Austin Page | From Black Out Drunk, to Starting Over, to Building the Person You Admire Through Positive Daily Habits

“You’re only as good as the example you set.” ~ Austin Page

In this episode of the Remarkable People Podcast, we hear the compelling story of Austin Page, who transformed his life from being a blackout drunk to a successful personal trainer. Austin shares his experience of hitting rock bottom after a near-fatal drunk driving accident, his long road to recovery through rehab and intensive physical therapy, and how fitness became the catalyst for positive change in his life. He discusses practical daily habits and the mindset shifts that helped him rebuild his life. Austin also speaks about the challenges and lessons learned as he transitioned from working at Gold’s Gym to starting his own successful personal training business. Through his journey, Austin emphasizes the importance of setting a good example, committing to daily improvement, and providing holistic support to clients. The episode concludes with Austin’s advice for aspiring personal trainers and his current endeavors, highlighting his passion for helping others achieve their fitness and life goals.

SHOW NOTES & LINKS: 

• Website: https://gymflocoaching.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austin.page.146
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apageman
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gymflocoaching

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Transcript

Austin Page | From Black Out Drunk, to Starting Over, to Building the Person You Admire Through Positive Daily Habits

David Pasqualone: Hello friend. Welcome to this week's episode, the Remarkable People Podcast, the Austin Page story. This week Austin talks to us about being a blackout drunk to hitting rock bottom, still making mistakes. Going back to that after he was in the hospital and rehab for almost 12 weeks, and then when it finally, the switch flicks, he talks about.

His life, the daily habits he did to change things in a positive way, the path his life took. And just like always on our show, whether you're a first time listener and been with us all six years, he talks about the practical tips of what he did to succeed. So you can too that at the end of the show, whether you want to be a personal trainer or a personal trainer in trying to grow your business.

Or know someone who wants to be a personal trainer and grow their business. He talks to us about the business side of man, if I could talk to my [00:01:00] old self, then with what I know now, this is what I do. So there's a wealth of knowledge for people who are or want to be personal trainers that'll help be a catalyst to your career, not just for your financial wealth.

But also to be purposeful with your clients and to make a difference in the world that matters. So check out this remarkable episode now. 

Epic Voice Guy: The Remarkable People Podcast, check it out,

the Remarkable People Podcast. Listen, do Repeat for Life,

the Remarkable People Podcast.

David Pasqualone: Hey Austin. How are you today? Doing well, man. I appreciate you having me on. [00:02:00] Oh, it's an honor and a pleasure. I just told our listeners a little bit about you and what to expect in this episode, but straight from your mouth, if they're gonna take the time out of their schedule and spend it with us for this next 30 minutes, hour, hour and a half, whatever it is, I don't know yet 'cause we haven't recorded it.

But if they're gonna share life with us, what do you guarantee them? By the end of this episode, they will be able to learn and apply to their lives so they're better humans. 

Austin Page: Learning what I learned through my own mistakes, which is controlling my controllables, creating a new, new identity through myself or into myself through actionable daily actionable tasks and habits.

So, uh, mo most importantly, building a person you would admire through daily habits. 

David Pasqualone: Nice. And that sounds a lot like our slogan. I don't know if you're familiar with it. Listen to repeat for life, listen to great content from Austin, ladies and gentlemen. Do it, but then repeat it, those daily habits each day so [00:03:00] you can have a great life in this world, but more importantly, an eter to come.

So we are gonna get this episode started with our friend Austin, right after the short affiliate commercial. And then you will hear from Austin his story and how it'll help you see you in 60 seconds.   

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David Pasqualone: Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. Austin, let's do this.

Tell us about your life. What were your beginnings like? Good, bad, ugly. Pretty, pretty ugly. Everything that happens makes us the men and women. We are, well, we're men, but you know what I mean. And, uh, what was your life, what was your life like starting out? 

