Austin sees herself as “the real normal girl” in Sports Illustrated, representing women who don’t fit the traditional model image. She also brings this approach to her fitness brand, focusing on authenticity rather than perfection.
Despite being the daughter of ’80s fitness icon Denise Austin, Katie’s upbringing was different from the typical weight-loss-focused fitness messages of that era. She explains that her family never emphasized losing weight or chasing a specific body shape. “I was an athlete, and my dad was a professional tennis player,” she says. “Working out was about getting stronger and training for performance, not aesthetics.”
Her parents stressed the importance of physical and mental health before those ideas became popular. “Exercise was about heart health, feeling better, and gaining confidence,” she recalls.
However, once Katie left home and became a college athlete, she faced the harsh realities of diet and exercise culture. She says there was little focus on mental health in college sports, which contributed to anxiety and pressure. “It was always a battle,” she admits.
Her identity was closely tied to being an athlete, but after college, when her intense training ended, she struggled with her body image for the first time. She explains how her routine of heavy carb-loading and protein shakes no longer suited her lifestyle. “I accidentally lost way too much weight,” she says.
Realizing she needed a new fitness routine, Katie kept her struggles private but now encourages others to seek community and support. “It can be really hard to get out of a rut if you’re not motivated or inspired,” she says. “Having a community is really important.”
Unable to find that community, Austin decided to create one herself. While she didn’t plan to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a fitness professional, she embraced the chance to develop her own relatable brand. “I’m the normal girl who works out 30 minutes a day and eats badly about 70% of the time,” she explains. “You can do both—take care of yourself and still enjoy life.”
Austin’s message is clear: fitness and wellness should be about loving your body, not punishing it to meet unrealistic beauty standards. After walking the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway alongside her 65-year-old mother and being honored as Rookie of the Year, she is focused on her own happiness and goals.
“It’s important to remember why you work out,” she says. “It’s not to fit into a mold, but to feel like your best self. I have the best relationship with my body I’ve ever had, and it didn’t happen overnight.”
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