"I’m so far ahead of the curve, I made the curve," Sue Hitzmann said as I asked her about trends in the fitness space and how she carved out a niche where none existed. And if you listen closely enough on this week's episode of #WeGotGoals, you can hear me reflexively snap my fingers at the sound of that unadulterated swagger.

That confidence grew from a few factors that Hitzmann talks through - paving her own path, spreading the knowledge she'd earned, and learning to listen to and hone her gut.

And if you're not familiar with the method she created yet, you will be soon. The MELT Method® is Hitzmann's brain child. It's a simple self-treatment designed to help you and your muscles stay healthy, youthful, and active for a lifetime. At its core, it can be termed a recovery method, one of the top trends we saw going into 2019, but you'll hear from Hitzmann, there's more to it than that.

Carving her own unique path

As a Freshman at NYU, Hitzmann started her college education focused on TV and Film, but kept coming back to the field of science - "as a hobby." When she couldn't deny her love of human anatomy any longer, she changed majors and pursued a degree in Exercise Science - Anatomy and Physiology.

But before NYU, there was one fateful day when Hitzmann just happened to be at the gym when an aerobics instructor didn't show up. A 16-year-old Hitzmann - a regular in that class - helmed the class herself and was soon a certified instructor, teaching sold out classes like Jazzercize. Because she paid attention to where she felt the happiest, she started on a journey that would inevitably lead her to The MELT Method.

Sharing the secret sauce

Hitzmann dove deep, learning everything she could about the muscular system and diving deep into fascia - a word you'll hear throughout the episode. And #ICYMI, fascia is the connective tissue that - well, connects everything. Your muscles, your organs - everything. And it's just starting to get the attention that Hitzmann has always thought it truly deserves.

"When I wanted to talk about fascia, I realized that my language wasn’t resonating with people," she remembered. "I so desperately wanted to get that message out there."

She found other ways and words to get that message out there, starting by working hands on with clients at her private practice Body Language NYC. And as clients sought ways to get the same treatment from Hitzmann when they weren't in-clinic, she started to innovate and give a few clients the tools to DIY MELT.

From those few clients, it turned into a manual. From that manual it became a New York Times Best Selling book The Melt Method. From that book, Hitzmann found the stage to get in front of thousands of fitness and wellness professionals that she'd train in The Melt Method.

Learning to listen to and hone her gut

You'll hear Hitzmann speak about intuition and energy throughout the episode. And when I pressed her about times when she'd failed to listen to her intuition, she said that when she ignored her gut, she ultimately failed.

And it's not lost on me that "energy" and "intuition" lean heavily on the idea that things are more connected than they may seem. It seems completely fitting for Hitzmann. The part of the body she's spent her life devoted to is fascia - the tissue that shows that very same thing in the body - everything is just a little bit more connected than it seems.

Ready to melt into this great podcast? All season, you’ve heard from guests who have done big things related to building community, making the world a better place, getting better, stronger, and faster, and giving generously. If you love it as much as we do, subscribe to the #WeGotGoals podcast wherever you like to listen to them, on Apple, Spotify, and more.