THE ANN AND Hanna SHOW: A Conversation with Ann and Hanna

By Elizabeth Converse

Ann, you grew up in Sierra Madre. What do you love most about this town?

Ann: Community. Sierra Madre has a wonderful, welcoming community, and there are so many

ways to be involved here. Growing up here, you see things evolve. And I'm very fortunate that

my best friends now are the same people I was best friends with as a little kid. There's nothing

like hometown community. It really does feel like Mayberry — but we're close enough to the big

city. There's something very special about Sierra Madre. I even have a Sierra Madre tattoo. The

wisteria.

How did the two of you find each other, and how did the Ann and Hanna Show get started?

Ann: We met at the Rose Float. Hanna is the volunteer coordinator there, and I am is the lead

florist. We had to work in close proximity anyway, and then we started discovering all these

things we had in common. It was like, oh my god, we've got lightning in a bottle here. Let's make

a power team. Let's take this float that people didn't know much about and set it on fire.

Hanna: The float needed social media — badly. And Ann already had some ideas. So we started

doing these little campy, fun interviews with the volunteers, putting personalities to faces people

had never seen before. All of a sudden people were saying, oh, I recognize Luis — she likes

coffee. That's Kurt, he's good at welding. It just took off.

And then the fires happened.

Ann: When the fires happened, we knew we had to do something. We didn't know exactly what,

but something. So we started using our platform to focus attention on what was happening and

how people could help. We'd go around interviewing businesses, saying, hey, come support them

— buy a gift card, show up. Just because a building is still standing doesn't mean it didn't lose

anything. Some of these businesses had 70 percent of their clientele burned out. They had

nothing coming in.

Hanna: And that's really where the Ann and Hanna Show got birthed. We saw the real problems

after the fire, and we realized we could use what we'd built to actually help. One of our favorite

stories: there was a gastropub on Foothill, right across from Hastings Ranch. They had no

clientele, they were in serious debt, and the landlord was making things very difficult. We went

in, said come on Sierra Madre, and Sierra Madre showed up. They raised over $20,000 that

month — enough to stay afloat for a few more months while they figured out their next move.

That was really cool.

Once the immediate fire coverage wound down, where did you go from there?

Hanna: You can't talk about a crisis forever. So we just kept going — oh, you have an event?

Cool, we'll come. You have a racehorse? Let's talk about it. There are so many interesting stories,

not only in this town but across the whole foothill community. A lot of those people tie right back

into the art walk — musicians, painters from Altadena. By interviewing them it became almost

hand-to-hand: oh, you do this? Do you want to come to Sierra Madre and be part of the Art

Walk? It just worked out that way.Ann: One of Hanna's many gifts is that she can bring people together. You have a band? Great,

we know someone who needs a band. You're an artist? We have something coming up. Because

she's so open with it, things snowball. And being able to get bands for the Art Walk, to have

people performing here who've never performed here before — just seeing everyone's happiness.

That's everything.

How did the show actually get its name?

Hanna: People were being mean to us. Someone said, it's not the Ann and Hanna Show, you

know. And we looked at each other and went — you are absolutely correct. It is not the Ann and

Hanna Show. Whoever wants to be on camera, please line up. And more people did start

participating. But we took that, and sometimes great things are born out of spite. So we went to

the Doo Dah Parade as the Ann and Hanna Show, and that's when we knew we really had

something.

Ann: We made the Queen's Court. We didn't win, but next year — we're going for the crown.

Hanna, you're a transplant. What surprised you about Sierra Madre when you first came

here?

Hanna: I'm from Minnesota, and I came up here on my own early on — no GPS, just wanted to

get lost and find my way back. I drove up into the canyon and burst into tears. I thought, oh my

god, I'm in Duluth. This is literally Duluth with palm trees. The mountains, the canyon, the air. It

felt so much like home. And then you walk down the street and everyone says hi. I love sitting at

the coffee shops just watching people. This is not LA — not what anyone from the Midwest

imagines when they hear LA. Every friend I've ever brought up here says the same thing: there is

no way this is Los Angeles.

Ann: It's cultivated a kind of personal freedom. People find themselves here. It's sacred ground

in a way. And I think that's why artists have always been drawn to it. It's been an art place for so

long — the pottery on Montecito, the artists and musicians up in the canyon. It's always been a

unique place.

What is your mission with the show?

Hanna: To highlight the beauty of the foothill communities and the San Gabriel Valley. And

when people need to be seen, we want to show them. A lot of people don't know how to say, I

need help, or I have an interesting story. We love interesting wildcards. Tell us about it.

Showcase the fun — especially in the climate we're in right now. We're so fortunate to have this

community. Why aren't we lifting each other up?

Ann: And there's no gatekeeping. That's the whole point. It's all attainable. We work with other

platforms — Mr. Pasadena, Everything Pasadena, Next Door. If we know something's opening,

we say go there. It's about sharing, not taking the spotlight. Community is the goal.

What do you want people to know about you that they might not?

Hanna: How curious we are. We are tourists in our own town. Get us on a double-decker bus,

take us to a museum, show us something we've never seen — we're in. We want to know the

backstory, the side story, the weird facts. Because here's the thing: if you go talk to a Michelin

Star chef, they'll probably talk about recipes. That's been done. We want to know about the cat athome that's giving them emotional problems. The weird color they painted the bathroom that

they can't stand. That's what makes them who they are. That's the recipe.

Ann: We're humanizing the story. When you put a human angle on something that's been told a

thousand times, people go — oh, wait. I see it differently now.

Where do you see the show going?

Hanna: COVID taught us you can't make plans, but you can make very hard wishes. I wish for

more lights, more cameras, more eyes. And I think we're also showing people that anybody can

do this. I didn't know how to edit anything before the float. I'm learning every single day. We'd

love to contribute to local TV, to stream, to do more. The 4th of July parade commentary last

year — that was one of our favorite things we've ever done. We showed up rogue, dug up facts

on everyone in the parade, and just went for it.

Ann: And we're building an archive. All these people we've talked to — Jan's Towing, Chantry,

everyone — they're in there. One of the things we plan to do this year is go back and check in:

where are they now?

How can people find you?

Ann: Instagram. Our handle is @annandhannashow. That's where we live. Instagram is the

fastest, freest form of advertising — it's in everyone's pocket. We're also starting a TikTok. We'll

get there.

Hanna: And if anyone wants to be interviewed, we don't discriminate. Reach out. We have mics

and we'll travel.

Any last words?

Ann: The Sierra Madre Chamber has awarded Hanna and me the Spirit of Sierra Madre for

2025. We're so honored. That's coming up soon.

Hanna: And to everyone in Sierra Madre with a deck that faces the mountains — it is a cardinal

sin not to use it. I live in Monrovia and my front porch faces the mountains, and I am out there in

my rocking chair every evening. You have the canyon, the valley, the golden hour. Go outside.

Please. I would take the deck. I'd let them keep the house — I just want the deck.