Utah Influencer Hannah Neeleman Explains Why She Gave Up Ballerina Career to Be Farmer and Mom of 8

"I don’t think I would change it,” Neeleman, who runs Ballerina Farm, said in a new interview

The writer behind a viral profile of Utah influencer Hannah Neeleman is sharing more insights from her time on Neeleman’s expansive farm and what the 34-year-old mom of eight had to say about building her life and career.

Megan Agnew appeared on a July 21 episode of a Times of London podcast to discuss her new piece about Neeleman. 

Agnew’s interview sparked widespread discussion of how Neeleman posts content about her daily life as a parent while running her Ballerina Farm with husband Daniel Neeleman, 35 — and how that has similarities with the “tradwife” movement from which she has distanced herself. 

Critics of tradwife content argue it undermines gender equality. Hannah insisted to Agnew: “We try so hard to be neutral and be ourselves and people will put a label on everything. This is just our normal life.”

A Utah native, Juilliard-trained dancer, pageant queen and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, Hannah — who grew up with eight siblings — said during Agnew’s trip to her farm that she and Daniel built their social media and business together, though she acknowledged she had different dreams when she was younger.

Related: Mom-of-8 Utah Influencer Hannah Neeleman Talks 'Trad Wife' Criticism, Her Ballerina Farm Business and More

Each of them made sacrifices as they agreed to work on a new life, she said.

“I danced in Brazil for two years, I guess professionally, after my first and second [children] and that was hard,” Hannah told Agnew, according to excerpts from her interview that aired on the podcast. “Like, you give up a piece of yourself, you know.”

“But I don’t think I would change it,” Hannah said. “And Daniel was like, ‘If you want to dance, go dance,’ we were open to anything. But I knew deep down that I wanted to raise my babies.”

Daniel has previously credited his wife’s posts with growing their following: “Hannah found that things she was sharing on social media really resonated with people,” he said in 2021.

Agnew, who says she is not married and doesn’t have kids, giving her a different perspective from her reporting trip, on the podcast described her half-day with the Neelemans as “chaos,” in its way.

“I spent four hours with them and by the end of it, I was like, my brain was clanging and she [Hannah] was just like completely calm about the whole thing,” Agnew said on the podcast. “I will say, [it’s] just kind of phenomenal to be that way.”

“And as was he, I have to say,” she added of Daniel. “He was also like super involved with all the kids.”

Related: Former Tradwife Reveals 'Ugliness Behind the Scenes': Back to Back Babies, No Epidurals and Milled Flour (Exclusive)

In another excerpt from her interview that was played on the podcast, Hannah told Agnew that she and her husband share their burdens.

“Daniel and I are a partnership now. Like I don’t feel like I’m at home raising kids by myself. That’s hard — women need support,” she said, “and so when Daniel was like, ‘Okay, let’s build something together,’ we really carried the mantle together.”

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