At one time Cali Hanson Black (BS ’14) thought she would teach in a sixth-grade classroom her whole career: she
loved it, and her students were thriving.
But life—or, more precisely, God—had another path for this McKay School graduate, one that involves teaching thousands of online “students,” followers of her online account, Come Follow Me Study and users of its affiliated work and study materials. This type of teaching is not what Black expected. But it’s what she feels called—and qualified—to do.
“I felt He was telling me, ‘You’re doing great, but there’s something else,’” Black said. “And the more I do this, the more I realize this is it. There’s such peace that comes from pure doctrine that if I could get everyone reading their scriptures with real intent, even for one minute a day, that would be amazing!”
The oldest of three daughters of Jay and Cami Hanson, Black grew up in Morgan Hill, California, near San Jose. Her parents “had me kind of try everything,” she said. Over time, Black focused on piano; singing with her sisters, Macy and Maddie; and joining performing groups.
“I had such agency,” she said. “My parents really trusted me to lean into what I wanted, consider the options prayerfully, and move forward with confidence.” While a student at Sobrato High School, Black caught the teaching bug early. “I started teaching piano lessons out of my home,” she said. “It was my first time teaching anything. I was like, ‘I love this. This is great. This is awesome.’”
As an incoming freshman at BYU, Black applied for the music education program, but she was not accepted. “I was bummed, but I also thought, ‘Okay, that means there’s something else; there’s another way,’” she said.
Black considered other education majors, eventually choosing elementary education over secondary math so that she could “teach all the subjects and have more of an impact with younger kids.”Once in her major, Black realized she had to shed misconceptions she carried. She came from a family filled with educators, including her maternal grandparents, her paternal grandfather, and more. Watching them, she assumed that being a good teacher was natural, a talent and not a skill.
“It blew my mind to find out there were techniques, and research, and people spending their entire lives figuring out how to teach effectively,” she said. “We know how to be better teachers. We know how to reach kids that aren’t connecting with the material. We know how to make a lesson more approachable. I felt I was unlocking the secrets of what it means to be a good teacher for every student.”
Black fed her love of music at BYU, singing in the Women’s Chorus until she started practicum and student teaching in Santaquin, Utah, 22 miles south of Provo. “My first lesson as a first-grade practicum teacher was about how to blend different consonants with R,” she said. “I’d felt very well prepared, but suddenly I was like, ‘How do you actually teach this to first graders?’”
That experience was surprisingly formative, Black said. She spent hours planning, including making her own worksheets.
“I ended up making my own stuff all the time, which has led to what I do now, where if I need something or I think other people need it, I just make it happen,” she said. “I thought, ‘I know this will get easier. I know I will do this so many times that I will become more of a natural at it, but I’m going to have to really work at it right now.’”
At BYU, Black met and married her husband, Kyle Black (BS ’13). Two weeks after her student teaching ended, they moved to Arizona for Kyle to start physical therapy school. Cali Black had missed the window for hiring in Arizona’s year-round school system, so she did long-term substitute teaching before landing a job at a fifth- and sixth-grade school in Queen Creek, Arizona. In three years, Black became team lead for sixth-grade language arts and helped the school transition to a full middle school. She relished it all, from planning to professional development.
“I loved it,” she said. “I’m amazed by how much people know. I remember going to a two-day conference about grading. I went in like, ‘We’ll see how this goes.’ I came out all gung-ho, like, ‘We need to redefine how we’re grading!’”
In 2017 Black gave birth to a daughter, completed maternity leave, and returned to her classroom. But an unexpected inspiration weighed on her heart.“I just felt one of the strongest promptings to resign, and it broke my heart, because I know I’m a good teacher,” she said. “I loved what I did so much.”
Despite feeling peace about her decision, Black did not want to waste her skills. She prayed for guidance in how she could still use her teaching experience for good outside of a traditional classroom.
“And I just felt anticipation,” Black said. “The Lord was like, ‘There is something really good coming.’ I was just so excited to figure out what that is.”
Black resigned in spring 2018. That October leaders at the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced dramatic changes, including a two-hour Sunday meeting block and, most significantly for Black’s future, the Come Follow Me program.
“I felt this pull towards it: it’s a curriculum, it’s standards. Here’s your scope and sequence for the year,” Black said. “I was like, ‘Yes! I’m all in.’ I read through the whole thing and figured out how it worked.”
Black found herself answering questions from people who hadn’t taken the same deep dive she did. She was serving in the Young Women program, and she decided to provide Come Follow Me insights on social media to uplift girls in her ward.
“I thought, maybe my Laurels will get something out of it, and maybe some friends and family will follow along,” she said.
Her account was a hit, and its success changed how Black thought about her efforts. As she considered the implications of growing her Come Follow Me Study audience, Black was struck by Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28: “Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good, they shall in nowise lose their reward.”
“I felt the Lord was like, ‘Cali, I am not going to tell you to grow this account, but do you want to? Would it bring goodness into the world? Would it bring to pass much righteousness?’’’ she said. “And I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to choose to do this. I’m going to own it.’”
Within about two months of that decision, Black’s account had 5,000 followers; by that summer, more than 40,000. She realized she had to set boundaries, focusing on scriptural education and illuminating each Come Follow Me lesson and leaving spiritual advisement to her followers’ families, teachers, and bishops.
“I would think, ‘Okay, where do I start to explain what the book of 1 Peter is to someone who has no conceptual knowledge?’” she said. “First, I need to remind them who Peter is, so I’m giving them that scaffolding, using all these strategies I learned at BYU.”
This led to what Black calls her “simplistic, but not watered down” approach, shaped by both “short and sweet” social media videos and by her education and years in a classroom.
“I can teach the scriptures in a way that makes them accessible,” she said. “That was a lightbulb moment, realizing this is needed. People want to understand the scriptures. People feel they should know the scriptures, but they maybe don’t actually know them very well.
“It was my sixth-grade-teacher moment, where I’m “bringing everyone from ‘elementary’ understanding, where they may not know things they wish they knew, to a ‘secondary’ understanding, helping them feel confident and like they can focus on what matters most.”
That humble approach, with research-backed teaching methods, vaulted Black to greater success: today her Instagram account, @comefollowmestudy, has about 115,000 followers, and she offers books and study guides, a podcast, and online courses on teaching children, teenagers, and adults. And she still answers her DMs!
Black is happy her work helps people, but she also exhorts people to take their learning into their own hands.
“I hope everyone believes that they don’t need me,” she said, laughing. “You don’t need anything other than that willing heart when you open the scriptures. I am just trying to add to your comprehension, add to your revelation, add to the context to give you the chance to have more insights and empower you to be in the scriptures to get the answers you need.
“There’s not some secret I know that I’m unlocking for people. I’m just here to help them along their journey.”