Meet Keri Hanson | Owner and Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Keri Hanson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keri, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For the past few years, I have mostly been a stay-at-home and homeschooling mom, but as a former classroom teacher, my heart has always been with helping kids thrive. I knew I didn’t want to go back to the classroom again–but I still wanted to find some meaningful way to work with kids. So when I saw an opportunity for a training and curriculum in Growth Mindset for kids, I took a leap of faith and signed up and didn’t look back.

I love this business model, because it allows me the freedom to be there for my kids when they need me, but it also allows me to work with and serve kids in my community in positive and powerful ways. Especially after the last few years of pandemic, I feel that now, more than ever, it is necessary to provide kids with the tools they need to be resilient and healthy in mind and body.

My hope is that I will be able to expand my business and offer our program as both an after school and homeschool enrichment program in more Northern Colorado communities, as well as provide online class options for those in other areas or areas we aren’t able to offer in-person enrichment programs. I can’t wait to see more kids grow and thrive through the active, fun, and positive growth mindset curriculum that we offer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Prior to starting my business Kids Run Northern Colorado, I taught high school English at Rifle High School. I was awarded Teacher of the Year twice, though I believe there were better English teachers than me. I spent extra time in (and sometimes outside) of my classroom helping my students explore larger questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What will my life be like after I graduate? I believed then (and still believe now) that not all students will love each subject, but if you can build a positive relationship with them, if you continually show up for them and let them know that you care about them, they might be willing to try–not because they like the subject you teach, but because they know you care. I also believe that helping student truly come to know themselves can build a strong foundation from which they can grow. Self reflection and personal growth have always been a passion of mine, though I didn’t always practice a growth mindset myself.

Reading Carol Dweck’s book Mindset :The New Psychology of Success had me reflecting on where in my life I had at times been stuck in a fixed mindset. I realized that while I always had strived to be intentional about learning and growing, my perfectionist tendencies sometimes kept me from trying things that I knew I might not be successful in. This is a pattern of someone with a fixed mindset–the fear of failure and lack of effort in things that might not bring success. There were some areas of my life where I was practicing a growth mindset, but there were others where my fear of failure kept me from learning and growing.

Starting this business has forced me to grow and expand in new ways. It has forced me to learn and grow and to move forward–even if I am afraid I might fail. For years I dreamed of being able to use my training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition to start my own health coaching practice. I knew that I had the knowledge to help people–but the whole business side of things kept me to afraid to really try. So often throughout this past year of starting Kids Run Northern Colorado, I have been excited to teach, but so scared about other things–website creation, marketing, keeping track of financials, even filing business paperwork with the state would send me into a flurry of sweaty palms and anxiousness. But with the help of Cristina Ramirez and Nancy Heydinger, and with my own work to learn and practice a growth mindset, I just keep taking one scary step at a time–and growing in the process!

It’s not the only time that I’ve done this. In the past, I often ran half marathons, but was always too scared to sign up for a full 26.2 mile race. Until one New Year’s Day, I just had 5 second of courage and did it. And then panicked about what I had just done. Over months, I trained for the race–had a stress fracture two weeks before, but still decided to run. I didn’t make the time goal I had set for myself, but I did finish and learned so much about myself and life in the process.

This is what I want to share with kids and teens–the skills they need to try and fail and not let that failure be fatal. The ability to celebrate effort as well as success on the way toward reaching their goals. I want to use my training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Academy of Yoga, and my own experience as a slow half marathon and marathon runner to teach children how to be healthier and stronger in mind and body. Because I get so excited when I think about what kids might accomplish if they weren’t afraid of failure, and when they learn to take care of their health so they have the strength and energy to achieve their dreams! I can’t wait to hear to stories of what they accomplish after learning from and with me and my team of coaches in our after school and homeschool enrichment programs.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had best friends visiting for a weekend, I’d want to take them to a morning yoga class at Windsor Yoga Family where I used to teach–they have some great instructors there and small, intimate classes in a beautiful space. We’d come home for breakfast, and then grab coffee of tea at the Human Bean and drive up to the mountains for a hike. I love RMNP, but I also love Round Mountain and several spots up Poudre Canyon. We’d pack a picnic, but already be excited to go out to eat at Ginger and Baker in Fort Collins after our adventure.

If we had our kids along, my sons would want to play at CSU’s environmental learning center and get the best sandwiches from Snack Attack in Fort Collins for lunch and then we’d head to Hearth in Windsor because we can always find something everyone likes there!

And! it would be even better if it was a Run.Windsor race weekend. They offer so many fun, local running opportunities!

We are grateful for so many great hiking and running locations and all the natural areas that Northern Colorado has to offer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Cristina De Molina Ramirez and Nancy Heydinger from Dashstrom Run Club were a dynamic duo who gave me the tools that I needed to be able to set up and start my business. Without their constant encouragement, accountability, and training, I know I wouldn’t have been able to begin my business as I did. I also was inspired by other mompreneurs in my cohort–Mayra Meza and Rebecca Hooper–both who have their own businesses that serve kids in their communities. They have both been a positive impact in my life over the last year, and I am so grateful for the positive, encouraging, and helpful influences they have been for me in 2022.

Website: www.kidsrunnortherncolorado.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsrunnoco

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidsRunNoCo/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kidsrunnoco/

Image Credits
Keri Hanson Jenny Chapman