Katie Austin Launched Her Career Out Love Of Sports And Fitness
Katie Austin attends the 2022 ESPYs at Dolby Theatre on July 20, 2022 in Hollywood, California. ... More (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Katie Austin's first foray into sports came via lacrosse, where she played Division I lacrosse at the University of Southern California. She joined USC as a freshman in 2013, yet the move to Los Angeles was also to pursue other future endeavors in sports.
'I loved USC, loved the coach, and loved playing the game,' Austin said, during our late April interview. 'But my whole dream was to be the next Erin Andrews.'
Right away at USC, Austin got involved in sports broadcasting, first as a student journalist covering her powerhouse college's sports teams. Then, shortly after graduation, Austin was hired to report and later host a sports show on Fox Sports West.
However, there was another significant aspect of Austin's upbringing that would significantly impact her career: fitness. After all, her mother, Denise Austin, is nothing short of an icon in the fitness world.
'Ever since I was little, fitness has been part of my life. My mom had her own fitness TV show for 25 years, and I traveled with her on-site," she said, even when she was very young.
So, perhaps it was either destiny or pedigree that led Katie Austin to her career now as one of the premier fitness pros.
"It just kind of worked out on its own, allowing me to combine my love of fitness and love of sports as an athlete, but also being in front of the camera, into being a fitness personality and doing workout videos.
Currently, Austin operates an online fitness platform called Katie Austin On-Demand Studio, which offers online classes for dance cardio, at-home strength training, HIIT training, kickboxing, and Pilates and Barre. Many of Austin's 400-plus on-demand workouts are approximately 20 minutes long, while there are also live options for her subscribers.
Austin hints that having a personal connection with your audience, especially in the crowded fitness space, is essential to growing a brand.
'One thing my mom always taught me is how to always have a smile on your face. So it comes naturally to me."
Austin also said that she keeps up with the live 'pop-up' workout sessions that she's been doing for years, not just in her adopted hometown of L.A. but also in other cities, such as Dallas and New York City, coming to where some of her most dedicated audience members live.
'Offering fitness classes online, obviously, you can just reach so many more people. But you're connecting with people from different parts of the country over a workout. I thought that was the coolest thing.'
Starting in the early 1990s, Katie's mom, Denise Austin, became one of America's most widely recognized fitness experts. Throughout her career, the elder Austin released over 50 home video workouts and served as chairperson of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition from 2002 to 2009. Other past chairpersons of the council include Lou Ferrigno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Florence Griffith Joyner.
VIDEO: Katie Austin and her mom, Denise, tag-team the Rachael Ray show.
And while Jane Fonda is credited as the first major celebrity to produce a mass-market home workout video, Katie Austin thinks her mother took it to the next level. 'My mom pioneered the regular home workout and made it so people didn't have to leave their homes to be fit.'
Five years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and subsequent shelter-in-place orders propelled digital platforms like Zoom into the mainstream. Yet, some lifestyle activities, such as at-home fitness, were already booming in virtual formats.
'For me, it's always been a thing, but, yes, the pandemic made more people aware of how accessible at-home fitness is, and how transformative it can be.'
Austin also believes that online fitness platforms like hers have been most helpful to those whose lifestyles are constantly in flux and want fitness on their terms.
'I remember when I stopped playing lacrosse, I didn't know what to do at the gym. I always had a coach telling me what to do,' Austin said. 'I really was starting it for the community of girls and ex-athletes who maybe didn't know how to work out. I think it's something that works especially for busy moms, working women, and girls who don't feel confident enough going to the gym.'
Along with her live and on-demand workouts, Austin offers a comprehensive healthy eating regimen and repertoire as a food enthusiast, providing free, fun, easy recipes on her blog that span every type of food and cuisine, from tacos and tofu to cocktails and desserts.
'I have a 98% female audience on my app,' she said, 'but I have some older and middle-aged men who subscribe, who tell me they love my recipes because they are the ones who cook for their families."
Her father, Jeff Austin, is a former tennis player and a longtime sports agent. He's also the head of Octagon's basketball division.
'From my perspective as a sports agent for over 40 years, I am so proud of how Katie attacks her career. She has combined a crazy work ethic with professionalism and a long view of her career. No shortcuts. No brand deals that are not authentic to her—and building relationships, not just transacting.'
Jeff can't help but conjure up one of his biggest clients, Steph Curry, crediting her 'combination of work ethic and joy' as a big part of her success.
Katie Austin attends the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue release party at Hard Rock Hotel New ... More York on May 18, 2023 in New York City. (Photo byfor Sports Illustrated Swimsuit)
Outside her growing fitness empire, Austin plans to continue her work as a television personality, including the realm of red carpet events. Most recently, she worked as a celebrity interviewer at the Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACMs, on May 8.
On top of all that, Austin is a veteran of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She appeared first as the 2021 'Swim Search co-winner' and again as the '2022 co-Rookie of the Year.' Austine returns to the fold for the 2025 issue, which hits newsstands this week.
MJ Day, who has been editor in chief of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue since 2014, thinks that Austin is much more than just lively and photogenic. She believes Katie speaks to people of all ages and fitness levels.
'Katie Austin inspires a new generation to embrace their bodies, prioritize mental health, and redefine what fitness and beauty truly mean,' Day said. "As she celebrates her fifth year shooting with SI Swimsuit, we couldn't be prouder of everything she's achieved."
No matter what the venue, Austin emphasized that having a true connection to people is important to everything she does.
'I want to make sure I'm always sticking to my roots. I want to make sure I'm loyal to my audience, I'm authentic, and that I'm there for people wherever they are in their fitness journey.'
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"(I'm) going, 'My brothers aren't my brothers, I'm not Hungarian, I'm not related to all my family that I grew up with in Hungary,'" she said. It started to make sense to her why during her childhood "everyone asked me if I was Italian." Once she drove to the home of one of her brothers, she asked him if he knew about Sardelli being her biological father. "I'm very, very, very, very close with my brother, and he didn't (know), so then that was also confusing," she said. "And then I went up to my dad's house, and I was hysterically crying and in a state." She said Mickey Hargitay was in the process of physically building her a home when she asked him about Sardelli. "So I drive up to the house that he is building me and confront him, and he was like, 'What? What are you talking about? Are you crazy? That's so not true,'" she said. "He kept saying, 'You look like my father, you look exactly like my father, you're a Hargitay to the end,'" she continued. "The irony is that I'm more like my dad than anyone in our whole family. Like, I am mini-Mickey, right? And so it was just a very extraordinarily painful moment. I say that this is the moment that I became an adult, and it's so visceral for me because I was in so much pain, I was so overwhelmed." Despite finding out the stunning truth about her bloodline, she did not press Mickey Hargitay on the issue. "I was so overwhelmed and I was in the 'me, me, me, me, oh, my gosh, my life is over,' and then looking at this man who's been nothing but loving to me and nothing but this amazing father to me, and I saw his pain," she said. "And I said, 'It doesn't matter what I feel. I love him. We're done here.' "And so I said, 'OK, thank you for telling me,' and I pretended that I believed him, and we never spoke of it again," she continued. "And then he used to say, even before he died, 'Remember when you thought that crazy thing?' And I go, 'I know, wasn't that nuts?'" 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"I'm so grateful for this life to grow into the miracle of my story, and having this comprehensive understanding and getting the full perspective and now seeing that I had such a limited, teeny, teeny, teeny sliver of the truth (at the time)," she said. This article was originally published on
