Catching up with a Sonoma Valley High Grad: Ellen Angeloni

Only five years out, Sonoma Valley High School graduate Ellen Angeloni sets an example for younger students on using internships to lay a path to early career success.

Angeloni grew up playing competitive league soccer and made many friends through sports. She attended Presentation School for nine years and graduated from Sonoma Valley High in 2014.

After high school, Angeloni attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she joined a sorority her freshman year, Kappa Alpha Theta, as well as some soccer intramural teams.

“I became very involved on campus early on, which I later realized was a smart move,” Angeloni said.

Over the next four years, Angeloni also took on gigs as a “brand ambassador” for four different companies – Muscle Milk, Alter Ego apparel, Berri Pro beverages and Iconic protein powder. In these roles, she use social media and special events to raise awareness of the products among their target demographic.

Angeloni said her early engagement in college and a series of internships helped her become the fitness guru she is today. “Throughout my years at Boulder I stayed busy with school, community service and balancing a couple of jobs,” Angeloni said.

Her junior year, she started interning for sport psychologist Stephen Walker, where she was able to work with some of his clients and learn the basics of sport psychology.

Angeloni and Walker have since teamed up together to develop an online program which just recently launched, Podium Performance Academy. The company specializes in consultation and training preparation for high-performing college athletes.

Angeloni spent her entire senior year studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, where she continued to broaden her horizons.

“I spent nine months learning Italian, studying psychology and nutrition, as well as traveling every chance I could,” Angeloni said. “It was a life-changing experience. Hardly anyone spoke English in Perugia, so I truly was immersed into the Italian culture and learned about my family history.”

Angeloni recommends studying abroad as a way for students to get out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves. Angeloni holds dual citizenship from both Italy and the United States.

Angeloni graduated from Boulder with a degree in psychology and a minor in leadership. After graduation she started working as a strength and conditioning coach at Ethos gym in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

“After my internship ended, they hired me as a strength and conditioning coach where I currently coach team training classes, as well as group strength classes,” she said.

She was also hired as an Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) fitness instructor at FitTec in Boulder.

“There I train clients while they are connected to a machine while wearing an EMS suit,” she said.

Angeloni took on a third job last fall, working as a fitness instructor for a gym in Superior, Colorado. There, she instructs high-intensity group training classes, demonstrates exercises for the group and provides exercise consultations.

Angeloni’s goal is to become a sports psychologist with an emphasis on women’s health. “I will have to return to grad school for that,” she said. “But right now I’m trying to get as much work experience under my belt as possible and continue to work hard.”

For high school students in 2019, Angeloni has one message of advice: Get involved.

“I think putting yourself out there right out of high school (in terms of clubs or internships) will lead you to success,” she said. “Not only because it pushes you to learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, but also because it teaches you to take initiative.”