‘Keep Freaking Going’ is on Amazons best seller list

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

When facing that proverbial crossroad in life people are presented with a choice, shutdown and give up, or just Keep Freaking Going. With bullets raining down over the heads of the thousands of people who attended a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017, Ryan chose the latter road and kept running to find shelter. The Keep Freaking Going mantra has stuck with her through the years and provided the inspiration to her new best seller book by the same “Keep Freaking Going” name. 

While Ryan may live in Byron, Minn., she is no stranger to the Henning area as her grandfather is Lloyd Amundson and she has spent countless hours at his home on West Leaf Lake through the years.

“It’s always fun to go and visit my grandfather, because I am always running into people there,” she said. 

Ryan’s life took a dramatic turn in 2017 when she attended the Route 91 Music Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.

“We went there and were involved in the mass shooting,” said Ryan. “I hate to say it, but it still stands as America’s largest mass shooting.” 

During the chaos of the shooting and as a barrage of bullets rained down on those in attendance, Ryan lost track of her husband and was faced with a decision, just give up or keep going to shelter. She said during her time seeking shelter all she could think about was Keep Freaking Going (KFG for short), a mantra that has essentially transformed her life and provided the basis for her new book.

When she returned home to Minnesota, Ryan said many people were unsure how to talk with Ryan about the events she saw in Las Vegas, after all, a mass shooting are not something most people will ever encounter in their lifetime. 

“The common question was oh my gosh Krista that was such a crazy event. What were you thinking, what was going through your head that night,” she said. “KFG I was just running for my life.”

Already a workplace performance coach, Ryan said she spent the better-part of two years doing a deep dive into her life and things she needed to focus on to just KFG herself. 

In 2019, one of the organizations that was supporting her asked her to speak at a convention about being a workplace coach and share her experience of surviving the music festival mass shooting. As part of the speaking event, Ryan shared her new mantra of KFG and how focusing on moving forward has impacted her life. 

“I said sure, no problem, without even thinking about it. Little did I know I was the main keynote speaker,” she said. “I had never spoken about it before (the mass shooting in front of a crowd). I got on stage and shared my story and it was in that moment I said this was impactful.”

After that initial speaking engagement, Ryan shared her story with a number of other organizations about just keep freaking going and was asked several times whether she had a book or document people could take with them back to their company.

“For the better-part of three years my answer was no. I was on stage, take your notes and that’s what I got,” said Ryan with a laugh. “Finally I got things written down and fast forward three years and KFG is taking off.”

Ryan’s book “Keep Freaking Going” was officially released on September 10 and is already a best seller on Amazon. Ryan said there are only 18 books left on Amazon as the publisher is planning a second running of the book. The book is available nationwide both online and in book stores.

“Never ever, ever in my wildest dreams did I think, or want to be an author. It was not on my life resume, it just sort of happened,” she said. “It completely happened by accident and honestly it is just so bizarre how the world works.”

While the book release was a celebratory event, Ryan is facing yet another life challenge that is testing her own KFG mentality. In May, Ryan was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer and her first chemo treatment was on the same day that her book was released to the public. She said the books message reigns true for her new cancer journey as she just keeps freaking going with all of the challenges she and others face in life.