Austin Page: Uh, so that, that point in the, in my life, the flip of the switch moment that sort of happened for me was, uh, in my early twenties back in, I.[00:05:00] 

2010. So quite a little bit of time ago, but it's taken this much time to develop the person I am sitting here today. And, uh, at that point in time, I was sort of lost, didn't have a purpose any type of path, direction, or like future site for myself. And that site that I was living in was short term living for the weekends, Thursday through Sunday.

I look forward to that. Look forward to getting drunk. Chasing, chasing chicks, chasing bad things, nothing that was returning to me, only sabotaging me and quite frankly, looking for happiness in the same places that I was losing it. And that was thinking I was a rockstar during the weekends and thinking I was 10 foot tall and bulletproof, superman, and, uh, it took a night out and then a drunk driving accident, which involved myself that flipped that switch and realized that things got real, real quick with the lifestyle I was living.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, we kind of jumped into your 20 and that's great. Yeah. But in order for us to connect, you know, there's people all over the [00:06:00] world, different cultures, different nations. W what set you up to that point again? Were you only child, did you have a big family, divorced parents, happy marriage? Like what was just a quick background of you so people can see what set you up for this point in life?

Austin Page: For sure. Uh, no, I was not an only child. I was actually a middle child of a pretty decent sized family. I had three brothers and three sisters. Nice and, uh, so a decent sized family. My parents were divorced when I was young, probably when I, I was three or four. I don't really remember it. And, uh, I grew up with pretty much my mom raising me.

Uh, I had a stepfather within my life and he was a great, great guy. Great, a great role model, a hard worker, but I don't think I ever felt a fatherly figure out of it. And I'm not sure what a fatherly figure is, quite frankly. Uh, I just never really had one. Um, my dad was around my real dad, but. Even after the divorce and going over to his house on weekends, I'd only see him once every other maybe week or so, uh, up until I was maybe 13.

And then I stopped seeing him at [00:07:00] all. I stopped going to his house because I, I didn't really like my stepmother. The, the woman that he married, she was a, she was an evil bitch, just quite frankly, and still is. But, uh, so I don't really see him much anymore. But, uh, growing up had everything that I wanted, uh, wouldn't say I was.

Above middle class, but a nice middle class family, I guess, like most people. And, uh, didn't have to really ask for much, wasn't, I don't think entitled, I had to work for many things that I had. But, uh, I think that the spiral of events that made me sort of thinking back, lash out and or go into that chasing.

Uh, excite, uh, excitement, uh, trying to be the popular guy, trying to be something that I truly wasn't and truly wasn't happy with, was, uh, probably being sent into a private school when I was younger. And so from about 13 on, 13 years old and [00:08:00] on, I was, uh, went to public school growing up, elementary school, somewhat of middle school, and then was pulled from middle, middle school as my mother and stepfather decided to move out of town.

I. To a smaller way, more rural, uh, place. And the school system wasn't that great and they wanted me to go to private school, so I didn't have any choice in that. I went to this small private school and when I mean small K through 12, there was maybe 45 50 people total. So for people that were my age growing up from 14 to graduating were, I mean, there might've been two or three other people around my age.

David Pasqualone: See daily, that can either be the best or the worst circumstance. 'cause if you like the kids, it's awesome. Yeah. But if you don't like the kids you're with, it stinks. 

Austin Page: Yeah. Fortunately. Uh, well the crazy thing is I dated pretty much the only girl that was my age in that because it was kind of forced. Yeah.

Um, you know, I didn't know anybody else. And also I was pretty [00:09:00] cool or able to hang out with. Most everybody. Of course, there's people that you disliked or wouldn't hang around much. But I think once I, once I got to about 11th grade, I. So I need to reverse that back. I went to that private school from about 13 to 16, my 11th grade year.

I begged and begged and begged, uh, to go back to public school because I was getting a little older. I wanted to, I just wanted to go back to public school. So I went to public school, 11th and 12th grade year down in that rural town, and I hit the ground running. Once I got back in there, I was like, oh, okay.

