We were lucky to catch up with Elena Brandner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Elena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
February 7th, 2022 everything changed in the blink of an eye. I had recently graduated from the University of Florida’s Pharmacy program with a doctorate in pharmacy in May, 20021. Upon graduation I decided to take some time off before diving into the career. I was a bartender in my hometown at a local bar called Tayton O’Brians where I worked for a steady 5 years, serving over 200 craft beers, mixing your favorite cocktail and you guessed it, I was the bartender that sang karaoke, mic in hand as she served her customers! I loved that job, I loved being on my feet from morning to night, I loved meeting new people everyday and hearing different stories; I wanted to sit in this space for a little, and soak it in. Eventually I buckled down In November that year to start studying for my scheduled board exam in February, 2022. Everyday I would wake up, go to the gym, go to the coffee shop, study 6 to 8 hours and walk across the street to work all night at the bar. Alongside my work environment, the gym and bodybuilding has been a staple in my life ever since I first picked a weight up in 7th grade. As an athlete, I grew up playing sports, giving the boys a run for their money, always in the gym, lifting weights and working diligently on bettering my athleticism. Not to mention the gym kept me sane through pharmacy school and allowed me to develop discipline towards my health and my body; a true staple in my life. Because of this passion for fitness and training, I always felt misaligned in pursuing a career in pharmacy; it didn’t seem to fit with who I knew I was and ultimately wanted to be. Societal pressures on high achieving students deviated me from following that dream and brought me down a more secure, comfortable route that led me into the medical field. Despite the whispers in school nudging me to veer away, I ignored them and continued pushing towards the career. Finally test week was here, I was prepared and ready. I scheduled the test on a Friday with a private flight leaving the next morning to the Bahamas for an incredible fishing trip to celebrate this new milestone. The Monday leading up to it I had a doctors appointment early in the morning. As I headed to the appointment, the unthinkable happened. I went around a semi-truck and in doing so I started trailing behind an SUV in the fast lane on the highway. With a lifted jeep I still couldn’t see in front of the SUV and within seconds it swerved into the middle lane cutting in front of semi because there was a stopped vehicle sitting in the fast lane. I had no time to respond and ultimately slammed right into the back of this stopped car. I elevated into the middle lane where the semi hit my undercarriage. As my jeep landed on its side, my hard top popped off and I got ejected out onto the highway at 75-80mph. My jeep rolled 6 to 8 times, the semi jack knifed the highway and traffic was redirected for an extended period of time. Although I never lost consciousness, I thankfully have no recollection of what happened but a dash cam video came forward and eventually I got to see what and how everything transpired. Growing up in a small town, working at a busy bar, and being a beach lifeguard in my earlier years; a lot of people know me and some of my closest friends saw the accident, recognized my jeep and even pinged my location. That’s how the word got back to my family. The paramedic that took care of me was a friend of mines mother. Later I got to take her to dinner and she told me her part. She said because of the severity, she thought that I was a fatality. Upon checking my pulse, I started talking and the first words I told her were, “I can’t feel my legs.” I was immediately transported to the hospital as a trauma, upon arrival they put me in medically induced coma. Ironically the hospital I almost died at, was also the hospital I was born at; full circle, huh? 6 days later I woke up with 18 broken bones, minimal head trauma consisting of a concussion with the smallest brain bleed, and a reality that completely ripped everything I loved away from me; a spinal cord injury that paralyzed me from the waist down, my biggest fear as a lifelong athlete. The prognosis was grim; “She’s never going to be able to walk again.” I didn’t listen. The days following were gruesome, not just physically but mentally. In just 6.5 weeks I went from 140lbs stacked, lean and strong to 103lbs of skin and bones. I didn’t recognize who I saw in the mirror; my lowest point yet. In life there are very few things we have control over; we can’t control the weather, what people think of us, traffic, what happens, and so on. The one thing we do have control over is what lies between our two ears; our minds. I could not control what transpired that day but I could control my response and how I moved forward from it. I leaned into faith, family, and fundamentals: train, fuel, sleep, and stack microscopic