My Pageant Journey!

Hey, Y'all, it's Hannah Slater, your host of Girl Chat! Today's blog is all about pageants, why I love them, and all that jazz! Now, I did not have an episode last week because we were at a National Pageant in Orlando, Florida, for 12 days! On Sunday, December 1st, we were crowned National All-American Miss.

I started competing in pageants when I was young. I remember my mom would have to go on stage with me. I think she said I was around age 2 when I started. I competed for a decent amount of time before I took my first break. My mom poked me in middle school to begin competing again, but I didn't listen to it. In 2015, I randomly signed up for an Outstanding American Miss (OAM) system. I was Jr. Teen (13-15), and we placed 1st Runner Up (2nd Place). I enjoyed my experience, so I signed up for another pageant a few weeks later; it was in Wisconsin Dells, so it was super close to home, and we already had everything we needed, so why not? That system was called Young American Miss International, and I was in the Teen Division (15-17), and we won! I was an international queen, which was a neat experience. After that year (2017), I knew I wanted to keep competing, but I took a break. 2018, I started competing in the Miss America Organization in the Miss Division. I did not place in the open Miss America pageants and decided to return to OAM; I believe I placed 1st or 2nd Runner-up. Then, I took a decent break. I knew that the Miss America Organization wasn't for me. I had to talk about politics at a young age and didn't/don't enjoy politics. This was probably my most extended break.

I always had my eyes set on the National American Miss organization. After a while, I finally signed up for an open call (an interview) for a spot at the National American Miss Wisconsin pageant in August 2019. I went back down to the teen division. I placed first runner-up and won a few options! So, I had the opportunity to go to Nationals as a city queen. In November 2019, my family and I visited California for the National Pageant over Thanksgiving. I had competed at national pageants when I was little, but nothing close to NAM Nationals! Now, y'all, I was highly unprepared for this experience. We didn't know what to expect; I did not know how to prepare, and I didn't prepare at all. I was very intimidated by the system. I knew that I loved the system, and it was always intriguing to me, but I was terrified.

In the summer of 2021, I returned to OAM and placed 1st Runner-up. Then, in October, I decided to compete in a different system called UNM, USA National Miss. This was my first time working with coaches and a hair and makeup team (lifesaver, we LOVE Makeup By MasKara). This national pageant was still intense, just not as long. I placed in the Top 12 at Nationals but was People Choice. That means friends and family voted for me to be in the Top 12, so I didn't place in the Top 12 by myself or my performance. At UNM Nationals, I met my now coaches, Miss Amanda and Miss Cady, and I feel like my purpose at UNM was to find and connect with them. After UNM, I knew I wanted to continue doing pageants, but I took another break...

