Hannah Neese makes things happen. Consider what she has accomplished in the last year alone: she reached 12.1k followers on Instagram, advocated for body positivity throughout National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and started a YouTube channel as an extension of her popular blog, “Closed Lines.”
Despite all of this success, Neese, a Lipscomb psychology major, is just getting started.
What is a woman supposed to look like? Neese says she was certain she knew when her freshman year of high school she overheard a boy say, “That girl is so hot. She has such a great body.” This is when she first became aware of the “ideal body type” and began her complicated relationship with food and exercise.
“You do not have to be skin-and-bone to have an eating disorder,” Neese said. “You can have a really hard relationship with food and a really bad outlook on exercise where you think your unhealthy habits are healthy choices, and it’s a disorder.”
With Neese’s realization of this problem, she was able to actively work toward goals that lead to a healthier body and mind rather than aiming to be a size two. She now works out because it makes her feel good, and she still eats brownies because they make her feel good, too.
“When I’m a grandma telling stories to my grandkids, will I be telling them that the best days of my life were when I got to be a size two,” asked Neese. “No, I won’t. So, I’m not going to waste my mindset or my energy on it anymore.”
She now uses Instagram, YouTube and her blog to tout the mantra, “No one is you, and that is your power.” Her vulnerable approach to sensitive issues has garnered her an impressive online following. She has chosen to use this platform to empower women.
“My message is be who you are because you’re going to be that forever,” Neese said. “At the end of the day, it’s you. You have specific talents and passions for a reason. To throw those away trying to look or act like someone else is the biggest waste.”
Neese’s support of women is evident in every aspect of her life. If she sees something beautiful in another woman, she speaks it.
“Collaboration over competition,” she said. “When you have women supporting you and you’re supporting them, you’re all going to grow at the same time. Why do you have to be at the top before you help someone else? Help them along the way.”
Neese hopes to make these passions a lifelong platform both as a counselor and as a marketing professional. She chose to minor in marketing because she sees the media as something that is leading many women to counseling. The advertisements surrounding them are creating false narratives for what a woman should and should not be.
She applauds companies like Aerie and Darling Magazine who are catalysts for realistic representation but knows that the fashion industry in particular has a long way to go.
Neese aims high and is constantly inspiring those around her, but like anyone else, she herself needs inspiration from other’s experiences. She names “Fearless” by Max Lucado as her favorite book, noting its ability to diminish any thoughts that make her feel inferior.
“He talks a lot about how your talents may be similar to someone else’s, but your way of doing it is going to be completely different,” she said.
She also draws inspiration from powerful women in the media who are unapologetically themselves, claiming Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes as her current influences.
“Whenever I start feeling down, I can remember that these two women are incredibly successful and happy, knowing they’ll never be perfect, and they still just enjoy life,” Neese said in reference to Reinhart and Mendes.
As for real-life inspiration, Neese credits her roommate, Madee Plant (pictured, right) with giving her the confidence to start a blog.
“She made me see more of who I was and more of my capabilities than anyone ever has,” said Neese. “I think everyone woman should strive to be like that.”
This story is the first feature of Spilka’s “Women of Lipscomb” series, in light of Women’s Empowerment Week
Photos courtesy of Emily Griffin