Being in the spotlight isn’t something MuchMusic VJ Hannah Simone sought when travelling the world with her parents as a child, but it was her calling. Having lived in more countries than most people travel to in a decade, Hannah’s nomadic childhood, coupled with her multi-ethnic background, has given her a rare, insightful perspective that has shaped the belief system by which she lives today. Armed with two degrees, one in international relations /political science and the other in radio and television arts, this luscious Leo strides one foot into a multitude of causes she supports and the other into the glittery lights of the entertainment business. Having interviewed and hobnobbed with some of today’s hottest A-list celebs, this is just one of the many perks Hannah admits to having as one of Canada’s premiere TV personalities. To find out more—

Read On…

People are bewildered by what your ethnicity is. I think they would be even more surprised that you are half South Asian. Let’s clear things up — tell me about your background.

I’m a multi-ethnic person so I think most people are surprised by any part of the puzzle. My father is Indian, my mother is half German-Italian and half Greek-Cypriot. More people are surprised by where I grew up! Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, India, England and Canada isn’t a normal answer to that question. Being raised as someone who is multicultural and multi-ethnic has been the greatest gift to me.

What does it mean to you to be ethnic?

I have so many ethnicities! Each of them has helped create the foundation for my value system. From my South Asian roots I have been taught the importance of education and honouring your family. My father made it clear to me that education was something I could never have enough of and that it was one of the few things in life that can never be taken away from you. My ethnicity defines me and I want to embrace that. We have an incredibly vibrant culture that needs to be communicated to the world and celebrated with pride. It’s important to me to be someone who talks about the strengths of South Asians.

And to be a woman?

I was raised with a grandmother that survived two world wars and a very strong mother. They have taught me that, as a woman, anything is possible. My independent spirit is thanks to them. I am proud to stand on my own two feet.

I tend to reject labels. If you put yourself in a box, I find that you spend the rest of your life trying to get out of it.

Has living in a number of countries around the world given you a lack of belonging due to the nomadic nature of your childhood?

I come from a family of nomads! I got on my first plane when I was one. We’ve constantly been travelling and exploring, so I feel that I can fit in almost everywhere.

How do you get a sense of belonging everywhere?

Every new place I’ve gone to, whether I’ve lived there or visited there, I’ve tried to assimilate myself into the culture as fast as possible. I have a huge collection of conversational language books that I try to crash course study before I go. If you go through my photo album, there aren’t any pictures of me standing next to the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty or the Taj Mahal. When I visit or live somewhere, I go to the local bookstore or the local grocery store, and I try to get a sense of what it is to live there.

When a person is younger and growing up, there tends to be more of a consciousness of wanting to belong that is tied to forging friendships. Constantly having to forge connections with people, then having to let them go and then having to start the process all over again must have been hard on you. How did you deal with it?

To be honest it wasn’t that hard on me. I went to international schools so that was the norm for everybody. Nobody was in those schools from pre-school to graduation. Everybody was there for two to three years so we all learned to adapt really quickly. You also learn who really is your friend and sincerely interested in you and who isn’t. Learning those kinds of skills and tools at that age serve you for life.

In what ways?

In my job, you have to be able to adapt quickly. You have to be able to sense sincerity. You want to have an immediate connection with somebody to be able to have a meaningful conversation. When I interview someone, I interview them for fifteen to twenty minutes, half an hour at the most. I try to connect with them and then find things we have in common. I build from there.

For me it is two-fold. First off I have an incredible international network of friends from attending a million schools. Secondly I have a permanent sense of perspective. For example, living in India you witness the extreme poverty but also the extreme amount of hope that exists there. Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes and because I’ve lived there, that experience cannot be taken away from me. It becomes a part of you; it’s a part of me now.

What is the most positive thing you’ve gotten out of all the places you have lived in and travelled to?

Growing up in Saudi Arabia during the war, Cyprus on the Green Line and living in India and working to raise awareness about the AIDs epidemic there, I realized that I was living in a world surrounded by solutions. (Pause) Then to come back to Canada and to be given the platform that I have at MuchMusic— it’s a very exciting opportunity for me.

It’s interesting that you say that you see a world filled with solutions considering things like wars are generally seen as harrowing experiences and most people would have negative memories of them. But you don’t. How did you take a negative and spin it around into a positive at such a young age?

The day before my tenth birthday was the start of the Gulf War and we were living in Saudi Arabia. I remember as a child thinking that, “this is really inconvenient. It is the day before my birthday and now there’s this war going on and no one is going to care about my birthday!” It wasn’t until I started to watch the war on TV that I realized that this was serious. The compound was full of kids, all nine and ten years old. Our reaction was to form our own kind of protest. It was an opportunity for us to say “we don’t agree”. We wrote these ridiculous rap songs! But what we were trying to say is that we didn’t think that this war is a solution.

What were you disagreeing with about the war?

