Doing what feels good: How Hannah Bronfman stays curious, energized and organized

Image: Hannah Bronfman

From writing a book to running a wellness empire, Hannah Bronfman is a busy native New Yorker who never misses a beat. “Living in a busy city like New York gives me so many opportunities to explore my passions and share them with others, and to do it all, I’m always looking at ways to stay on top of every aspect of my life,” she says. No matter what’s next on her packed agenda, Bronfman is always using her expertise and insights to inspire others to be their own best selves.

We caught up with Hannah to learn more about what she’s been up to lately, and how she keeps things on track while always moving forward.

She explained how she utilizes Adobe Acrobat tools and even created a PDF Kit of her own, which is now available for download. Hannah’s Weekly Planner helps her and her HBFIT team stay organized and maximize productivity day-to-day.

Where do you draw inspiration from, and what sparks your creativity?

So many different places. Whether it’s other content creators, movies, music, cultural events or even just a really interesting conversation with someone, I think it's important to always be looking and to keep evolving. I do go through phases where I'm not feeling inspired. And it’s in those moments that I feel the need to go to new places. As someone who's putting out content for people to consume, I'll also go the consumer behavior side of things for inspiration when I'm feeling a lack of creativity.

What is your first entrepreneurial memory?

I guess it would be when I was trying to DJ at this nightclub in New York that was famous at the time. For weeks, I kept hitting them up to see if I could DJ and the answer was always no. But finally, they said yes. Someone else had just canceled and I got my chance. That’s my first memory about the value of persistence to get my foot in the door somewhere. I ended up having a regular DJ spot, and eventually moved into other clubs that were even more reputable.

What has your journey as an entrepreneur been like, and what inspired you to become an angel investor?

It’s different for everyone, but it's really taught me to be nimble and to invest in myself. Early on, I struggled as an entrepreneur. I wondered if I was failing and what I was going to do next. It gave me a lot of knowledge and I spent the last decade as a content creator building up my personal brand. Now I’m investing in, and advocating for minority entrepreneurs, giving them resources to network and champion themselves with about 40 companies in my portfolio.

I came into this angel investing world because I was an entrepreneur who went through all the "isms," and now I'm an angel investor who can help bridge some of the statistics that we are constantly bombarded with about how little access exists for minority entrepreneurs.

From tips for new mothers to celebrating Black history, your content covers a lot of ground. Can you tell us a little about your process for creating content as an influencer on so many different topics? Is there a method or do you just go with the flow?

I wish I could say we go with the flow, but things are pretty scheduled. I’m constantly thinking about what content we're putting out, where it lives, and asking questions about where content performs best. I think for me, creating the content is what I like to do and then with our editing methods, we kind of figure out where it would be best consumed and then go from there.

You’re married and gave birth to a baby boy during the pandemic. What has life been like since?

I quickly realized that I'm not going to be able to do it all, and I'm totally fine with that. I have moments that I carve out for myself, and time to be a very present parent who is just trying to do all the things. My husband, Brendan, is my sounding board for everything and we're in constant contact — we don't even have to say a full sentence to understand each other. My son, Preston, is 16 months old and is babbling nonstop! He’s also learning sign language and is really into dancing, music and a little scooter that he doesn’t quite know how to ride yet. He’s also obsessed with making espresso, it's insane. By the time he's three years old, I will not have to make another coffee.

Speaking of family life, what’s the working relationship like with your husband Brendan? Do you both work from the same office?

We do share an office together, and he has a talent management company that manages me along with many others. So, it’s me, my husband, his co-founder and two employees all in the same office. It’s a really nice vibe, and Brendan’s always looking at things from both sides. I think it’s an insightful point of view to have someone who is a content creator and also looking at the bigger business picture to really try to discover new business opportunities. I feel really lucky that we have a great working relationship, but I'm not running a business with my husband — I think that differentiator is very important.

With so many things going on, how do you stay organized? Is there a secret to it? What is your way?

There are a few things I think that really help me manage my time and keep me organized. I live and die by my calendar, so having all the information about everything from car pickups to when I have 15 minutes free is really important. That way I know where my openings are so I can stay on point. And then with Acrobat, I can keep all my documents really organized because I can have multiple clients with all contracts, content briefs and different PDFs organized within Acrobat. That has been a huge help just to have it all in one place. For content creators and entrepreneurs, I think Acrobat can help so many different types of people and lines of work — there is so much you can do.

Besides your many current roles, what are some other things in life you would like to try?

That’s such an interesting question because I wear so many different hats. I think I'd probably be trying to build a consumer brand, or maybe I'd be deep in the NFT world. I think what's cool and exciting about what I get to do is that I’m able to create opportunities for myself in any category so long as I make it authentic and it's of interest to me. I feel like there aren’t that many careers that allow you do that. So, in a weird way, I'm almost already doing just that.

What are some of your go-to tips for a mental wellness reset?

Going out for a walk — hopefully in nature — but even if it's a walk around the block. Turning off your phone at 9 p.m. and really having a nice night routine. And moving your body, whether that's some sort of yoga or HIIT or whatever, just taking time to actually put yourself in an environment to focus on moving your body.

What are some of your favorite organizational tools and why?

It depends obviously on what line of work you're in, but I love Acrobat, Carta and Slack. With my health, beauty and fitness company, HBFIT, we keep everything organized with Acrobat. There’s always a lot going on, whether it’s creating visuals for inspiration, having a breakdown of everything that we need to be doing, it provides a really easy way that we can redline, change things up, and edit among the team while keeping everything organized and in one place. It’s been great.

Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs out there? What's something that you feel like people don't tell people that want to start a business or that are running a business?

My advice? Don't fall in love with your business. It's always got to shape shift. If you're obsessed and you want it to just be one way, know that having the tunnel vision can be really limiting.

Quick-fire round:

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Uni (Japanese sea urchin) or caviar.

What show are you currently binging?

Drive to Survive on Netflix.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what's one thing you would take?

SPF, 100 percent.

Laptop or desktop?

iPad.