In January 2023, I signed up for the National American Miss Wisconsin in August. I had consistent coaching, and I was seeing my coaches one or even two times a week, and that is when I started to change my lifestyle (two years ago). How can I be the best version of myself? How can I be the best version mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally? That was my goal. At state in 2023 was during a period of my life that was extremely challenging., I was going through a lot in my personal life, but we placed 1st runner-up, and that lit a fire under my butt. I loved my experience at NAM; I loved everything about the system and knew I wanted to attend Nationals that year. So we went. I continued to train hard (1 / 2 times a week), really changing my lifestyle and how I can be the healthiest version of myself. While training for NAM National last year, I was going through a lot. I have no idea how I even competed at state or nationals in 2023, but I met so many incredible women at nationals last year, and I loved my experience. We placed 3rd Runner-Up the previous year. Right after Nationals, I knew we would compete at state this year, so I continued to train. At state this year, I was 1st Runner up AGAIN..... (yes, lots of 1st runner-ups). I was so bummed; the ultimate goal was to walk away with the title of National American Miss Wisconsin and to wear Wisconsin across my chest; that has always been one of my biggest goals. I was so bummed, but I knew that we already had our plane tickets bought, and our hotel rooms were booked for this year's Nationals; I was going to Nationals no matter what happened at the state. I had to sit back, readjust, and change my mindset. That door closed as a red banner (state queen), but just because that door closed doesn't mean that blue banner (city queen) was closed; that door was OPEN. I love Hayward so much; I am incredibly grateful I got to wear Hayward across my chest all week long and represent Hayward. At NAM State this year, I knew I needed to launch Girl Chat and go for it. I wanted to continue to dive into who I am. My purpose for competing at state was significantly more significant than a crown and banner. I believe my purpose for NAM state was to pull myself out of rock bottom, and the goal of competing at state MADE me pull myself out of rock bottom and get to someone I love again and can cherish and celebrate. I was bummed, though, but my coaches and I say "God bless me with it or save me from it". So I kept training hard for Nationals, and I found who I was in this journey, which is something that I love about pageants. Pageants make me want to be better and be the best version of myself that I can be. Going into NAM Nationals this year was terrifying because we had changed many of my talking points. Several of the things that I struggled with this past year, being at rock bottom, and being in an emotionally, mentally & spiritually abusive relationship, toxic environments, being manipulated, we're now talking points because that is what inspired me for Girl Chat, my personal struggles, of going through something challenging, hard and embarrassing. Girl Chat is my social movement, so it was a huge talking point in introduction and my interviews. I had so many new talking points, and that was scary; sharing my story is scary, but it made me dig even deeper into who I am, my purpose, and my why, and it also made me do a lot of reflecting. From August to November, my coaches and I dug deep into every aspect of my life and continued to grow.

Now, National week was finally here! I was still waiting for some of my wardrobe to be delivered, and 45 minutes before my brothers and I left, my white pants for the runway finally showed up. Once we got all checked into our hotel room and settled in, I tried on my outfits, and no one in my family could get my runway outfit to zip, not because it was too tight, but because it had so much fabric that it just wouldn't go. So I had to change plans. My check-in outfit became my runway outfit, and a backup jumpsuit I brought as a just-in-case outfit became my check-in outfit. It all worked out perfectly, and my actual runway outfit would not have fit on the stage because the stage is on the ground, and it is a runway.

^ This was supposed to be my check-in outfit ^This was my just-in-case option that came in handy

Now, moving on to optionals, I did many optionals: runway, fresh face, fitness, casual wear, top model, photogenic, and spokesmodel. Although I had really great performances in casual wear, fitness, and spokesmodel, we didn't place in those events. In spokesmodel, I went over on time, and I had done my speech millions of times within the time limit. I was so disappointed because I had invested much time into my optional events, which didn't go as planned. I did well last year in optional events, so I put pressure on myself to do well again, and that didn't happen. We did have a few accomplishments that I don't want to dismiss, for which I am grateful, but I went over on time on my spokesmodel, and you get points taken off for that. I knew I could let these events determine the rest of my week or change my mindset. I knew it didn't do me any purpose to dwell on what happened during optional and optional awards. It was already said and done; nothing would change. I can't go back in time and make me speak faster; I couldn't change anything. So I knew I had to leave it be and get a good night's sleep, and it is what it is, but I knew I needed to change my mindset. However, I still had to speak; I had to do my introduction, which had to be 60 seconds, and last year, during prelims, I had the buzzer. So, I had anxiety. Just like in the interview, we had many new talking points in my intro. My intro was new; I had never performed it before, with several new talking points. Honestly, I was terrified to compete in the intro, but it went great. I took the pressure off myself by saying, "I've done this a million times; I know how to execute this. The buzzer won't go off. I can do this." If I had not changed my mindset right away, and if I was still hung up that I didn't place in X,Y, and X optionals, then rest of my week wouldn't have gone as smoothly as it did for my required events. So, I needed to adapt, overcome, and switch my mindset. I am proud of myself for that because it's hard, and I worked so hard in my optional events, and they didn't work out. That's okay because there is something different, something better, or it's just not your time. I know it sucks to hear those things because I have been told those so many times, but it's true.

