We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Austin Santee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Austin below.
Austin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?
There’s an ancient African proverb that reads…If you want to go FAST, go alone. But… if you want to go FAR, go together.
For much of my life, I have chosen to go fast… even at the start of the Spartan race, I had to fight the urge to want to run it as quickly as possible because that’s what we’re taught.
However, let me tell you about a time in which I chose to do the latter.
Steven and I had been Instagram friends since 2020, we had been following each other and rooting each other on for the past couple years. He reached out to me one day on Instagram to see if I would share my insights with him about my experience doing a Spartan race. I called him later that week, and I remember him recalling,
“I woke up normal one morning & by the end of the day lost complete control over my body. My body forgot every reflex, movement, & sensation. My life changed over-night.” Steven was telling me about the day he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare auto-immune disorder in which your body’s immune system attacks your nerves.
I knew that Steven had been in recovery for quite some time, but hearing it flow so effortlessly from his mouth made me realize that he has come to terms with this disorder.
I told him about my incredible experience with the Spartan Race, and encouraged him to go for it!
Then, he politely asked if I would be willing to do it with him!
I have to admit when he first asked me… I was hesitant. I had seen his videos showing remarkable progress in his recovery, but he was still reliant upon crutches to walk. I wasn’t sure I was equipped to help him accomplish this feat… yet something inside me screamed, “Yes” and I am so glad that I did!
Two months later Steven and I met before race day for the first time in person, and yet strangely it felt so familiar.
During the race, Steven’s sheer will, determination, and grit inspired me and nearly every single person who raced alongside us. Steven responded to each person who verbally supported him with his own praise and encouragement… no matter how exhausted he was.
His positivity is contagious. He inspires me to be more kind, more generous, and more giving of my time and knowledge.
Throughout the race, there were several times when I thought there was no way we were going to be able to do some of the obstacles. Yet sure enough, obstacle after obstacle, together, we were able to step up to the challenge and find a way to make it happen!
Looking at the photos, it may seem as if I carried the team. The truth is Steven hiked nearly all three and a half miles on his own and crushed the race. I’m grateful he asked me to be a part of this experience because it provided one of the greatest paradigm shifts in my life to date.
Here’s what I Learned:
• We truly are better together
• Nothing great is ever accomplished by just one person
• Life is more meaningful when shared with others
Life is a long journey, if you take away one
thing from this story, I hope it’s this…
No road is too long with good company, so I hope you choose to take the road with others, help them, support them, believe in them, and love them because that’s what makes the journey worthwhile!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Seeing me now, I’m not sure if you can believe it but I used to hate the gym. It was intimidating to me because I felt inadequate and I had no idea what I was doing, so I was confused and embarrassed every time I walked in. Once I realized why I was insecure and lacked confidence in pretty much every area of my life – it was time for a change.
I had a couple of experts take me under their wings. They taught me how to eat and train properly, and over the past twelve years I have never once looked back! The key decision was surrounding myself with people who built me up, but the key to success was consistency.
It’s had such a profound impact on my life that I decided to make it my life’s work to give back and to teach others those things I needed to learn. It’s never too late to join the gym and learn how to transform your body. Alongside this, I teach my clients to have a more positive self-image, exude confidence, learn self-discipline, and become happier in the process.
When I started sharing my passion for health and fitness with others 5 years ago, I realized that personal training required a whole lot more than just training. After working with hundreds of clients. I realized that most people need more than a personal trainer, many are dealing with nagging aches and pains, or lingering injuries and need help rehabbing them. So many more are confused about what and how much to eat, quite simply because they were never taught! A lot of people need legitimate help with motivation and mindset, and quite a few just needed a friend, someone to hold them accountable, and believe in them… more than they believe in themselves sometimes.
Now after completing my MBA, several training certificates, nutrition courses, and learning quite a bit of human psychology I’ve become the coach that can finally do it all, whether people need help with fitness, nutrition, mindset, or all of the above. I have the unique ability to help people completely transform their lives, and it’s what I love to do.
After helping hundreds of clients lose weight, gain muscle, fix nagging injuries, build self-esteem, and exude self-confidence in person I have discovered that my passion lies in helping people accomplish real change in their lives. Hence, I’ve decided to take my personal training business fully online to pursue my Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology to help individuals at a much deeper level. Though I’ll spend the next 3-5 years in this Ph.D. program, I’ll be implementing what I learn immediately into my coaching. Real change comes from the inside, and I want to educate and empower as many people as I can to love and believe in themselves so they can live a happy, healthy, fulfilling life!
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
The ability to understand people from all walks of life, because each person has different wants, needs, and desires. The key to being a great coach is identifying what truly matters most to each individual you’re working with, which often tends to be either a pain point they need help alleviating or a goal they need help achieving. Then I do everything in my power to help alleviate that pain point or progress towards accomplishing that goal. It’s that simple… and that difficult.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Do a great job and make sure everyone knows about it! Nowadays doing a great job is only half the battle, people have to know that you/your service exists to benefit from it. For so long, I thought that simply doing my job exceptionally well was enough, but what I now understand is that people have so many options available to them that it becomes difficult to sift through the fluff – paralysis by analysis. Therefore, doing a great job not only ensures that your clients love you and keep coming back to you, but they’ll also tell their friends and family about you. Once your clients begin talking about how much of a positive impact you’ve had on their life, that’s when you know you’ve found your calling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.austinsantee.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/austinsantee
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austin.santee.9/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinsantee/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustinSantee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuKYaiar88DGnach_I4wmw
Image Credits
Jason Luu