Leo Frincu's Success Story

Owner of RESULTS Personal Training Studio

It was November 1999 when Leo first landed in LA with only $10, a backpack and four words to his name. According to many people, he's now living the American Dream. After all, this country gave him an opportunity -- the opportunity to own who he is, and create the life that he wanted. That is just what he has done. Now he wants to help others do the same.

Leo was born in Romania in 1976, and grew up under Communism. This meant he had to wake up at 4 a.m. on Saturday and was only given 30 minutes for all five family members to take a shower before the hot water was shut off. It also meant curfew at 10 p.m., meaning the entire city’s electricity was shut off.

Obtaining groceries under Communism required a well-planned strategy. He didn’t have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or any nice supermarkets. And he didn’t have organic foods. He only had stores with empty shelves.

Leo and his family were afraid to talk about a better life. In fact, they were scared to even think about it. They were afraid that someone might hear them and turn them all to the militia, turning them into political prisoners. They were brainwashed to believe that the way life was in Romania was the only way.

When Leo was six years old, one way of releasing his frustration was getting into fights in the schoolyard. One of his neighbors saw him, and took him to the wrestling room and introduced him to wrestling. Wrestling, for Leo, was a way to fight against that life. It was a way to prove he was stronger than the Communist mentality. He wanted to stand out, become the best, and be different. Wrestling was the first place that he felt that he could do that. He felt it reflected who he was at his core.

There were no other opportunities to do that during his childhood. There were so few places to truly forge an identity. Leo felt trapped, but wrestling made him feel free.

Even as a child he knew that he could never be defined by Communism. His intuition told him that the life he was born into was not the life he wanted, and that he was never going to settle for less than who he wanted to be.

Leo was 14 when he first competed in his first World Championships, placing fourth in Turkey. Although Communism had fallen seemingly overnight, that psychology took years to change; therefore, being an athlete was still the best ticket in town for a young man like him.

Despite the fact that Romania was no longer under Communist rule, the country still suffered without opportunities for growth or success. By the time he was 18, Leo had hundreds of matches all over the world and had won several national championships and international tournaments.

Wrestling was very hard. He spent many years starving in order to make his weight class for different competitions and sometimes even went without eating and drinking for days at a time. Sometimes he used to sleep with wet towels on himself, to cool down being so overheated due to dehydration.

Leo was 18 when he won the World Title gold medal at the World Championships and was named the Best Athlete of Romania in 1994. After winning the gold medal, he started training for the upcoming 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, becoming one of the most valuable Olympic hopefuls in the country.

Being aware that he needed to eventually leave Romania didn’t stop Leo from pursuing his immediate goal, which were the Olympic Games. Knowing that by accomplishing that, it would be easier to accomplish his ultimate goal -- leaving Romania.

Finally, in 1999, he had scheduled a trip to the United States Olympic Training Center to train with the US Olympic Wrestling Team.

After that, Leo's decision was easy: he felt invincible. Commitment transformed his fear and dread into fuel.

He landed in LA without knowing what to expect and ready for whatever America had to offer. "I felt like a newborn, learning a new language, tasting new foods and experiencing a totally different society and way of life," he says.

After a few weeks, Leo got a job as a dishwasher and washed toilets in a Romanian restaurant in Hollywood, but he was very excited. He never felt too good to do the job, nor let his ego get between himself and his goal.

In only a few years Leo moved from working in the kitchen to serving tables in the most upscale restaurants in LA.

Simultaneously, he was training, competing and promoting himself as a World Champion wrestler in the wrestling community. He started training in a garage, and then competing in local championships.

In only a few years, he won several California State Championships, trained several Olympians and was invited to the US Olympic Center to train the US wrestling team.

Having several goals at the same time allowed Leo to take small steps toward each one of them, preventing him from feeling overwhelmed and getting the satisfaction of achieving something on a daily basis.

Soon after, Leo took a job as a landscaper digging ditches, and then later got another job as a waiter.

During one of his wrestling seminars, his business success story began when he met the owner of a private gym. He introduced Leo to personal training, and later on offered him a job -- training one client at 5 a.m., twice a week. From then on, setting goal after goal, working hard and staying committed, Leo ended up training 30 clients per week.

It wasn’t long after when he bought and opened his own private fitness studio – RESULTS – in Sherman Oaks, CA., in 2006. He was 30 years old. He brought with himself at RESULTS a high level of professionalism and a world-class training environment with high-level professional training staff. Through RESULTS, Leo has had the opportunity to help empower many people to conquer their own personal adversity, get in shape and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. He's even trained a number of major athletes and celebrities, such as Ashley Tisdale, Elizabeth Perkins and Wayne Knight.

All this was possible by staying focused and setting small goals toward his ultimate goal. People call him successful, and he says he agrees with that. It's because his definition of success is discovering your passion and pursuing your dreams. He discovered his passion and is pursuing his dreams.

"It means doing something that you love, never letting anything stop you and realizing when you are the real obstacle between you and your dreams. Never doubt yourself and never set limitations on yourself." he adds.

Leo's here to tell you, it takes work, real work and commitment, but anything is possible.

Leo Frincu is the owner of RESULTS Personal Fitness Studio in Sherman Oaks, CA. He's also a World Champion wrestler and wellness, career and personal life coach. For more information, visit www.resultsstudio.com or www.leofrincu.com. You can also follow Leo on Twitter at @LeoFrincu, and on Facebook.