Today, at 42, she is north west regional boss at surveyors CB Richard Ellis, controlling a turnover measured in millions and around 100 staff - one of perhaps only half a dozen women to reach the very top of the UK surveying profession. Hanson was appointed to run the north west operation last year, with the firm was recovering from one merger and facing another. It was a testing time.
"There's no doubt that being female in a northern property environment can sometimes be difficult. But that's not as true as it once was - there's a change in the profession going on," she says. "I think I've become stronger than I was. After the last year things I might have worried about then don't worry me so much now."
Born in Halifax, and still living on the wrong side of the Pennines at Rishworth, Hanson spends her spare time as far from the stuffy confines of office as she can. She loves horse-riding and used to make frequent appearances on the eventing scene. She enjoys skiing and walking.
"I love to be active, but age is beginning to catch up with me. Even so, I can't ever see myself wanting to take up knitting," jokes Hanson. "I never thought of myself as a career-driven person.
"But I do like a challenge. If I'd had children I don't think I could have done what I've done."
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