Brick by
Brick
AUTHOR · COUNSELOR-IN-TRAINING · ENDURANCE STORYTELLER
A memoir of endurance, healing, and becoming — from an Ironman finish line to the quieter work of rebuilding a life.
Trauma, resilience, and the search for home.
01 / 05 Begin anywhere.
FEATURED BOOK
A life built brick by brick.
Some stories begin with a question. Anna Hertel's begins with the one that would not leave her alone: What was it all for?
Brick By Brick
Memoir · 2026
When my doctor pointed to the cysts on my knee scan, he said, “We all only have so much money in the bank. There isn't much left.”
He meant my cartilage, but I heard my life. For years, triathlon was the scaffold that held me together after two abusive relationships had stripped me down. The thought of losing it filled me with panic.
Across continents and finish lines, Brick by Brick asks what it means to lose and rebuild — and how healing is both personal and communal.
- Trauma
- Resilience
- Endurance
- Motherhood
- Healing
- Rebuilding
- Finding home
Meet Anna
The work is
the becoming.
Anna Hertel's work lives at the intersection of resilience and story
A former endurance triathlete and current graduate student in Clinical Counseling at Saybrook University, she brings the same dedication that carried her through forty-five races to the work of healing, both on the page and in practice.
Her clinical training is grounded in narrative therapy, existential therapy, internal family systems, and somatic awareness — approaches that honor the whole person.
BEHIND THE BOOK
“What was it all for?”
A question that began at the edge of an athletic life, and became an invitation into something slower, more honest, and more whole.
SPEAKING & MEDIA
Stories worth
sharing.
Available for podcasts, panels, and speaking engagements.
Conversations about the long road back to yourself — for podcasts, panels, classrooms, book clubs, and rooms that value a more honest kind of resilience.
Conversations
that matter.
Anna brings a lived, literary, and emerging clinical perspective to the conversation.
Explore Speaking & Media ↗
Podcasts &
interviews.
Endurance, identity, ADHD, trauma response, and the quiet work of rebuilding.
Invite Anna ↗
Book clubs &
events.
Thoughtful, connective conversations for readers and communities.
Start a Conversation ↗FROM THE DESK
Essays & reflections.
Ongoing thoughts on endurance, psychology, and the quiet work of building a life.
What I Thought
Endurance Would Save
Me From
For a long time, I believed the next finish line would make me whole. I was wrong — and grateful to be wrong.
Meet Your Body Where
It Is
A practice in listening without turning every sensation into a problem to solve.
The Long Way Home
What it means to make a home inside yourself, after you have learned to leave it.
FUTURE WORK
Work with Anna.
For the conversations, collaborations, and rooms that are still taking shape.
Feature Articles
What Coercive Control Looks Like
Coercive control builds slowly: a partner wants to know your whereabouts “out of worry” until you share your location with them 24/7.
Coming Soon
Coercive control builds slowly: a partner wants to know your whereabouts “out of worry” until you share your location with them 24/7.
Coming Soon
Coercive control builds slowly: a partner wants to know your whereabouts “out of worry” until you share your location with them 24/7.
PodCast
We believe in doing things differently—with intention, with passion, and with people at the center of it all. Every detail here reflects that mindset.
Partnership