Well. I wanted to be the popular guy. Let me, how did, how do you become the popular guy? You throw the parties, you go to the parties, you become the life of the party. You, you, you know, you, uh, at least that's, that was my thought. And I, I chased after that. And that, I guess slowly but surely began the habit of chasing after the weekends.

Worrying about where are we going on Thursday? What are we doing Friday? What are we doing Saturday? And maybe what are we doing Sunday? And then making it back through the week Until then. [00:10:00] Uh, went throughout, like went throughout high school like that and in my college years as well. Um, and, and college it got even worse because most of the time I'd skip, skip class and go drink during the middle of the day.

Uh, it depends, but was was just into some bad, bad lifestyle decisions and habits and. Not, not outside of drinking and chasing and partying. I was getting arrested for speeding and, you know, very reckless. Again, I thought I was a rockstar. Nothing, nothing could touch me. Nothing bad would ever happen to me.

I wouldn't ruin myself. I wouldn't hurt myself. But that was all wrong, you know? Especially when you're living like that, you can't expect anything. Great. 

David Pasqualone: And let me ask you a question before you go on in your story. Yeah. Sometimes when people are down this path, their family's telling them, Hey, you're going the wrong way.

Their friends are even saying, Hey, you're going the wrong way. Was anybody saying, Austin, wake up, or was it pretty much you were on autopilot and nobody said a thing? 

Austin Page: So my, my [00:11:00] mom who was around obviously a lot during those times, she, she obviously knew that I had gotten arrested many times and had to come pick me up.

Uh, and she would always, you know, punish me, ground me, blah, blah, blah. But I just, again, I, I just didn't really heed to it at all. Um, and I think also at certain points I. I was so much to handle for her going through her own things, uh, splitting up with my stepfather at a certain point during this time, uh, and whatnot that outside of the little bit of time that she did see me getting caught up, getting in trouble, blah, blah, blah, I was sort of on my own.

And not to say that she wasn't in my life and still helping me and being a motherly figure, but I was. Around 17, 18, I was able to go and do as I pleased because they, they, my stepmother and my mom were splitting at that time. And, uh, so they [00:12:00] were in their own world trying to figure that out. And I would go off and start to do my own things in that meantime, and that meantime was going to find some trouble.

Mm-hmm. Uh, but I guess to, to answer the question, yes, she, she, she did get on me about it, but I just, frankly, I guess I didn't care, obviously. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah, I just wanna know 'cause sometimes people mask it well, or they're so disconnected that nobody notices a change. So I was wondering Yeah. Before you went on, so now things are escalating.

Take us from that point. 

Austin Page: Yeah. So, uh, throughout high school, graduated, went to community college. Again, thought I was partying in community college, would skip classes whatnot multiple times a week and go hang, go chase parties, they drink whatever, uh, to. Events, weekends after weekends. It led to a weekend party on a beach, and I remember showing up to this party, but I don't remember leaving and, uh, showed up.

Bunch of people on the beach couldn't pretty, I couldn't tell you [00:13:00] who was there. I just remember a ton of people there, bonfire going on and, uh, just don't remember. Somebody supposedly said they saw me walk away from the party and never saw me again. I hopped in my car, drove about a mile away from home, on the way home 'cause I wanted to go get my own bed, I assume, and ran off the road.

Uh, once I ran off the road, flipped a couple times, and this isn't from my, uh, recollection, this is from like state troopers telling me about the wreck. The scene as, as they could break it down, is that I spun around a curve, flipped a couple times, landed against the tree. The neighbors that I landed in their yard came to pull me out the car called 9 1 1, so on and so forth.

