Hannah Strader

I attribute my success to a strong work ethic and a solid support system. I am fortunate to have the encouragement of my boyfriend Austin, my sister Rachel, my family, and friends who have consistently supported me throughout my personal and professional journey. Their support, combined with my commitment to working hard and staying disciplined, has played a key role in helping me grow, stay motivated, and achieve my goals.

I think the best career advice is something that I learned from a very young age working within a family business.

Careers often get wrapped up in status & notoriety, or how much you make, when you're getting your paycheck, you know, that sort of thing. I think, ultimately, at the end of the day, those are very important things, but if you're taking care of the customer, and you're being honest and you're doing what you need to do, then all of those things will come through the process. You just have to trust the process. You're always pushing for the next best thing; you want to be rich, you want to have a lot of money, you want to have success, and you can want those things but at the end of the day, it's the customers and relationships that matter most.

I think women in general sometimes don't get a seat at some of the tables, and so I would just encourage women, but especially younger girls & women, that your voice matters, and the work you're doing matters. Whether it feels scary to show up, it might even feel scary to speak up, but show up and say it anyways. You could be the difference, and your ideas, your thoughts, who you are as a person, what you bring to the table is very important.

I would say just navigating a work-life balance, especially in business development. There's so many things that you can get involved in, and then suddenly your schedule is so full you're just overwhelmed. There's always a networking event to attend, there's always someone to go meet, there's always a coffee in the morning with someone, and so just having enough work-life balance to decipher; okay, I'll do this today, and I'll do this tomorrow, and kind of prioritizing what's important and how those prioritized appointments are going to get you to your goal. I think that's very important to navigate.

Honesty, integrity, loyalty. I think those are all very important. Without integrity, without honesty; that's really who a person is built on. My parents taught me from a very young age that whether it's done in the dark, or whether it's done in the light, people are going to know who you are, and how much integrity you have. I think in a business setting, that's very important, too. I want to do everything above board, and by the book, and taking care of the customer, so I definitely think honesty and integrity with those situations is key. But then also having loyalty. I think we live in a world where maybe loyalty isn't as important anymore, and definitely with social media, we have made a society where the grass is always greener somewhere else, and so to have loyalty despite that, it's very important.