn the way my brain was trained to think after so many years. Medication also helped.

It’s seems that right as I made reasonably progress with my BPD, I’m alerted to my executive dysfunction tendencies. I see all of this as a way to continue to learn and heal, so that I can improve my own quality of life. As the most disorganized person I know, one day, I might become organized… Only time and hard work till tell.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I wouldn’t say books necessarily, I did read a few on which it takes to manage a business successfully, but I wasn’t able to apply it accurately. I read one book by the CEO of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie. I loved how he broke down his ideology for creating something that represents his mission.

When it comes to improving my management, I had to receive a lot of feedback and criticism first. I did an audit of the areas that I’m lacking, which would be consistency for one. I carefully chose who I wanted to collaborate with not just based off of their work, but based off of how their mind works. I have a lot of content to share, but I needed someone to share it in a calm and organized way. This lead to me realizing I need help managing my social media, and choosing someone to work with me on this. I also know I needed help creating more visual content, as I have no technical abilities behind a camera, and I sought out those professional skills and relationships as well.

The most difficult part of doing any of this, was realizing I couldn’t do all of it on my own– it isn’t meant to be that way to begin with. I have to be vulnerable and share unfinished work, which is something I swore I’d never do. As stubborn as I can be, it’s saved me a lot of time as well as my sanity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hdenae.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/hannah_mcclendon
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DenaeSpeaks?mibextid=9R9pXO
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@hdenae?si=3Ni0ok7LCieigY9D

Image Credits
Photos 1-5 are credit to Cody Pomeroy. Photos 6-7 are credit to Kashaf Iqbal. Photo 8 is one taken by me.