About

Crystal Hanson, founder and HR practitioner, brings nearly 20 years of professional HR experience, including prior roles at 3M and IBM.

Crystal obtained a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Throughout her vast corporate experience, she handled day-to-day employee and labor relations, supported the goals of her respective organizations, designed, negotiated, and implemented HR policies, facilitated training for managers & supervisors, led hiring processes, managed employee engagement surveys, and strategically promoted long-term company branding and recruitment efforts.

In 2016, she launched South Creek HR to provide HR services and solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. Since that launch, she has helped her clients achieve actionable growth by giving them the time that they need to focus on what’s most important – growing their business. Through South Creek, Crystal has assisted her clients with setting up HR processes, conducting HR audits, designing policies, partnering with managers to solve personnel challenges, building effective and cohesive teams, handling objective investigations, and providing HR advice and counsel to business owners and leaders.  

In 2022, she became certified as an Executive Coach to follow her passion for developing current and aspiring leaders.  She now coaches individuals, as well as entire teams, on solving their unique leadership challenges and continues to support them through implementation.

Her work has primarily been in the industries of agriculture, pork production, and manufacturing. Today, Crystal lives with her husband and their 3 kids on a farm just outside of Fairmont, MN, where they are involved with pork production, custom manure applications, and crop production. 

Not only does she coach leaders as a profession, but she’s also a coach on the Fairmont High School’s Track & Field program in the Spring and runs an elementary cross country program in the Fall.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, being at the lake, camping, jogging and really about anything that involves the outdoors. 

Crystal Hanson

Founder & HR Practitioner