Hannah Warling

I can’t believe I get to announce that I’ll be co-hosting my very first El Segundo Bonfire! 🇺🇸🔥

If you’re interested in meeting me in person and talking all things defense tech, storytelling, or marketing strategy, RSVP below! I’d love to meet you!

Crazy to think that I joined the defense industry just 5 months ago and X has already introduced me to so many incredible leaders in this space like @jjkaplowitz, @jakobdiepen, and @ClintEhrlich. And now I’m helping host my very own events!

Shooting your shot and putting yourself out there is so worth it. I’m grateful to everyone who has reached out on here to connect.

I’m usually D.C.-based, so I’m really excited to meet everyone on the West Coast! If you RSVP, let me know below! See you 11/21, can’t wait!

P.S. Request to join before it fills up!

(Pictured: me with Gundo stickers designed by @RobertJohns and @relay_indst. Thank you so much for sending these, I love them!)

Why you should join the defense tech industry (even if you have zero experience):

In high school, I was pretty much invisible.

I wasn’t bullied, but I didn’t fit in with the “cool kids” either. So at 17, I moved to LA with the dream of breaking into the film industry (that would show them, right?) I was pulled in by the glamour and stardom Hollywood promised.

A few years in, I hadn’t really gotten anywhere. I was working, but it felt like a slog and I was impatient. So I pivoted and started posting on social media instead...

Within one month, I had 100,000 followers. (And eventually, over 1M.)

Suddenly I was getting invited to movie premieres, brushing shoulders with celebrities, and brands were reaching out left and right to send products to my door.

The fame and attention I’d always wanted was finally here. But even faster than it arrived, the excitement wore off and the dopamine hit was no longer enough.

Millions of views stopped feeling new. Followers stopped feeling like people. Everything turned into data, and the goal post to “feel something” kept moving higher.

I became depressed. I’d achieved everything I thought would make me happy, and it just wasn’t cutting it. I was searching for purpose and meaning, and nothing felt like it mattered.

Influencing is a very “me, me, me” endeavor. You’re constantly asking yourself, “How do I get invited to the next event?” “How do I elevate my social status?” It’s a cat and mouse game that never ends.

So even though it felt way out of my depth, the idea of moving into national security and defense started creeping into the corners of my mind. A mission that would serve someone, and something, greater than myself. There are very few industries like it, and even fewer with the stakes that defense holds.

The early mornings, late nights, and hard work wouldn’t just mean more views. They would mean supporting the people on the front lines.

Going from a cutesy 20-something fashion influencer in LA to someone the defense industry would take seriously was no small feat. (If you want to hear how I actually made the leap, let me know and I’ll write a part 2.)

But after 3 years of consistent work and learning, I landed my role in digital communications at @TurbineOneTech. Today, I get to work for a company whose technology supports warfighters in the field. After so many years of being self-focused, there’s no better feeling than getting to serve others.

If you’re considering the move into defense, here’s what I’ve learned, and why I think it’s worth it:

1. Your work could be the difference between someone coming home or not. Very few jobs can say that, and you feel it in everything you do.

2. Everyone works hard, not because they have to, but because they want to. Whether they’ve served or not, the people in this community share a drive to protect the people they love.

3. Creative problem solving is a necessity. The stakes are high and results actually mean something, so people don’t take no for an answer. They find a way, even when it’s unconventional.

4. Your team is actually a team. Plenty of companies call themselves a “family.” But so many people in this industry come from military and operational backgrounds that they truly understand what it means to work as a unit and take care of the people to their left and right. They care about you as a person, not just an employee.

5. The purpose doesn’t wear off. In the commercial world, everything boils down to more views, more money, more shareholder value. Here, I wake up every day knowing exactly why I do what I do, and so far that feeling hasn’t faded.

This has been the most exciting and meaningful chapter of my career.

If you’re like me, with no defense experience and a nagging feeling that you want to make the switch, this is your sign to go for it. My life has changed so much in the last few months, and it’s more purposeful than it’s ever been.

This industry needs more storytellers, more builders, and more problem solvers.

(Pictured: me after my very first defense industry bootcamp with TurbineOne.)

Ugh! As if! A little Clueless this Halloween 💋

Last night at a defense tech D.C. event, I was told that my career success was partially due to my looks…

Which may be true to some degree.

However, I responded by explaining that half of the 1B+ organic views I’ve generated over the course of my career, have been social content I wrote, directed, and produced, but was never seen on-screen.

I was then told to stop being defensive and take it as a compliment.

I apologized, and continued to explain I wasn’t being defensive, but I don’t want all my hard work to be chocked up to my looks.

The person got so upset that they got up and left the event entirely.

To make that the first point you respond to my career trajectory with ignores:

- That I have been studying defense tech for the past two years at the top communications program in the country @USC (where I have a 4.0)
- I have been the Marketing Director at multiple multi-million dollar start-ups in aviation and AI tech
- I wrote a television pilot that was sold as a feature film development deal to an executive at Viacom at just 21 years old
- A large majority of the videos that grew my channels to over 1M+ followers never showed my face
- I designed and developed my own social media intelligence platform to systematize viral messaging for my Masters of Science program
- I have been featured in @nytimes, @voguemagazine, and @BusinessInsider without ever seeing my face

Maybe I’m in the wrong here, but I think it’s unfair to assume most of these accomplishments have anything, or very little, to do with appearance.

Would love to hear thoughts.

My very first @Marine_Marathon! 🇺🇸

- Finished with a time of 3:54!
- Hills are not as bad as everyone makes it seem
- Make sure to bring lots of gels (and water)
- So many amazing spectators and Marines rooting for you!
- Grateful for my @TurbineOneTech family coming out to cheer for me
- Missed the @USArmy 10 miler but would love to find more races like this one with such an amazing community! If you know of any, please let me know!

Grateful to everyone who cheered me on through training and race day. What an amazing 250th year and start to my time in D.C.!

#runwiththemarines