Meet Allison Hare | Podcaster, Blogger, Reb3l Dance Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allison Hare and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allison, what do you attribute your success to?
I’ve toiled over how to present the ideas and conversations about my Culture Changers podcast and blog for over 2 years. I always vacillated between what I really wanted to share – and wondering what would be popular. In other words, I cared way too much about external validation. However, when I peeled the layers back and got really honest and fine-tuned what was true and authentic for me, is when it started resonating for listeners/readers. Getting quiet and listening to my intuition has driven the direction of the messages and it’s become a fool proof recipe for success.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Always a 3 on the Enneagram (read: super productive all the time), I wear many hats. I’ve been in technology sales for 20 years and work full-time, podcaster for 2 1/2 years, blogger, and got certified to teach Reb3l dance fitness during the pandemic. I’m also a mother of 2 little ones and a proud wife.

I’ve always straddled the line between corporate life and creative life. One pays the bills, the other pays my soul.

The biggest challenge I am working on overcoming – is the compulsion to do more. It’s such an over-worked muscle and feel that I’m not alone in assigning productivity to my meaning as a human.

I’m not great at meditation but I am trying to slow down some and BE more. Meaning, just be.

Professionally, I work full-time in technology sales. High pressure. I’ve always been relationship-focused and genuinely curious so it’s always served me well in working with people. Understanding their needs, their motives, what they care about, and creating meaningful connections. Working behind Zoom during the pandemic has its limitations but like all of us, you learn to adapt.

From a podcast perspective, I actually have 2 of them. And after such intense burnout from the pandemic + everything listed above, I was ready to walk away this past summer and just rest and watch Netflix. Not only was I burned out, but I wondered if anybody really cared about everything I was putting out there. Did it matter?

I had a spark. A spark to make it WAY more meaningful. Way more personal. Way more intentional and re-formatted the podcast to be in miniseries format – and tackling the monster topics we face as a culture and as humans. And putting an unconventional spin on it.

It feels so much more aligned and so much more resonant. And the feedback i’ve gotten from the listeners of my podcast and the readers of my blog have been so much more profound. It’s definitely touching a nerve right now.

I think perfection is a trap. I think perfectly polishing messages will always fall flat. People want to see themselves in the content they consume. They want to relate and know they aren’t alone. And that’s where I live.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m lucky enough to be in THE coolest part of the city – Old Fourth Ward, right on the Atlanta Beltline. I love Ponce City Market and walking all over the Beltline. I love Piedmont Park, Old Fourth Ward park, all the parks, really. I love seeing outdoor fitness classes and I love that everything is walkable…or scootable.

Any opportunity to get out in nature (even though you’re in the city) is always nourishing for the soul. It doesn’t hurt that there are endless restaurants like Rathbun’s Steak, Nina and Rafi’s, LottaFrutta and my favorite spot on the Beltline, Just Add Honey loose leaf tea shop.

The Atlanta Selfie Museum downtown is a fun and whimsical treat and catching a show at the new The Eastern at Atlanta Dairies.

There’s so much entertainment, fitness, food, and community around here. It’s clear people want to connect and have meaning and purpose. It always happens when you connect with others.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There have been so many people that have been instrumental in my success. Bryan Green, friend and co-host of one of the top comedy podcasts in the world, The Commercial Break, has been collaborating and advising with me from the beginning. Rachael Laya Hoffman, co-host of the successful podcast, She Sounds Like Me, has helped me shape the future of my podcast long before I started it. Ashleigh Hughes, cofounder of the national Reb3l dance fitness brand (who lives in Atlanta) has sparked movement, joy, and confidence through introducing me to brand of dance. So many to be grateful for!

Website: https://allisonhare.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/allison__hare

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhare

Twitter: www.twitter.com/allison__hare

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CultureChangersPod

Image Credits
Photos by Chelsea Patricia Photography (@chelseapatriciaphoto)