Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniella Means.
Hi Daniella, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been drawn to performance, resilience, and breaking stereotypes – whether that was in sport, business, or life.
I was born and raised in Hong Kong to a Malaysian Chinese mother and American father, and sport became a huge part of my identity early on. I represented Hong Kong in rugby internationally before eventually transitioning into strength sports, becoming an IFBB Professional bodybuilder and World Champion powerlifter. Fitness started as a passion, but over time it became a career and a vehicle for helping others transform their confidence, health, and performance.
My professional path has been anything but linear. I’ve worked across Hong Kong, the UK, and Los Angeles in fitness, media, marketing, and business development. Those experiences taught me how much I love building things – not just physiques, but communities and businesses.
That ultimately led to co-founding HYBRID Gym LA in Downtown Los Angeles with my husband, Jon. We opened during one of the hardest periods imaginable – right around the pandemic – which forced us to become incredibly adaptable, resilient, and creative. What started as a ground floor office space space became a performance-driven training community focused on helping everyday people, athletes, and busy professionals get stronger, healthier, and more confident.
At the same time, I’ve continued building my own platform through coaching, content creation, and online education, while sharing more of my personal story – including the realities of discipline, setbacks, identity, and balancing ambition with authenticity.
Then came American Gladiators (now streaming on Amazon Prime Video).
Becoming “Voltage” felt surreal because it brought together so many chapters of my life: my athletic background, strength, competitiveness, and love of performing. As a little girl, I never really saw women who looked like me – muscular, Asian, athletic, powerful – represented in mainstream media. So stepping into that arena felt bigger than just me. It was an opportunity to represent strength in a different way and hopefully show people, especially women, that being powerful and unapologetically yourself is something to celebrate.
At the core of everything I do, whether it’s HYBRID Gym, coaching, or American Gladiators, it all comes back to helping people realize they’re capable of more than they think.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it’s definitely not been smooth! But honestly it’s the struggles that shaped me the most.
From the outside, people often see the highlights: becoming a professional athlete, owning a gym, American Gladiators. But behind all of that were a lot of setbacks, uncertainty, and moments where things could have gone very differently.
Growing up, I often felt like I didn’t fully fit in. I’m half Malaysian Chinese, half American, born in Hong Kong…and there were times where I felt caught between cultures, not fully one thing or another. I was also raised by a single mom and sport became my outlet which taught me confidence, discipline, and resilience.
Athletically, there were plenty of challenges too. I’ve dealt with injuries, self-doubt, pressure around body image, and navigating an industry where being a muscular woman isn’t always understood or celebrated. There were periods where I questioned whether I fit the mold of what people expected women to look like or be. Over time, I learned that my differences were actually my strength.
Entrepreneurship has probably been one of the hardest, and most rewarding journeys. My partner and I opened HYBRID Gym LA right around the pandemic, which was incredibly difficult timing. There were moments of real uncertainty, financial stress, and long hours where we were wearing every hat imaginable. Building a business in Los Angeles is not for the faint of heart. But we believed deeply in what we were creating and stayed committed even when things felt really hard.
And like many people, there have been personal challenges too – navigating family complexities, loss, identity, and the pressure of trying to build something meaningful while balancing ambition and personal life.
What I’ve learned is that success is rarely a straight line. It’s messy. It’s uncomfortable. It requires resilience, humility, and being willing to keep showing up even when things aren’t going your way.
I think that’s why becoming “Voltage” on American Gladiators meant so much to me. It felt like a culmination of every chapter so far; the athlete, the entrepreneur, the setbacks.
The biggest lesson? You don’t have to have a smooth road to build something meaningful. Sometimes the difficult path is exactly what prepares you for where you’re meant to go.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Today, I wear a few different hats – athlete, entrepreneur, coach, and now, American Gladiator.
I’m the co-founder of HYBRID Gym LA, a private performance training facility in Downtown Los Angeles that my partner Jon and I built from the ground up. We specialize in helping people get stronger, leaner, healthier, and more confident through evidence-based training, nutrition coaching, and individualized support. While we work with everyone from everyday professionals to athletes, we’re especially passionate about helping busy, high-performing people optimize their health in a realistic, sustainable way.
I also run an online coaching business where I help people around the world improve body composition, performance, and confidence through customized training and nutrition. My background as an IFBB Professional bodybuilder, World Champion powerlifter, and former international rugby player gives me a unique perspective because I’ve experienced multiple sides of athletic performance — strength, aesthetics, conditioning, and recovery.
Beyond coaching, content and education have become a big part of what I do. I genuinely love helping simplify fitness and cut through the noise. There’s so much misinformation in the health and wellness space, and I’m passionate about helping people understand what actually works in real life — especially for busy adults trying to balance careers, families, and health.
And of course, most recently, I joined the cast of American Gladiators as “Voltage,” which has been one of the most exciting chapters of my career. It’s such a unique opportunity to merge athleticism, entertainment, and storytelling.
What am I most proud of? Honestly, building HYBRID Gym LA. We started with an empty space and a vision, and built something that has genuinely changed people’s lives and created an incredible community. Watching clients become healthier, stronger, more confident versions of themselves — physically and mentally — is incredibly rewarding.
I’m also proud of representing strength in a way that maybe challenges stereotypes. As an Asian woman, a muscular woman, and someone who has never quite fit into one box, I hope I can help expand people’s idea of what strength and femininity can look like.
I think what sets me apart is that I’ve lived a lot of different experiences firsthand. I’m not just coaching from theory — I’ve competed at a high level, built businesses, navigated setbacks, reinvented myself multiple times, and understand what it feels like to balance ambition with real life. My approach is very practical, evidence-based, but also deeply human. I care a lot about helping people build something sustainable, not just chasing quick fixes.
At the end of the day, whether it’s in the gym, on screen, or online, my goal is pretty simple: help people realize they’re capable of more than they think. ⚡️
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
For me, it’s resilience – closely followed by discipline.
I don’t think I’m the most naturally talented person in every room, but I’ve always been willing to stay in the game longer, adapt, and keep showing up when things get hard. Whether it was competing in rugby, bodybuilding, and powerlifting, building a business through incredibly challenging circumstances, or stepping into something as new and intimidating as American Gladiators, resilience has been the common thread.
I’ve learned that success rarely comes from motivation alone. Motivation is fleeting. The people who ultimately succeed are usually the ones who can keep going when things feel uncertain, uncomfortable, or slow.
Discipline has also been huge for me. Especially growing up with a single working mom and then working in fitness and entrepreneurship. You realize pretty quickly that progress is built through consistency – the small things you do repeatedly when no one is watching. Showing up, staying committed to the process, and trusting that the work compounds over time.
But if I had to choose one quality, I’d say resilience because life rarely goes exactly according to plan. The ability to adapt, learn, and keep moving forward despite setbacks has probably been the biggest driver of anything I’ve achieved.
I also think resilience looks different than people expect. Sometimes it’s pushing harder, but sometimes it’s having the humility to pivot, ask for help, or reinvent yourself when needed. That’s something entrepreneurship, sport, and life have taught me over and over again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hybridgymla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellameans/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meansmachine
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellameans/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@daniellameans
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hybrid-gym-los-angeles-los-angeles?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
