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Walking in her shoes: Prince George woman’s passion a healing process for social anxiety

Hanna Minck hoping dreams can come true through VANS custom design competition

Escaping life’s trials can lead a person to a physical or mental state where they feel centred and at peace within themselves to face a new day.

Palm trees and California beaches is the scene Hanna Minck calls her happy place when she deals with social anxiety and depression on a frequent basis, and she’s decided to put that warm picture to a modern-day canvas.

The Prince George woman has entered in a North American-wide shoe design contest, where one lucky artist will win $25,000 and have their art become reality with VANS.

In an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters today (Oct. 4), she said when she initially found out about the contest, she only had one day to come up with as many designs as she could. 

“I had worked 10 or 11 out of 12 days and I felt like I didn’t have the time to do it, but it felt so fitting to enter this contest,” Minck explained. “I want people to wear my stuff and this is a huge dream of mine to work with this brand. As an artist, I’ve always wanted to work with huge brands like VANS or Disney; those are kind of the two that always stuck out to me whereas, it’s like, I don’t know where career-wise as an artist where to go. There’s so many avenues and I wouldn’t have known what I wanted to do, but I’m more on the creative side of art.”

Minck was able to come up with 16 different designs in a matter of 90 minutes, once she returned home from work that day.

By entering into the VANS Custom Culture challenge, it's become very reminiscent of recent events in her life, suffering from social anxiety, depression, and hormone fluctuations.

Minck, a former College Heights Secondary School volleyball player, was once bed-ridden for nearly two years as a result, causing her to lose confidence in her artwork and even questioning her chances at potentially winning.

“I have a pituitary tumor that has caused a lot of hormonal issues and I deal with it on a daily basis, but I try to manage it,” she said. “I’ve had to change my diet completely, and sleep is so important. My grandma also died recently, so a lot of things have happened at the same time, but if I don’t have all those things balanced, it can definitely be symptomatic for me. I found a way though, I found a good doctor and she was able to help me find a way to heal and I’ve come very far.”

As a way to cope, Minck took to the internet and found videos of California views, whether it be walks on the beach, watching surfers out in the ocean, or palm tree leaves flickering in the wind.

These sights brought forward her inspiration for the designs of her shoes, which, as she explained, helped her express what she loves and hopes to be.

“I love Los Angeles. I don’t even know what it is about palm trees, but I just love them. I’ve always had a connection to them and I think a big part of that is that I just love the ocean. I try to draw what I love. I’ve always loved the skateboard culture too and Vans, to me, has always been associated with skate culture and with a big place like L.A. or all of southern California. But you can also put anything on Vans and that’s what so great about the company.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

🥰Hey friends!🥰 I NEED YOUR HELP! I have submitted 16 shoe designs for the Vans Custom Culture shoe design contest! If you haven’t seen my stories yet, they are saved as a highlight on my page! 🥳 Please follow the link in my bio to vote for one of my shoe designs (preferably this one since it’s gaining the most traction) — voting is open October 1-13 and you can vote once per day! 🥳 thank you so much for your help! This is a HUGE dream of mine! The winner will have their design put into production AND $25,000 USD! This could really help further my career! My username on the site is “Hannaminckart” ❤️❤️❤️ #vanscustomculture #vans #shoedesign #vansshoes #vansoldskool #vansclassic #vansshoedesigner #vanscustomculturecontest #inktober2019 #inktober

A post shared by H A N N A M I N C K (@hminck) on

Minck has had art accounts on social media for roughly two years prior to this contest but has never thought of putting her work onto an actual shoe.

She credits the Prince George community for being so supportive in her artwork, but also in her daily struggles and helping her continue her healing process.

“I wear them for me and I never expect people to comment on them, but, for me, it reminds me that I’d have something here and this is something I can do. It’s just nice to be reaffirmed and gain confidence because everyone wants to have that. I’d rather have less followers on Instagram and more quality followers and if people like what I do, I want to share it. If I had people wear my shoes, I’d cry every time I see someone with a pair.”

While having $25,000 would help kickstart a potential art business and a career moving forward, Minck said she’s not entering the contest for the money, but hopes a VANS judge would see her determination within her passion.

“This is something I’ve wanted for so long. I see this door, or this slim door that’s slightly open and I’m like, ‘Okay, I need to run with this.’ [...] I want this for my career, I want this so bad for my career. I want to make my living off of this and right now I’m not. I’m just working multiple jobs for now to supplement my art career and I hope I don’t have to do that for the rest of my life.”

When asked if she thought her anxiousness would slow her down regardless of what happens, Minck was quick to say ‘yes, 100 per cent,’ but she has no plans of giving up on a dream that has helped her get through an introverted lifestyle.

“This is a massive dream of mine and it’s so nice to see the city step in and help me. The support I’m feeling is so nice, and I usually never ask for help, I’m so used to being on my own [...] It’s tough. You stare so long at your art pieces and you start to question yourself, especially when you create for eight hours and you think, ‘I don’t know if this is really good,’ but you post it, and then people love it. It’s almost like imposter syndrome, but I just try to always produce what I like to look at.”

The voting deadline for the first round of the VANS Custom Culture challenge is Sunday, Oct. 13, with the top 10 moving on to the finals.

If you wish to help Minck and vote for her artwork, you can go to the VANS contest website and search HannaMinckArt.