Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman Responds To ‘Trad Wife’ Controversy

Neeleman explained that she and her husband have built their business together ‘from scratch’, brought eight children into the world, and prioritised their marriage.

“We are co-parents, co-CEOs, co-diaper changers, kitchen cleaners and decision makers. We are one, and I love him more today than I did 13 years ago,” she added, stating that they still have “many dreams to accomplish”.

“For now, I’m doing what I love most: being a mother, wife, a businesswoman, a farmer, a lover of Jesus, and making meals from scratch,” she finished the video.

If you haven’t yet read the interview or know anything about the controversy surrounding it, read on for everything you need to know.

Why has an interview with Ballerina Farm gone viral?

During the interview with The Times, the interviewer noted that Daniel hardly left Neeleman’s side despite Neeleman being the subject of the interview, and some things were said that have caught readers’ attention.

“My goal was New York City. I left home at 17 and I was so excited to get there, I just loved that energy. And I was going to be a ballerina. I was a good ballerina,” she said. Neeleman had been training as a ballerina at Juilliard school in New York City when she met Daniel. “But I knew that when I started to have kids my life would start to look different.”

“I gave up dance, which was hard. You give up a piece of yourself. And Daniel gave up his career ambitions,” Neeleman says of the sacrifices the pair made to start a family.

The writer, Megan Agnew, then notes: “I look out at the vastness and don’t totally agree. Daniel wanted to live in the great western wilds, so they did; he wanted to farm, so they do; he likes date nights once a week, so they go (they have a babysitter on those evenings); he didn’t want nannies in the house, so there aren’t any. The only space earmarked to be Neeleman’s own — a small barn she wanted to convert into a ballet studio — ended up becoming the kids’ schoolroom.”