Uh, again, I don't remember the wreck for slam. Uh, I didn't hurt anybody else. Nobody was with me. I didn't hit anybody. Uh, which still doesn't make it into right, but. I'm glad that it was that way. It was only me 'cause it was my lesson. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. That saved you, I mean, you saved somebody's life and it saved you from a ton of pain down the road.

Austin Page: Oh yeah. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. 

Austin Page: And um, [00:14:00] was sent to the, the hospital and was almost like in a Twilight zone when I got there. Uh, almost seems like a movie, an unreal movie of just seeing bright lights, people around me. Saying you've just been in a wreck? Uh, I'm sure I was being belligerent because after the fact, nurses and police officers told me how belligerent I was to them.

So I wasn't giving them an easy time at all. Still, even after, uh, flipping my car a couple times and they realized this local hospital they were, I was more than they could handle, so they shipped me off to this bigger hospital in the city of Richmond. Where I was, uh, sent to and immediately realized that I had ruptured my intestines.

Once I got there, through a couple scans, I had broke both my legs from the knees down and, um, they had to open me up from like sternum to pelvic area, wide open to, you know, clean all the guts out, making sure all those contents of my intestines were cleaned out. And the biggest part of that journey was fighting off infection.

Uh, the broken legs weren't a big deal. [00:15:00] Those things heal bones, heal. Which had plenty of screws, plates, and rods and those, but the guts, the intestines, the infection, the peritonitis that came from that, uh, ruptured, um, intestine was the biggest fight. And it took weeks to get over that of ups and downs and uncertainty.

They would send the chaplain in daily to talk to my family, um, saying, Hey, you know, if the infection doesn't clear, things might not go the way we want it, and so on and so forth. One day just woke up. My blood work started to show the fever broke, uh, white, white blood cell count was going down.

Fortunately this was probably two or three weeks in. And, um, I was on the med, so they were able to fix my legs after that because my legs just stayed and cast even though they were broken the whole time. Uh, they weren't worried about fixing those, they were just trying to keep the infection and my gut down.

So then they sent me on to a couple more surgeries for my legs once my, my stomach started to heal and I spent a total of six weeks in that hospital from where they sent me from the hospital. Straight to a rehab center. [00:16:00] And I lived in that rehabilitation center for eight weeks, two months. And uh, that's where the seed was sort of planted in me on, uh, self-development, self-improvement, and some better habits.

David Pasqualone: So talk about that because not everybody has a switch moment. Was it? Uh, I mean, not, I'm not trying to be rude to you. Go ahead. I'm being, you're, based on what you said, you were belligerent in the hospital. Was that the alcohol talking at that point? Oh, yeah. Or when you sobered up, were you still kind of an ass at and were you being rude, like, why am I here?

Why do I deserve this? Or did you have an attitude like, wow, I, I should be here and I'm thankful it's not worse. Like, what was your state of mind 

Austin Page: at that point? Alcohol was the ego talking, uh, was the, was the dick the ass hat talking after I sobered up, went to straight bitch crying, uh, wondering what the hell happened, you know, being real, like, I was like, what the hell?

You know, [00:17:00] like, and realizing that, or not realizing in the moment that it was all my own doing, but you know, just woe was me, which I could assume anybody would probably be a little sad at first, but unsure of my future. And, uh. Definitely a sobering moment for sure. And a sobering few weeks. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And the reason why I wanted, but now, oh, go ahead.

I'm sorry. 

Austin Page: No, uh, I'm typically, I, I assume when I'm, that I don't remember these blackout moments that I, that I had growing up or my younger days of drinking, but, uh, I assume that I was a dickhead. I was getting beat up, getting into fights, breaking hands, uh, punching stuff, and it, it wasn't good. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yeah.

And what, what I was getting at was when you're in rehabilitation and then you're saying that something actually connected with you to start, you know, working inside your brain and your heart. You know, the attitude has such a massive role in this. Yes. So was there something said, or did [00:18:00] someone challenge you?

