Bedros Keuilian
Born 1974 · Age 51
Entrepreneur, fitness-industry consultant, founder and president of Fit Body Boot Camp, author of 'Man Up', creator of masterminds and the Modern Day Knight Project. Immigrant from Soviet-occupied Armenia who built a global fitness franchising business and coaching empire.
Compare Your Trajectory
See how your career milestones stack up against Bedros Keuilian and other industry leaders.
Life & Career Timeline
Born (in Soviet-occupied Armenia; later fled to U.S.)
Bedros was born in Soviet-occupied Armenia (exact place not specified). He later recounts his childhood under Soviet rule and family persecution by the KGB.
Family fled Soviet Armenia to the United States
Keuilian's family escaped Soviet/communist Armenia (fleeing KGB persecution) and emigrated to the United States, settling in Anaheim, California.
Early childhood poverty and hardship
Family lived in very poor housing (Section 8 / evictions mentioned in later accounts), dumpster-dived for food; family once washed Bedros' hair with siphoned gasoline due to lack of lice treatment funds.
Father opened a small tailor/alteration shop in Anaheim
Within about three years after arriving in the U.S., Bedros' father saved enough to open a ~900 sq ft alteration/tailor shop in Anaheim that later served notable local clients and helped the family acquire property.
Teenage fitness transformation (lost ~35-40 lbs)
In high school Bedros was overweight; before prom he began training, dieting, lost approximately 35–40 pounds and experienced a major boost in confidence that steered him toward fitness as a career.
Began career in fitness / certified as personal trainer
Became a certified personal trainer and began working in the fitness industry; initially worked multiple jobs including personal training (at a big-box gym for roughly $11.30/hr), fry cook at Disneyland, and bouncer to make ends meet.
Opened first personal training studio (San Diego)
After gaining experience and mentorship (notably from client Jim Franco), Bedros opened his first personal training studio in San Diego to run his own training business.
Expanded to five personal training studios
Scaled his single studio into a multi-location operation — ultimately operating five personal-training studios throughout San Diego.
Introduced to direct response marketing and sales mentors
Was exposed to sales and direct-response marketing via mentors and tapes (Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert) and began studying copywriting and accountable marketing.
Sold studios to a national buyer
A national brand approached and acquired his personal-training studios because of their strong recurring 12‑month membership revenue model; sale allowed him to pivot into coaching/consulting.
Pivoted from gym owner to coach/consultant
Following the sale, Bedros focused full-time on coaching and consulting other trainers and gym owners, leveraging systems he had developed (30-minute sessions, recurring 12-month memberships).
Built online lead-generation system and started email marketing
Created a free digital course/lead magnet, built an email list by scraping and outreach (early-web tactics), and began following up prospects with coaching offers using shopping-cart/email tools (1ShoppingCart/Marketer's Choice).
Launched a product suite (info products, CDs, DVDs, books)
By 2005 had multiple lead generators and a product suite for fitness business owners (how to market personal training, digital courses) that fed higher-level coaching and consulting.
Owned and curated a large library of direct-response letters and materials
Hand-copied and collected high-performing Gary Halbert letters and other classic direct-response assets; used these resources to inform his marketing and teach clients.
Started running masterminds and increased coaching scale
Due to heavy demand for phone coaching, Bedros shifted to group models: launched masterminds to scale his coaching; this became a core part of his business model.
Major franchising push for Fit Body Boot Camp
Began a large-scale franchising effort for Fit Body Boot Camp (re‑entering the gym business as a franchise model); the brand aggressively expanded globally thereafter.
Fit Body Boot Camp recognized as one of fastest-growing fitness franchises
Fit Body Boot Camp gained industry recognition — multiple sources describe it as one of the fastest-growing chains in the fitness industry (later listed multiple times in Entrepreneur's rankings).
Fit Body Boot Camp began rapid global growth (hundreds of locations)
Franchise network scaled rapidly; public statements and interviews reference hundreds of locations worldwide as the brand matured.
Published 'Man Up' (Wall Street Journal Bestseller)
Authored the book Man Up: How To Cut The BS and Dominate In Business and In Life, which reached the Wall Street Journal bestseller list (publication year estimated based on interviews and later references).
Operating three masterminds and ~400 coaching clients
Reported to be running three different mastermind groups and serving over 400 mastermind/coaching clients (statement from interviews describing 'today' during the interview window).
Profiled in Medium interview 'I Am Living Proof of the American Dream' (Sep 4, 2018)
Extensive interview about his immigrant background, fitness business growth, and entrepreneurial philosophy was published on Medium (Authority Magazine), Sept 4, 2018.
Fit Body Boot Camp hits major milestone (>500 locations mentioned in interviews)
Public interviews and podcasts around this period cite over 500 Fit Body Boot Camp locations worldwide (the exact year of surpassing 500 is not precisely documented in provided sources).
Announced final coaching program 'Ignition Mastermind Group' (site post)
A page on BedrosKeuilian.com (©2020 Empire Systems Inc.) announced 'The final Coaching Program' called the Ignition Mastermind Group taking place at the end of that month (month not specified on page snapshot).
Featured by Warrior Poet Society; The Project documentary and Modern Day Knight (MDK) Project
Warrior Poet Supply Co. (Jul 15, 2022) featured Bedros and his documentary 'The Project' and promoted the Modern Day Knight Project — a 75-hour experience designed to rebuild men via an intensive program.
Described as founder & president of Fit Body Boot Camp and multi-time Entrepreneur 500 franchisee
Profiles and interviews in 2022 reiterated his role as founder and president of Fit Body Boot Camp and note that the brand was listed three times in Entrepreneur magazine’s list of fastest-growing franchises.
Produced documentary 'The Project' about Modern Day Knight Project
A documentary called 'The Project' detailing the Modern Day Knight Project and Bedros' journey was promoted and associated with his MDK initiative (documentary referenced in the 2022 article).
Ongoing role: entrepreneur, consultant, author, speaker
Continues to run Fit Body Boot Camp as founder/president, offers consulting, runs masterminds, speaks publicly, and publishes content via his blog, podcast, and social channels.
Key Achievement Ages
Explore what Bedros Keuilian and others achieved at these notable ages:
Similar Trajectories
Julia Hartz
Born 1979 · Age 46
American entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder & CEO of Eventbrite, a global ticketing and event technology platform. Recognized for leadership during COVID-19, advocacy for women in tech, and scaling Eventbrite from a bootstrapped startup to a public company.
Rand Fishkin
Born 1979 · Age 46
American entrepreneur, cofounder of Moz and SparkToro, author and speaker best known for work in SEO, audience research, WhiteBoard Friday series, and the book Lost and Founder.
Roger Ver
Born 1979 · Age 46
Entrepreneur and early Bitcoin investor/promoter (aka 'Bitcoin Jesus'), later Bitcoin Cash advocate; founder/operator of MemoryDealers, Bitcoin.com and early backer of many crypto startups. Renounced U.S. citizenship in 2014; indicted for tax evasion in 2024.
David Heinemeier Hansson
Born 1979 · Age 46
Danish programmer, author, entrepreneur and racing driver; creator of Ruby on Rails and partner/CTO of 37signals/Basecamp; co-author of Getting Real, Rework, Remote and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work.
Tom Segura
Born 1979 · Age 46
American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, podcaster and author. Co-host of Your Mom's House with wife Christina Pazsitzky and Two Bears One Cave with Bert Kreischer. Known for multiple Netflix specials and bestselling book.
Hal Elrod
Born 1979 · Age 46
Author, speaker, and creator of The Miracle Morning; survivor of a near-fatal car accident and cancer; international keynote speaker and podcaster.