DJ, radio, and TV host Hannah Rad’s series, Sorry To Keep You Waiting , follows Hannah as she visits a new beautiful location every episode and recounts an incident or moment in her life that is vital to her mental health story. With titles like Sorry To Keep You Waiting But I Got Beat Up , and Sorry To Keep You Waiting But I Got Divorced , it’s clear before you even watch that Hannah is bearing it all and isn’t leaving anything untouched. The series was crowdfunded and received almost $13k out of the original $10k goal.
Diply had the chance to speak with Hannah about the process behind the series and the advice that she has for anyone else who might be struggling.
RELATED STORIES
TW: this article contains depictions or discussions of sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers.
Hannah told Diply that she visited seven locations in seven days, and while she had initially picked the locations at random, they ended up being “subconsciously” connected to the stories themselves.
Almost every location Hannah visited was “secluded, desolate,” but also “just so beautiful.”
“I know the stories can get very heavy, and there’s trauma and tragedy, but [the videos] are ultimately about the triumph and the beauty that I was able to find by being vulnerable,” Hannah explained. “I think the marriage there for me was to be able to talk vulnerably about the things that have been painful for me emotionally and physically and to put that alongside some beautiful scenery. It was important for me to show that you can come out the other side, and you can find beauty, grace, and understanding in all the things you’ve gone through.”
Hannah told Diply that the inspiration behind the series also came from a similar desire after one of the worst days she ever had.
“It had been a really dark day, and I basically didn’t want to feel like crap anymore,” Hannah said.
“It was a feeling that had been building up for quite some time,” she continued. “I got in the car and started driving, and I was crying, and singing to the radio, and trying to get something out, like some sort of release. It was the equivalent of screaming into a pillow to try to get something out so it didn’t have to be inside me anymore,” she said, adding, “I thought, ‘okay, I’m going to turn this into something.'”
That attitude is clearly not a new one to Hannah, who has used the series to turn some of the hardest situations for herself and her well-being into lessons and moments that she (and others) can learn and grow from, like the episode where she discusses the sexual assault she experienced while she was in college.
“I had been a bit vocal about my story,” Hannah told Diply about her partnership with The RAINN Foundation, “but I hadn’t really done enough outreach.”
“I felt confident telling my story, but I felt like, ‘what good is it rehashing my tale over and over again?’ I want to reach out and touch people, and show that you can get help. That was the big thing for me. I just kept quiet, because at that time there was no reporting procedures in place, and it was a stigmatized thing that nobody talked about.” Hannah also added that she doesn’t “want to see anybody else go through what I went through,” and is grateful to be able to “keep the conversation open.”
When it comes to the response to Hannah sharing her own story in her series, it’s clear that her goal is being met. “In full honesty, it’s been an overwhelming show of support, love, and positivity,” she told Diply.
“Everything I intended with the series has been matched or far superseded,” Hannah said.
“I’m not here to make you well, but I’m here to show you what wellness looks like for me,” Hannah continued, emphasizing how important it was for her to share the resources and show people that there are options for them.
If there was one lesson Hannah wants the viewers of her series to walk away having learned, it’s to “surrender. And that doesn’t mean giving up, it means giving yourself over to the process. Whether that’s by creating art or surrendering over to your own story, the things that you might feel heavy about, it’s giving yourself over into getting better, getting help, and bringing more light and positivity to mental health awareness.”
If you’re interested in checking out Sorry To Keep You Waiting , check out Hannah’s YouTube Channel , where you can anticipate the seventh and final episode of her series.
Hannah told Diply that a season 2 is officially on the way, so there’s a lot to be excited about in Hannah’s future!
