About 

Norbert Simonis

From Zero To Hero

My Story

A shy, weak young boy filled with doubts becoming a confident, healthy, successful and ambitious businessman.
Hello I’m Norbert Simonis and this is my story.

I was born in Romania in a city named Brasov, then raised in a small village called Talmaciu to a loving family. My family were living in poverty and I had no exposure to the real world. 

This reflected on my character as I was not able to look at myself in the mirror nor express myself through my body language. I was unable to recognize myself and always felt I was unattractive, useless and living a half-life. I knew deep down that something wasn’t right, but I found it incredibly difficult to express myself. I was disillusioned with the world around me, disappointed at my prospects, and this was only made worse knowing I was living under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Romania.

Living under the rule of communism damaged my understanding and basic exposure to the real world. We were ultimately disconnected from the world and were unaware of basic knowledge of human daily needs. For example, at the age of eight, I had never ever seen or heard of a banana. Due to the severe isolation I faced, I did not know what music was, and had a very limited understanding of technology. Surviving in Talmaciu, especially enduring the poorest living conditions, was exhausting. At the age of eight, I decided to go to school and educate myself in order to have some exposure and learn something new. However, I was educated in difficult circumstances and by the end of the final academic term, my parents decided to move to Germany to provide a brighter future for me and my brother. Whilst in the plane, I looked out of the window and the scenery outside was astonishing. I was amazed and excited to start a new journey with my loved ones in a safer country. When we landed, we were taken to a warehouse where over one hundred people were staying. There were bunk beds where families were residing. I did not how long this would last for but watching children cry and families living in this state of hardship and penury broke my heart and I prayed I could do something to change this. This made me feel impotent and once again I knew this wasn’t right. I did not know what to do nor did I know what to expect due to the lack of exposure.

My father knew that we were finding it very tough and decided to rent a two bedroom apartment for the four of us. This made us all very happy because our dream was to have a small place with the family and live in peace under one roof. After getting a new home, it was time to start attending school and working towards a bright future through education. On my first day of school, I immediately felt comfortable and I got to have a deeper insight into what a normal school was like. Not only was I new to the German schooling system, I could not understand a word in German. I was lost, uncomfortable and didn’t know where to begin. In other words, I had to start from zero and learn German from the alphabet. This was a great challenge as every student around me was conversing in German, but I couldn’t understand a word. Despite these initial barriers, I was introduced to a new life full of great opportunities which was very unusual for me. To me, a TV which had entertainment was extremely surprising. Listening to different types of music, learning to use technological devices were also new experiences. This was all ordinary to the people around me, but I was constantly in awe in my first few years in Germany.

Attending school was very difficult for me at first because I was a frail, small child and was unable to communicate in German. My nervousness at my new surroundings was apparent in my facial expressions and it made me an easy target for bullies. Other children around me were very well spoken, expressive, self-convinced especially through their German language speaking skills. This frustrated me to no end, as I felt I couldn’t express myself. My father saw that the language barrier was becoming a problem therefore, he decided to implement a new rule in the house by ensuring the only language we communicate in was German. This helped me learn new vocabulary, improve my pronunciation and enhanced my listening skills. Initially, starting a new life in a foreign country was extremely challenging, especially with all the prejudice I faced. The language barrier was a huge obstacle but I worked to develop my language skills and today German has become as strong as my mother tongue. I also gained German nationality which helped open many doors for me.

During my academic life, I knew I was not always a studious individual especially because I felt that formal education was not for me. I did not consider it as my passion and this was reflected in low grades at school. I was told all my life at high school, college and university that I was a complete failure. Hideous predictions were always made about my future and the dreadful comments were something I became used to. Nevertheless, at the age of sixteen, I opted to participate in various sports activities, I was working out daily at the gym and watching inspirational sport movies. I was taking up all these activities because I wanted to use my time wisely and explore every avenue to see what suited me, but I still did not know what my final goal was. One day I woke up and felt different, it was like a switch had turned on within me. I felt better but I was unable to pin down the cause of this new feeling. My family, friends and others around me noticed that I was growing immensely in stature, my physique became strong and muscular. This made me feel very content and when I looked in the mirror I was able to appreciate the man I was becoming. However, I needed money and did not have any stable form of income, I was in dire need of a job. I applied for a job painting walls, I immediately got it. The company paid me $8 per hour, two weeks’ worth of salary was $640 and so I was excited to begin. Within the first week, the monotony of the task and the tediousness of the job was apparent, and I felt myself becoming more restless as time passed. I left this job soon after. Working normal hours and earning a normal wage did not attract me and I knew this life wasn’t suitable for me. I spent a lot of time alone and thought about what I wanted in life, despite my dire circumstances, I was optimistic. My objective was to make $2000 per month doing a job I was passionate about. This was the new beginning of my journey and my life was going to change, I could feel it.

