By Sahira Dharamshi

From not having limited self-beliefs, to finding a passion project, learning self-love to advice on financial wellbeing. This interview with “self-development junkie” Hannah, covers it all.

Introduction to Hannah:

In her early 20s, right out of university Hannah, had a career in investment banking. However, received quite the wakeup call experiencing a severe burnout in 2020 when she ultimately made the decision to leave behind  the world of investment banking. But, not without the important knowledge of officially knowing the best investment to make which surprisingly doesn’t involve the stock market, real estate, bonds or mutual funds. No, in fact the writer, podcaster and fashionista states “the best investment you’ll ever make is yourself.”  

Stepping into the Wellness World:

Hannah’s journey into the wellness realm was spurred by two important changes that occurred in her life. The first was, as mentioned, experiencing an extreme case of burnout, from her job at the time, causing her health to suffer greatly. As a result, Hannah made the decision to quit after coming to the important realization that “the job is only one part of life that doesn’t have to be everything and having too much of your identity tied to work can be really dangerous.” Whilst this lesson might have been learnt the hard way, it led the podcast host down a path of self-exploration “self-love and self-belief” to pick herself back up and reevaluate her priorities. 

Nevertheless, what initially pushed Hannah towards the world of wellness was going through a very rough break up at the early age of 32. The end of a relationship, whether romantic or platonic, can be difficult to navigate. However, during this period of time for Hannah she leant into the power of meditation, practicing gratitude and Rapid Transformational Therapy to get through the major life change.

 “I just kind of threw myself even more into taking care of myself.” 

Hannah found introducing these small habits into her daily routine impacted her positively in numerous ways. In regard to practicing gratitude, she first came across it when she heard a friend talking about how “gratitude is the attitude” (I think I’m going to make this my slogan for 2024). Deciding to start incorporating this little act during such a difficult time, shifted the wellness enthusiasts mindset entirely. During our interview she stated “if you can go through your days finding gratitude for the small things like I don’t know even your coffee, or the fact you woke up and the sky is blue…finding the little wins in every day slowly lifts your mood and slowly lifts your vibrations. And being in a state of gratitude is one of the highest vibrational states you can actually be in.”  Learning to shift your focus and look for the good in each day can help with having a more positive mindset overall and get through difficult situations such as a breakup. You start  to see the good even when a situation seems far from positive. Nevertheless, like most things in life it takes practice and patience with yourself to start seeing the effects. 

Hannah also felt she started “attracting different people…and opportunities” who mirrored similar energies to her. In fact, she stated that it was during this time, walking back home from a Yoga class riding the post Yoga endorphin high, the idea for her podcast came to be. As soon as she got home, she formed a plan and now hosts Wholeness with Hannah.

Hannah’s outlook on the R word (rejection), a taboo and great fear for many has also shifted over time and this particular quote on her Instagram is actually what drew me into her profile and podcast due to how much it resonated with me. “Rejection is a big juicy redirection onto something or someone much bigger and better.” When going through a rejection it can be extremely difficult to look for the silver lining but having the attitude that you’re going to be redirected to something that is actually meant for you can help push through knowing brighter things are to come.

Another mindset shift aid for Hannah was meditation, which she also recommends as a good starting point for those wanting to embark on a wellness journey of their own. Initially, Hannah began with five minutes of meditation a day, and for anyone skeptical about their ability to dedicate this time towards meditation, the podcaster  shared a great quote from  Dr Sukhraj S. Dhillon “you should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.” So, if you’re trying to come up with excuses as to why you can’t meditate, it’s probably just more reasons to add to the list of reasons why you should begin.

In addition to meditation and practicing gratitude Hannah went on to outline the importance of ensuring you’re getting enough sleep, eating nutritious meals, being present and moving as “movement is medicine.” Also, a fashion enthusiast, Hannah finds getting dressed up regardless of whether she’s spending the day working from home or going out, helps boost her mood and productivity. Although, as you’re starting to make the shift towards focusing on yourself and introducing these little practices and habits into your routine, don’t worry if you can’t do it every day. “Some days are just going to be worse than others and it’s okay to have a bad day, it’s okay to write that day off and just say this is a bay day, I’m going to do it again tomorrow” the podcaster encourages. Taking care of yourself requires you, first and foremost, to start being patient with yourself (a key theme throughout this blog edition). 

This neatly ties into another important topic we discussed; what areas in the wellness realm still require more awareness. Hannah’s response was nothing short of accurate, “to focus on ourselves is not selfish.” At times, whether you’re a student, a new mother, working or whatever responsibility you have when you take those devilish few minutes, or weekend to yourself you might feel as if you can’t completely relax due to that niggling guilt gnawing away at the back of your mind. I know I personally have a long history of experiencing this. I used to think “oh I’ll just work for a couple of hours on the weekend”, or “oh I shouldn’t be watching this when I could be working” and after realizing how unsustainable that mode of operating was, now make more of a conscious effort to slot in me-time during the week. It may be going to a Pilates class for some, or yoga for others, it could be going to the cinema or trying a new restaurant, regardless it’s important to schedule in. As they say on planes put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping others, or as Hannah wonderfully articulated “if you don’t put yourself and your wellbeing first, then you can’t show up for other people…we’re not here to just eat, sleep, work, repeat. We are here to actually live life.”

So, on that note I’ll draw this article to an end in the hopes it also signifies an end to the days of where taking time for yourself is a few minutes you steal away whilst your mind remains in a battle with itself trying to justify it. Instead, I hope it marks a start of you leveling up your self-care regimes and feeling proud, not guilty, for it. Remember after spending a few years in the investment world Hannah learnt the secret, “the best investment you’ll ever make is yourself.” 

Visit Hannah’s Instagram: @wholenesswithhannah and listen to her podcast either on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.