wins trusting that the effort I put in will yield the results I want. With the amazing support from my family, my incredible friends, the bar, my community, and strangers who happened to hear my story, I got to see God work through everyone to help get me to where He wanted me to go. I found one of the best, if not THE best spinal cord injury rehab places called CORE (Center of Recovery & Exercise) that was only an hour from where I lived. For the next 3.5 years and counting I dedicated my days to recovery and re-learning how to walk again. The work ethic I developed in my former years from the sports, the gym and all around wanting to be a better athlete gave me the drive, the discipline, and the confidence to go all in on myself and DO THE WORK. Over 1000+ hours of training, I am 25lbs heavier, walking around on arm crutches and still progressing! Through this journey, I leaned into my passions of fitness and training; I found myself having to Figure Life Out again in a new way. That’s when FLOstate, my online health and fitness coaching brand, was born. What started out as a post graduation clinic name for people hindered by substance use disorders, quickly became my brand name. FLOstate; Figuring Life Out and returning to a true flow state—where discipline leads and emotions follow. I fuse clinical reasoning with lived grit: precise nutrition, progressive training, perspective and identity work, and relentless accountability. I help busy professionals make a comeback—drop weight, rebuild strength, and reclaim who they are with systems that survive the worst of days. The accident redirected me onto this path of service and purpose. If there is anything you take away from my story; know that if you really want it, you can have it. In the pursuit of something great, be willing to suffer, sacrifice, and break. The person you meet on the other side of the suffering is worth meeting 10x over and that’s who I coach people to become. If you’re not willing to suffer and endure through life’s adversities and hardships, remaining complacent in excuses and comfort, maybe you don’t deserve what it is you say you want? That might be a hard pill to swallow, but someone’s gotta say it. If that struck a chord; Hi, I’m your coach ;)
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Dr. Elena Brandner, PharmD, and the short version is this: I help busy professionals engineer their comeback—drop fat, rebuild strength, and reclaim who they are—through a system that actually survives bad days. I graduated from the University of Florida with my doctorate in May 2021. I took a few months before stepping into pharmacy, bartending at Tayton O’Brians—200 craft beers, karaoke mic in hand—while I studied six to eight hours a day for my boards. The gym has been my anchor since seventh grade, and even as I followed the “secure” path into medicine, I felt that quiet misalignment—the whisper that said, “Are you sure this is it?”
On February 7, 2022—the week of my board exam, everything changed. A chain-reaction crash ejected me from my Jeep at highway speed. I woke six days later with eighteen fractures, a concussion with a small bleed, and a spinal cord injury that paralyzed me from the waist down. Prognosis: I’d never walk again. I couldn’t control the event, but I could control my response. I leaned into faith, family, and fundamentals: train, fuel, sleep, and stack microscopic wins. I found CORE, an exceptional spinal cord rehab an hour from home, and treated recovery like a full-time job. Over a thousand hours later, I’m 25 pounds stronger, moving on arm crutches, and still progressing. That experience didn’t end my career—it redirected it. I stopped dispensing information and started designing transformation.
That’s how FLOstate was born—“Figuring Life Out” and returning to a true inner flow state, where discipline leads, emotions follow and alignment evolves. I fuse my clinical background with lived grit to deliver precision nutrition, progressive training, and the perspective and identity work most programs skip. I coach one-on-one across 90-day, 6-month, and 12-month containers with weekly check-ins and direct support; and I create practical resources like my FLOstate Foundation eBook and Daily System for habit-building. I also invest in community—group calls, a WhatsApp, and my FLOtalks podcast out on all platforms; because change sticks when you’re supported and held to a standard.
Who I serve: busy professionals who want a comeback. People who have drifted from their standards and need a clear path back—without the BS or copy-paste plans. The problems I solve sound like, “I’ve tried everything and can’t stick to it,” “I’m overwhelmed—where do I start?” or “I want fat loss without losing strength.” My answer is simple and uncompromising: personalize the plan to the person, build systems that don’t negotiate with moods, and tell a better story about pain so discipline becomes identity, not just intent. We test, observe, and adapt—macros, training volume, recovery, constraints—based on your real data.