Moving into my required phases of competition, we started with gowns, which went well. The stage was a little slippery, and my arms weren't moving precisely how I wanted them to, but I was really happy with my performance. We went into interviews. I had 9 of them, and I felt great about all of them; I did have one judge who would look behind me and break eye contact, so I had to overcome that and not get distracted by that, and I didn't, so I was happy with all nine interviews. We did the introduction, and it went great. I was very happy with my performance, and it sounded just like I had practiced. I got to my final prep session before our final show. I filled Miss Amanda in on how I felt about my performance. I think this is the best I have ever done, and I am very happy with my performance. I think you can really see all the hard work I have been putting in consistently for the last 2 years. Then she said, "Well, tell me how you actually feel." I said, " I have no idea what will happen tonight. I am competing with 120 extremely talented, successful, and capable women. I don't know what will happen, and I don't know what is in store for me." If I had compared myself to any of the incredible women I shared the stage with, comparison is the thief of joy, and it would have done me no good because we are all unique in our ways. So I didn't compare and wouldn't allow myself to go down that rabbit hole, but I knew I was sharing the stage with some of the most incredible women I have ever met. I am so blessed to have met and had such great conversations with many of them. But I did not know what was in store for me. My other coach, Miss Cady, had told me that morning, "God bless me with it or save me from it" Now, if you remember, I was really bummed that we didn't win the Wisconsin title, come to find out, the Miss State queens, there was a lot of, what I have been told political questions. If you know me, you know politics aren't my thing; I don't like talking about them, and I will avoid the conversation or change the subject. I firmly believe that God saved me from that because I got to talk about Silver Star Market, Girl Chat, fighting food insecurity, and genuinely share my heart with the judges instead of discussing politics in my interviews. So, in the big picture, I really think God was saving me from that. After I left my coach's room, I knew that I needed to believe in myself; I knew that I had put in the work, I knew that I was capable, and I knew my worth. I had been trying incredibly hard in all aspects of my life. I knew that I needed to take it one step at a time. so first was our opening number dance. This was actually the first time I didn't mess up an Opening Number dance, and I am a dancer, so it's embarrassing to mess up. We went back out for the Top 12 announcement; I did not know if we were going to make the Top 12, 120 extraordinarily talented and successful women; I just wasn't sure. The "Hayward" was called into the Top 12, and holy cow, now I need to do my intro, I warmed up my intro twice before I went back out and competed, and I didn't even think about the buzzer; I knew that I knew how to do my intro and I executed it perfectly.

Then you go back out on stage and dance with a singer, and then the Top 5 is announced. At that moment, I thought about what an accomplishment it was to be in the Top 12, then "Hayward" was called into the Top 5, and wow, that is insane. I immediately got taken off stage and put into a backroom with noise-canceling headphones. (we did not know the question until we got on the stage, and no, we did not have a list of possible questions either.) Once I got to the backroom and put my headphones on, I saw that they had water for us, and I was so happy to see that. I get cotton mouth so bad at pageants, and normally, either my mom or I have some cough drops, but that was a possibility, so I knew that God was with me. I was the 4th one called into the Top 5; it went in order; the worker motioned me to take my headphones off, so it was game time. My coach said to take my time walking back up to the stage because it was a long walk, and I didn't want to be out of breath, so I took my time while obviously still being respectful and hustling to get on stage. My question was something like, "How do you decide what to post on social media?" It didn't necessarily go as planned. My hand wasn't on my hip, and I didn't actually answer the question right away, and y'all, the buzzer went off. I had 30 seconds to answer, and the buzzer went off. During my onstage question, I publicly talked about topics I didn't think I would actually speak on, especially being televised. But Girl Chat is about a Social Movement where women support women, and we talk about topics that society doesn't discuss. For me, that comes from my personal experience of being at rock bottom and being in an emotionally, mentally & spiritually abusive relationship, toxic environments, and being manipulated, but society doesn't talk about these topics, and that's my goal, my purpose for Girl Chat, to create an environment where we get to talk it. I said something along those lines on the National Stage, but the buzzer went off, and I was not sure what would happen. I was really proud of myself for being so vulnerable and sharing my heart because that is what people need to see: vulnerability. I walked off the stage, and the girls backstage said how incredible my on-stage question was; I shared my heart and your content. We then went back on stage and started to get called.... 4th Runner Up...... 3rd Runner Up..... 2nd Runner Up.... wait what.. It's my good friend Jacey and me in the Top 2... oh wait what Chicago was called 1st Runner Up.. waittttttt that means HAYWARD WON.