What was that initial catalyst that caught your interest? So you stopped being like, poor me. And why am I here to, oh wow. Maybe I do need to change. Where, where did that start? 

Austin Page: Uh, it's almost like a curve, like an arc. Uh, it wasn't like, oh man, 180 complete. 180 Austin's. Completely a new person. Uh, day one in that rehab center, that's where the seed was planted.

It didn't sprout until many months or years later, but the initial seed was planted. I'll tell you a little bit about that, was when I showed up, uh, I was into this rehab center. I was still bed bound. I wasn't able to get on, I wasn't able to sit in a chair, was still laid back, wasn't able to put weight on my legs.

So, uh, every day I would just sit there and watch TV for hours on end until a therapist would come in and say, Hey, you know. We gotta build some strength back up. You gotta get outta here. We need to get you outta here. You're, dude, you're 20, 21 years old. We gotta get you outta here. And, uh, they would [00:19:00] give me these rubber bands.

I would start doing some stuff in my bed. And at first, actually, not at first, the whole time I was there, I did not wanna do it. That's the last thing you feel like doing, especially after going through something like that. Uh, the last thing I wanna do is work out, uh, my, my self-talk was not great, of course.

And, uh. Nothing. A very negative attitude, of course, leading into this rehab center. The flip was me realizing that I felt a little bit better after I would do something positive for myself. When I would do that workout, when I didn't feel like doing it with those bands, pulling them apart, pressing 'em from my bed, I'd be like, okay, damn.

That felt pretty good. It feels better than just sitting here like a vegetable being, woe was me having a pity party. Would I still fall back into those uh, moments and emotions? Yeah, for sure. I. Daily. But every time I would do something productive like that and push myself, stretch myself personally, I'd feel that much better about myself.

And obviously as strength began to increase with [00:20:00] myself and I was able to come weightbearing and get into a wheelchair, my movement, my abilities opened up, right? So the therapist would come in and say, Hey, hop in the wheelchair. I'll meet you down at the gym. And before this wreck, I was never working out at all.

I wasn't into the gym. And, uh, I would hop in the wheelchair, roll myself down to the gym. And when I, then, when I was in there, they would lock my wheelchair in place and gimme some Gatorade bottles, start curling some Gatorade bottles, press 'em above my head, starting literally like from ground zero, like crazy and laughable.

Now, every day after that, I noticed, okay, I see progress. I, I feel like I'm actually gonna get outta here now, you know? And. Back then, my goal wasn't to be become this person. It was let me build some strength up so I can get my ass outta this rehab center. You know, I was literally one day at a time. I didn't, I didn't have a, a long, still, a long-term goal back then.

It was just, my goal was one day at a time to get a [00:21:00] little bit stronger to where I could get out this wheelchair, start walking. Once I start walking, get into some crutches, and then eventually try and leave this place. It sucked. I mean, it was just me with a bunch of old people, dementia and you know, Alzheimer's screaming and yelling all night.

David Pasqualone: That in itself can be quite terrorizing. I remember working as a teenager in a psychiatric, um, care facility for the elderly, and I don't know what the, I don't really care, but forgive me if I offended somebody, but politically correct. I don't know what the term is, but they were old people and they were crazy.

That's it. It wasn't their fault. All reasons they were there, but I remember some of it was just really sad. And some of it was freaking terrorizing. Like they thought they were God and they were trying to, you know, get you on their side to make them escape. I mean, there was one guy who had spider spider spiders, like coming out of his neck.

He had this obsession. So when you were in there, was it like intense to like, man, I want to get outta here just [00:22:00] for that reason, or was it pretty, pretty chill environment? Uh, 

Austin Page: I mean, it was chill when I was in my room. Uh, 'cause I was in our, they when I, I was so young, uh, in this rehab center, they gave me my own room even though everybody else had typically roommates.

