G&W Portfolio Founder Feature: Melissa Painter, Breakthru

How Melissa Puts the Body Back Into the Workday

In a world where long hours at a desk are the norm, the connection between work and well-being is often ignored. Melissa Painter, Founder and CEO of Breakthru, is changing that by integrating movement into the workday.

Built from a Life in Motion

Before she was a founder, Melissa was a filmmaker and researcher, deeply attuned to how people interact with their environments. She grew up observing her father’s work in urban design, and later surrounded herself with dancers, athletes, and technologists.

Across these experiences, a core truth kept surfacing: when we move, we think better.

Breakthru was born from this insight. It’s a digital health platform that delivers two-minute microbreaks inside the tools people already use at work—short, intentional movement that resets mind, mood, and metabolism.

The result? Better health, sharper thinking, and a more human workday.

A Healthy Response to a Broken System

Melissa saw the growing disconnect between our bodies and our tech. Modern work culture glorifies stillness—long meetings, endless screen time, and barely a break to breathe.

But movement, she realized, isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential to our cognitive and emotional function.

Breakthru is her answer to that disconnection: a behaviorally smart, science-backed intervention that helps people move without having to leave their workflow. In a world where work is increasingly digital, Melissa is making sure it’s still deeply human.

Balancing Urgency with Patience, Vision with Adaptability

Melissa knows what it’s like to be impatient for the future you can already see in your mind’s eye. As a founder, she’s had to learn how to sit with that tension—to stay committed to the long-term vision while staying nimble in the day-to-day.

She credits her ability to navigate it to a mix of creative discipline and lived experience. From her background in film to the influence of movement practitioners and urban thinkers, she’s learned to trust her instincts, move fast when needed, and lean into collaboration.

“Make space for inspiration, chance, and collaboration,” she says. “But also be able to decide quickly, and trust your team.”

Movement, Gratitude, and a Vision for Change

What keeps Melissa going isn’t just the product—it’s the people who use it.

She’s inspired daily by the voices of workers who breathe and move with Breakthru, and she’s grateful for the privilege of building something that meets people where they are.

“There’s nothing to not be grateful for,” she says. “We get to see so many kinds of work because of this tool. And those of us who get to take risks and go big—we’re lucky.”

Melissa often reminds us: “Two minutes can save billions”—in health costs, yes, but also in creative potential, presence, and human connection.

Just Two Minutes: Because sometimes the smallest shifts create the biggest change

Melissa’s call to action is simple and powerful: “Just two minutes in motion can reset your whole system. It’s science—and it’s also common sense.”

At Graham & Walker, we’re proud to back founders like Melissa—visionary builders designing a better future of work, one human-first step at a time.