My goal has always been to win a National Title in the National American Miss organization, red banner or blue banner; for the last 5 years, that has been my goal. Although that was always my goal, I never actually knew if that was something that would be part of my story. Last year, when I was called 3rd runner-up, I thought it was a fluke, like a glimmer of hope or what could be; I say that because I believe I know pageantry was my saving grace when I was at the lowest point of my life. I thought last year was just a glimmer of hope to keep me moving. I never thought I would be a contender, let alone win a National Title. Maybe that's because I didn't FULLY believe in myself or what I am capable of; I don't know. Once I start to understand what is meant for you, it will not pass me by, and God bless me with it or save me from it; and once I start to see my worth and understand that I am capable while also understanding its X amount of people's opinions. Once I started to focus on myself fully, my progress, and my growth, I became comfortable with myself because I knew that I had put in the hours and knew/know that I was/am capable.

Hearing my name called still feels surreal, and I am so blessed for this opportunity. I also know I worked so hard to achieve this goal. There were SO many challenges that I had to overcome at the moment. It was not a walk in the park; it was not something I just signed up for; I didn't just get lucky; it took a lot of grit, determination, and SO MANY nos. I worked hard for years to achieve this goal.

Last year, while preparing for state and nationals, I was constantly told my goals were too big: "You are not capable of achieving that; you can't do that." I often got asked why I did pageants: "Shouldn't you be doing something else?" and "Why is it important to you?" Instead of genuinely asking me why, I was degraded, and my goals and my journey were dismissed. I know I can confidently speak in front of a group. Public speaking is Americans' number one fear, and it used to be mine, but because of NAM, I can comfortably do it. Because of pageantry, I launched a Social Movement where I talk about challenging topics, andI learned life skills. I have confidence in myself, and I know that my voice matters. That is the message that I want to share. If you are thinking of signing up for a pageant, do it! Head to https://www.namiss.com/. I promise you won't regret it.

Every time I was told "no," it was for a reason and had a bigger purpose, so remember: every "no" is just redirection.

We will dive into what I mean when I say rock bottom, how I pulled myself out, how I knew I was there, and all of that at a later time. If you have a topic you want me to talk about, message me or comment below!

XOXO,

Hannah Slater

Pack With Me for National All-American Miss!

Hey, Y'all! It's Hannah Slater. Welcome to another blog! Today, I'm sharing some tips on packing for the National All-American Miss pageant and some tips on staying organized while packing.

I started officially packing on November 11th. We drove to Minneapolis last night (November 21st) and will fly to Orlando TODAY (November 22nd)! I start packing early because it takes me a while to organize everything, and I have everything I need. Plus, if I need to order any last-minute items, I can ensure my orders arrive on time. So here are some packing tips and tricks!

When packing for a National Pageant, I make sure I have a lot of sticky notes, packing cubes, and several suitcases...

First, I put my schedule for NAM on my computer, grabbed a marker and some sticky notes, and went through the schedule, event by event, writing down what outfit was needed for each party/rehearsal/optional/required competition. Each event gets its own sticky note, for example, "Gown," "Gown Shoes," and "Gown Earrings." Once I wrote a sticky note for each wardrobe piece, I had a pile on my computer that looked like this...

