Hannah Kay Herdlinger Sells Blankets Woven with the Power to Change Lives
Written by Meg Seitz · Photography by Julia Fay
Hannah Kay Herdlinger is bright and sunny and inspiring; and within minutes of meeting her, you realize that she is the right person to be doing the work she does now. There’s no doubt it’s been a journey to get here, but she’s beautiful proof that sometimes overcoming a struggle can produce bright light.
Herdlinger is Founder of Thread Talk, an organization committed to comfort and warmth – but also confidence and empowerment. Simply said, Thread Talk sells blankets. But each blanket means so much more. For each blanket purchased, Thread Talk donates a portion of the proceeds to domesticshelters.org to help fund much needed, wishlist items needed for 2,600+ shelters across the United States.
Herdlinger knows the importance of each blanket. She herself is a survivor of domestic violence. {Continued below}
Originally from Arkansas, she attended the University of Georgia where she met her now ex-husband. Following graduation, she moved to Washington D.C. to work on Capitol Hill. She served as Gatekeeper to Senator Mark Pryor for six years before she was hired to support the opening of Facebook’s D.C. office. Her college boyfriend was also living in D.C. after having moved following graduation from UGA, as well. Upon getting married, the college sweethearts now newlyweds moved back to his hometown in Georgia where Herdlinger was able to work remotely for Facebook. “On the outside, we looked like everything was great,” she shares. “But on the inside, it was a different story.”
“This is about building confidence, and me being about to say to someone else, ‘I got out, and now look what I’ve done,’” she notes. “Just know that you are absolutely worth it.”
Life changed dramatically on February 2, 2014. It was Super Bowl Sunday. Two and half years into her marriage and a new life in a dream home, Herdlinger found herself a victim of domestic abuse. She couldn’t and wouldn’t sit idly and take the abuse. She filed for divorce that same month.
“The lights on with the windows open was my thing, and then, slowly [as our relationship went on], he wanted the blinds shut, and the lights off,” Herdlinger recalls. “My neighbors actually said to me, ‘Your house used to be so bright and happy, and then it went dark.’ I thought to myself, ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me?’ But, it’s the little things that add up.”
Herdlinger needed to start an entirely new journey.
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, a colleague and mentor, had an idea for Herdlinger – move out to California and manage Operations for Sandberg’s latest venture, Lean In, an organization taking shaping following the publication of the book with the same name. She did just that, starting anew on the West Coast and working directly with Sandberg. Two years into her fresh start, Herdlinger sensed something –something in her gut was telling her she needed to be back on the East Coast.
The week following Sandberg’s UC Berkeley commencement keynote speech where she asked graduates to live resiliently, Herdlinger told Sandberg she was leaving Lean In to move back east.
“’Sheryl said, ‘that [commencement addresses] wasn’t meant for you!’” She recalls with a laugh when discussing Sandberg’s loving reaction to the notice.
With Sandberg’s support, Herdlinger left Lean In. She had no plan – except a move to Charlotte.
“During all of this, I knew that I wanted to give back to shelters,” she remembers. “I had donated a lot of my things to the shelter when I left Georgia, and then I started to realize everything that was needed in shelters – everyday things like sheets and towels – and that’s when I really started focusing on this as a passion project.”
As soon as she moved to the QC, she was back on the road working again – this time, managing events for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Clinton family; then, supporting Arianna Huffington’s launch of Thrive Global.
When she did finally return-return to Charlotte, she experienced a realization.
“During all of this, I knew that I wanted to give back to shelters,” she remembers. “I had donated a lot of my things to the shelter when I left Georgia, and then I started to realize everything that was needed in shelters – everyday things like sheets and towels – and that’s when I really started focusing on this as a passion project.”
Despite her strong, professional background in relationship building as well as logistics and operations, Herdlinger had never done this before.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m diving in; here I go,’” she recalls.
Thread Talk launched in October 2017. The organization’s mission is two-fold: one – sell blankets and donate a portion of proceeds for shelter wish lists; and two – create awareness for domestic violence in a different way so as to give people another way to talk about it.
“The name comes from this idea that we’re all threaded together,” she shares. “I didn’t tell my story at first – only a small group knew – but then when Sheryl started telling me story, people really started coming out of the woodwork to share their stories with domestic violence. I realized just how much we are all threaded together.”
For Herdlinger, it goes one step deeper.
“Through all the people I’ve worked with over the years, the number one thing I’ve learned is to be kind; there’s no room for crazy town,” she says. “Bring everyone along with you; when you slow down to help someone, you help everyone.”
At the end of the day though, it’s not about the blanket – it’s about the bright, guiding light of confidence and empowerment that each blanket makes possible for someone else.
“This is about building confidence, and me being about to say to someone else, ‘I got out, and now look what I’ve done,’” she notes. “Just know that you are absolutely worth it.”
Meet the Author: Meg Seitz is the Founder and Managing Creative Partner of toth shop, an agency with one goal: Elevate your brand’s content through powerful writing, creativity, and strategy. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor with Queens University and Founding Partner of the children’s book series, “Bea is for Business”.
She’s an English major with an MBA, so she can talk Homer’s “The Odyssey” just as well as she can talk sunk costs – though she’d much prefer the former.
Meet the photographer: Julia Murray, owner of Julia Fay Photography, feels most at home behind a camera with a story to tell on the other side. Her business began during her sophomore year of college, while majoring in radio and tv broadcasting. Now residing in Charlotte NC, she primarily shoots weddings and other local small businesses like her own. Her favorite part about her job is the connection it brings between art and people.
