(NEW YORK) Between building apps and backing restaurants, sweet-natured Seagram’s heiress Hannah Bronfman barely has time to DJ these days. The Daily Summer talked to the peripatetic queen of the under-30 scene about bad role models, her life in the Hamptons, and “semi-normal” childhood.
BY EDDIE ROCHE
You’re a true child of the Hamptons!
I am indeed. We had a house in Amagansett so I was out here every summer. I grew up in Manhattan and all of my girlfriends had houses out here, too, so I could always be with them. I didn’t go to the same all-girls school that they did—they went to Chapin, and I went to Spence—but during the summer we all got to hang out together at the beach.
How did you entertain yourselves?
When you’re younger you have a much more sheltered view of the beach, but as teenagers we got into all sorts of trouble.
What kind of trouble?
You know, just drinking and trying to hang out with surfers. [laughs] Not anything too, too crazy, but definitely things we shouldn’t have been doing at our age. We used to fill coolers with beer and bring them out to my friend’s barn.
Where do you stay these days?
My family is in Bridgehampton so I stay there sometimes, but all of my girlfriends usually end up staying at my friend Mallory’s house in Georgica Association. Her parents love to have all of us over. We’re a big group of, like, 10 best friends. I’m one of seven kids so it can get a little hectic at my house.
What do you have lined up for the summer?
I’ve got a lot of weddings, and I might go to South Africa in July. Oh, and I’ll be DJing at The Surf Lodge this weekend.
Nice. Do you go on the beach a lot or are you a pool person?
I love the beach. What’s great about my house here is that we’re on Sag Pond so I can actually paddle board from my house to the beach. That, to me, is so luxurious.
You’ve got quite a lot going on work-wise. How would you describe what you do?
I like to say that I’m a Renaissance woman. I’ve got my hands in a few different projects. I’m really into sustainability, wellness, beauty, health, music and food, so I try to combine all of that. In addition to DJing, I’ve got an app coming out that books last-minute beauty appointments, and I’m also an investor in [Manhattan hot spot] Acme. I’m also working on a food app that’s all about sourcing food and food transparency and food safety.
So just a few things.
Yeah [laughs.] I think the time that we’re in right now is really interesting. People say that ADD is a disease, but I don’t think it is! It’s just the way our minds work, and when you meet so many people, why wouldn’t you take advantage of those opportunities? I meet people all the time who always want to work on projects with me. It just doesn’t seem like much fun to put all my eggs in one basket.
How did you feel the first time you saw yourself described as an “It” girl?
It was definitely weird. I grew up in a semi-normal environment, and I’ve had the same best friends since I was two-years old. It’s one of those things where I grew up in a very social world. My mother had me hosting parties with her when I was five years old, asking guests if I could take their coats and what they needed to drink. I certainly knew the day was coming, but it didn’t really hold any weight when it did. It was just one of those things. I come from a family that’s been in the press for decades now—I’m in that next generation. Whatever eyes are on me, I’m trying to be as good a role model as possible. I have younger brothers and sisters, and I don’t really think there are that many positive female role models today who are strong and working.
Who do you think is a good role model?
I’m 25, so I grew up with Paris Hilton being everyone’s favorite “It” girl, and to me that was not something I ever wanted to be associated with. And Nicole Richie is so beautiful and has such a great fashion sense, but there was a time when they were on The Simple Life together where it wasn’t their best moment. I remember thinking, ‘I hope to never be exploited in this way.’ I hope my little brothers and sisters have someone to see on TV that’s not acting a fool. That doesn’t mean I don’t act a fool and I don’t enjoy myself and party with my friends and get too drunk sometimes, but I’m not doing it with cameras on me. I’m not putting that out on social media. I’m not trying to portray myself like that to a younger generation.
How are you portraying yourself?
Well, I was at a party the other day and this woman came up to me and she was with her daughter who was, like, nine and she said, ‘Just so you know there’s a group of girls at P.S.287 who think you’re the bee’s knees!’ Apparently all the other moms were curious about me so they looked at my Instagram and saw that my posts were about working out, fashion, my boyfriend and living a healthy lifestyle so they let their kids follow me. I definitely take responsibility for my family name, but I also think that my family has put a lot of pressure to make sure that our name doesn’t get tainted. As long as we’re all acting in a way that’s commendable then no one has bad things to say about us.
Would you ever do a reality TV show?
That’s so hard to say because reality has changed a lot in the past 10 years. A lot of reality TV shows are scripted now. It could be funny to do a semi-reality docu-series that was scripted. I don’t think reality TV is necessarily my thing, but I’m not opposed to hearing a proposal about it.
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