Then, I put each sticky note on my mirror, grouping them into optional and required competitions, parties, and rehearsals. Once that is done, my mirror looks like...

With the wardrobe pieces sorted, it's time to bring out the packing cubes, a crucial part of my packing process! This is what keeps me organized! I have packing cubes for casual clothes, clothes for hair and makeup, undergarments, rehearsal outfits, optional outfits, and any odd accessories. Using packing cubes keeps my suitcases organized, and I can fit so many pieces in them! I also have a little jewelry travel case for all of my earrings. I have little ziplock bags for each pair of earrings I need that fit nicely into my jewelry case.

The first suitcase I packed was my big one. In this suitcase, I put all of my shoes (besides my required shoes) and as many packing cubes as I could fit, which was only 4. Half the suitcase was full of all my shoes, so I only had one side for packing cubes. This suitcase also had my rehearsal outfits, undergarments, and hair and makeup clothes (basically casual clothes).

I have two special suitcases for my dresses and jumpsuits. They are specially designed for gowns, and I packed one of them next. I started packing my dresses and jumpsuits. I packed my Doll Ball dress, Red Carpet Award dresses (this is one of the two outfits for which I have two options), and my Gold Gala dress.

I don't pack my dress suitcase full; I don't want to squish anything or cram my dresses into one bag, especially the ones that have my optional or required competition wardrobe in them.

My medium suitcase holds whatever else doesn't fit into my other bags: the rest of my casual clothes, airport clothes, all of my toiletries, makeup, and my handheld light in case it's too dark for pictures.

My other small suitcase is filled with gifts! I have little Girl Chat baggies filled with pink candies, a Girl Chat business card, pink eye patches, Girl Chat stickers, and Girl Chat Mirrors! Each woman I am competing with this week will receive one. I also have gifts for my incredible coaches and hair/makeup team!

Poppi helping me pack all of my gifts!

One of the last suitcases I packed was my carry-on. I had my last coaching session on Tuesday (November 19th), so I needed my required shoes! My gown has its own carry-on bag, and I also have a carry-on suitcase! In this suitcase, I put all of my required competition pieces: gown earrings, gown shoes, check-in outfit, check-in shoes, check-in earrings, intro/interview outfit, intro/interview shoes, and intro/interview earrings! If something happens to my checked suitcases, I will have at least all of my required pieces.

And the very last suitcase I packed was the rest of optional outfits/party outfits.

These all went into my other dress suitcase! This one has my Runway jumpsuit, Thanksgiving dress, Top Model outfit, Casual Wear dress, Spokesmodel dress, and two just-in-case outfits. I would have loved to pack this suitcase significantly sooner, but I had been waiting for one last piece of an outfit to arrive: my runway pants. I dropped them off to my seamstress in September, fingers crossed.

Five suitcases later.... we are finally packed! Thanks for reading my packing tips and what works for me!

*SOME of my suitcases, my mom & dad have my other 4*

Let's do this, Team Hannah🩷

XOXO,

Hannah Slater

My helper for writing this blog :)

What It's Like Being An Entrepreneur!

Hey, y'all, it's Hannah Slater, your host of Girl Chat! Welcome to another Girl Chat blog! Today, we are going to talk about what it is like to be a young entrepreneur, especially an entrepreneur in a tourist town. What inspired me to pursue this topic was that my small business, Silver Star Market, was named Small Business of The Year in Hayward. That is such an incredible honor, and I am so thankful for that, and I do not take that lightly. I am surprised I wrote that without getting teary-eyed. I am really honored that SSM was awarded Small Business of The Year.

I have been a business owner for over two years, so I have some experience, but not a lot. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so I have had an entrepreneurial spirit since I was young and witnessed my parents run successful businesses. I have learned from them a lot, and I continue to learn from them. They are vital people in my life who always support me and are always willing to answer all of my questions. They also help guide me on those decisions to become successful.