And when I would leave my room though and go riding in my wheelchair around the center, 'cause I had free access, like up and down the halls. Yeah. Uh, to ride to like nurses stations or to the cafeteria or whatever. Uh, I would roll around and yeah, some of the older people would reach out and just try and grab you as you ride by like.

Not knowing who I am, me not knowing them, they just reach out and just grab you. Like, grab your arm or yell at you or scream. Uh, so yeah, it, it was definitely weird and not a comfortable environment once you were outside of your room, so it just wasn't home, you know, nobody after a couple days you're like, all right, I'm done with this shit.

Let's go. Yeah. So that was a big motivating factor to get outta there. But also there was re just realizing that I had put myself so far back and that I wanted to get back to normal life, you know? 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And during, I'm not saying 

Austin Page: [00:23:00] drinking, but back to just getting out and being able to take care of myself, the independence of myself was completely gone in this place.

David Pasqualone: And was it all physiological focus at this point, or did people start introducing you to the self-development, the, the personal growth or was it at this point in the physical, uh, in the, yeah. Et It was just physical. 

Austin Page: Just physical. But I, I mean, at least in my own thoughts, I feel like a lot of physical growth.

Is, uh, personal growth, right? Uh, it seems like a, yeah, it'll 

David Pasqualone: absolutely be a catalyst. I just meant were they sitting down an hour a day and you have like a group study or something? I didn't know. 

Austin Page: No. I mean, occasionally a therapist would come in and say, Hey, how do you feel? How you feeling today? But at that point it's, uh, it is what it is.

We didn't really talk into too much depth. 

David Pasqualone: Okay. So now you're in this program, eight weeks you said? Yeah, two months. Eight. Eight weeks. And then where does your life go from there? Austin? 

Austin Page: So I was able to walk outta there with some crutches and realize that things needed to change because before this, my job status [00:24:00] was working the odds and ends doing irrigation on summers, going and helping with sheet rock in some jobs, going in, uh, doing landscaping, you know, all this type of stuff that wasn't really, there's no purpose to it.

There's no means to, uh, like a, a goal or a vision with it. It was just giving me some money, so walking around money so I could go party back then. So I realized things needed to change, and once I got out of this job, or excuse me, out of this rehab center, I got a job at a local gym because I had learned that I liked what fitness and or just exercising did for me while I was in that rehab center.

So I got a job at a local gym at this small town that I was living in at the time, and it came as a front desk position that had a free gym membership. So that was killer. That's, that's all you needed from me back then. I was like, all right, free gym membership and I'm getting paid a couple bucks. Let's go.

So, uh. I started working out there, obviously after work or before work, and I still, again, I didn't know what I was doing. I'd just go in and hop on some machines, but I just knew I felt better doing it. I felt more confident in myself. I was building, [00:25:00] I was building a skill of confidence. Each time I went and did a workout or an exercise, I was, I was depositing a point of confidence skill into my meter per se.

And, um, one day at a time or one day after another, felt more contentment, felt happier. I realized that I wasn't taking back steps, you know, and it, it takes time to, once you start walking that path, you, it takes time to start to feel that like conscious, good mood feeling like, okay, this, this actually feels good wholly unlike things like the past.

And again, there's nothing wrong with drinking or whatever, do whatever you wanna do, but like. If you, if you are getting some sense of regret at all after you do something, you should use that as some type of signal or a guide to be like, alright, I didn't feel good doing that. I don't like the way I felt after I did that.

Let me try and avoid that or skip it as much as possible. You know, it's like touching a hot stove. But, uh, came with a free gym membership, so I worked out a ton, met some trainers, met some [00:26:00] people. They taught me a lot about lifting, working out, and months. Go by. I realized that I wanted to focus on this maybe as a job.

So moved up away from this small town back into the city, got a membership at a Gold's Gym and saw trainers there. And I was like, Hey, I wanna become a trainer. And the guy said, all right, I've seen you around here a little bit. Seems like you know what you're doing. Uh, we'll bring you on. We'll give you 60 days to get certified once we bring you on.

