Hannah Harper Reflects on the ‘Whirlwind’ Her Life’s Become Since ‘American Idol’ Win

Disney

After being crowned the 24th winner of “American Idol” earlier this year, Hannah Harper has embarked on launching her professional music career.

A year after steadying her nerves for Hollywood Week, Harper is now preparing to open for Lauren Alaina (who competed on the 10th season of “Idol”) at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium, and will accompany Alaina on tour as her opening act.

A ‘Whirlwind’ Year

Looking back on the last 12 months, Harper remains astonished by the turn her life has taken thanks to “Idol.”

“Last year in November, I was at Belmont University doing Hollywood Week for ‘American Idol,’ and it was the most nerve-wracking experience of my life,” Harper told Country Now.

At the time, she returned to Nashville to to watch the Gatlin Brothers’ anniversary show at the Ryman, which prompted Harper and her brother to make a bet on when she’d be making her Ryman debut.

“I said, ‘five years’ and my brother said, ‘five months.’ And here we are. We’re at the Ryman tonight and it’s super exciting,” she said.

Reflecting on her “Idol” journey, she admitted, “I feel like we blinked and now we’re here and it’s a whirlwind and I’m super thankful but there’s been so much that I haven’t had time to process that has happened.”

It’s been a lot. Since being crowned the winner of “Idol” in May, Harper has made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry (where she sang a duet with fellow “Idol” winner Carrie Underwood), toured with both Alaina and Brad Paisley, and recorded new music.

Finding Balance

While Harper admitted she’s faced a steep learning curve over the past few months, the one area in which she’s really struggled has been separating her professional and private lives.

This, she explained, is complicated by the fact that her husband, Devon Mendenhall, serves as her manager while also taking care of their three young children while she’s working.

“The hardest thing is when I go home learning when to stop because I really thought once we got here, we would have a team, you know what I mean? Like manager, assistant, all the fun things. And it’s really me and my husband and a handful of people who are related to me that are keeping the wheels going,” she explained.

“And so the hardest part is when we’re on the road, we’re working and turning it off once we get home, walking through the doors and laying it down. I think that’s where sometimes I envy people with a nine to five because when they go home, they get to just be at home and they’re not having to worry about work, whereas my work comes home with me,” Harper added. “So that’s been the hardest adjustment is being able to just sit it down and say, ‘Okay, it’ll be there tomorrow’ and sitting with that.”

Despite all the demands being placed on her, Harper insists that the same priorities she had before becoming famous remain firmly in place.

“I was never in this to be a superstar or to be the most popular name. It was really just to tell my story, my testimony and what God’s doing in my life and to… It was a ministry from the beginning,” she shared.

“So it’s one of those things I have to remind myself constantly, it’s not about being a superstar, it’s just about spreading the gospel and my mission is in my home, my ministry is in my home,” she added. “So being able, when I go home, to just sit it down, walk away from it and carry on like normal life, that’s been the hardest part because I’m a very work driven person. So we’re still working on that.”