I love being an entrepreneur. It is who I am to the core. Silver Star Market is everything that I love. Being an entrepreneur is incredible and something I am proud of. It is hard; it comes with many challenges, several decisions, and a ton of risk. Being an entrepreneur is more than just an 8-5; I work a lot and love what I do. I enjoy all parts of what I do: making fresh flower arrangements, sourcing for new brands/items/, flipping the store, and pricing new inventory; I love it all. I always say I am so lucky because it doesn't feel like I am at work; I truly love what I do.

One of the first things I learned was that no matter what, you will not make everyone happy. That was challenging to learn and understand. The goal is to make everyone happy, but realistically, you can't make everyone happy. If you know me, you know my style is all over the board. From Glitz and glam to cowgirl girl and everything in between, I like switching up my style and being different. That is exactly what Silver Star is. We have several different clothing items and brands you can't always find in Hayward, WI. I love that part of SSM. In the beginning, especially before people started to realize that my style is a little bit out there, there would be times when customers would come in and say, "Who could wear something like that?" "That is absolutely hideous." "Could you imagine someone wearing that?" and 9 times out of 10, I was wearing that piece of clothing. And there are still times when this happens; I don't take it to heart anymore. It was hard to overcome that and learn that, although it's my style and I love it, it might not be someone else, but what is so special about SSM is that my style is so different; we have a wide variety of options, like staples and essential pieces, everyday pieces, going-out outfits, sequin pants, we have a little bit of everything. We are a one-stop shop!

Risk:

Being an entrepreneur—starting your own business—is risky, and that risk never goes away. There are always so many uncertainties, especially in a tourist town. You don't know what is going to happen. During the winter months, we rely on the weather; if we get a lot of snow, the trails are open, and you can go ice fishing and snowmobiling. But if we don't have snow, then the trails are closed, and the lakes aren't open for ice fishing. So, honestly, it is terrifying in the winter season and what that brings. We are grateful that we have a Christmas Season. I love our Christmas store flips; they are always magical and fun. So, we get to bring people in that way and elevate the Christmas experience. But that also carries many risks because you are ordering a high volume of product and hoping to sell it during the "slower" season, not really knowing what the holiday season or the winter will look like. There is a lot of risk! Sometimes, I think the risks can be fun, but other times, the risks are really scary. Sometimes I think, Oh man, what did I do? Did I just put SSM in jeopardy, or is this going to be super successful? One of the risks we just took is our head table. When you walk into SSM, the head table is pink, purple, glitz, and glam instead of a traditional Christmas. I said people will love or hate this because it is not your traditional Christmas colors. However, this risk was worth it; I never want to be what everyone else in Hayward is. I pride myself on being different, having unique items, and staying true to my identity. I am not a traditional girly for Christmas; I am pink Christmas at my house. I just wanted to be different, which was a significant risk. So far, there have been several excellent comments, and people enjoy that SSM is different. So the risk was worth it!

Unpredictable:

There are many wins and many losses, especially in our personal and daily lives, and people often see the wins more. It is scary to be vulnerable and show when something doesn't go the way we want it to. There are so many unpredictable things. We can try and predict, but it's not a guarantee. Let's say last year we sold 200 floral arrangements for Christmas; I don't know how many we sold, but let's say 200. We can plan and prepare to make and sell more this year, but we can't predict what the holiday season will bring. We don't know what the traffic flow will be, and we don't know what the weather will do; we don't know.

Creativity:

One of my favorite things about being an entrepreneur is the creative process! This is a huge part of my day-to-day life, from marketing to Fashion Fix Friday and social media; my mom, aunt, and I make all our fresh floral arrangements, and my mom and I do all our store flips and floor designs. Thankfully, I get to be extremely creative every day, which I enjoy. I used to dance for 22 years, so most of my life. Through dance, I got to be creative and use dance to express myself, and now I get to be creative differently, like putting floral arrangements together. I am so grateful for the creative freedom I get to have.

