about rachel

BALLERINA

Professional ballerina turned entrepreneur, Rachel Hamrick, received her classical ballet training at the Kirov Academy and danced professionally for Dutch National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Universal Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. After a decade of dancing internationally, her career was disrupted by an emergency operation that left her spinal extension and mobility drastically reduced. In her pursuit to regain flexibility and re-sculpt her own form, she embarked on a mission to better understand anatomy, kinesiology, and its applications to dance-specific movements and overall functional health. With a Pilates, Yoga, and Strength Conditioning certification under her belt, she started working with clients of all ages and flexibility levels to help increase their range of motion, strength, and anatomical awareness.

INVENTOR & educator

Rachel is the inventor of the Flexistretcher®, which she created out of a personal need to help her own flexibility and strength while dancing professionally. After a decade of turning her design into a globally recognized brand she sold the company in July 2019. While the CEO of Flexistretcher®, Hamrick took the lead as the creative director overseeing brand design and vision through social media, ambassador and marketing initiatives. She also designed other products, packaging and clothing pieces that were all successfully welcomed into the market. She focused on brand community and was able to scale the company through grass roots initiatives and brand loyalty. Creating a brand that promotes researched based exercises focused on aligment, safety, injury prevention and end results was extremely important to Rachel and to her following. No longer involved with the company, she launched the HAMRICK METHOD and is continuing her work to provide an educated and effective conditioning program tailored to classical ballet technique. This program focuses on addressing common foundational issues and improving the required flexibility and strength in order to reach one’s maximum potential rather than always rehabilitating back from injury. She also has designed flexibility and strength training programs for non dancers and works with all ages and levels helping to improve overall mobility through curated tools and Hamrick's unique training style. 

Hamrick has been an educator in ballet, Pilates and personal training for a combination of 15 years and is a master teacher at the Dance Teacher Summit, Danza In Fiera, American Dance Competition and a judge for Youth America Grand Prix. Rachel has been featured in Dance Magazine about her journey from professional dancer to an innovative entrepreneur. She trains students, professional dancers, and athletes globally and has been on staff at STEPS on Broadway, Ballet Academy East, Greenwich Ballet Academy and The Kirov Academy of Ballet. Her on-demand cross training for dancers platform has gained attention world wide and she has conducted global Hamrick Method workshops and certified hundreds of teachers and educators in her methodology.

ENTREPRENeuR

Rachel is the Founder of Flexistretcher®, the Hamrick Method and Hamrick Creative. As CEO and Creative Director of Flexistretcher, Rachel designed fitness products and an atheisure wear collection of apparel handmade in NYC’s garment district. She has expanded her Hamrick Method into a subscription based platform offering training to all levels from anywhere in the world. Her newest business venture is a a digital boutique branding agency for artists and small business owners, Hamrick Creative. Through Hamrick Creative, Rachel is providing branding, website design, social media design & management, and coaching & consulting. Her goal is to help dancers turn themselves into personal brands to leverage and monetize their experience and passions beyond the stage as well as helping small businesses get off of the ground without excessive fees.

With over a decade of experience in the ever-evolving areas of Ecommerce, digital design, digital marketing, and social media, Rachel is excited to share her experience and knowledge with small business owners and entrepreneurs today.