At just 33 years old, Hannah Neeleman gave birth to Flora Jo, her eighth child, and two weeks later she traveled to Las Vegas to compete in a beauty pageant for married women representing her country, the United States.
Hannah became a global network star overnight. Before January 21, the day the contest final took place, her Instagram account had 200 thousand followers; after that day, more than 8 million.
Her participation in the Mrs. World beauty pageant made her story visible. Since 1984, this award recognizes "Mrs. World" in the same way that the American Mrs. America and Mrs. Americana competitions award "Mrs. America" and "Mrs. Americana." In fact, the world contest is an offshoot of the US contest.
Photos of Neeleman two weeks after becoming a mother for the eighth time caused a sensation on her Instagram account, @ballerinafarm. "What an incredible experience it was to compete! There were so many emotions last week, the biggest one was gratitude. Grateful to feel it all. Grateful to be a mother, woman, daughter, sister," Hannah wrote alongside a video of her performance at Las Vegas.
Neeleman did not win; She was in the top 17. The new queen of Mrs. World was the German Julia Schnelle. However, her last name will, without a doubt, be the most remembered from the last edition, even above that of the winner.
Her Instagram account username says it all: "Ballerina Farm." Hannah is a former dancer who has long lived on a farm near Salt Lake City with her husband Daniel and her eight children.
In recent months it became clear that Neeleman knew how to make a business out of his name. Thanks to his success on social networks, he managed to get many of his followers interested in buying products with his name and face.
On Instagram you can see photos of her milking cows, cooking or feeding her little ones, among other maternal and rural activities.
Hannah has a good financial life, among other things, thanks to her husband's family. Daniel is the son of David Neeleman, founder of several airlines, including JetBlue.
Both she and her husband are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In any case, religious messages do not usually appear on her networks, much less political ones. With her content, Hannah usually tries to motivate her fans.
According to what she said in an interview she gave to the New York Times, she and Daniel prayed before she participated in Mrs. World. "(My husband) told me, 'God, let Hannah know what she needs to do.' Either let her know that she's okay not to go, or give her the strength and healing to get there,'" Neeleman revealed.
Before becoming famous for the pageant, Neeleman was known for participating in other beauty pageants. It should be noted that she arrives at Mrs. World after winning the first prize in Mrs. Americana, the national pageant.
In recent months, her last name had circulated within American conservative groups because of the response she gave on stage to a question about female empowerment: "After holding that newborn baby in my arms, the feeling of motherhood and bringing them to earth is the most empowering feeling I have ever felt.”
Hannah, although she lives partly for competitions, considers that these competitions "are not like running a marathon." Will she win it next year?
