Meet Tristen Rogers | Owner and Head Coach of HAT HOUSE Endurance and HAT Altitude Team

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

Hi Tristen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My career path has always been about educating and helping others reach their potential. It started in my high school years when I would coach and referee youth sports, and evolved to graduating college with a teaching career in Physical Education and then a masters in Athletic Administration where I became an Athletic Director and ‘coached the coaches’. I have always had a strong connection to how sports teach us valuable lessons about ourselves and how these sessions help us navigate life outside of the playing arena. After 18 years in education, I realized I wanted to educate/coach adults in the endurance sports world, and help them reach their potential through lens of sport.
As an endurance athlete myself, I wanted my business to center around coaching people FIRST, and athletes SECOND. I realized that the relationship-centered piece was missing from adult coaching companies, and wanted to fill this void after trying to find it for myself and coming up short.
My business is centered around being physically present and available, not just sitting behind a computer and having online coach/athlete relationships, so I built a private training center to allow for frequent in-person training sessions to further establish the team and coach relationships needed to help athletes thrive in their athletic pursuits.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
HAT HOUSE Endurance is the overarching business that houses our HAT Altitude Team in Denver, HAT House Coaching business and our High Altitude Training Camp for endurance athletes in Fairplay, Colorado. All three of these businesses emphasize the importance of ‘getting gold out of everyday’ by learning the physical and mental lessons endurance sports offers. There are many endurance coaching businesses in Colorado, but I had never witnessed one that addressed the crucial combination of the physical and mental work that goes into becoming the best version of yourself. Coaching is so much more than writing training plans for endurance athletes, it’s being a presence in their lives to understand why they are doing this, what makes them work hard, and what motivates or de-motivates them to staying consistent to their goals. My passion was to create a coaching and endurance company that addressed this void, a place where athletes know they would be understood, have visual and personal contact with their coach on a regular basis, become part of an interconnected family of like-minded individuals,, and have their physical abilities challenged in a way that compliments their busy life through the use of our private training facility.
What I’m most proud of is watching the relationships form between members of the team, and how they have taken our motto of “getting gold out of everyday” to be an interconnected support system for each other and strive to be the best versions of themselves.
My background in teaching has instilled in me the importance of continuing education. I did not start this business until I had my certification in endurance coaching and had a couple of years of coaching under my belt, and have had the passion to continue my learning each year through added certifications, clinics, online courses and tons of reading. I have also found it very fulfilling to host talks, speak at conferences and share knowledge to other professionals in our field. I feel that we can all learn from each other and become better as a collective because of it.
Owning a small business in a niche sport always brings challenges. I don’t think that will ever stop. The most difficult challenge HAT HOUSE Endurance faced was during COVID, when facilities were not allowed to operate to the public and we were all confined to our homes while racing and endurance events were halted indefinitely. I was fortunate enough to have built such a strong community of people that wanted to stay connected virtually, and needed the accountability and support of their coach and teammates, even if it was from afar. This taught me how truly important coaching the whole person is to building community and staying afloat during unprecedented times.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Fortunately, most of my friends are active enthusiasts, just like me. If they are coming to visit me, chances are we will be alpine skiing somewhere on the front range if it’s in the winter months, road biking in Boulder in the summer, or gravel biking down south in the fall or spring. When it comes to going out, I am a big fan of taking friends to places such as Avanti or Milk Market, where there are lots of options to eat, but then can all congregate at the same table once you have made your cuisine selection. And since I’m originally from Wisconsin, and most of my friends who visit are also “Sconnie folk” you can bet we’ll find an excuse to watch a Badger or Packer game at Swanky’s, Wally’s or Badger’s Bar.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The biggest supporter of this journey definitely goes to my husband, Mike Fibiger. To encourage me to leave the stability of my job in education to go out on my own and start up a brand new business is definitely scary. His support and belief in me helped me to make that leap and what keeps me driving forward. Also, to all the athletes I coached, past and present, I thank you for supporting my vision and being a part of the journey. It is because of all of you, that we have created something very unique to the endurance community. This business would not be where it is today without all of you.

Website: www.hathouseendurance.com

Instagram: @hat_altitude_team /@hathouseendurance /@hat_house_coaching

Facebook: HAT Altitude Team / HAT House Coaching / HAT House Endurance Camp