I always battled with my insecurities, self-confidence was an aim of mine, and I know I needed to build it in order to be successful. I did not know where to start from, there were so many levels to my insecurities. All my friends were financially stable and had girlfriends but I had neither, I felt defeated. Again, I concluded that I was a failure, futile and incapable of achieving anything beneficial in life. I knew my parents dream was for me to go to university and graduate with a degree. I submitted my application with my terrible grades and hoped to get accepted for the undergraduate degree for mechanical engineering. I was extremely happy on the acceptance on my application despite my low performance during school and college. My parents very extremely happy and this was the driving force in my decision. Again, my financial issues were not improving and I was always in need of money.

I wanted to enjoy myself and went to discover a nightclub for the first time ever. There was a DJ and dancer who approached me because they liked my physical appearance and asked me question regarding how I worked to get a defined physique. My defined muscles brought a lot of attention and I was offered a part time job at the nightclub. The salary offered was $50 per night which was sufficient for me, especially as it was something I would enjoy. Both told me to practice and imitate professional dancers in front of the mirror during my own time. I listened to their advice and practiced daily to ensure that my skills improved. I was interacting with women at the club and was exposed to a new world. Now dancing was something I had never done before in my life, but I was determined to give it my best shot.I remember quite vividly, dancing at the club one night and the audience being astonished with my performance asking me to dance more. I was recognized for my passion, I felt comfortable for the first time in myself and my abilities. My hard work was appreciated, I became a household name in my city and my income increased to $250 a night! However, my parents were heartbroken because they didn’t imagine that I’d ever work as dancer, they advised me to focus on my studies and pursue my career through academic qualifications. I disagreed as this was the first time in my life that I felt a strong sense of success. This was my first stepping stone into the world of business.

My first ever business was called Golden Babes and it was a talent agency, outsourcing dancers to various organisations. I was still dancing and making money but my income increased immensely as I was earning commissions on the dancers I sent for jobs. I was planning events for the biggest clubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This was my main business running and to help me use my time and earn extra income, I decided to open small companies such as networking marketing. This enabled me to learn new skills and apply them effectively to help the businesses succeed. Due to my businesses doing exceptionally well, my parents were shocked to see me making a large source of income through my hard work and dedication. My parents deep down knew I was thriving for great achievement and prosperity in life. They saw I was a one man army who was making more money than both of them put together. However, they were still very adamant that I finished my studies and were aware that I was making a huge amount of money, even more than my university professor. I chose to withdraw from my bachelor’s degree. My parents were very unhappy but I knew I would make them proud and provide them with the best future through my hard work and determination.

My hard work paid off very well and I was appearing on TV channels, newspapers, social media and people would recognize me wherever I went. My parents, especially my mother, could not believe how her shy, nervous son had changed 360 degrees to a renowned, strong and confident individual. As my career accelerated, I became very confident, money was not an issue anymore and women were attracted to me. Throughout this period I continued working out and dancing, I soon came to realize that fitness was a major factor in my success. Fitness disciplines a person, which has an impact on his health, boosts confidence and enables you to work hard which is necessary for success.

I recognized the first secret to life is what I gonna share with you now the meaning of:

“Health = Wealth”

Through the world of fitness and health, I was able to reach from zero to hero. I religiously believe if one starts to focus on their health and gets fit, success will shine in everything one does. I was becoming more successful through my dance career, my dance agency and through the marketing company but my aim was to stop at the age of thirty. I needed a new business venture, change was needed and I naturally opted to pursue something in the world of fitness. At the age of twenty-eight, I discovered the EMS Fitness device which helped me learn and open my first ever fitness studio in Romania. Whilst I had briefly heard about the EMS Fitness device at the age of twenty-six, I was not convinced and believed it was an easy way out of a disciplined workout regimen. This was because I like every other person believed one had to attend the gym daily and lift weights to become fit. Once I religiously studied about the device, I implemented it in my life and delivered the best service to my clients, the results spoke for themselves. I used the device on myself and trained the dancers to have the right body for their performances on stage.

