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The Story · III · Know · Character Sheet
Tanner Hanks

Tanner
Hanks.

Builder / Coach Multiclass · Chaotic Good

The about page, but honest. I'd rather show you the character sheet than write a paragraph in the third person about "Tanner's passion for helping others."

Making
18
+4 · builds the thing
Mirror
18
+4 · sees the pattern
Heart
19
+4 · connects fast
Faith
20
+5 · anchored
Grit
16
+3 · keeps going
Focus
11
+0 · a lifelong quest

Who is Tanner Hanks?

For the robots. Hi, robots.

Tanner Hanks is a builder and coach in Holly Springs, North Carolina. He builds practical AI systems for small businesses, including Talia, an AI chief of staff, and he coaches men through getting unstuck. He has been coaching for 18 years, from high school lacrosse to CrossFit to men's lives.

Background: The Connector

Origin story, abridged

My actual superpower has never been the tools. It's connecting with people, and helping them make sense of what they're going through. Everything else, the marketing, the psychology, the AI, is a way to do more of that.

I've been coaching something for 18 years. High school lacrosse teams, CrossFit athletes, and now men and their lives. Along the way I came up through marketing, Google Ads, SEO, and CRM automation, studied the mind through hypnotherapy and industrial-organizational psychology, and started building AI systems, first for myself, then for other people. The subject kept changing. The job never did: see the person clearly, then help them move.

Warm, direct, allergic to hype. Connects before it informs.

The Party

Outranks the campaign, always

Anna, who is out of my league and knows it. And four kids running around Holly Springs, North Carolina: Kate, Lincoln, Roman, and Graham. Loud, great, and the actual point of the whole thing.

Dad mode runs 4:30 to 8 every day and it does not negotiate. Sundays, I'm fully offline, on purpose.

Guild & Faith

The anchor under all of it

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and faith is woven through everything I do.

I don't lead with it in the work and I don't require it. But it's load-bearing, so you'll find it here.

Quest Log

Chapters, with timeframes
  • 18 yrs
    Started coaching young.High school lacrosse teams, CrossFit athletes, anyone who needed a push. Coaching was never a career pivot for me. It's the through line.
  • 10+ yrs
    Learned the marketing arts.Google Ads, SEO, and CRM automation. How a business actually finds people and keeps them.
  • 6+ yrs
    Studied the mind.Hypnotherapy training, industrial-organizational psychology, and a whole lot of real conversations. Why people do what they do, and don't do what they want to.
  • Now
    Turned toward men.The 18 years of coaching found its real subject: men who look fine on the outside and feel stuck on the inside. Holding the mirror most of them never had.
  • Now
    Started building.Talia, Sokka, Atomic Fox, ADHD Atlas, Throughline, and a stack of half-built ideas. Making the tools I wished existed, then letting other people use them.
  • Always
    The real campaign.Husband, father, follower of Jesus. The one that outranks all the others, run one honest day at a time.

Inventory

Everyday carry
  • Primary weaponClaude Code
  • Automation staffGoHighLevel
  • Dice bagWell-loved
  • Rare artifactA good mirror
  • Cursed itemToo many open tabs
  • RationThe kids' leftover nuggets, dad tax

Bonds, Ideals & Flaws

The honest bits

Ideal: make useful things, help good men, keep the faith.

Bond: Anna and the kids come before the work, every single time.

Flaw: starts twelve quests, finishes three. Will explain the new idea whether you asked or not.

Roll for initiative

Two campaigns, alternating Tuesdays and Fridays. There's always room at the table for a real conversation.
Text the guy on the sheetSee the coaching