How Parkour East Texas Started

In 2013 I, Hannah, was looking for a method to connect with youth of the community in a meaningful manner that the would enjoy. I was introduced to parkour by a friend and from the first day I knew parkour was going to be my thing. I started driving the Dallas to train at a gym there. In 2014 I took my first Parkour certification course from ADAPT in Oklahoma. That was a turning point for me. I learned so much about parkour, the mindset, and how powerful a tool it is for developing character in youth. Since the course had opened my eyes so much, I completed my 10 observation hours in about 3 weeks so I could attend the ADAPT Level 2 in Pennsylvania. Getting the observation hours from an ADAPT Level 2 coach meant a lot of driving to San Antonio, as well as driving to Pennsylvania.

The ADAPT Level 2 course, which was taught by two international coaches was an amazing 5-day learning experience. After this I started a job as a full time teacher in a public school. I continued doing some parkour and traveling to Dallas and I slowly began to work towards passing my Level 2 assessment (2 days of grueling assessments including 8 hours of physical, a written and a coaching portion). In 2017 I traveled around Europe visiting different parkour communities to learn more about the greater parkour community. In 2017-2020 I started and ran a free After School program that used movement to teach character lessons. This was run on a volunteer basis (mostly my parents and I with a few others) and the rent and expenses were covered by a few supporters and a lot by myself. This was not a sustainable model and in 2020 this shut down and I ended this chapter extremely burnt out and financially drained.

In 2021 I left teaching after 6 years and began building Parkour East Texas with my husband. We created an official LLC and I dove into learning how to run a business in a sustainable manner that would allow me to do what I loved (mentor youth and use movement to do so) while also allow for longterm sustainability by being run in a smart, financially conscious manner. This time around I was committed to paying employees so they could commit their focus and time to bringing quality and consistency. I also was committed this time to investing in learning how to do things the right way. All this meant no longer running things as a non-profit, but being an official business that charged members.

Three and a half years in God has been very faithful to bring amazing community members along the way. I am very thankful for our team of coaches that have stepped up, invested in learning and growing personally and as coaches, and are blazing the way for our students. We have not hit a financially sustainable point yet, meaning we do not make enough to pay all our business expenses and all those who work to keep us open. We also have considerable start-up business loans that have been incurred over the past three and a half years in the process of keeping Parkour East Texas open and investing in growing. We continue to press on in faith that God will open the right doors at the right time and allow us to pay off the business loans and begin covering all our business expenses as well as paying all those who work to keep us open so they can continue to set aside time to do the work involved in running and growing Parkour East Texas.

In 2022 God allowed my steps to fall into Neuro Coaching by Dr. Shannon Irvine. I became a Neuro Coach as a way to break through what was holding me back in business and also as a way to increase the quality of what we can offer the students in the programs at Parkour East Texas. As a certified Neuro Coach I also am building a Neuro Coaching Private Practice (Propel Neuro Coaching) to help create financial room to allow me to continue to pour time and resources into Parkour East Texas while it is not at a sustainable point.