The story
A diamond was formed.
Paul's own words: "From the pressures of street life and prison time, a diamond was formed, with the purpose of motivating and inspiring others to lead better lives."
The streets
Addiction, homelessness and incarceration. Not a background most gym owners put on the wall. Paul does, because it is the reason members trust him when they say they have tried everything.
Training as the way out
Strength and conditioning became the discipline that rebuilt the rest. Twenty years on, that is still the method: the body first, the mindset follows, the habits stick.
Head coach, Orangetheory
Years running the floor at one of the country's biggest coached-class brands. Coaching hundreds of people a week teaches you to read a room and fix a squat from across it.
A Better You Fitness
His own gym at 1711 B Street in Hayward. Coach-led, capped classes, nutrition and accountability in the membership, and a chalk wall where members write what they are here for.
Voted the best in the Eden Area
Best Fitness Facility and Best Fitness Trainer in the Castro Valley and Eden Area readers' awards. In the nomination's words: "not because of titles, but because of the lives he's changed."
Hundreds of thousands of lives
That is the stated mission. It runs through the gym, the online coaching, the free 20 minute guide and the members who came in to lose weight and stayed to coach.
