ABOUT ME
Hi, I’m Emma, a personal trainer and group fitness coach based in Chicago. My training style is grounded in body neutrality and disability justice, and a commitment to creating queer and trans-affirming fitness spaces. As your trainer, I’ll meet you where you’re at and (gently) push you to meet your goals, blending accessibility with intensity.
My Background: Movement has been part of my life for as long as I can remember—from playing soccer growing up, to weightlifting in high school, to taking up running and martial arts as an adult. Especially as a queer and nonbinary person navigating goofy stereotypes and gender norms, I’m grateful for the ways movement has helped me feel grounded in and connected to my body (and to others!)
On the flip side—thanks to all the contact sports—I also have significant experience with getting injured, including several concussions in high school, an ACL tear in college, and an achilles tendon rupture in my mid-twenties. These experiences, and the hours spent in physical therapy, sparked my interest in helping others prevent and recover from setbacks. I began my fitness career as a rehab aide in a physical therapy clinic, and soon realized how much I loved helping people retrain physically and mentally. That led me to earn my NASM Personal Trainer certification and apprentice at Han Training.
In 2022, three successive COVID-19 infections forced me to rethink my relationship with exercise. Months away from my usual routines challenged me to prioritize long-term health over short-term milestones, and to integrate lessons from disability justice advocates into my work. I learned firsthand the importance of balancing fitness goals with more holistic ideas of what health looks and feels like.
All of these experiences inform my approach to training clients. I believe there’s no one way to feel in your body, or to build a movement practice, but there are fundamental skills and approaches across types of exercise that we can incorporate as we figure out what works for us.