Beekeeper Group’s Celebration of Life

Beekeeper Group held a Celebration of Life for colleagues, clients, and friends of the Hive on July 27th, 2023, to honor Hannah’s memory.

Shana’s Speech

“Giving this speech is surreal for me for many reasons.

1) I just gave a speech honoring Hannah at our recent party to celebrate her promotion to Partner. And now she’s getting another one.

2) I know so many of us, especially my Partner Matthew, Mike, and Travis, would want to share their words about Hannah, but they’re kindly letting me speak for us.

3) And of course, the most surreal is that we’re all here in this room to honor Hannah, and yet Hannah isn’t.

I am learning that many of the cliches about grief are actually true. I found myself pushing back on publishing the announcement. I was so angry that it didn’t capture Hannah — her humor, her warmth, her drive, her thoughtfulness.

Alex had to calm me down and remind me that no words could ever capture Hannah, no matter how much time we had or how many revisions. So we hit send.

And then Alex called me later and said “I lied.” I think Cat actually captured Hannah in her commend on the GoFundMe. Here is that comment:

Hannah was true force of nature. Vibrant, smart, and with a seemingly endless amount of energy. I once asked her where she got her blazer and sent me the link to the full pantsuit, her thoughts on fit, and another link to completely different clothes she just thought I’d like. She was unlike anyone else, and she’ll be dearly missed.

While we can’t all be as spot-on, so many of you referred to Hannah as a bright shining light and an industry convener. So thank you all for coming to celebrate Hannah’s light and I know she would be proud of our industry gathering.

Alex’s Speech

As we all know by now, Hannah brought a lot of love to the world. But what you may not know is that Hannah spent a surprising amount of time thinking about people’s love languages.

If you’re unfamiliar with Love Languages, they come from a book called The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts. It’s a little bit pulpy, but we all know Hannah loved some good goss.

The book talks about the five ways we can show love: words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time, and touch.

But for Hannah, the love languages became more of a philosophy of life than a funny quiz. She spent a lot of time trying to think through what other people’s love languages were -- at one point she even demanded I take the test after guessing what she thought mine were. She was right.

Ultimately, she realized that if she just sprinkled a little bit of each love language into her interactions with people, she would do what she set out to do, which was to make people see they were part of a community.

So let’s take a very quick look at how this played out:

Words of affirmation were a hallmark of Hannah’s leadership. The Beekeeper Group team here tonight can tell you that Hannah was always there to pump you up; she would tell it like was, but also had an uncanny knack for seeing a vision and path for someone. She cheered us on and set us on a clear path.

She delighted in giving gifts to people - and dogs. She was so excited to have recently discovered someone who would make custom dog gear to give to new dog parents; she loved surprising people for their birthdays with pastries or other treats. And she loved picking out the holiday presents for clients and bees alike.

Acts of service were integral to her work. She felt it was critical to give her time to advancing the public affairs space; because she believed in what we do. But beyond that, pre-pandemic, she loved organizing volunteer days at DC Central Kitchen and finding other ways to give back to the community.

But more than anything, Hannah loved creating spaces for quality time with people. Whether it was her ladies' happy hours or Bravo nights, she understood the need to connect and was passionate about creating those moments.

And finally, once you were part of her world, you got the opportunity for a Hannah hug. She was always careful to respect boundaries, and if hugs weren’t your style, her mega-watt smile would do.

Hannah’s belief in infusing our work in the public affairs industry with love was remarkable and unique. The other thing worth mentioning is that Hannah took to people at their word. And more than that, she believed they could handle anything.

If we can take one thing from having known Hannah, it is the need to do what we do with love at the forefront.

Hannah’s legacy can live on through the new connections we make and the love we spread - no matter your love language.

So go out, introduce yourself to the newbie at the networking event, send that note to the person you met before, but haven’t heard from in a while. And make sure to do it all with love.

Thank you all for your continued support and care for the Beekeeper Group team, and most importantly for Hannah’s family.