We would see images on television that let us know that this war threatened our security. As a child, you just instinctively know that’s not safe. That’s what we sang about. It wasn’t much more complicated than that. And I began to understand that things outside of my little world could have an impact on my life.

So you were looking for solutions that would make a difference in a grassroots approach?

At the age of ten it was more about finding my voice. And then you have to find a way to give power to your voice. For us it was writing songs. That’s how we found the power in our voices. I don’t think I was really aware of what I was doing. But when I was living in India at sixteen, I learnt that many of the women and children who had HIV/AIDS were being hidden in hospital basements. Then it was a conscious decision to make a difference on a grassroots level. I was surrounded by a very artistic community — poets, actors, singers and dancers so it was an obvious solution for us to pool our talents and put on a concert. We raised money and built a shelter.

For you then, solutions are actively making a difference that is positive in people’s lives as opposed to through a political forum?

It depends where you can have a degree of impact. If you have the ability to make your impact in a political forum, then that’s what you should be doing. If it’s writing a letter to your MP, then that’s what you should be doing. If it’s writing a song at the age of ten saying that I don’t agree with this, then that’s what you should be doing. Everyone has the ability to make a positive impact in one way or another.

Tell me, was your decision to go on and complete a degree in international relations and political science a direct result of your experiences during the Gulf War?

Throughout my life I’ve had little moments that have shaped my path, so no, it wasn’t a direct result of the war. We’re constantly moulded as we grow so learning the power of my voice at 10 was a turning point, which helped take me in that direction. Growing up on the Green Line in Cyprus and learning that part of my history was also a turning point for me.

Before we continue, excuse my ignorance but what is the Green Line in Cyprus-you’ve mentioned that twice now?

Cyprus is divided into two. The Southern half is Greek and the Northern half is Turkish. The Green Line is the point where both halves meet. Nicosia is the last divided capital city in the world and that’s where I lived.

What’s the relevance of living there in terms of how it has contributed to shaping your life?

It is interesting to be raised in a country where you only have access to half of it. Recently, the borders have been relaxed and the last time I was back in Cyprus, I got to go to the Northern side. It was incredible to walk behind that wall.

Why?

It was a Wizard of Oz moment, where you get to peek around the curtain. It was enlightening to see with my own eyes what life was like in the North. What that part of my country looks like. It sparked a curiousity in me to really study the history so I could figure out for myself why my country is in two. It was a turning point for me.

When I returned to Canada, I went to university to learn more about my own cultural history. There I was given an incredible opportunity to work with Lloyd Axworthy on a book on Canadian foreign policy, which examined how we as Canadians can impact our world.

I am so fortunate to have come back to Canada with all of these experiences and be given such a great opportunity by MuchMusic to share them. I mean I get to interview amazing musicians, but I also get to be a part of the great social issues programming that MuchMusic does.

Why is being actively involved in such initiatives an integral component of who you are?

It’s a part of being a responsible member of the planet and to do what you can to make a positive impact. Everywhere that I’ve lived, there have always been people within my community that need help, and there are always ways to help.

I know Human Rights Watch, which has just recently become ANOKHI‘s official social awareness initiative, is something that is close to your heart also.

Human Rights Watch is an organization that I became aware of when I was in university. It is one of the biggest human rights organizations in North America and it functions without government funding. It exists to protect the rights of people all over the world.  When the Rwandan genocide occurred,  HRW was on the forefront of exposing human rights abuses. What they did in Rwanda was incredibly groundbreaking. The decision to support HRW was an easy one.

And that’s also why ANOKHI supports their initiatives because we believe that everyone has the right to basic human rights.

Absolutely. The important thing is that they hold accountable dictators and those who abuse human rights.

The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre is another organization that I try to support every year. They have an annual bowl-a-thon; that’s how they raise funds. They’re trying to make sure that their crisis centre doesn’t need to exist next year.

In what ways do you feel that with the position you’re in today, you could lend support to the many social campaigns that the South Asian community initiates?

When I did Sing for South Asia, we covered it here at MuchMusic.

Yes I was there. Ordinarily, mainstream media’s mandates are very difficult for any ethnic or cultural groups to be able to get any kind of publicity or awareness from. The fact that MuchMusic did that was amazing and sends a message that they value the communities that make up the fabric of our country. And you were clearly instrumental in bringing this onto their radar.

I said that this is an important issue. This is music making a difference. I try to lend my voice as events come up that make a lot of sense to me. Sing for South Asia raised money and awareness for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.

Other than Sing for Asia, what else do you feel you would like to do within the South Asian community that being a VJ could impact?

I would like to use my position to highlight the deep pool of South Asian talent that we have here in Canada. So many creative South Asian artists have approached me about their work and I try to highlight them whenever possible

The simplest way is to volunteer.

I was bewildered to read that you did a complete 180 when you decided to go from completing a political-based degree to a broadcasting one. There seemed to be a real disconnect. Then I read something that was pivotal to my understanding of the connection. You were quoted as saying, “I’m inspired by the fusion between music and humanitarian issues.”

