Singing teacher changes tune
Thousands are following new builder Alex Hannah’s tradie exploits – and anti-machismo message – on Instagram. Joanna Davis reports.
Alex Hannah has been a builder for just over a year, but he has already attracted plenty of followers on social media. Hannah was a retail worker and singing teacher, living in Māpua, Tasman, with a wife and new baby, when he realised he needed to change industries if he was ever to have weekends free with his family.
A casual conversation with his brother-in-law, builder Jared Armstrong from Blac Design & Build, determined his path.
‘‘Our family is close, we were hanging out having dinner, and, joking, I said: ‘It would be cool if I was your apprentice: You should hire me as a builder’,’’ Hannah says.
He started his apprenticeship the following January (2019) and completed it mid-last year.
Hannah, who had been teaching singing in private lessons and in schools alongside working 40 hours a week at a menswear store in Motueka, had had an earlier taste of building sites, as he had worked as a labourer for his father straight out of high school.
‘‘But that was literally the job you didn’t want – working for your dad,’’ he says. ‘‘I got fired many times, only to be woken up the next morning to get back to work.’’
This time around, he’s a ‘‘little bit older and wiser’’.
And he has another motivation for keeping weekends free: he and wife Carissa Hannah, now with two children and a third on the way, have moved to Christchurch and started a church, an offshoot of Nelson mega-church Annesbrook Church.
For now, the church members meet in the Hannahs’ family home.
‘‘I lead worship in our house, play guitar and sing. Then Carissa or I share the message, and the other one will head to the front room to entertain the kids.’’
Hannah talks openly about his beliefs on Instagram, where he has more than 15,000 followers, but he says he’s not out to convert anyone.
‘‘I’m pretty straight up and honest.
‘‘I’ve offered on my chat, no strings attached, if anyone wants prayer or someone to talk to, I’m available to all people. I don’t get notifications instantly, but I always respond to every message.’’
He is concerned about high suicide rates in the construction industry, and also with the machismo that the trades can be tarred with.
‘‘With how the trade industry is on social media, we really can change it,’’ he says.
‘‘Some things could be addressed. For example, we need a big push for women in trades, getting them inclusive and having equality in how they’re treated.’’
Hannah, 30, never thought he would have so many followers. He started his Instagram account to keep a record of the work he was doing to show his training assessor.
Because so many people follow him, he has sponsorships with trade brands, including Makita, AEG, Bosch and Mitre 10.
He says he doesn’t like the term influencer, ‘‘but I guess I influence a lot of people’’.
‘‘A couple of my posts went viral and it ended up getting hectic, and I thought: This isn’t what I signed up for. It was never the goal to be someone that’s known.’’
He is upfront about being sent products to test for free. ‘‘If it’s an ad, I tell them I receive it for free. And if there’s one thing that can’t be bought, it’s my opinion.’’
Hannah sold a tiny home he had built for his family during his apprenticeship to raise the deposit for a house in the Christchurch suburb of Hoon Hay.
He has developed a passion for building passive houses – homes that are super-insulated and energy-efficient, and secured work with certified Passive House builders Ethos Homes, which is building New Zealand’s first passive house subdivision in Halswell, Christchurch.
He says building this way is ‘‘challenging and satisfying’’ for him as a builder, and fits with his
‘‘Some things could be addressed. We need a big push for women in trades, getting them inclusive and having equality in how they’re treated.’’
Alex Hannah
own caring beliefs. ‘‘It’s an airtight home that performs in a far superior way to a standard house: a warmer, drier, healthier home.
‘‘My main angle is that I want to make a difference – whether that’s building passive houses or building people.’’
On the weekends, as well as his pastoral work, he is busy checking out all the playgrounds in the Hoon Hay neighbourhood with his two children, Rhodes, 3, and Darby, 1.
And, if he gets some free time, he has plenty of work to do on his own 1960s house.
‘‘I’ve already been given the list of renovations,’’ Hannah says.
‘‘Some stuff needs doing before the baby arrives in November.’’