"Like who the actual hell is Hannah?"
The sheer delight of Ballerina Farm baby name predictions
You can say a lot of things about Ballerina Farm, but one thing’s for sure: she generates fascinating commentary.
did a wonderful interview with about BF’s ties to Mormonism and ranching; Gaby Del Valle wrote an excellent piece about BF, trad wives, and economics; and Em (of @emdoodlesandstuff on Tiktok and Instagram) brilliantly and hilariously analyzes the aesthetics of Ballerina Farm through baby (and donkey!) names. Em is a media commentator, who, in her own words, possesses “an intense (very intense) fascination for contemporary baby name culture, Instagram influencers, and the often intersection of the two at Mormon mommy bloggers and more.” She’s a baby name consultant and celebrity baby name predictor whose work has been featured in Vogue, Buzzfeed, , and this very newsletter, and guys, SHE HAS GUESSED CORRECTLY MORE THAN ONCE. She’s good.I interviewed Em last year (prior to the birth of baby Mabel), and she had this to say about BF’s “glamorized humbleness.”
Em notes that “we’ve been kinda conditioned to see a no-makeup face as a sign of vulnerability and bravery . . . but is this actually coming a from a place of humility or just working with mama gave you in a way that fits the narrative?” Hannah presents as conventionally or marketably beautiful with or without makeup. So choosing between presenting herself as one kind of beautiful (no-makeup or at least makeup that looks like no-makeup) and another kind of beautiful (makeup-makeup) isn’t really a difficult, vulnerable, or risky choice. Either way, Hannah is able to wield the valuable currency of feminine beauty, which is worth quite a bit in life and on social media.
Em is one of my favorite people to talk to about BF because she takes the cultural power of BF seriously, and as a result, shares incredibly insightful (and funnnnnyyyyy) analysis. She’s the rare thinker who engages in thoughtful cultural criticism and ALSO HAS FUN WITH IT. I can’t wait to share our dishy chat about Hannah’s “pretty without knowing it” allure, irrigation cold plunges, Daniel being a little meh, and of course, Em’s baby name prediction for the 8th Neeleman tot.
Sara: How long have you been covering BF and what do you make of her stratospheric rise to such great prominence? When I started covering her in 2021, she had a little over 100K followers. Now she has 8 million!
Em: I’ve known of her since 2018! I lived in Utah briefly as a photography student and a friend of mine did the Neeleman’s family photos (they were gorgeous). I believe they had just started really showcasing themselves as Ballerina Farm “city folks turned pig farmers” around that time. Since we vaguely know some of the same people in Utah – and everyone in Utah seems to be an influencer – I really didn’t realize how much of a big dill (translation from Utahn: big deal) it all was until my Ballerina Farm videos blew up. I guess we’re all here just trying to figure them out!
Sara: You sum up BF’s secret sauce as being “intentionally unrelatable.” Please expound!
Em: This phrase has been swirling around my mind for a long time as I’ve noticed the way Ballerina Farm interacts with her followers. By that I mean, Hannah does not interact with her followers. Could we just get an Insta Story selfie of the woman saying, “Ugh. Too much laundry to fold…” JUST ONCE?! You know how influencers will screenshot DMs from their followers to share in their Insta Stories? They post funny interactions, rude ones, the DMs with commonly asked questions… that feels like such a chill and easy way to engage with followers. Hannah never ever ever ever does this sort of thing and I find that very interesting!
[A quick aside from Sara: People always ask me if I reached out to Hannah for a Momfluenced interview since she features pretty heavily in the book, and the answer is yes! Many times! But I’m zero percent shocked she never responded. She has absolutely nothing to gain from doing any sort of press that she’s not in complete control of. Ok, back to Em!]
Think about it! Rachel Parcell is trying to sell her Utah home for 11 million dollars, which is (needless to say) unrelatable. Yet she’s also regularly doing “ask me anything” sessions on Instagram to kill time during long road trips, she’s pulling back the curtain to share details on surgeries (both cosmetic and not), we know her favorite Taylor Swift song and caffeinated beverage, and you know what? When Rachel is in a bad mood, she shares it. Though her life is widely unrelatable, sharing things openly fosters closeness. It’s relatable to see sister quarrels, though most of us don’t do so on a livestream.
But back to Ballerina Farm. Like who the actual hell is Hannah?? What has she read or watched recently? Does she have a favorite food? A favorite anything? Does she ever get burnt out from having it all? Did she see the Eras Tour? I don’t know a single thing about her personality. Is she a jokester? What was going through her mind when Daniel rubbed her belly during the pregnancy announcement video? I watched that ten times trying to read her facial expression. [Sara here again - SAME SAME SAME]. I have no clue what is going through her mind, because she never shares what is going through her mind.
To be intentionally unrelatable is a choice and it seems to be working for her, maybe because it drives us so crazy?
Sara: Related, you mention sheep births, irrigation cold plunges, and winning the Mrs. American pageant while pregnant to illustrate Hannah’s intentionally unrelatable vibe. It’s wild to me that her brand can contain so many multitudes! Like, the world of pageantry is not at all aesthetically aligned with the homesteader lifestyle. Why do you think she’s able to to participate in both worlds without being labeled as “inauthentic”? Or at least, why isn’t the beauty pageant stuff harming her wholesome, dairy cow loving brand?
Em: I think she’s able to participate in both words without being labeled “inauthentic” because we truly have not a single clue who the authentic Hannah is. Most of her content is mixing dough in front of the $20K frontier stove with no audio, overlaid with old timey tunes. I’ve only heard her speaking voice when she’s explaining how to make strawberry rhubarb pudding or from afar on the pageant stage giving a very poised and scripted answer. To viewers, there’s no clear answer if she’s a beauty pageant girl turned farmer or a farmer turned pageant girl because she’s just doing both with no explanation given. To be “intentionally unrelatable” means she’ll never pull back the curtain; she will never tell us the ‘how and why’ of her decisions and success.
