Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Leiner.
Hannah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m based out of Miami, Florida. I am a professional golfer, media personality, entrepreneur, and advocator for women. I began my golf journey at the age of five years old when my dad introduced me to the game. At the age of 12, I began competing in events and has a very successful junior career. At 16, I qualified to play in the U.S Women’s Amateur and was one of the youngest in the field. I had the opportunity to play against the most talented amateurs in the world. That event opened the door to future events that I was later invited to like the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst in North Carolina. After finishing my junior career, I attended college in Miami, Florida on a full scholarship to play golf. After three years on the golf team, I finished my academics online and got a degree in Communications and Media. When Covid broke out, it gave me some time to reevaluate my goals and passions and lead me to decide to turn professional. I turned professional in February 2021. This past year has been everything I could have hoped for and more. I played in many events and pro-ams and even won my first Pro-Am event at the Shop Rite LPGA Classic. Building my social media for the last 5.5 years has given me so many unforgettable experiences. Back at the beginning of 2020 before covid, I was a contestant on ABC’s Holey Moley which was my first TV debut. I’m so thankful for the amazing memories, experiences, and opportunities this sport has given me and I’m excited to see what 2022 has in store.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think every person (let alone athlete) has faced struggles in their career. Although I am very fortunate to have had the amazing opportunities and experiences I’ve had, I’ve gone through struggles to get to where I am today.
There have been multiple times in my career where I’ve had the closest people to me not believe in me or tell me I wasn’t good enough. Because I valued their opinions so much, I began to believe them. I started telling myself I couldn’t do it and my self-talk was negative enough for me to start reevaluating my career choices. At one point, I didn’t even want to continue playing golf because I let their words really get to me. I took some time to think about what I wanted most in life and found myself wanting to be a part of golf’s evolution and make a difference as a woman athlete in a male-dominant sport. I decided that I wasn’t going to let anyone determine when my golf career would be over except for me. Soon after is when I decided to make the biggest decision in my life and that was to turn professional. My best advice to give to someone going through a similar experience is to never let anyone create your reputation. You are the only person that gets to decide what you believe in, the choices you make for yourself, and most importantly the way you treat others. At the end of the day, the people who speak negatively about you to others say more about them than you. The people who believe the rumors and lies they are being told are not the people you need to surround yourself with and that will help guide you in the direction to reach your goals.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Whenever I run into the question, “What do you do,” I always find it hard to give a specific answer. I have my foot in the door with many different things. I am a professional golfer, media personality, model, advocate for women’s golf, entrepreneur, content creator, golf instructor, correspondent, and more. Many would say the instability of being a full-time influencer is what stops them from really pursuing it as a career, but what I’m most proud of is overcoming that obstacle and building the stability I need. At first, I would definitely agree that it’s hard to find consistency as an influencer, but with the more networking you do or events, you attend you will see the right opportunity present itself. I always knew I didn’t want a normal life, a 9-5 job, sitting at a cubicle, especially right after graduating, so I’m very proud of myself for not falling into what society thinks I should do.
A normal day in my life (if I’m not at an event) would be going to the golf course to practice and create content. Along with answering emails and phone calls about the projects I’m currently working on. If I am at an event, I’m most likely representing the organization by conducting interviews, creating engaging content for their socials, or playing in the pro-ams.
What sets me apart from others is my work ethic. I remember just starting off as an influencer and I would stay up until 2-3 am researching algorithms and how to reach and engage with different audiences on different social media platforms. When I have a goal or a passion, I can’t stop working until it’s completed. I don’t have weekends off like normal jobs or a timeframe of when I work, but I really enjoy what I do every day so I really wouldn’t call it “work.”
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I would definitely consider myself a risk-taker. I think my career as a whole is the biggest risk I’ve taken. Like I mentioned in the previous question, I knew I didn’t want a normal job or even a lifestyle. When I first started influencing, I knew in my heart that I was going to be successful in what I chose to do, but what was unknown was the process of how I would get there. Although I have reached so many of my goals already and may seem like I’ve reached success, I still have lots of things I would like to accomplish. I believe risk-taking starts with the right mindset. If you are the type of person who can’t settle for a little uncertainty then it would definitely be harder to take risks in life. There are definitely times where I feel like I shouldn’t take a risk or fall back on a decision with my career, but that’s more of a gut instinct. For me, I try to take the risk of being a part of as many opportunities that I can, and sometimes they don’t work out, but that’s okay too because I’ve learned so much from the experiences and have a better understanding of the next one that presents itself.
Contact Info:
- Email: info.hblgolf@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahbleiner/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahleinergolf
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hannahbleiner
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJqL4ETDl7EcJByl8LDPow
