We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nathan Stowe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nathan below.

Nathan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Absolutely—and the wild part is how obvious the need is.

Just the other day, a new client found me on Google and said, “Are you seriously the only trainer in Austin who specializes in people over 50?” I laughed—but she wasn’t wrong. In a city of nearly a million people, nearly 1 in 3 adults is over 50. That’s hundreds of thousands of people… with almost no one serving them.

As crazy as it sounds, I’m the only trainer in Austin who’s built an entire business around helping adults over 50 get stronger without getting hurt.

That’s why I built Stowe Training Systems.

No bootcamps. No blaring music. No crowded gyms full of 20-somethings in crop tops jumping up and down until someone throws out their back.

Instead, we use exercise science to build real strength—so my clients can do things like lift a suitcase without throwing out their back, or haul bags of mulch without popping Advil for two days.

And the results speak for themselves. I’ve got nearly 100 five-star Google reviews—not just because I’m the only one doing this, but because I’m pretty damn good at it, too. Some of my favorite clients have lost over 100 pounds. One has Parkinson’s and can still jump at 75. Others went from couch-bound to objectively being in the top 1% of their age group for strength and resting heart rate.

I built a place that helps people not just live longer, but live better—with more energy, confidence, and independence in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.

Look it up: type “Personal Trainer Austin Texas for 50+ Year Olds” into Google. You’ll probably find me—and not many others. That’s exactly the problem I set out to solve.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up bouncing between two very different worlds—a trailer park in Louisiana and a 4,000-acre cattle ranch in Texas. Summers were spent working cattle and driving tractors from “can’t see to can’t see,” while the school year was all about proving my parents right when they told me I could do anything. I graduated valedictorian, co-founded my school’s first student council, and earned a major academic scholarship to Trinity University in San Antonio.

Originally, I wanted to be a teacher and a baseball coach. But growing up, I was told I needed a “real” career—so I chose finance. By senior year of college, though, it was clear I wasn’t built for a desk job. While my classmates were analyzing markets, I was lifting weights, eating a ridiculous amount of grilled chicken, and reading Men’s Health over lunch. I didn’t know what my career would be—but I knew it wasn’t that.

About a year after graduating, still completely lost, a buddy casually mentioned he was getting into personal training. I laughed and said, “You? I didn’t even know you worked out.” But that night, I started Googling—and I never looked back.

Not everyone can say they started their business in a broom closet—but I can. I had to tiptoe just to get my butt past the desk.

I had zero clients and no safety net—just the willingness to show up early, stay late, and put in more reps than anyone else. Over time, that turned into Stowe Training, a personal training studio in Central Austin that specializes in helping people over 50 build real strength, reduce pain, and reclaim confidence in their bodies.

What makes us different? For one, we don’t try to run you into the ground. No bootcamps. No nonsense. Just smart, sustainable strength training that works—even if you’ve got bad knees, a tricky back, or haven’t exercised in decades.

These days, I finish with clients by noon, and I don’t work weekends. That leaves plenty of time to take my 2½-year-old daughter to the park, jump in the pool, and be fully present for my wife Laura. That balance? It’s what I was chasing all along—I just took a different path to get here.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is the idea that “if you do the technical work, then you don’t own a business—you own a job.”

At first, I took that as a putdown. Like I wasn’t a “real” business owner unless I had employees doing the training and a manager overseeing them. I felt like unless I completely removed myself from service delivery, I was somehow failing as an entrepreneur.

Then I had a wake-up call.

I thought about a few other people who also technically have “jobs”—Tiger Woods, Robert Downey Jr., and Toby Keith. Tiger has to sink the putt. Downey has to put on the Iron Man suit. Toby has to sing the songs. They’re not removed from their work. They are the work. And last I checked, they’ve done just fine.

Same thing in the professional world. Doctors still do the doctoring. CPAs do the books. Lawyers go to trial. All “jobs”—but nobody says they aren’t running serious businesses.

So I flipped that whole narrative on its head.

Now, I am Stowe Personal Training. People don’t train with me because I’m available—they train with me because I’ve earned their trust. They know I can get them results without getting them hurt.

Just like a great CPA or surgeon, I’ve built a support team around me to keep the business running strong. I’ve got a bookkeeper, a virtual assistant who repurposes my writing, and a tech stack full of automations handling billing, scheduling, onboarding, and more.

Instead of chasing scale by removing myself, I built a business that generates real income, keeps me in my zone of genius, and gives me the freedom to invest in other assets—like a true business owner.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

There’s a conversation I had with a first-time client that I’ll never forget.

We were just a few minutes into our first session—me trying to feel him out, him sizing me up—when I hit him with my favorite question:
“Now pretend you could close your eyes and open them—one year has passed. What does success look like? What would make you say, ‘I’m so glad I did this and worked out with that Nate guy’?”

He didn’t hesitate.
He looked me dead in the eye and said:
“My wife finally gets off my ass.”

It was hilarious—and oddly honest.

And while I’m not sure his wife ever did get off his ass (she’s actually a client too), what’s remarkable is this: that conversation was 11 years ago, and this guy has basically never missed a workout since.

Even when his wife was sick and he had permission to skip sessions, he kept coming. He told me, “I always feel better after leaving your studio.”

That’s not just a sale—that’s a guy who became part of the furniture. And in this business? That’s the real win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stowetraining.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stowe_training_systems/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoweTraining
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoweTrainingLLC
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stowe-training-systems-austin-3

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