June 1, 2016

Meet Marina del Rey Fitness Trainer: Scott O’Neil

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott O’Neil.

Scott is an example of what makes us so proud of the VoyageLA mission. He’s a visionary – not just as a trainer, but as a creative entrepreneur. Below, we share an edited excerpt of our interview with Scott.

Scott, please tell us about how you got started with your Fitness career.

My passion for fitness began while serving in the United States Marine Corps from 2009-2013. I had a lot of free time on my hands during my two deployments and that’s when I really began working out and planning goals on what I really wanted to do after my time in service. After the Marines, I moved right to Los Angeles and became a certified personal trainer, and began working with “La Fitness”. It was there I noticed how well of a trainer I truly was and how much I truly loved the career. There was no way I wanted to continue working for a corporate gym as much as I loved it there. I respectfully left “La Fitness” and began to train two clients privately. Months went by and my cliental began to grow tremendously due to word of mouth, social media, pricing, and the amazing results my clients have been receiving. I then began making small steps into making what I had into a company. I made my website and “Westside Fitness Training” became an official LLC. I went from two clients to over twenty five in just six months. Today I stay extremely busy and still continue to grow as a trainer, entrepreneur, and business owner. Everybody that joins “WFT” has a great time training and never needs to be worried about financial stress.

That’s really inspiring. WFT is pretty successful today, but often the road to success can be bumpy. How has your journey been so far?

Creating “Westside Fitness Training” was not a smooth road at all. I left a very good well paid job in order to chase my dreams. I survived off two clients for months and it took a lot to gain the trust of everyone I have now. I made my website and social media myself which took a few months to make perfect. Just when everything was looking up…everything was hacked and deleted. All my information, all my passwords, all my photos…my website, my emails and everything that had to do with social media. I still refused to give up. I started everything again from scratch from that point on. A family emergency occurred months after that and I was forced to leave back to Connecticut for a few weeks…I needed up losing every one of my clients and coming back to LA with no income. Having that happen, I worked harder on marketing and my social media. I began to put myself more on the internet. I created a “Groupon” and a “Yelp” and business cards and more social media. It has not been an easy road at all but I continue to fight through struggle which is why my company is as successful as it is now.

We’re really glad to see all of the success you are having. So what’s next?

My plan for the future is to eventually become the “Uber” of personal training…whenever someone needs training, anytime, anywhere they request one and one will meet you at a desired location with equipment if need be. Years down the road I would want to build many small gyms up and running around the area, eventually nationwide and use them as my own training gyms for people to be trained though out the day. If you’re in the gym, you are either a trainer or a client being trained.

That’s quite the vision! Where did all this drive and ambition come from?

Since I was a child I never had it too easy which made me want to make it in life even more. I was out through foster family until I was six years old until I was placed in the loving family I am in now. After high school I joined the United States Marine Corps where I found myself in Afghanistan shortly after. At the age of 19 I was deployed and experienced extremely difficult hardships. My platoon’s area of operation was constantly in combat. Three months in to my first deployment my best friend/squad leader was killed on our patrol while crossing a river to obtain information of possible Taliban movement. I witnessed a lot that day and those few hours seemed like years. My second deployment I was a squad leader and that was when I truly learned how to be a leader. I was in charge of 8 Marines lives. I was in charge of bringing them all back to their families. After serving my four years, I had two choices. Stay home on the east coast and go to school while collecting the hefty GI bill money I receive for attending by the government…or start from scratch in Los Angeles. I packed my belongings in a haul and drove from CT to CA in four days. I bussed tables in the Marina Del Rey area until I had enough money to pay for my training certificate classes. After I received my certificate I worked for La Fitness and 220 Fitness and Back and Basics. I learned so much from all the gyms. The biggest thing I learned though is that my training techniques are very different from every other trainer. I kept it simple and repetitive while they were doing the craziest head turning exercises that made no sense.

Wow, so was there a moment when you finally felt like “wow – I’ve made it”

I really realized I made it, at least on the path to success, when after a year my cliental tripled due to my $150 unlimited weekly training idea. I went from four private clients to twenty three private clients in five weeks. Word was getting around, and fast. I was receiving two calls a day with people asking what the catch was with this deal and how to sign up. I had trainers messaging me through social media and emailing me asking to work for me. I was amazed and in disbelief. Three exhausting years of suffering financially and I finally found myself on the right path to success.

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