And we'll, we'll keep you on if you can do that within 60 days. They took the, the shot on me. I got certified within 60 days. Next thing you know, I'm off and running as a personal trainer, as a job, a career now, and that was probably back in 20 12, 20 13. So 2010 was the wreck? No, yeah, 2010 was the wreck.

Took a few years to actually come back to myself through working that desk job at the gym. Then moved back up to Richmond around 20 [00:27:00] 12, 20 13, became a coach at a Gold's Gym.

David Pasqualone: And then at this point, you've stabilized your life, you've kind of cut down at the drinking, or were you drinking at all or did you completely abstain at that point? 

Austin Page: So funny thing is, again, during this process of me leaving that rehab center. You can touch, you can touch the hot stove a couple times. So I got in trouble again drinking after I left that rehab center and, uh, wasn't in major trouble, but enough to where they put me in handcuffs.

And I was released though, um, after getting, uh, stopped by a police officer. But then that was definitely the, when I talk about regret, waking up that next day, realizing that I was right back on the same path that I was before my wreck. I was like, all right, shit's gotta change. And that's literally just a few months later, not even months, probably a few weeks later, I moved [00:28:00] from that place after that event up to Richmond to get away from that environment.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And ladies and gentlemen, I mean, Austin, you correct me if you disagree, but you can't run from your problems in life, however, changing your environment. If you're, you know, you're not, Austin wasn't running from his problems, but he was being real it sounds and be like, okay, I need to move. I need a switch.

I need a fresh start because this environment I'm too comfortable in. Yeah. And it's gonna help me to reset somewhere else. So there's a difference. Makes you acknowledge that, ladies and gentlemen, between running from your problems 'cause they're gonna catch you and be worse and. Starting over, uh, would you agree with that, Austin?

Austin Page: Uh, 100%. And that's exactly what it was. After that few months of leaving that rehab center, within a year, I'd gotten back, settled into my old ways. You know, I'd forgotten that even though I nearly lost my life, uh, not too short from that, I'd gotten [00:29:00] comfortable, followed back into the same habits, the same weekend after weekend.

And it wasn't as bad, but bad enough to where I almost got locked up. And uh, that was definitely the tipping point. 

David Pasqualone: And it reminds me a couple verses in the Bible, and it applies to me, you, everybody, it says, you know, as a dog or a turneth to his vomit soda off a fool to his folly. And then there's other passages, old Testament and new that talk about how if God frees us from a, a.

Situation or a sin and then we go back to it, it gets seven times to 10 times worse. Yeah. So you're really, man, that was such a blessing that even though you went back to it, you, you woke up and then left because Yeah, if you just took one more day in that lifestyle, you could be a totally different outcome.

We wouldn't be talking today 

Austin Page: 100%, where, where I was at, what I was doing was either going to have me locked up for a, a good time, a good long time, or. Dead dead this time. You know, it was like the patterns, the, the same patterns were leading up again. And I, I noticed [00:30:00] that, and it takes awareness to, to realize that.

And back then my skill of awareness wasn't that strong, but it was enough after nearly losing my life that I was like, oh shit, this is going down the same path. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And, and that's the last question I have. Then we'll move forward, uh, not the last question I have for the interview, but for right now on this topic, it's like, you know, if I was your friend, I'd be like, dude.

Your life was spared. God has a purpose for you. What the hell are you doing continuing this way? Was anybody talking to you like that, or was everybody just letting it go? 

Austin Page: Yeah, so, uh, my, my mom and parents stepfather that had heard about this, me getting locked up or arrested that night and almost locked up, uh, yeah, they, they reminded me that, Hey, dude, you're pretty much like you don't have nine lives type like a cat.