I don’t think I did a 180 at all! It seemed like a logical next step to take my life experiences, my passions, and my first degree in international relations and try to find a platform that made sense. After working with youth at the United Nations Association in the U.K., I came back to Canada to do a degree in radio and television arts so I could learn how to make documentaries.

Where did that come from?

I wanted to learn how to give my voice greater power.

And that’s what’s really interesting because people will see people like you on TV and determine that you’re a pretty face that happened to be at the right place at the right time. That’s why this conversation is so important, for those who don’t see past the glamour. They don’t know what it has taken for you to actually get to where you are today.

Sure. Everything that I have done in my life has prepared me to handle the job of being a MuchMusic VJ. I research all day everyday at MuchMusic so my 6 years in University paid off! My job is a lot of fun, but I try to make sure that I approach the workload responsibly.

What does being responsible mean to you?

To respect the platform that I’ve been given. It’s an amazing opportunity to come back to Canada and to work in this job.

Why? There are a lot of incredible opportunities that this job affords. (Pause) Television is a visual medium. I remember as a kid watching television and searching for a familiar face. I receive a lot of mail from kids like me who tick the ‘other’ box. They belong to that ambiguous category of people and my presence on television makes them feel represented.

Is that why you chose MuchMusic as a forum to reach out to people?

MuchMusic has a long history of doing very responsible social programming. One that I did that was particularly close to me was the MuchTalks AIDS special. During that special, I had to let myself be vulnerable— I told the story of the first friend that I found out had HIV/AIDS. I shared that story with the viewers. It’s probably the most vulnerable I’ve been on air. It was incredible though because I got such an overwhelming response from people across the country of all ages.

Absolutely. Television shouldn’t be a one-way medium, right?

We should be able to share so it’s an incredible experience for me when someone can relate to what I’m going through, and I can relate to what they’re going through because that creates a sense   of community.

There are many ways in which one can find that sense of community but you’ve chosen to find it as a VJ.

Because I believe that it gives me the greatest platform to reach  out to what I think is the most important demographic in Canada, which is Canadian youth.

What do you think you’ve brought to the MuchMusic family?

My background and upbringing has given me a unique perspective and set of skills that connects me with our audience and the artists I interview.

What do we have to look forward to in the future from Hannah Simone?

My future at MuchMusic is so exciting right now. This summer gave me so many opportunities to host incredible live shows from the MMVAs, to Live Earth, to our huge celebration of the Toronto International Film Festival with the eTalk Star! Schmooze. Who knows what the next year will bring but I can’t wait!

Before I ask you my last question, I’m dying to ask you something.

Ask away.

You’re a Leo right?

Yes.

Do you roar like a lioness or purr like a kitten?

(Laughs)

Or does it depend on who you’re dealing with?

It depends on who I’m dealing with.

So when do you roar?

I’m a very passionate person. When I approach my work; when I approach my life; when I approach my family. That’s what brings that side of me out.

When are you a pussycat?

(Laughs again)

When you’re in my life and I love you, I’m a pushover.

And finally, what have you learned that you would like to share with South Asian women, as an ethnic woman in a position of power?

Everyone has power in her life. I just happen to be on television. For me, the greatest lesson I have learned comes from understanding the strength of my heritage. I come from a slew of cultures that constantly reinforce ambition, education and compassion. I come from a family that taught me that my uniqueness was my greatest asset in life. In an industry that has historically presented obstacles to ethnic women, more and more of us are being represented because we are different and I feel very fortunate to be a part of that.

First published in the TKTK Issue, www.AnokhiMagazine.com.

Crew Credits:
Photography By Tara Leigh/snobsinc.com
Production Coordinator: Shivani Kumar
Makeup: Gargi Patel/Vasanti Cosmetics Inc.
Hair: Daniell Treanor/Salon Escape
Styling: Dwayne Kennedy/Judy Inc.
Assistant Stylist: Chantelle Vahi

Photo Credits:
Cover photo: Two-piece Lengha by Dinesh Ramsay $3000 CDN; DineshRamsay.com;
Earrings by Pink Petals $130 CDN
Photo i: Forest Green Dress from Studio Labiri $565 CDN; Pewter Stacked Heel Shoes from Aldo $120 CDN; Pewter Earring from Urban Outfitters $32 CDN.
Photo ii, iv: Always unpredictable. Hannah’s MMVAs red carpet detail includes welcoming celebs who arrive to the show ineverything from tanks to rickshaws. Here, rising r&b sensation George arrives in style.
Photo iii, v: Black & Silver Jacket from Fusia Boutique $550 CDN; Rich and Skinny Denim from Studio Labiri $235 CDN; Bubble Tank by Lux $32 CDN; Gold Necklace from Urban Outfitters $42 CDN; Shoes from Urban Outfitters $140 CDN.

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