Cynthia Leu is a university recruiter for one of the largest, most influential companies in the world: Facebook. Her job is to identify talent that will innovate and help grow the social media network.
It doesn’t take a keen eye for talent to see that Cynthia is an important personality in the health and wellness space. A military veteran, powerlifter, and social media influencer, Cynthia has established herself as a leader in multiple communities.
It all started around her high school graduation. Cynthia grew up in Cupertino, California, the epicenter of the tech boom and the riches it brought with it. In Cupertino, Cynthia says it is easy to feel small surrounded by all that success. If you weren’t a straight-A student, “you were a failure,” she explained.
Once I started getting physically strong, it built up my confidence to be mentally strong”
It was this insecurity that motivated Cynthia to take a leap few people make. She enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve while attending college at UC Davis. Around that same time, Cynthia took advantage of the emerging social media platforms to document her journey. Cynthia not only offered tips about recipes and fitness regimens, she also provided insight into life in the military. As Cynthia shared her story about being a woman in the military, her profile grew – a phenomenon she calls an “accident.”
According to Cynthia, there were not a lot of resources for woman interested in the military at the time. Her story, and the way she told it, changed that. More and more people began following her, and soon she became an influencer for multiple communities.
Cynthia is perhaps most known for her fitness acumen. An accomplished powerlifter, Cynthia says the powerlifting community used to be “so small” when she first started out. When she competed in a powerlifting competition, for example, there would be four or five other women participating. “Now, when you do a powerlifting competition, half of the competitors are women,” she says.
Cynthia’s love of lifting and fitness was not inherent. She did not grow up as a powerlifting competitor. Life circumstances eventually introduced her to this lifestyle. Since then, she has encouraged other women to adopt strength-related sports. It is this type of influence that separates Cynthia from the other fitness personalities. It is this type of empowerment that makes her an ambassador of fitness.
Watch the Cynthia Leu Profile video below, or learn how fitness saved her life by improving her mental health.
