SPENGA CREW Spotlight: Hannah
It’s possible you’ve been greeted by Hannah when walking into the studio while she’s working the desk, or maybe your kiddos have hung out with her in the Kid’s Room, or possibly you’ve worked out alongside her during a session. Read on to get to know Hannah a little better and find out what brought her to SPENGA Bloomingdale:
“I came home for Christmas in 2019 after living in England for an acting degree. I wanted to move to California for t.v. and film. But Covid hit and closed all the studios! Luckily my wonderful parents had no wish to kick me out. But they are older, and terrified of bringing the virus into their home, I turned my focus onto remote work. I started doing more voice acting, but with the noise of everyone always home and nowhere to go, it made recording difficult. So I started taking virtual students for accent work - helping persons for whom English is not a first language be better understood in an English speaking environment (an extension of TESOL). But working with other people again was overwhelming at first. Plus, it was winter, so my SADDs didn’t help. My story isn’t unique; so many of our healths both mentally and physically have been impacted by Corona.
In searching for healing, I started light therapy next door at LA tan. Just getting out of my house and doing something for myself started to help. Every time I went, I saw this very pleasing esthetic in the next building (Spenga) - so clean and white and bright with an energy that seeps into the street. I was curious what it was all about. So the day after my two week quarantine from my vax, I went inside and asked! I signed up for my first free class and immediately became a member! I couldn’t believe how much better I felt being a part of a community like this - encouraging one another and pushing through personal boundaries with other people doing the same thing! It has been beyond motivating!
A week on, I read a text from Spenga asking if I might be interested in working their Kids’ Room.
In the UK, my favorite job was teaching acting to kids through Stagecoach - a competitive program of singing, theater and dance. I missed planning games and that give-and-take energy you can only get from working with kids and all of their unbridled creativity! I started working the Kids’ Room the following Monday and every day since has been an utter joy! The whole team here is so supportive and I live for those kids coming in three times a week to play games and have fun for an hour. I couldn’t ask for a better job! My journey like many others’ seems to have gone way off course to what I had planned two years ago, but I honestly couldn’t be happier that it did!”
