Hey ladies! Joanna here. Today, I’m super excited to introduce to you our newest team member and Editorial Director, Hanna Snyder. Hanna is from Arizona, rocks her natural blonde curls like no one else, has some killer style, and is the new face behind our blog, The Yellow Room.
Hanna moved out to LA after high school to go to FIDM, not knowing a soul or having lived in an urban city before. She’s since flourished into a well rounded writer and designer.
We are overjoyed to have her on our team, and since she’s the new face behind The Yellow Room, I thought it would be fun to do an introduction for you to get to know her. I asked Hanna some fun questions I genuinely wanted to know the answer to. Read all about Hanna and her story below!
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Tell us about who you are and what you’re passionate about!
I’m a designer and writer living in Los Angeles, I have for nearly six years now! Any story well told - whether through design, words, art, you name it - stirs me. I’m a romantic about almost everything. I care deeply about people, living a full life, and working alongside other women in particular to find greatness in every facet of who we are.
How did you end up in LA? What’s your story?
I came to LA a few short weeks after finishing high school to study fashion design in college. The idea feels a little less daunting now, because so many people here have the ‘packed up and came here with nothing’ story, but it truly was, I think, one of the bravest things I’ve done. I knew no one here, had never lived in such a large urban city, and was leaving everything and everyone I loved in a different state (albeit - a short six hour drive away). I spent so much of my high school life focused on doing everything ‘right’ - meaning, filling my plate with every honors class, extracurriculars, sports, etc. to be set up for college the best I could. But when it came time to actually choose what I wanted to do, I realized I wanted to do nothing but go to an arts school. Again, it feels so normalized now, but when you’re eighteen feeling like all the work you’ve done academically has been a waste (not true), it definitely felt like a risk to come here and choose such a different life than I expected to have.
Tell us a bit about your background in fashion and how that’s evolved over the years.
After graduating college, I worked in the industry for two years. While I enjoyed a good part of that time, I found myself longing to design for something I could be more connected to. I had a hard time feeling as attached to a product that was mass-produced, manufactured in another country, and in that specific time and place, really only profit-driven. So, I started exploring other areas of design and ended up with an amazing opportunity to intern and then work for a small letterpress and design studio in design and production.
To be honest, I kind of just fell into doing graphic design, but it came with such fluidity to me because I was still designing for a tangible product, the medium just became paper instead of fabric. Since then, I have freelanced for a variety of projects helping develop brands through both design and content writing.
Has anyone impacted your life in a profound way? Tell us about it!
Countless. So much of my family and many friends have, but in the interest of not writing a novel…
Regarding happiness and love - my grandparents. They have spoken some of the simplest assurances into my life, but ones that have rooted so deeply within me. I have often seen my Grandpa respond to the question “How are you?” with a smiling, “Too good”. The genuine contentment and joy they have in life and each other (they’re reaching 85 and have been married since they were 18), and their calm in the face of hardship remind me to not take life too seriously - to enjoy it.
Regarding life - one of my best friends, Ashley. We started living together early on in friendship, and as we got to share life more closely, she showed me that I really could live whatever kind of life I wanted to. Her adaptability and ever-faithful posture that things will work out influenced me so tangibly in seeing her live this out day to day. Also, I think every natural rule-follower (me) needs at least one person that shows you its okay to bend them a bit. She’s the actual coolest and I would believe literally anything she tells me.
Describe your style.
Overall - soft, feminine, clean cut. Some weeks a little more flowy and boho - some weeks very neutral. I love great classic pieces like a lovely colored coat or breezy button down. In the reality of most days, I am often in jeans and a t-shirt.
Favorite productivity hack?
My environment really affects me work-wise, so if the space I’m in feels cluttered or overwhelming, then I have to clean it to feel like my brain has room to work. I can’t focus on what I need to be doing if I’m seeing everything else left undone right in front of me. I’m a to-do list queen. It really helps me to see everything I need to do visually, instead of having it buzz around in my mind as things I’m trying to not forget.
With writing especially, I like to get out of my normal space. I love a few particular coffee shops for this - ones that feel open and have that kind of dreamy lighting best for big thoughts. When I’m stuck, I go walk. A really, really slow walk. Something about the rhythm of it keeps me from being distracted.
Favorite way to spend your free time.
For me any time spent with great friends is time well spent - sometimes that means day trips to go hiking, getting coffee/meals, park picnics, or create nights, and sometimes that just means drinking wine and going through old embarrassing pictures of each other. I’m pretty easy to please.
On my own, I have really developed a love for cooking, and always enjoy some good introspective time writing or reading.
Your guilty pleasure?
Country line dancing. It’s really fun I, swear.
What’s a fun fact about you?
Well, I just changed my hair part to the middle for the first time since elementary school (groundbreaking stuff). I was convinced it was making me dizzy the for the first few days though. Seriously, I felt disoriented - as if my head was weighted wrong. I can be a little dramatic like that.
What has been one of your biggest life lessons to date?
There is a certain time for everything. Find gratitude for it during its own time, not just after it has passed.
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We’re so excited to have Hanna apart of our team here at Yellow. Want to see more of this talented gal? Say hi to her online:
Website: hannasnyder.com / Instagram: @hanna.snyder