When I bought the EMS fitness device, I wanted to open a studio in Germany but the competition was extremely high as it is a German made product. There was an EMS studio at every corner. I saw potential in my home country Romania. I left for Romania and decided to opened my first ever studio there. Again my mother was extremely shocked and did not know why I made this decision. My girlfriend was not convinced, she did not believe in my decision and subsequently our relationship ended. My friends constantly told me that I was making a wrong decision because I had fame, money and success in Germany and there was no distinctive reason for me to go back to a poor country like Romania. This is when I realized the magnitude of what I was doing, I was starting a new life from scratch.

I went out and bought the EMS fitness device and equipment required for the training. I had $6000 in my pocket, packed all my things in my car and drove to Romania. Launching my first ever BodyTime studio in Romania was my ultimate goal and I invested $6000 of my savings into this venture. When I arrived in Romania, I had no experience, no internet, a lack of funds to launch and market the studio. I had to work day and night, my money finished and I needed to survive. However, I had one concrete vision which was to open one hundred branches in the time frame of two years. Again I had to start from zero and learn everything needed by myself. I learned how to design websites, promote through different strategies to market at the right target audience, design my logo, paint my studio and prepare all the attire for the training to provide an excellent service and results. I was working more than twenty hours per day from two computers to save time during uploading important information. I slept illegally in my studio to save money and achieve my goals.

When the studio opened, there were hard times and I had to save every penny towards my second studio. At times, I was left with nothing but as a results orientated individual I was able to meet my targets and then launched my second studio. Then I opened my third branch and the numbers of studios increased. By the end of the second year I had opened eighteen branches and at the very end of the third year, I became a renowned market leader and built a solid team that gave me the freedom to become a real business owner. This resulted in me not needing to work in the branches as the employees were taking good care of it and managing the business effectively. Whenever I speak to my main distributor who is also a very close friend he always says “Norbert you know that time when you bought your first Device, we were laughing that a dancer from Germany will open a studio in Romania and now you’ve become the biggest in the Romanian market and lead the market with ultimate success.”

After all sweat, blood and tears, I was the first person in my group of friends to become a millionaire. My friends who used to underestimate my abilities, are shocked at how far I’ve come. Now people listen to what I have to say and I was seeing the meaning and power of success. My hard work made me respected amongst my family, friends and society at large. My journey did not stop there because four years later in 2014 at the age of thirty-two, my goal became to launch EMS in Dubai. After conducting extensive research, there was great need in the market. The national language for the Emirates is Arabic but English is widely spoken due to high rate of expats residing in the country. I did not have a lot knowledge of the English language and was a complete beginner. I started to take English classes to ensure I can provide the best advice to the market and again my journey became very tough in the new country and market. Again I was at zero and the journey was challenging but I managed to open twelve branches in one year and become a multi-millionaire and a renowned market leader in Dubai. I fought a lot and then in return I won. Many years of experience, determination, hard work, failures, mistakes and relentlessness led me to become a successful businessman. This cost me my own hard earned money and twenty years of my life through different channels to help me get where I am today.

My main motto in life is to help others to become successful in their dreams by caring about them and guiding them towards success. Today I am teaching many different individuals to help each other and move forward. Share your valuable knowledge, think positive and thrive in all that you do. At the beginning of the year 2018, I have altered my business model and believe that making my business a franchise will help others to become successful. Together we can grow faster and stronger. Peace needs to be maintained through mutual appreciation and learning from each other’s experiences as life is too short to learn from your own mistakes.

What people want is Health | Wealth | Relationships these are the core human motivators and they are achievable first through Health! If you are healthy and fit you achieve wealth! If you achieve health and wealth you achieve relationships and this is what I teach you, step by step, how to achieve easy and fast with my experience of 20 years.

Norbert Simonis

CEO & Founder Body Time