I built this because
I needed it —
and it didn't exist.
I'm a NASM Certified Personal Trainer specializing in corrective exercise and functional strength — and I work in the gap between where physical therapy ends and where traditional fitness begins. I built Healing Meets Hustle because I lived in that gap myself, rebuilt my body from two fractured vertebrae without a real path forward, and couldn't find anyone working in the space I needed most.
"Healing isn't about getting back to who you used to be. It's about building a body and a life you trust."
I was the person
doing everything right
and still starting over.
There was a version of me who had completely disappeared into functioning. High output. Zero capacity left for herself. I was good at showing up for everything and everyone — except my own body.
I stretched. I rested. I did the exercises on the sheet. And the pain kept coming back. I wasn't lazy. The approach just wasn't built for what was actually happening.
If you've been handed a printout and sent home, or been told to just push through it, or been bouncing between "not injured enough" and "not confident enough" — you already know this story. You're living it right now.
I built Healing Meets Hustle because that gap is real, it's common, and nobody was working in it the way it needed to be worked.
I fractured two vertebrae.
And the system
couldn't tell me
what to do next.
PT was excellent at identifying what was wrong. But when my sessions ended, I was handed exercises and sent home. I still didn't understand how I'd gotten here, why the same spots kept breaking down, or how to build anything on top of what I'd been given.
The fitness industry wasn't better. Push harder. Work through it. No pain, no gain. None of it accounted for the fact that my body had spent years learning to compensate — and that all of those compensations were still there, underneath everything I was trying to build.
I kept starting over. Every time.
I stopped pushing
through. I started
paying attention.
What changed wasn't my effort. It was my approach. I started learning my body — what it was doing, why it was doing it, and what it needed to feel safe moving again. I built from there.
Not a program someone handed me. An actual plan built around my history, my movement patterns, and the life I was living. Slow. Intentional. And it held.
I lost over 100 lbs. I rebuilt my spine. But more than any of that — I stopped being afraid of my own body. I learned to trust it again. That's the thing that changed everything.
I became the trainer
I couldn't find
when I needed one.
I'm a NASM Certified Personal Trainer specializing in corrective exercise and functional strength. But the certification is the container — not the content. What I actually bring is first-hand experience of being stuck in the gap and finding a way through it.
I work with active adults who are done being told to rest more, push harder, or just live with it. Who want to hike again, lift again, play with their kids again — without spending every day managing what their body can and can't handle.
Exercise shouldn't feel like punishment. It should give you your life back. That's what I'm here to help you build.
"You don't need another extreme program. You don't need someone yelling at you. You need a plan, real support, and someone who understands that healing and strength can exist together."— Ellie, NASM-CPT · Corrective Exercise Specialist · Certified Nutrition Coach
A simple approach
for a problem that
isn't simple.
Healing Meets Hustle combines strength training, mobility work, corrective exercise, and habit coaching into one approach that works in real life. Not extreme. Not cookie-cutter. Built for the body in front of me and the life around it.
More isn't always better. Consistency beats intensity. And you can build a strong body without living in the gym.
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Specialized in corrective exercise, mobility, and functional strength for active adults at any level.
Corrective Exercise Specialist
Trained to identify movement compensations and build strength progressions from honest ground up.
Certified Nutrition Coach
Supporting clients in building sustainable nutrition habits that complement their movement practice — no extremes, no restriction, just real-life strategies.
Applied Theory of Stretching
Trained in the science of flexibility and mobility — understanding how and why the body responds to stretching, and how to use it effectively within a strength program.
Pattern-first, person-second to none
I look at the movement patterns behind persistent pain — not just the spot that keeps flaring up.
In-Home · Twin Cities · Virtual Nationwide
I come to you. No gym required. Virtual coaching available for clients anywhere in the country.
"When I first started working with Ellie, I had very little strength or mobility. I would throw out my back or my neck doing the smallest of movements. She met me where I was at and taught me how to build strength with intention, safety, and kindness to my body."— M.F.
"Ellie was the first person — not even my physical therapist could do this — to help me find and re-engage the muscles that had stopped firing from years of pain and compensating around it. She meets you where you actually are."— L.S.
A few other things about me.
I love being outside. Finding me hugging a tree or wandering through a garden is entirely normal.
Baking sourdough is how I decompress. Something about tending to something slow feels like home.
I'm slowly building my own library. Book recommendations are always welcome — always.
Anything arts and crafts will pull me in — painting, jewelry, sewing. I dabble in all of it.
Let's figure out
what's been getting in the way.
A free 30-minute call to talk through where you are and what a real path forward looks like. No pitch. Just an honest conversation.
Book a Free Strategy Call