Sara: You (RIGHTLY) mention Hannah’s “beautiful without knowing it” allure, but how does this allure still work when she IS PARTICIPATING IN A BEAUTY PAGEANT? Like she’s clearly showing us she KNOWS she’s beautiful, right? Does it have more to do with our desire to be told a certain story about femininity than anything else?
Em: Probably beating a dead horse (hopefully not Penny!) but I think it has soooo much to do with her discretion when using social media. She doesn’t tell us ANYTHING!! We see Hannah milking Tulip in the field and then she’s in a hotel room with a hair and makeup team for the pageant?! It felt surprising and spontaneous! In my opinion, that builds a narrative of “Welp, here I am! It just kind of happened!” Without any genuine context or explaining, we can just see a humble farm girl turn gorgeous overnight. Hannah is never going to tell us about filling out the application form, preparations, coordinating farm care so Tulip doesn’t get an engorged teat . . . that would all prove that Hannah wanted to be a beauty pageant girl. Her story is more enchanting without those details.
Sara: Regarding the BF girls’ names, you say: “One of these could be the name of a humble schoolteacher from the Plains who saves her student from a rattlesnake by stabbing it with her quill.” EM I AM DECEASED. How can you explain your perfect, and I mean PERFECT, summation of names and what they connote? It’s too good.
Em: I spent my childhood playing the Oregon Trail CD-rom game and reading Laura Ingalls Wilder. My grown up version of those hobbies are lurking on homesteader Instagram accounts and Mormons. Is Ballerina Farm my Slumdog Millionaire? The culmination of all the things I cared about and experienced suddenly coming together in a way that makes discussion on the topic so easy and effortless?! That might be it. This is my place.
Sara: I was STUNNED when you made the distinction between the flowery names of the animals (and sourdough starter) on the farm (Willa, Margot, Alice, Daisy) and the serious, hardworking names of their girl children. Do you think this is another way in which they sort of have it both ways? Like, they will celebrate femininity but they’ll also double down on their no-frills farming values? Nothing encapsulates these dualities quite like Hannah herself of course.
Em: I see the distinction between the flowery farm names and the hardworking human names as an interesting play of keeping things balanced. Children growing up on a farm - that’s a really idyllic, lovely thought. NOT TOO LOVELY THOUGH THIS IS MARTHA AND THIS IS LOIS. When you’re up close and personal with farm animals, they are not actually lovely. They are dirty. They smell. No Thomas Moran painting will show you that a horse in the mountains is ALWAYS COVERED IN FLIES. Wait hang on these animals are Margot! Alice! Daisy! That is so charming! I’ve forgotten about the flies and I’m back in an idyllic landscape painting.
Is it about never being “too much” in one direction? The same way the content swings from farm life to pageant life to e-commerce to farm to pageant again??
Sara: Why are the boys’ names boring? No shade to classic names (one of my kids has a super classic name), but they’re certainly less conversation-starting than the girls’ names.
Em: Because Daniel is boring. Joking! Or am I . . . It’s a very traditional home. Dad is out doing manual labor with the boys helping. Mom is kneading bread (so much bread) while the little girls play by her feet. Many times in this set-up, a father insists that his boys have names that are “normal” and “resume-worthy” and “could he be a Congressman with that name?!” I have no qualms with those criteria – but it’s an issue when we see families where those criteria are only for boys. There are traditional, homesteader fathers who don’t bother asking “but could she be a Congresswoman with that name?!” because her path is only towards homemaking from the day she is born. That dad lets Mrs. Homesteader name those baby girls whatever she wants.
Sara: UM WHAT AGNES’S IDENTITY HAS BEEN STOLEN?!?!?! Do you REALLY think they would reuse the stove’s name for one of their kids? I wonder if they actually erased Agnes’s story because it drew too much unwanted attention to how much Agnes cost?
Em: The Stove Formerly Known As Agnes forever in our hearts. <3 <3 <3 My leading theory for the erasure is that there was confusion over the brand name. It’s not good for marketing for the name AGA and Agnes to be so similar if you’re trying to get brand recognition, especially if Hannah is calling it Agnes all over the place. However there’s no real evidence of a sponsorship, collab, ad or anything of the sort especially since she’s said they bought it secondhand. But this is the theory that makes the most sense to me! Simmering the attention on Agnes the $20K stove also makes a lot of sense. Though the name Agnes 100% fits the baby name vibe, I think they have the self awareness not to reuse a stove’s name for a human. I don’t know a single thought going through Hannah’s mind ever, but I CHOOSE to believe she’d find that odd. Right??? WHO KNOWS.
Sara: This is not BF-related, but I’d love you to tell us about your Sandy Hook Promise tee (which would make a wonderful holiday gift!)
Em: It’s chilling to realize I don’t even remember specifically which 2023 school shooting prompted this project. There have been so many. I felt completely hopeless to make a change and knew one small thing I could offer was my creativity - a shirt for a cause that’s still cute enough that you’d actually want to wear it. I chose the Sandy Hook Promise as the anti-gun violence organization to receive all donations because that 26-victim tragedy of mainly 6 AND 7 YEAR OLDS happened only thirty minutes from my own hometown. Especially now that my own children are nearing that same age, I can’t ever imagine staying silent on the topic of gun violence.
Thank you so much Em!
For a peek into my own predictions about the 8th BF baby and Emily’s thoughts about people who comment stuff like this (“They work extremely hard. I don’t know why people can’t understand that they make a good living”), you can tap tap tappity tap right here because tea is fun to spill!