We were lucky to catch up with Mia Hannah recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

In early 2021, I had the blessing to meet world re-known makeup artist Mali Thomas! We began to work together frequently and every time it was surreal to say the least. Without expecting anything in return, she has provided me with opportunities to work with amazing brands such as Bobbi Brown and Anastasia Beverly Hills. Though working with those companies were some of the best experiences I’ve ever had, I am most grateful for the wisdom that she has shared with me. Mali actually was the person who inspired me to believe in myself, take the risk, and move to LA. That is the single best decision I have ever made and I thank Mali for helping me make it.

Mia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hello, my name is Mia. I am a sister, daughter, best friend, college graduate, plant mom of nine, and pet mom of two. I am however most known for my accolades within the modeling industry. My career began at a very interesting point in my life, I was only in middle school and, as you can imagine as the tallest person in school, I had plenty of insecurities. Ofcourse, on top of the insecurities that simply come with being a middle schooler. My mother saw how much my height and my classmates’ perception of it affected my confidence and taught me one of life’s greatest lessons. “Learn the difference between reality and one’s perception of it”. She took me to cast for my dream modeling agency, Select Model Management, and my height was one of their favorite characteristics about me. I learned at that point that one’s biggest “flaw” could turn out to be their biggest asset. Quite honestly, that experience changed my entire world view and I began to truly understand the concept of perception and the impacts that it could have.

Anytime I didn’t book a super important casting or audition, fortunately, I knew that just because casting directors are not choosing you, it doesn’t mean that you’re not good enough. To be completely transparent, I’ve been rejected for being too short, too tall, too thin, too fat, too light, and too dark. In life, your best bet is to create your reality for yourself instead of considering people’s perception of it first. I knew to not give up on the reality of my future success because of how others view it. I’d like to shout out to my phenomenal mother for sharing her impeccable knowledge and for leading the way for me to see myself in a light that I never thought would ever exist. I thank her for teaching me the lessons necessary to see myself as someone who had already achieved the goals that they were dreaming of.

At this point, I have been signed as a professional model for 8 years. I have worked for some of the biggest companies on the planet such as Coca- Cola, Mac Cosmetics, Oscar De- la Renta, Sprite, Marvel, Hot Topic, Bulgari, and Dreamworks to name a few. I’ve been on some of the biggest billboards I’ve ever seen and have been featured in numerous magazines such as Vogue Italy and Elle America. Over the years I’ve also met so many amazing people along the way and have learned so much not only about the industry but about myself as well. I’ve been told that my mall campaigns and other advertisements have inspired a plethora of the young black community. That’s my favorite part of the job and I can only hope that things work in my favor to grant me the opportunity to inspire more people from my community and even outside of it. My end goal is to build a brand for myself amazing enough to create a successful non- profit for young girls with self- esteem complications. Only the lord knows how social media will continue to affect the generations after me. I’d love to be able to communicate how your perspective can shift your reality and how your “flaws” might really not actually be flaws after all.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Since my modeling journey began, I knew that I could have a successful career. I knew it in my heart but I also knew that my career couldn’t reach its peak by staying in Atlanta. Atlanta does provide amazing opportunities but to reach the pinnacle for what I expect out of myself, I had to move to one of the top cities in the industry and that was Los Angeles. However, for a long time, I’ve just been too scared to move out from the east coast as I had no family or friends out in the west. It would be my first time moving away from my home city and it was thousands of miles away. To make matters worse, my family was structured as an extremely comfortable nest. My parents were still cooking breakfast for us and doing our chores through our teens basically. Finding the responsibility to shift into my adulthood by myself was a lot to face for me but I knew I had to do it and figure it out along the way. I knew that if worse comes to worse, my life wouldn’t be over and I would just have to pivot again. So finally at 21, I got signed to my dream agency and booked a one way ticket to LAX for my dog and I and I’ve never looked back.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think a huge way that society can support artists is to always remember to take their work seriously even when the artist is just beginning their creative journey! Everyone has to start from somewhere and it really takes a supportive community to help make a creator’s dream come true. Honestly, I believe that the easiest way that society can chip in to make a thriving creative ecosystem is to use social media to help spread awareness of their peers’ brand. It’s super easy to click “share” and I think it is truly underestimated how much a friend’s business can be benefitted by that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themiahannah/
• Other: Tik Tok- https://www.tiktok.com/@themiahannah

Image Credits
Photographers: Sarah Pardini , Ahmad Barber/ Donte Maurice, Brian Tampol, Richard Lee Davis, Joelle Grace Taylor