We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Woolery a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Hannah, Here and There didn’t happen over night. I knew for several years that I wanted to start a travel & lifestyle blog- but creating the name? Definitely a roadblock that took me some time to overcome. I consider myself a perfectionist, so I knew that my blog name had to encompass all of the things I wanted it to be. That was the best place to start: narrowing down exactly what my blog was going to be about.

I knew that I wanted to focus primarily on travel- it’s what I’m most passionate about. I love exploring, experiencing different cultures, and getting lost in historical sites. I wanted to help others find their sense of adventure by creating travel guides, itineraries, and providing various travel tips and tricks. When I began drafting ideas for blog posts, I realized that I didn’t want to limit myself to travel- my blog was going to for all readers that simply want more out of life. Of course more adventures with traveling, but also more ambition, confidence, and success. I realized I had branched out- I had written blog posts on travel, style, and personal growth. All little articles with my take on improving your life- here and there.

That’s how Hannah, Here and There was created. It wasn’t my first choice, but I’m glad it was the final choice. It encompasses all things on getting the most out of life, here and there.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a travel and lifestyle blogger focusing on making the most out of life, here and there. That being said, I honestly never pictured myself taking on a creative project/career. In 2021 I graduated from Wright State University with a degree in social sciences education. Shortly afterwards, I got my first job in my new career: an 8th-grade American history teacher. I had some reservations about this as my lifelong career, but I figured that was a normal feeling to have. Right before I was due to start in August, I took a life-changing trip.

Halfway through college, I had done some marketing work for a travel company called EF Ultimate Break in college, and by doing so I had earned a free trip to Greece. It was my first time out of the country (and I went all by myself). It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, and I knew that I forever wanted to chase adventure- and never lose my sense of wonder at this world. I began following travel blogs to plan my next adventures- and I felt inspired to create my own. I dreamed of a life full of experiences, and a blog would provide a creative outlet for myself and help to others who want to travel more. So when the school year came and when- I realized it simply wasn’t for me. I felt burnt out, stressed, and had very little time to pursue my passions of traveling and creating a blog. So after a lot of thinking (and stressing) I quit.

I went back to my previous job I had through college, as it was more flexible and would allow me to pursue my dream of becoming a blogger. After a TON of research (and headaches), I then built my website and brand from scratch and finally launched my blog, Hannah, Here and There. My blog provides travel guides, itineraries, and various travel tricks and tips for various destinations, both here and abroad. Aside from travel, my blog has actionable steps to simply making the most out of life in whatever ways you can- upgrading your style, improving your confidence, and more. I truly believe that everyone needs to be the hero or heroine of their own life- which means chasing adventure, being bold, confident, and pursuing your passions. Hannah, Here and There reflects this, and hopefully inspires readers to make the most out of life and be their own hero/heroine.

I’m most proud of being brave enough to start- you can dream all you want to, but without actions you’ll never reach the places you could go. It can be incredibly difficult to put yourself out there, and blogging has proved no different. My social media content and my blog content truly does come from my heart- its all of my passions, dreams, and hopes written for anyone to see. Since deciding to create my blog, I’ve done a number of things that scare me: I’ve quit what was supposed to be my ‘forever’ career, I’ve traveled to 6 different countries, began creating content for social media, and have learned a million blogging/tech/seo/web skills I never thought I’d be able to understand. I want to show my readers what the world can truly offer to them if they just GO for it. The world is out there, and it’s yours for the taking. So get out there, and make the most out of your life, here and there.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

When I was a teacher, I was struggling to keep my head above water. I was working nearly 60 hours a week and experiencing a lot of stress and disrespect on a daily basis. I’m sure a lot of other teachers can understand- people simply do not give them the appreciation they deserve most of the time. I remember voicing my thoughts on quitting to others, and quite often I was surprised at how people reacted- almost taken aback that I could ever consider quitting my traditional job. Telling me no, don’t do it, you’ll regret it. Or the classic, all jobs are difficult. People often told me how bad it would be to lose a ‘great job with benefits’, which is understandable. However, how GOOD can a job be if it causes you to sacrifice your well-being, time, and hopes and dreams?

I would never advise anyone to quit their job if they weren’t in a good position to. But I was, and it was necessary. I think a lot of non-creatives struggle to understand that burn-out is not something to brag about. We have a very work-driven culture in America- which is great, but it comes with its own set of problems. It’s almost a competition to see who can work the most hours, have the biggest workload, or suffer the most stress, all for the sake of a job. When I quit mine, people struggled to understand why I would sacrifice something like a job to pursue my blog- to pursue happiness, my goals, and my dreams. Everyone has their own specific set of dreams in life- it could be a corporate job with a great 401k match, or running their own travel and lifestyle blog. Either way, it’s all about what makes us happy in our own life- pursuing our passions while we can. I think it would do everyone good to remember that.

One of my favorite quotes is from the Dead Poets Society- and it illustrates this perfectly: “And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for.”

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I’m a perfectionist- and I used to think I had to know it ALL before I could start my blog or writing my blog posts. I was so wrong. The thing about creating is that you’re never going to know it all or be an expert before you’ve started . In fact, your first of anything (blog post, reel, travel guide, website, etc) will probably be bad. My rule of thumb: don’t learn before you start, start and THEN learn. My favorite resources to figure out literally ANYTHING are free- and their names are Youtube and Google.

I never thought I could create a website (I have always struggled with technology), but by watching Youtube videos and doing so much googling my brain hurt, I figured it out as I went, all by myself. I never thought I’d be able to create SEO-optimized blog posts, but through practice and searching for tips and tools via Google, I’m making a lot of progress.

There is an incredible amount of information at our fingertips today- and a lot of it is free. So don’t get discouraged if you can’t figure something out- use your resources and I promise you will eventually.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hannahhereandthere.com/
• Instagram: @hannahswoolery
• Other: Tiktok: @hannahswoolery