From influencer to angel investor. A look at Hannnah Bronfman
Evolving as a digital creator is hard. It takes strategy, a clear point of view, and an identifiable style… all with the goal of attaining staying power [+purchasing power] with target audiences. OG influencers make this look easy, especially those that transitioned from blogger to Instagramer - like Rachel Parcell and her blog Pink Peonies or Lauryn Bosstick and her blog The Skinny Confidential. Both have leveraged their over 1 million IG followers into a multitude of businesses [more on Lauryn as a case study here]. Another standout is the multifaceted Hannah Bronfman. She’s an influencer, author, DJ and now, activist, entrepreneur, and angel investor.
If you’re not familiar with Hannah, here’s the tl;dr: she’s a health-enthusiast powerhouse who is majorly connected, and wields influence accordingly.
She’s been on the Instagram influencing scene for years – specifically in NYC, where she’s born and raised. She’s from a prominent family with ties to the distilled beverage business Seagram Company and the now-defunct global financial firm Lehman Brothers. Her father, Edgar Bronfman Jr., is also the former Warner Music Group CEO. Girl’s clearly got connections. However, just because someone has means [aka $$$$$] and knows people, it doesn't always mean they’ll be successful in their own right.
Knowing her background, it might seem like her journey has been straightforward. However, there’s a lot of work going into her brand behind-the-scenes, not to mention life's ups and downs, that have made Hannah into the successful, digital-centric business woman she is today.
First off, her content - specifically on Instagram - is really good. She nails all the basics we harp on at M.T. Deco; like high-quality photography and video, use of program tools - like Reels and igTV Live [you MUST check out her live with President Obama who inadvertently publicly announced her pregnancy]. She does tons of relevant collaborations [like the Baby Banter igTV Live franchise - we particularly like the episode with nutritionist Kelly LeVeque], and she maintains a consistent cadence and frequency of posting. The subject matter is largely wellness focused - whether it’s fitness, healthy smoothies, skin care, mental health, or high-quality dinners - it’s all about living life at the highest quality possible.
The backdrop of it all, along with her dj / digital creator husband Brendan Fallis - who also has his own social media following - features them constantly on the move with their son Preston. They attend countless events, frequent their Hamptons home, travel to Canada and countries across Europe, and even share their yearly sojourn to Greece. Her content is fire, in both subject matter and execution.
As a perfect complement to her meta lifestyle brand, Hannah created her company HB Fit, aka a Goop-esque extension to her real life. It’s a publication covering health, beauty, fitness, that also includes a newsletter, and a market. In other words, a way for Hannah to monetize her personal interests. Not only is the business a perfect plugin for sponsorship and collaborations [and today, a landing spot for the portfolio of companies she invests in] , it’s also the ideal next-step transition for the audience journey - aka “Here I am in this amazing location, here’s my skin routine, want to learn more? Click here and then if you want to purchase, go here.”
Which made her next move totally make sense. In 2019, she wrote her first book, “Do What Feels Good: Recipes, Remedies, and Routines to Treat Your Body Right.” The beauty is in the simplicity. She leaned into what her audience tunes into her for - her lifestyle - and essentially packaged the content she published on HB Fit into a book to sell. Bam, brilliant.
While she is largely aspirational, she also shares deeply personal struggles [which serves to make her even more endearing to the audience]. For example, Hannah went through a 3+ year journey to motherhood that included miscarriage and IVF before conceiving her son Preston, as she detailed to People Magazine. In true influencer form, she framed her Instagram post caption announcing the pregnancy so that it was about her audience-first: "If you are reading this and find yourself in one of those challenging spots that I know so well, I hope you can find some solace in the fact that there is no one journey, no one way to get to where you want to be," she added. "You will find your rainbow and we are so blessed to have found ours! 🌈."
She hasn’t only shared her personal struggles, either. Back in 2014, Hannah co-founded Beautified, a now-defunct app that allowed users to book beauty services at the most elite salons, spas, and workout studios in a few select cities. It was a strong concept and initially successful, but as Hannah has shared in an article with Essence, it was uncomfortable and challenging raising money as a young, female, Black entrepreneur.
But the experience helped shape her ‘why,’ or greater purpose now as an angel investor. As she stated to Essence: “I’m hyper-focused on minority founders, and women are the largest group of that,” Bronfman said. “We already know all of the statistics around the lack of capital that women have access to. So that’s where I like to focus in the hopes that we can change those statistics.”
Yes girl, we hope you can too.
If Hannah’s journey and content inspires you too, here’s a rundown of what she’s doing right to apply to your own digital strategy:
Artistic / style approach. Hannah posts a lot of content. And not only is the quality really good - she has a clear command of photography, lighting, and art direction - but there’s great use of colors, filters, and media [think short-form and long form content], that gives her feed a unique vibe. This, balanced with a really good content strategy and well-written captions, makes her a stand out among influencers.
Content pillars. Variety is the spice of life. Hannah’s interests are far ranging - from dj to wellness enthusiast, activist to mother - she wears many hats and her social media content reflects that. The trick is that she goes deep and wide-ranging into the content pillars that matter the most, which makes her feel focused [we recommend brands / individuals usually stick to 5 total]. Her main pillars are beauty, wellness, fitness, advocacy, and motherhood, and you’ll see franchises, partnerships, and a range of multi-dimensional content around each one [HB Fit, her wellness brand, being an added cross-platform support across it all].
Vulnerability. Yes, her life is aspirational, we are not denying that. However, when it does come to the tough stuff - like working through infertility or being open with the challenges she faced in building Beautified - Hannah is open. She takes us on the journey with ups and downs, which makes us all feel more emotionally connected and invested in her as a person.
A greater purpose or ‘why’. At the end of the day, there’s got to be a goal or reason for building a community. Something deeper than the vain pride of having followers - aka, WHY do you want so many people to follow you? Is it to be famous, or is there something MORE you can do with that? It appears that right now, Hannah has found a ‘why’ and it’s to help other minority founders building businesses that are facing similar challenges to what she dealt with years ago. It’s a full circle moment that we, as her followers, have witnessed her realize over time.
As Hannah continues to grow into this role of angel investor, and within that, an advocate for minority women going through the same journey she did years before, we’re looking forward to seeing how this renewed purpose comes to life on her digital channels. In many ways, it feels like the work Hannah has put in has led her to this moment in time where her purpose and platforms met, and it’s going to be exciting to see where she goes next.