Hannah B. Makes is a multi-hyphenate creative who has developed skills across varied mediums - from theatre to YouTube, podcasting to publishing - to fuel her passion for storytelling. Whether she is developing a play, directing young performers, crafting essays, or producing and hosting conversations on air, her work is rooted in a single pursuit: understanding the human experience through the lens of story. For her, storytelling is not merely a craft but a connective tissue — the place where imagination, empathy, and shared humanity meet.

Hannah studied creative writing and acting at the University of Houston, earning her B.A. in theatre. Her formal training introduced her to the discipline and architecture of story, but her early experiences in arts education revealed something deeper. As a teaching artist with The Alley Theatre’s Young Performers Studio, she worked with young actors to develop their voices and creative instincts. She later continued her work throughout Houston’s theatre spaces, teaching acting, writing, and story structure; directing youth productions; and producing student-created works from their very first idea to their final performance. These formative years taught her to see story as both a process and a relationship — a collaborative act where each person’s contribution becomes essential.

Her transition beyond theatre into written and digital forms was a natural evolution. Hannah’s writing has appeared in the web series Fore!, Houston Moms Blog, Fathom Magazine, and Healing Is My Special Interest, where she explores themes of creativity, identity, and the narratives we inherit and reshape. She served as a contributing editor for A Stronger Knot, helping develop the brand’s voice and editorial direction before co-hosting and producing its companion podcast with her husband, Aaron. In each medium, she has gravitated toward work that invites reflection, honest dialogue, and human connection.

Her commitment to understanding the inner workings of human experience extends beyond creative practice. Hannah studied Trust-Based Relational Intervention and earned certification as an Empowered to Connect facilitator, grounding her in trauma-informed principles that emphasize safety, empathy, and connection. Although seemingly distinct from her creative work, this training has deeply informed her storytelling. It sharpened her awareness of how people make meaning, how resilience forms, how trauma shapes us, and how narratives — personal and collective — shape identity. These insights continue to influence her writing, her teaching, and the way she approaches characters, conflict, and transformation on the page.

Hannah has also played an active role in community-based support and education. She has helped create and lead support groups for infertility and adoptive parents, spoken at a variety of community and church events, and co-developed a marriage conference with her husband and licensed therapist, Aaron Bunker. In each space, she has sought to offer language, structure, and understanding that help people articulate their experiences in order to feel less alone. Story, for her, is not limited to artistic expression; it is a tool for connection, healing, and shared understanding.

Her current work reflects this same commitment to curiosity and humanity. She produces and hosts The Dishes Can Wait podcast, a space for thoughtful, unhurried conversations about life, creativity, and meaning. She also writes the Substack publication Eternally Existential, where she explores philosophy, spirituality, identity, creativity, and the rich complexities of being human. In 2025, she completed her first full-length play, The Last Current, marking a return to her theatrical roots and a continued evolution of her narrative voice.

Across mediums, disciplines, and roles, Hannah’s work is united by an enduring belief in the power of story — its ability to reveal truth, cultivate empathy, and remind us of our shared humanity. Whether on stage, on the page, or behind the microphone, she remains devoted to exploring the stories that shape us, the ones we outgrow, the ones we write anew, and the ones that remind us of who we are becoming.