about shawn
He is the founder of Perfect Body, Inc., has been a fitness spokesperson for Time Warner, was featured four times on KCAL 9 news “9 on the town” and on CBS radio 97.1 numerous times. He has appeared on a variety of cable shows and runs a successful personal training and health practice for the past 20 years.
His approach to fitness is both unique and compelling. He uses a three dimensional approach which includes the mind, body, and spirit. This approach has been extremely useful and effective to help people lose weight and change their lives.
Shawn’s background is wide and diverse. He attended UCLA graduating with honors in Economics and Philosophy. While attending UCLA, Shawn was a model with the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency. After graduation, he was hired by the esteemed investment bank, Merrill Lynch, as an institutional broker and then subsequently transferred over to Smith Barney to become a Financial Advisor. After his 4 1/2 year stay in finance, Shawn’s health was suffering from severe fatigue, insomnia and lethargy, so he left the industry to work on his own health. Initially his diagnosis was adrenal dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndrome. But later, after numerous tests and countless doctors, discovered that he had Lyme Disease.
From this experience, Shawn’s philosophy on life changed. He believes that in order to manifest things in life, a person has to focus and optimize physical health. Here’s a graph that illustrates this philosophy:
What this graph shows is that physical health is your roots or foundation, from this a person is able to focus, explore and develop other areas such as mental health, financial health, spiritual health and emotional health. In other words, with good physical health and with strong vitality, a person is able to work harder in other areas of life; but the key point is that physical health is your foundation and starting point.
In summary, after Shawn’s challenges with his own personal health, he decided to dedicate his life to health and fitness, work on his own health and started a new career to help others. Shawn is now an entrepreneur in the fitness industry focusing on personal training, nutrition, holistic life coaching, public speaking, fitness modeling, and media.
Dedicating my life to health and fitness wasn’t a hard decision to make. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in economics and philosophy, I was bent on making a career as a successful financial advisor. I interned at Merrill Lynch for about four months, and consequently received an offer as an assistant institutional broker. A year and a half later, I decided to switch companies and begin my career as a financial advisor at Smith Barney. At the time, I thought I was on my way to financial independence and success. Unfortunately, in 2001 the market took a turn and my business began to evaporate. The stress on my body and mind was relentless and I was suffering from numerous symptoms with no idea of its cause.
Eventually, my body broke down and I began to suffer from physical fatigue and needed longer periods of rest to recover for the next day of work. I left Smith Barney on disability and decided to get help. I felt really depressed and had no energy to do anything but sleep. I was consistently sleeping around 14 hours a day and had no energy to hang out with friends or family – all I wanted to do was to be alone. These were darkest days of my life. This lasted for about a year.
Once I went on disability I decided to get help and initially I went to several traditional western medical doctors. Strangely enough, my tests were normal. This process was extremely frustrating because I knew what I was feeling was not normal. I finally went to several integrative medical doctors who diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome and hypoadrenia or adrenal dysfunction which was caused by a combination of stress, allergies and severe adrenal fatigue. This was the initial assessment in the early days, but later I discovered and tested positive for Lyme Disease.
At the same time during my recovery, I began to read countless books on nutrition, supplements, spirituality, and body building. I began to realize how much I enjoyed health and fitness and decided to switch careers. Initially, this was a really tough decision to make. For the past 7 years of my life, my only focus at UCLA, Smith Barney, and Merrill Lynch had been economics and business. I was very tentative about making the change. Also, my ego was saying that I was crazy. My ego or mind would say silly things like “why go from a really prestigious job to something like personal trainer” or “isn’t that a step back?” But after some soul searching I came to the conclusion that this career was the best fit for my talents. It went from being a difficult decision to an easy decision once I considered that this was a viable career and that I would be making a real difference in peoples’ lives.
Even now I realize how important it was for me to go thru my personal health crisis. I used to be the corporate guy who woke up every morning at 4:45 am and would say to himself “I hate my life”. I was that guy and I can relate and empathize with professionals in the corporate America who are dealing with an exorbitant amount of stress, some of which have adrenal dysfunction or other symptoms which is preventing them from living the life they desire.
I’ve had many new clients with severe health challenges that I can relate to and I empathize with them. It really shakes me to my core because I know how it feels to be physically challenged in a way that makes you feel that you’re sleep walking through life. Given this background and debilitating health issues, I’ve had the pleasure of helping clients with their health challenges. I’ve established a team approach by working with several integrative medical doctors to address many health issues for my clients such as adrenal dysfunction, physical fatigue, high cortisol levels, hormonal imbalance, depression, insomnia, anxiety, and much more. With a healthy diet, sound exercise program and a positive attitude, I feel confident that I can help anyone with their specific goals and challenges.
Currently, after trying different treatment protocols I feel like a completely different person. Periodically, I go to my doctor to do various tests which show significant improvement. I am happy with the change in my life and career.
Having Lyme Disease is somewhat like sleep walking through life. You never really have the full experience that life has to offer. That chapter luckily has past now and I’m wide awake and ready for a new chapters going forward. Based on my spiritual beliefs, I believe things happen for a reason. I felt that after experiencing such severe symptoms, I could better empathize with people who suffer physically, mentally, or emotionally – whatever the source. Given today’s fast paced high stress world, it gives me great pleasure to help people not only cope with their lives, but also enhance their well being with health and fitness.
Certifications
- Certified Personal Trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine,
- Certified Personal Trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine
- Certified Life and Nutritional Coach with the CHEK Institute
- Certified Exercise Coach with the CHEK Institute
- Certified Diagnostic Nutritionist
Coursework and Workshops
- Advanced Program Design by Ian King
- Tenssegrity, Gravity Line, and Correcting Posture by Guy Voyer DO
- Scientific Core Conditioning
- Scientific Back Training
- Sports Performance Begins and Ends in Your Mouth
- What You Don’t Know About Weight Training Can Hurt You by Paul Chek
- CHEK Program Design
Specializations
- Body Sculpting, Toning and Shaping
- Weight Loss
- Nutrition and Disease Prevention
- Postural Alignment
- Bodybuilding
- Energy and mood enhancement thru natural means
- Anti-Aging
Shawn also does in–home training sessions in the following areas: Los Angeles, Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Marina Del Rey, Century City, and Beverly Hills.