Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tom & Kat Hansen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tom & Kat, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?
Hello, my name is Kat Hansen and I run a platform called Hope & Courage under which we have a book entitled “Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease” and a podcast called “The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents” which both my husband and I authored and host. I manage our social media for our Hope & Courage platform. We made this choice because I have professional experience with social media management. Three important things to remember about building a social media presence is that it takes time, patience, and consistency. We started our platform in September 2021 and our social media presence has displayed steady growth since then. Our audience remains mostly local but our lately our content has been branching out to the rest of the country and in some parts of the world as well.
I have two insights to share that will be helpful to anyone looking to grow in the area of social media management. First, try to create as much “evergreen” content as you can. Evergreen content are posts that will stand the test of time, that remain impactful even if a new follower is experiencing it for the first time. A great example of this is posting a video or image of a famous quote.
Second, ask yourself if each piece of your content is offering value to your followers. If it’s not valuable don’t post it. Your followers will not appreciate “filler” posts. You’ll know a piece of content is valuable to your followers if it gets a lot of engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc.). Our most valuable piece of content are the funny memes we post about CHD Parents that make them feel heard, seen, and understood.
Social media is always changing so it’s important to keep up with the changes. I recommend following Gary Vee and his insights on social media management to help you accomplish this.
Tom & Kat, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
In 2014, our lives were radically changed when our son, Harding, was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) during a routine ultrasound appointment. We initially believed the hardships that awaited would surely destroy us, but we made the imperative decision to use the hardships CHD brought to our family’s life to positively transform us. Each open-heart surgery, medical complication, and lengthy hospital stay taught us a powerful lesson, and we discovered a life that is richer and more fulfilling than we could have ever imagined. Our experience developed a passion in us to equip, empower and encourage parents like us to have the hope and courage they need to navigate the difficult terrain of their family’s CHD journey.
There is no pain that compares to watching your child struggle with a serious disease, no fear like having to face their mortality, and no helplessness like seeing them in danger while feeling powerless to stop it. CHD Parents know this struggle all too well. While their child is going through incredibly challenging medical adversities these parents are walking wounded through the trauma alongside them. Sadly, many parents suffer through it alone while being under-resourced and struggling to have hope.
While most resources on CHD are well-intentioned, they don’t always hit the mark. These resources are either written from a medical professional’s perspective or are memoirs that don’t always offer practical help for how to get through the experience. Our resources are created by CHD Parents who have real experience living this complicated life. We inspire them to use their hardship to create positive outcomes in their lives and we equip parents with practical advice for their family’s CHD journey.
Featured on our Hope & Courage platform are our award-winning and 5-Star reviewed book entitled “Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease” and our popular podcast called “The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents”.
5-Star review of our book!:
Incredibly practical, heartfelt help for parents of children with medical challenges
This is exactly the book I wish I’d had when my child was going through her years of struggle with a congenital heart defect – but it would be equally helpful for any caregiver who loves a child with a serious medical issue, especially one which requires surgery. Tom and Kat Hansen write in conversational language about their own experience, which is so compelling you’ll find yourself cheering for their son Harding and tearing up when he struggles. More importantly, they include practical tips for managing caregiver stress, fear, and sadness — even reminding readers to take a break from reading if they’re finding themselves reliving hard memories of their own children’s experiences. While I hope no one I love ever needs a guide like this, if they do, you can bet I’ll be buying a copy or two for them and their families.
5-Star review of our podcast!:
I needed this 5 years ago!
If I had this type of resource while we were in the thick of CHD with our child, I would have felt empowered with a wealth of knowledge; both Congenital Heart Disease itself and how to navigate life with a complex child. If you are in this situation currently, you need this podcast. Tom and Kat do an amazing job of asking the right questions to trigger the most genuine answers from these individuals who know CHD. They also do a great job of having professional voices and parent voices so the information you receive form the podcast is from all points.
We are so proud of the positive impact both our book and podcast are making on the CHD community. We frequently hear from our audience how much our content has encouraged and helped them, and changed the trajectory of their CHD experience to be a more positive and hopeful experience.
Aside from our book and podcast, our website tomandkathansen.com offers lots of free resources for CHD Parents to download. Our most popular free download is an Emergency Card Template that parents can fill out and hand to their child’s other caregivers to provide them with important medical information about their child should an emergency arise. You’ll even find a page of other great CHD resources we recommend to help parents their CHD journey.
You can find our book on Amazon or on a our website tomandkathansen.com. Our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other popular podcast platforms. Reach out to us @tomandkathansen on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
At Hope & Courage our mission is to equip, empower and encourage parents of children with Congenital Heart Disease. This is at the heart of our creative journey as well. We are always asking ourselves, “Does this solve a problem in the CHD community?” or “What value does this carry for parents of children with CHD?”. The creativity we use with the resources we provide must first stem from our passion to help others.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I highly recommend consuming all the content put out by Gary Vee. He is so passionate about making a highly positive impact in the entrepreneurial world. He has a passion for incorporating kindness into every aspect of business and his social media management advice is incredibly valuable. 
Contact Info:
- Website: tomandkathansen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomandkathansen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071393305529
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hope-courage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomandKatHansen
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tomandkathansen
- Our Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hope-and-courage-podcast-for-chd-parents/id1587641254
- Our Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1vzREjk1afX7M2P0Ix8sCo?si=b176bdff40db4254
Image Credits
Book Cover Illustrated by Lorie Miller Hansen