EP 340: Teaching Autonomy, Growth Mindset, and Grit Before It’s Too Late

What makes Hannah Curtis with LifeTalk a good neighbor?

School teaches a lot, but it doesn’t teach everything. We sit down with Hannah Curtis, child and adolescent coach at LifeTalk, to explore the missing pieces—executive function, healthy conflict, self-awareness, and the practical tools kids need to navigate a noisy world with confidence. Hannah shares how LifeTalk blends clear structure with compassion to help ages five to twenty build a future-focused mindset, and why the best outcomes often come from pairing therapy with coaching rather than choosing one over the other.

Hannah’s signature “toolbox” approach turns big challenges into doable steps. From time management and planning to setting boundaries with friends, she shows how kids can practice small, repeatable habits that compound into resilience. We dig into the power of walk-and-talk sessions in nature, where movement lowers anxiety and opens conversation, and how this format helps teens rehearse scripts for tough talks, use breath to steady nerves, and leave with skills they can apply the same day. Along the way, Hannah talks about normal signs that coaching can help—procrastination, last-minute homework blowups, social friction—and breaks them down into trainable skills like task initiation, shifting attention, and self-monitoring.

We also unpack common myths: coaching isn’t just for kids in crisis, and it isn’t a replacement for therapy. It’s a practical, forward-looking partnership that teaches autonomy, grit, and growth mindset in real contexts. If you’re curious about simple tools that make a real difference—a fanny pack of strategies your kid can grab when life throws a curveball—you’ll find a lot to use here.

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To learn more about LifeTalk go to:
 🌐 https://www.lifetalk.info/

LifeTalk
📞 503-610-8303

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place

(00:02):
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a child andadolescent life coach?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Hannah Curtis, with Life Talk.
Hannah, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
I'm so good.
Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Yeah, pleasure to have you on.
Now we're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Can you start off by telling ourlisteners just a little bit
about your company?

SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Of course.
Yeah, so I started Life Talkabout a year ago, and it's child
and adolescent life coaching, asyou said, very rooted in life
skills and just executivefunction, helping kids kind of
fill the gaps in education,things they don't learn in
school these days that are soimportant in navigating our very
chaotic world.

SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Wow, that is very important, especially in this
day and time.
Now, Hannah, how did youoriginally get started in this
business?

SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Yeah, so it's kind of a long saga.
I'll shorten it up.
But um, I was actually on a walkwith my mom when I was like 12,
and I remember asking hersomething about like taxes or
insurance, something boring thatI was like, huh?
How do I navigate this?
She's like, and I asked when Iwould learn it in school, and
she was like, Oh, you kind ofdon't.
And I was like, wait, what?
You know, that was my problemsolve for the things that didn't

(01:20):
really make sense to me.
And I was a pretty good student.
And so figuring out like whatelse we didn't learn in school
has always been my passion.
And I just kind of always feltdrawn to like, what about all
the stuff that we don't learn,including relationships,
self-awareness?
You know, how do we find ourpassion and do that for work and
try to make money in that?
And, you know, healthy conflict.
There's a myriad of topics, butthat was really where it

(01:43):
started.
And I kind of just constantlyfelt drawn back to like, but
what about the things we don'tlearn?
So that was really the genesisof it.

SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
Wow, that's amazing.
Sounds like you're a reallysmart child.

SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
I think I was just really curious, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (02:02):
I asked Curiosity is always good.
Now, what is the most commonmyth or misconception you come
across in your industry on theday-to-day?

SPEAKER_00 (02:14):
So a lot of people ask me, you know, like what's
the perfect client for you?
And I think although I have alot of kiddos who are ADHD or,
you know, like they're just kindof struggling with these
executive function skills,that's perfect and awesome.
But I think in a preventativespace, any child can benefit
from this type of coaching,primarily because although, you

(02:34):
know, therapy is super importantas well.
And I always say I think thebest scenario is having a coach
and a therapist for any human atany time.
Um, but coaching is really likefuture focused.
And how do we see the thingsthat we struggle with and see
these barriers in the road andalong our journey, but like keep
going and building thoseresilient muscles and just like
navigating in problem solving.

(02:54):
I always say building our lifeskills toolbox is kind of my
specific niche, you know.
Like I tell them to picture afanny pack, you know, and I'm
like, I can't prevent the worldfrom throwing barriers in your
way.
But what I can give you aretools in your toolbox so you can
open that little fanny pack andpull out a tool that day and use
that, you know, so you're notcompletely just just stuck by

(03:15):
whatever conflict may come upthat day because you never
learned those skills, you know.
So I think that's yeah, that'sprimarily the main myth.
Everyone can build it.

SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Well, and every time we face a new obstacle, we gain
a new perspective and that opensa new door to life for us.
So it's all for the best at theend of the day.

SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
Yep.
And building our, you know,growth mindset, I think too, is
a huge part of it, our autonomy,all of those things.
Very, very, very big part of myframework.

SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
I could not agree more.
And where does your love ofhelping children come from for
you?

SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
Uh, I've just always loved babies and kids.
Like it's always been my thing.
I'm I I always tell my friends,like, I'm not the biggest animal
person, like I do love them.
But I would say, like, I'mwalking and I notice babies and
kids.
I'm like, oh my gosh, hi, I wantto talk to them and to hear
about their world.
And they're over there pettingdogs, you know.
I'm over there like, hi, howold's your kid?
So it's just, I think I'vealways had a love for like

(04:09):
helping kids grow and be theirbest selves.
And I think no matter your age,I work with ages five to 20.
Um, but no matter your age, youknow, there's always things in
pursuit of lifelong growth thatwe can learn and and build.
And I think that that's abeautiful pursuit.
So I just try to help them kindof, yeah, grow, grow that, grow
that muscle and build thattoolbox.

SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Most definitely.
And I really could talk aboutthat with you all day long, but
we only have a limited timetoday.
So let's switch gears.
Now we know marketing is theheart of every business.
Um, how do you currently attractyour target audience?

SPEAKER_00 (04:46):
So I'm basically just in a lot of networking
groups.
Um, and so I'm kind of, I wouldsay like with people and direct,
I need to, and I think the bestway is to really explain what
this um coaching looks like andhow I work with kids.
Cause it's, you know, in today'sworld, I think we know coaching
as executive coaching,relationship coaching, but I
think working with childrenspecifically is a little bit

(05:07):
more nuanced and a little bitnewer.
So I really like to explain thatand give them kind of the
details.
And that's really where I see alot of benefit and a lot of
referrals coming.
Um, so networking is huge.
And I also do coaching in twoformats, which I call life talk
and life walk.
So I have an office space that Iuse.
Um, and so we market a lot thereand do events.
And then I do life walks innature because we just need to

(05:30):
be outside more.
We're we're out of computers towatch.

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
I agree 100%.
Now, um, have you ever thoughtof having your own podcast?

SPEAKER_00 (05:41):
Yeah, I actually used to.
Um, I used to want to do apodcast called, I was gonna call
it gap school because the gapsof things we don't learn in
school.
And each episode was gonna belike a gap in education.
So that was kind of that waskind of the uh the it's still a
goal, I would say long term.
It just, you know, so manythings on our to-do list.

SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Most definitely.
And outside of work, what do youlike to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
Oh my gosh, so many things.
I love recently I've taken upbiking.
I'm a big biker now.
Um, and then I go to Pilates,like it's my job.
I love Pilates.
Um, just pretty much anythingoutside.
I have attempted to take upgolf, but it is a very
difficult, very difficult.
So we're all the different, Ihave my, you know, my my hands
in all these different fitnesspursuits, but we're we're
growing, you know, trying newthings, very important.

SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
Always.
Now, Hannah, please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about life talk.

SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
One thing they should remember.
I just think that, you know,there's so many life skills that
the education system doesn't notthat, you know, teachers are
doing the best they can with thetools they have, but I think
there's so much more of thesekind of more quote unquote soft
skills that we need to belearning that we just don't talk
about.
And I think even just bringingthe topic up of like, you know,

(06:53):
how do you navigaterelationships?
What do you think about withyour friends?
And are you hanging out with theright people?
Or, you know, how can we have aconversation that's a little bit
more of a harder one in healthyconflict?
Like having that topic evenbrought up is so beneficial to
young people today.
Um, and they're so much moreresilient than I think we give
them credit for.
So I feel like that's a reallybig takeaway that I like to

(07:14):
reinforce.

SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
Well, I sincerely could not agree with you more,
especially when it comes toeducation and the importance of
it and for our futuregenerations.
So, Hannah, what our listenersreally want to know today is
where can they go to learn moreabout life talk?

SPEAKER_00 (07:33):
Great question.
So, my website is lifetalk.info,and then I have all of my
socials linked on there as well.
But I'm on Instagram, it's atLifeTalk Life Coaching.
So double life, don't forget.
And then um, that's alsoFacebook, TikTok, and um
LinkedIn as well.

SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
Well, Hannah, I really appreciate you being on
the show today, and we wish youand your business the best
moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 (08:00):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnpfrisco.com.
That's gnpfrisco.com or callfour six nine two two one nine
three four five.

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