Meet Starla Teddergreen | Co owner of Distance To Empty, Professional Cyclist, Mentor, Advocate.

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

Hi Starla, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
After a series of life-threatening health scares for both of us, my husband Gino and I founded Distance to Empty. It was an organic process motivated by a set of values we use in our lives. We stand for the idea that we’re better humans when we’re discovering the limits of our potential. We believe resilience is earned from persistence in the face of difficult circumstances. We believe in lifting each other up. Together we wanted to create something that builds community, inspires others, and challenges us to grow.

Distance To Empty is a brand and storytelling platform for people pursuing hard things against all odds. DTE is my race banner as a professional Gravel/MTB privateer, and a needs-based awards program that empowers Colorado women to achieve their cycling goals. We put 100% of any money that comes in directly into the DTE Awards program for our team. There’s zero profit – we take nothing from the awards program.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We hope to have a positive community impact by sharing our Distance To Empty stories and asking others to look at how they spend their time. We encourage others to stop procrastinating, challenge themselves to do hard things, and start living their lives now. We only get one go. We create community and opportunity through our DTE pursuit awards program. Partnered with my race program sponsors and CO-based race promoters, we provide equipment, nutrition, mentoring, and an entire season of events for the selected women in our program.

I wanted to create the Pursuit Award program to create an opportunity for CO-based women to pursue something on the bike. Pushing myself in sports has allowed me to feel confident, strong, and capable of meeting challenges head-on in all areas of my life and not backing down when things get complicated. The pursuit awards are meant to not only provide opportunity but to build and foster a community of strong women who encourage and support one another to do hard and challenging things. Through this program, we hope that our riders build strength and confidence in themselves and that this translates to a positive impact on their home life, work life, and in their communities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My whole life, I have thrived when pursuing hard things, most often out in nature. Pushing myself physically in sports has helped me hone my mental approach to life by setting goals, pushing my limits, reaching or failing, and showing up again the next day to keep pursuing my potential. I find joy in this process. Nothing is more extraordinary than witnessing a person’s emotion when they have set a goal, given their pursuit everything, and come out the other side a changed person. I would want to show off the beauty of Colorado’s nature.

I would challenge them to set a goal of an outdoor adventure. Whether it be summiting a 14er, riding part of the continental divide, camping out every night under the stars, or trying to ride as many mountain parks as we can, experiencing the rich history of our beautiful Mtn towns. Nothing is better than being out in nature, pursuing physical activity, and helping others achieve their goal, creating lasting memories together. CO is the perfect playground.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate this to my husband for supporting me in all my pursuits, the women who see the value in lifting others, celebrating each other’s victories, and for being brave enough to challenge themselves to find their limits.

Website: https://www.distancetoempty.com/

Instagram: Personal: starlat Business: Distance2Empty

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/starlateddergreen/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/EpF5Njiw-LY

Other: https://starlateddergreen.com/

Image Credits
Wil Matthews Photo Gino Zahnd