Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Originally sent and edited from an email sent to clients on May 1st, 2026.

Hello In Touch Massage community! Today the tradition of reintroducing myself to you on my birthday continues. As always a huge thank you to all of you and for your support of In Touch Massage. Whether we met for the first time this year, or our sessions are 10+ years in the making, I truly appreciate each and every one of you who keeps trusting me with your care. Thanks for another great trip around the sun, and here’s to the next one!

Ellie Gonzalez, CMT

CAMTC# 37024

My name is Ellie Gonzalez and I am a Certified Massage Therapist. That might be all you know about me so far, but here is how I got to where I am today, and where I am going.

I was born and raised right here in Los Angeles, CA, eldest daughter of two to two amazing parents who are still around and together today (if you ever hear me talk about “childcare” it’s likely grandma or grandpa helping out). It was from my mother that I got my love of touch, as she was a massage therapist herself as I was growing up. At the age of seven she began teaching me the art of massage, as she says so that I could work on her when needed, and from that time on I was hooked. I’ve passed that practice on to my own littles, as I raise two little girls with my husband, and teach them the ways of touch. An appreciation of the human body was something that started young for me, and I hope to share that appreciation with you through my work.

Practicing on a balance beam

When I was less than a year old, while attending the toddlers gym classes my mom was teaching at the time, I was scouted by a coach who saw potential in my movements and I began my time as a gymnast. My personal coach Vici trained me at Gymnastics Olympica, where I joined the gym team and reached level 8. I loved doing gymnastics, I adored being a gymnast, but unfortunately some time around 8 years old I began feeling the “twisties” –thank you Simone Biles for finally giving me the words for what I felt all those years ago– and left gymnastics. My movement education continued though, as my mother was also a professional dancer who insisted her children were immersed in the art form she got her BA at UCLA for. Add to that I was your typical, adorable, LA child who also enjoyed the performing arts, from there I remained a dancer through the various school and extra-curricular variety shows, dance concerts, and musical theatre productions. Every summer I was in an arts program, and from high school through college I was trained at Hollywood High School, New York University - Tisch School of the Arts, and University of California, Los Angeles, - Ray Bolger Musical Theatre Program. Studied in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and musical theatre dance, and exposed to world dances and styles such as salsa, Irish step-dance, and capoeira, I keep the moniker of dancer now, even if I don't do it that often. Physical movement taught with grace, through musicality and set with discipline is how I made it through to my early early-twenties. And then I graduated, and I went off to be a star.

In a production of Mary Poppins

At National Holistic Institute

Thing is, I have never had the patience to be a waiter, so as I set off to join the world of auditioning artists I took up the career passed on to me back when I was 7. I returned to classes at the National Holistic Institute School of Massage in Studio City, and earned an education as a massage therapist and health educator. Graduating and receiving my certification from the California Massage Therapy Council in 2012, I began this business, In Touch Massage, as my side hustle. While pursuing performance opportunities I supplemented my art by getting my 10,000 hours in at several common massage therapy sites. I’ve worked in a chiropractic office providing pre-adjustment soft tissue manipulation, at a wellness center practicing the specific technique created by the physical therapist who ran it, and at a boutique spa alongside estheticians and the Pilates studio up front just to name a few. I got the most from my time with companies like Soothe and Zeel, which connect therapist and client in an on-demand fashion, and really honed in my mobile setup along with navigating the tips and tricks of mobile practice. And now, running In Touch Massage sits as my primary job position. A transition several years in the making pushed by a global pandemic and a goal for something greater.

2020 gave us all a little time to think about our lives and how they would move forward, and after it became clear massages would be back on the table, I realized that my priorities had shifted and it was time to go big or go home. While I loved my time as a Tour Guide and occasional character performer (Whoville, Wizarding World of Harry Potter) at Universal Studios Hollywood, it was time to focus on something I had much greater control over, and that was this business. So in the years after lock-down restrictions were lifted I switched focus and began truly investing my time and energy into In Touch Massage. But more than that, after my second child I realized that I wanted to build something more, and in doing so uplift my community. It was then I visualized the next step of the business and envisioned opening In Touch Wellness.

In Touch Wellness will be a brick and mortar business built to primarily service my hometown of Inglewood, CA, and secondarily provide amenities to entertainment tourists drawn to the community by the Hollywood Park Entertainment venues (SoFi Stadium, Kia Forum, Youtube Theatre, etc). A place to book a therapeutic, relaxing, and reparative massage, receive instruction on intentional movement through both Pilates and targeted stretch & strengthening classes, and meet with a registered dietician to understand and implement healthier eating habits. Originally the idea was to hire a physical therapist (PT) that would be able to oversee the care of clients who would seek out any or all of these services for a holistic approach to their health, and then realized: I could be that PT. So in 2023 I left Universal entirely, focused my career on the business, and returned to school full time to earn the credits required to become a PT. Returning first to earn a BS in Kinesiology (the study of physical activity) and complete required courses like Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Anatomy, & Physiology, my goal is to complete my Doctorate of Physical Therapy by 2030. I’m at the end of my 3rd year back with this semester ending mid-May, and I am already looking forward to Fall 2026 classes. Every class has brought me greater understanding of the human body, and I look forward to using much of this knowledge to add a personal trainer certification into the mix soon. I also hope those who’ve been with me for a while have been able to see the increased insight on the table. This includes the continuing education I’ve been receiving outside of the college classroom.

A new technique that some have begun noticing and asking about has been the SMRT work I’ve added into our session. SMRT (spontaneous muscle release technique, pronounced “smart”) is a positional release technique that seeks to interact directly with the nervous system. Addressing specific muscles, joints, and bones, the work of SMRT is putting the body in a certain position following the ease of movement and then just sitting there for 45 sec - 1 min. A little different from my typical Swedish style massage full of effleurage (long continuous movement over skin), petrissage (lifting, squeezing, & rolling of soft-tissue), rocking, and poking, SMRT requires I find a position that triggers your nervous system in such a way that only after holding the position for a minute will the muscles respond. All with the goal of calming the nervous system enough to let go of the muscular system and release whatever unnecessary tension it may be holding. There is A LOT to learn about this technique, so much so that it is taught in four segments, of which I’ve attended two: ‘Hand & Arm / Head & Neck’ and ‘Hips, Lower Back & Abdomen’. I will be attending the final two of the basic sessions, ‘Lower Extremities’ and ‘Shoulder, Axilla, Ribcage, & Upper Back’ when they become available, but the great thing is that once you’ve got an understanding of the methodology of the technique you can start playing with how it works across any of the muscles and joints of the body. And heads up, the abdomen work is phenomenal, so if you are interested in receiving abdomen (stomach) work, please let me know! If I’m working on you and seem to stop and sit in a position for a moment, just know I’m finding the calm and if you breathe into it you’ll find it too.

So, that’s me. At least up to this point. As I embark on another year as your Certified Massage Therapist I look back to how I got here. To those of you who have been with me 10+ years, THANK YOU! To those who have had one session and are looking to book your next, THANK YOU! To my weekly, monthly and just on birthday clients, THANK YOU. Your bodies have helped hone my skills, and your trust has honored me. I look forward to another year of fixing the crick in your neck, to thawing that frozen shoulder, to being part of your maintenance routine, and to being a part of your care. Self-care is health-care and I thank you for giving me the chance to help you get back in touch with your body through massage.