On top of serving major ab envy, Katie Austin is building a fitness empire.

The trainer, health coach, author, blogger, and model may have picked up a thing or two on how to inspire confidence through fitness from her mom—the iconic queen of spandex and home fitness tapes, Denise Austin. Katie has followed in her mother’s footsteps by building a community of fitness seekers and an app for those looking for new routines, recipes, and ways to get sore.

The former D1 college athlete knows a thing or two about conditioning the human body, and that deep-seated discipline is now powering her career. Below, the 25 year-old health expert sat with the C&C team to talk about what’s next for her digital wellness movement.

You played D1 lacrosse at USC. How has your background in sports affected your career path?

I’ve played lacrosse ever since I was 7 years old, so I think it taught me hard work, discipline, and time management from a young age. Those attributes have definitely helped me start my business and my career. I think playing sports definitely played a huge role in wanting to do fitness as a career, too. I did running/lifting tests for lacrosse since middle school, so fitness has really always been a part of my life. I love being surrounded by athletes. There’s a strong work ethic to every athlete out there that I really respect.

Being a fitness influencer is a big responsibility—what do you hope young girls and women take away from following you online?

I think being a fitness/health influencer is the best- just because you’re giving girls a positive takeaway. I really hope girls can learn how to better themselves, but in a real and practical way. It’s really important in this day and age to know that a lot of the stuff you see online isn’t attainable in real life. I want to empower girls with easy ways they can get fit, eat healthy, but still live their damn life.

If you weren’t working in fitness or social media, what would you be doing instead?

Well I am also a sports host! I co-host a Friday night show on Fox Sports West, and do some basketball hosting here and there. So I would definitely be pursuing that a bit harder!

Tell us about a time you failed, and how you turned that moment into opportunity.

Ohhh many of times!! So I have an app now, with workouts, recipes, challenges, etc., and it looks like it was super easy for me to just build something like that. Well, nobody knows that I actually built an app before.. I saved up $20,000 in college, and put it all towards an app. Long story short, it was terrible hahah. But I waited two years, and tried again!! It wasn’t a failure because I AM SO HAPPY it happened! I learned so much about what went wrong, how to make it better, and go stronger the next time. Every failure teaches me something great.

Where does your passion/drive come from?

Two answers. My parents! They both came from nothing, and grew their businesses from the ground up in their twenties. They inspire me like crazy! Then second, the girls who follow me and my workouts. I see their posts, stories, or messages to me and it makes me just want to help more and more people across the world.

What would you say to the haters who think Instagram isn’t a “real” job?

I’ve actually lost a friend over this… She would make fun of me for “instagramming for a job.” And it used to bother me, but now it doesn’t. Bring on the haters- they have no clue how much work goes into creating content, building a brand, creating and managing a blog/app/site, maintaining customer service, engaging back to your audience, pitching yourself, and SO much more. It’s funny though, because whenever a friend who isn’t a social media influencer sees the amount of work we put in they always say, “oh my gosh, I had no idea.” So I think it’s really that people just don’t understand it.

Watch our interview with Katie on the set of our Create & Cultivate 100 photoshoot.

What about your job makes you feel the most fulfilled?

Seeing girls feel accomplished, feel confident, and feel so great about themselves!! Even if it’s just a recipe they like of mine, or a workout, if I can just make another girl happy in the slightest, I feel fulfilled!! Truly.

What are some of your hobbies outside of fitness?

Hanging out with my friends! Anyone who follows my instagram stories… first off, I am sorry. I like to have fun haha. I love my girlfriends. And Sex and the City for the 38th time.

When you hit a bump or hurdle in your career, how do you find new roads + switch gears to find success?

I can definitely get down on myself when I hit a bump or hurdle. First off, I make sure to calm myself down and try not to be stressed out! Then I reassess what went wrong, or how I can be better. To keep up my motivation, I like creating new projects. I like to think of new creative things, guides, series, challenges, etc. I always like to switch it up with new content!

What are you most excited for in 2019?

Most excited about being 25, and really feeling like this is the first year I KINDA know what I’m doing with my life. Haha but seriously…

Photography by Annie McElwain Photography

Photoshoot skincare provided by Dermalogica