Luci Gabel Tiny pic

Hi, I’m Luci Gabel,  MBA, MA, ACE, ACSM.  I help people to embody the qualities of leadership, to be inspiring leaders that others want to follow.

Along with experience and multiple advanced degrees in business, nutrition, and physiology, I’ve held leadership roles in the Department of Defense and private companies, and have been an entrepreneur and start-up founder.

I’ve lived and worked in Seoul, South Korea; New York City, Washington, DC; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Silicon Valley. A former triathlon competitor, blackbelt in Taekwondo, and enthusiast of all kinds of workouts, I like to be where there is plenty of urban excitement, and where outdoor activities and healthy food is easy to find! I currently live in Los Angeles with my husband. After my twenty-plus years of experience and education in leadership and health, I’ve worked to get where I am today. And I know the secrets to having a successful career with uncompromising health in body and mind, and an exceptionally fulfilling life. That’s exactly what I’ll help you to have.

That’s it in a nutshell. If you’d like more details keep reading, or grab a copy of my new book Eat to Lead.

For the first ten years, LuciFit, LLC was a personal training and nutrition company before moving into leadership coaching. Myself and my team of trainers helped executives and entrepreneurs in Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay area successfully incorporate fitness and healthy nutrition into their busy lives through workshops, programs, and one-on-one training and coaching, and corporate work.

Before LuciFit, I was co-founder and managing partner in a start-up where my team and I created a large boutique fitness club and spa in Washington DC, which received awards and press for it’s high standards, beauty and innovation. I was a manager at at a prestigious social club in Honolulu, Hawaii, where I helped the company increase profitability and reach. I was the director  for the U.S. department of defense and developed a resort club and spa in Seoul, Korea; a high profile position where I worked closely with high ranking military and diplomats and earned the Commanders’ Award for Civilian Service.

My formal education includes:

  • Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Johns Hopkin’s University
  • Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology with an emphasis on nutrition and genetics from the University of Maryland, College Park
  • Four-year degree program in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Maryland College Park
  • Bachelor’s Degree in pre-medicine at Binghamton University (SUNY) with an emphasis on medicine and psychology


Throughout my career, I’ve maintained a private coaching clientele as time permitted. 
I’ve helped hundreds of people including executives, entrepreneurs, military officers and royalty.  Many people I worked with also faced health challenges. Because of my formal training in physiology, exercise and nutrition, I’ve also helped clients to dramatically improve their health, from obesity, to diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, post operational joints, post cardiac rehab, cancer survivors, and cancer survivors who are athletes.

I speak from experience when I say “you can be optimally healthy and juggle many other things in life at the same time.” I acquired both master’s degrees inside of 3 years. While partnering in and directing the five-star fitness and spas above I got my black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, competed in triathlons, and other endurance races. I started and grew LuciFit, LLC to a multi-state company with a team of trainers on both coasts within a year. These experiences have given me a unique perspective on business, busy-ness, and how to stay healthy in the modern, demanding lives we lead.

I travel for work and for fun. These days, I live in California, my family lives on the east coast, and my husband has family in Italy which brings me many opportunities for travel. You can see my pictures and musings on food and exercise while I visit exciting places on this blog. You’ll also see posts that focus on leadership and self-leadership and how we balance health with big careers.

You need to be bold enough to claim your health, and your life, in order to be the best version of yourself in your leadership roles. Through 20 years of experience in my fields of expertise, these are the four most important things I’ve learned:

1.) Leaders are those who know how to harness their own energy as well as the energy of others.

The best leaders aren’t born into the role, they’re made through dedication, practice, and learning. They help others to perform at their best so everyone wins.

2.) You’ve got to listen to and respect yourself first, so you can listen to and respect others.

In other words: “We can’t serve from an empty vessel.”

3.) The right food and exercise is the only fountain of  youth.

It will make you younger and stronger—from your skin to your brain, right down to your DNA. In order to have optimal energy for what we do daily, most of us need to eat more, not less, of the right stuff. Interestingly enough, doing so usually leads to weight-loss for those who need and want to lose it. Choosing healthy food that fits your needs and preferences is easy and delicious when you know the basics of how it’s done, and I share that in my new book: Eat to Lead.

Subscribe here to my blog to help you become a more balanced, healthy and well-rounded leader.