Now, let's talk about some of the not-so-great things about being an entrepreneur.

I already touched on this one a bit: You can't please everyone. Some people absolutely love SSM, and some people don't like it.

A topic that I know many don't like, but it works for us. We have a no-return or exchange policy. To be honest, we turn over inventory so quickly that it would be tough to offer exchanges. I hardly ever re-order the same product twice; I like diversity and being different and always want to be fresh. We have had a no-return policy since we opened our doors, and it works best for us. I have taken a lot of heat for this decision. In our first year, there were a lot of opinionated, passionate people about our return policy. I hear you, I understand what you are saying, and I respect your opinions, but this is what works best for SSM.

Before people started to get to know me, SSM, and sometimes now, with our tourists, some people cannot believe that SSM is my business or that I am an entrepreneur. Before we opened our doors, there were times when I had to get something ordered so we could open, and people wouldn't make eye contact with me or even answer my questions. Maybe it is because I am young; maybe it is because I am a girl. I don't know. Just because I am young and because I am a girl does not make me less qualified for the job. We are currently working on a big project. We had a meeting, and my mom and dad were with me. The gentlemen didn't make eye contact and didn't answer my questions. So it is interesting, and again, I wonder if it is because I am young or if it is because I am a girl; I am not sure.

For the longest time, I was embarrassed to be an entrepreneur; I only started to realize that when we were nominated for Small Business of the Year. I started reflecting on the last two years and what they have been like. When we were awarded Small Business of The Year, it sunk into me that I was embarrassed, and I started to process the fact that I had been so ashamed about being an entrepreneur for a long time. These last couple of months, I have bought into SSM; it's everything I pride myself on. SSM is everything that I love. I love what I do and am grateful I get to do what I do daily. That was such a major game changer: buying into who you are, owning who you are, owning what you do, and being proud of who you are and what you do. It was a game changer when I started to connect all of those dots. This past summer, my mom, dad, and I went over some things about SSM, and my mom asked, "What do you think the difference is between this summer and last summer?" I said the way I present myself. She and my dad just looked at each other; "you believe in what you are doing now, in what you are selling, in SSM, in SSM goals, and what SSM stands for because it's who you are." and I said you are absolutely right, for a long time I was embarrassed, I didn't believe in what I was doing, I didn't believe in what I was offering and I didn't believe in what I was putting out into the world. In April, I went through a lot; maybe we will talk about that in a different blog; there was a lot that happened for me to get to this point; there was much growth that I had to do, and many situations that I went through to overcome. Once I went through all that, I reflected on who I am and that I love being an entrepreneur, and I should have never been ashamed of that. That was a game-changer. I fell in love with what I do and what I provide, and I believe in that. Now, I receive some of the best compliments that I NEVER got before until recently, such as "You look like the owner" and "Is this your store? I can tell by how you are dressed, I can tell by how you carry yourself" this one gives me goosebumps, I am so honored that people say this "it looks like your store" I NEVER received those kinds of compliments until recently when I started to believe in myself. That has been such an incredible experience.

The first year is hard, and year two is hard. I went through it being hard on top of many other personal challenges that just made years one and two way harder than they should have been. That is a lot for one person to go through mentally and emotionally.

Being an entrepreneur is worth the risk. I know I've said it a lot, but I love what I do; I love being an entrepreneur. This is the most incredible job, and I am so blessed that I get to have flexibility, freedom, and creativity and that I get to make a difference not only in my community but nationwide as well. I am so proud of my team, what we do, and our mission.

When it's hard, it's worth it. So, if you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, go for it. I am here for you, and if you have any questions, I can answer them. If you are considering it, go for it. It is worth the risk and so rewarding.

Comment down below topics you want to hear me talk about!

XOXO,

Hannah Slater

Almost my entire team missing my little brother, Cael