What sets me apart is the combination of a PharmD’s precision and an athlete’s lived experience of rebuilding from the ground up. I know the science, and I know what it takes to show up when motivation is gone and progress is slow. I’m most proud of beating the odds physically, yes—but even more proud of the messages from clients who say, “I’m a different person. My kids have a new parent. My team has a new leader.” That’s the work: not just changing bodies, but restoring identity and agency.
If you’re new to me or to FLOstate, here’s what I want you to know: you can rewrite your life at any time. It won’t be comfortable, and it won’t be instant. But with a clear system, honest accountability, and standards that don’t flinch, your comeback is inevitable. I’ll meet you where you are—I just won’t leave you there. If you’re ready to trade shortcuts for standards and potential for proof, I’m your coach.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The week I was supposed to sit for my board exam—and fly out the next morning on a private plane to celebrate in the Bahamas—everything ended and began at the same time. After the crash on February 7, 2022, I woke up six days later with 18 fractures and a spinal cord injury. The plan I’d built for years; graduate, pass boards, step into pharmacy—evaporated overnight.
Here’s the resilience part most people miss: it wasn’t one dramatic comeback moment. It was choosing, in that foggy, devastated window after ICU, to let the old plan die on purpose and put all that disciplined energy into a new one. I couldn’t control the prognosis, but I could control the structure of my days. So I rebuilt my life around recovery: faith first, fuel, sleep, and CORE—the spinal cord rehab center an hour from home. I treated rehab like a job. I showed up when progress was invisible. I showed up when I’d dropped to 103 lbs and hated the mirror. I showed up when it was boring, when it hurt, and when it felt like nothing was moving.
That choice—to stop negotiating with a future that no longer existed and fully commit to the one in front of me—is the backbone of my resilience. Over the next 3.5 years, that decision compounded into thousands of hours at CORE, 25 pounds of healthy weight rebuilt, and the ability to walk with arm crutches. It also birthed FLOstate—taking the same disciplined, evidence-based framework that saved me and using it to engineer comebacks for my clients. Resilience, to me, is not noise; it’s architecture. It’s building a new system when the old one is gone—and then showing up for it every day.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Beyond training and knowledge, it’s standards, storytelling, and systems.
Standards first; it’s who you are. The people who win in this field show up the same on the days it’s inconvenient as they do when it’s exciting. For me that looks like non-negotiables: daily client touchpoints, honest check-ins even when the data isn’t pretty, and doing what I said I’d do when no one is watching. Clients want reliability, and trust. Your word has to be a contract so don’t break it once it’s signed!
Storytelling is next, and I don’t mean branding BS. I mean lived transparency that gives people a reason to trust you. BE VULNERABLE, BE A HUMAN, share your struggles! My reputation didn’t come from perfect posts; it came from documenting everything and sharing many things that had friends say, “Damn, you really shared that?” When you tell the truth about your process—wins, losses, and the in between—people see themselves in it. That connection is what turns followers into clients and clients into advocates and who knows, maybe even lifelong friends.
Finally, systems. Most coaches stall not because they lack expertise, but because they lack operations. Clear onboarding, expectations and boundaries, a cadence for check-ins, a simple way to track leading indicators (adherence, training volume, sleep, steps), fast feedback loops, and a retention plan that makes clients feel seen and supported. Systems are how you deliver excellence at scale without burning out. They also protect your energy so you can coach with presence.
If I had to add one more: integrity. Say “I don’t know” when you don’t. Refer out when it’s outside your lane. Charge what allows you to over-deliver. Keep faith when the metrics are slow and keep going when the applause is quiet. In this industry, skill gets you in the game—character keeps you there. Work on that, the rest will follow!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FLOstateofficial.com
- Instagram: @flostate_recovery
- Facebook: Elena Brandner
- Youtube: @FLOtalks
- Other: TikTok: @flostate_recovery
