Meet Gigi Grassu: Fitness Trainer, Actress

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gigi Grassu | Fitness Trainer, Actress and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gigi, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Taking risks are necessary. By definition, taking risks is described as exposing yourself to “loss” or “failure” and that sounds scary. It could be losing your job, money, relationships, anything really. Whats funny is, losing and failing isnt even the scariest part of risk taking for people. The scariest part is you risk being seen and judged. For me, I see taking risks as “gaining” and “winning” very valuable learning lessons. I believe that in order for you to grow or excel in life you HAVE to take risks, even if it means people judging you. Risk taking has played the most important role in my life and has been the driving force to all of my decisions, the syrup to my waffles, the mo to my jo, the Tom Brady to my championship ring (you get the jist). I credit every step forward I have had in both my personal and professional life to taking risks. Even though I am scared a little at times, my desire for learning is far greater than that fear and because of this, the process of taking risks is exciting. I guess you could say I love to “lose” (insert WINk here).

What should our readers know about your business?
SHAPE UP WITH GIGI, LLC is more than fitness; its about human connection. The question I ask myself when I walk into every training session is “how do I turn this training session into a lifestyle?” In order to do this, I need to connect with my clients so they can connect with themselves. What differentiates my business is the fact that I have no limits when it comes to the quality I offer my clients. I am constantly looking for ways to grow as a person so I can bring my best self to my brand and clients. I am also an actress. After I realized how much acting has to do with understanding humanity, just like fitness, I started incoporating elements from my classes and combine them with fitness, enabling me to create a much stronger connection with clients. The biggest challenge in this business is motivaton. I realized that being active for most people is only an OPTION because most people are not motivated enough to begin exercising. There are 168 hours in a week. Showing up to their session appointments with their trainer (usually 1-3 hours/week) is not the biggest challenge. The true challenge is how do you keep your clients motivated during the remaining 165 hours in the week! I tackle motivation from three angles: the physical, mental and the spiritual. I am most proud of the fact that over 90% of my business has been referrals. To me, that means people feel so compelled and impacted by the experiences we’ve shared and their own successes that they want to share it with others too. I am also proud of my retention percentage. Most people have been with me for an average of 2 years; not because they havent reached their goals, but because they enjoy being part of the team so much and that makes my heart SO FULL. Another thing that sets me apart from others is my unique and extensive background in training. I have done both online and in-person training, one-on-one as well as group classes (10-70+ people) in various environments like homes, outside, corporate gyms, boutique gyms, major production studios like Disney, Paramount Pictures, Fox and Universal Most trainers do one or the other. Training one-on-one is very different from training a large group. Training at the gym is very different than training online. Training at a corporate gym like Crunch Fitness is different from Disney Studio. Dealing with so many different people and environments at once has taught me many valuable approaches in motivation and training. I can train you anywhere. I want the world to know that everything starts with the connection within youself. How you do anything is how you do everything. Its more than fitness.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There is so much to do and see in LA! The beach, the mountains, the diverse communities, restaurants, art & fashion districts, music and movies, pizza and amuse-bouche, museums and theaters, Melrose and Kim K. I always tell people that LA is the best city in the world (and Im super snobby and annoying about it ;P). Where else can you go sunbathing and skiing in the same day?! With that said, thats what were going to do! The day would start at 6am with a latte from Urth Cafe. After that we would head to Malibu so we can have breakfast at Paradise Cove with our feet in the sand. Following breakfast, we would go hiking off of Sunset so we can catch a view of the entire L.A. area. Next, lets go skiiing! Guess what, Mountain High is about an hour away. We will make it back in time for dinner in Hollwood at Yamashiro in their Japanese garden. The night isnt over! We all need a little magic in our lives so were headed to The Magic Castle (I got us an exclusive invite duh). Also, I love to dance so La Descarga, a cuban speak-easy club, is a must 🙂 The night would finish at my familys house with vegan ice cream and netflix. 🙂 This is just Monday! Tuesday we hit Universal Studios all day. Wednesday we head over to The Getty for some history and live music. Thursday is a drive down to Santa Barbara wineries. Friday is for jetskiing in Marina Del Rey. Saturday we would head over to Burke Williams Spa in Santa Monica, then do some shopping at the promenade. Saturday evening we take an adventure to San Gabriel Valley for some amazing chinese cuisine. Sunday is for farmers markets and an awesome pool side backyard BBQ with friends. I wish I can fit all the things LA has to offer in a week but its not possible! Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Gosh. I dont even know where to start (should I say id like to dedicate this to all of my haters? JK). I would like to dedicate this shout out to my little girl, Audrey. Thank you for choosing me as your mother. Being a parent has taught me so much about courage. The courage to speak up, the courage to love openly, freely and without judgement, the courage to take risks, the courage to walk into Vons with no make up, ugly grandma pjs, and birdnest hair at 2am for childrens tylenol, the courage to allow yourself to be vulnerable and ugly cry, the courage to stand up tall when you dont feel your tallest and say I am enough. I love you mama.

Website: www.shapeupwithgigi.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shapeupwithgigi/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shapeupwithgigi/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/shape-up-with-gigi-los-angeles

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY63Jl5MlBxbVZvGZdMWnsg

Image Credits
PhotoCreds: The Broken Duchess and LeBonTempsProductions.