Her Story
About Hannah
I entered real estate during a transformative period when technology was changing the industry more than people realize. While most people only experience real estate from the buyer-seller perspective, there's so much happening on the property technology side, with agentic AI being infused into how realtors work on the back end. I honestly wasn't trying to enter real estate as an industry - I was just really interested in one company at the time, heard good things about it, got a job there, and really liked the people I worked with. I found it to be a really dynamic industry that's always having to answer to the questions and changes of the time, constantly impacted by the economy, which keeps it interesting. Because it's filled with so many entrepreneurs, specifically the agents who work on 1099s and are basically all running their own businesses, it's been fascinating to watch how they've adapted to changes with social media and AI. This has helped inform me as a designer too. It wasn't something I honestly intended, but it's something I've found interesting once I started, and I felt like I could make it my niche over time. Now I oversee an amazing team of designers, a project manager, and contractors, and my days involve reviewing work, initiating new projects and concepts, working on designs myself, and exploring new technologies to build better workflows. We're integrated within the marketing team and work closely with social, events, and other departments, helping every department and product line within the company while making sure everything looks like part of the same brand without feeling boring.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Hannah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's the community around the person that is always kind of the biggest driver of success. It's the people that make you feel more secure in your decisions and happier in your everyday. In almost chronological order, my parents always supported me going to an art school and being in a field that's not necessarily known for making a lot of money, but they really believed in me and they pushed me, and I was able to find success regardless of what people expect graduating from art school will succumb to. My husband has been a huge supporter and has always made me feel more confident in my decisions. My previous bosses have always built the space for me to grow and kind of rise quickly, and given me the opportunity to take on more responsibilities. It's the people that make you feel more secure in your decisions and happier in your everyday that drive success.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is to never stop asking questions. It's something that I've embodied, and every time I don't follow it, I pay the consequence, and every time that I do follow it, I find more success. It's as simple as that - whenever something sounds like it needs to be tested a little bit further, just keep asking questions. It also shows your engagement with what it is that people are working on, and it makes them feel like someone cares about it as much as they do. Separately, a piece of advice that I like to give, especially to women in the industry, is in the process of applying, never cut yourself short. If you see a position and you're like, oh, I don't qualify for this, I say apply to it anyways if it's something that interests you. If they feel like you're not a fit, they will make that decision for you. I find that a lot of women, especially when they're entering design or other fields, feel like they have to perfectly fit into the space, otherwise they don't feel eligible. I always like to encourage women who are coming into design to apply for a job that interests them, and a lot of times, that job will make that space, or they'll decide what it is that they need. Maybe the job description didn't exactly follow what it is that they need, but the skills that you have do have that.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
In the process of applying, never cut yourself short. If you see a position and you're like, oh, I don't qualify for this, I say apply to it anyways if it's something that interests you. If they feel like you're not a fit, they will make that decision for you. I find that a lot of women, especially when they're entering design or other fields, feel like they have to perfectly fit into the space, otherwise they don't feel eligible. I always like to encourage women who are coming into design to apply for a job that interests them, and a lot of times, that job will make that space, or they'll decide what it is that they need. You know, maybe the job description didn't exactly follow what it is that they need, but the skills that you have do have that. Maybe the job description was written by someone more on the HR side or something and not specifically of that department. I've gotten really good feedback about certain people following that advice as well. Beyond that, I learned at art school that talent will only get you so far, but it's having to show up to do the work every day, even when it's not so fun, even when it's a little boring, that's gonna make you stand out.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
As much as AI has been an opportunity and something interesting, it's probably also the biggest challenge. Sometimes people not knowing enough about AI yet assume that it just makes everything faster and better and easier without having to use it themselves. So I'm having to balance that with, okay, well, AI is not actually making this project better, it's actually causing maybe more error, more issue than having a human do it. There's also just the cost of it building up over time. I think sometimes people just assume AI will make it better when it doesn't. So I feel like it's probably a balance between figuring out when to use AI and when to know that a human's touch is just better and more efficient.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.