You know, it's, it's time to make a change and. Didn't, they didn't tell me I needed to move, but they, they realized that my environment wasn't helping me in my situation. Like, not to say that I couldn't have did it down there, but it, it was, it was definitely a helping stepping stone to, to move [00:31:00] away from that.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yeah. All right, so now you go to Gold's Gym. You are getting, you got certified. Yep. Where's your life? Go from there, Austin. 

Austin Page: So I worked with goals for quite a few years now, and I was working with clients. They would sell or sell clients for me and I would train them, and I was meeting dozens a week.

You know, fresh clients, people that were in different situations, but rock bottom in some aspects. Not everybody, but some people were coming in with. Failing health, you know, um, problems with their relationships about to lose. You know, we get kind of personal talking with some of these clients and about to lose a, a partner trying to fix a relationship because they've let themself go, blah, blah, blah.

Everybody has their own story. But, uh, working with Golds, which was great at first, it taught me the backend of coaching and how to sort of structure things. But at Golds, per se, uh, this is just not a little breakdown of why I split ways, is that. They would give you so much [00:32:00] as, as far as like client rate that you weren't able to put or go deep into these people.

I would see them once a week, twice a week maybe. And outside of that, we didn't have contact. Like I wasn't able to email them, catch up with them, text them. It was like, Hey, see you next week, type of deal. And you know, we would make some progress over six or eight weeks, maybe sometimes a little bit longer with some people depending.

But as soon as they would get to a milestone. Like I did back in my past, they would fall back into comfort, back into their old ways. And then the next thing you know, the next time I'd see them four or six weeks from now, they're already back up 20 pounds or they're already lost that partnership. Or they, you know, typically I wasn't able to dive deep into these people and, and get truly connected with them.

It was very churn and burn, uh, for lack of better terms with clients. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And it's like that in so many worlds now, medical especially, you know, there's, yes. Yeah. And you're in a medical field, so now you're seeing that this is [00:33:00] just, you know, a pressure cooker. It's like. Just run 'em through the mill, you know, just go, everybody's making a New Year's resolution, cash in while you can and then forget about 'em.

Yep. It wasn't human, it was financial. Yes. So where did you go from there? Like what, what happened in you that you're like, okay, this, this isn't right. I'm taking this next step. 

Austin Page: So a friend of mine, uh, he was actually a client at the Gold Gym. He was my client, but became a, a close friend of mine once we worked together for a couple months, and he, he, he's, he's well off.

He, he does well for himself. He's a professional gamer, and he was, he was telling me, he was like, Austin, what are you doing? Still working there, man. He was like. You could be doing this all on your own. You could be actually diving deeper into these people like you and I have, because me and him had built a closer connection and that's why he was getting good results.

And uh, and sticking with things. And you know, at first I was a little worried about, worry about it. I was like, ah, I don't know. I've been with them for a couple years now. They take care of me. They [00:34:00] sell all my clients. And, uh, but something deep down on me knew that I had more in me and I was here to actually help people, you know, and not just.

Help 'em for six weeks, but no, actually try and turn their life around, creating new identity for themselves, building that person, like I mentioned at the beginning, a person they would admire in themselves. So I took the leap and uh, hit the ground running. I got my own private spot, my own private gym, and now I'm able to coach people and that's what I do.

Now, currently, I coach people in person and to online with my own private app. 

David Pasqualone: Nice, nice. And the app apps are a lot to manage, but they're, they can be great for the end user. How long did it take for you to develop the app? 

Austin Page: So it's not something that I develop, I, I actually like rent or lease the software and it's branded as my own.

Gotcha. And you got 

David Pasqualone: your content on 

Austin Page: it? Yeah, my content. Yep. And like my groups within it and stuff like that. It didn't, when I first took a leap on myself, [00:35:00] I just started with what I knew. I was just coaching in person at my gym. But as time went on and I, as I was gaining new clientele through word of mouth, through transformations, through social proof, that I realized I could only train, but so many hours a day myself, like I could only, you're only scalable, but 70 hours a day in person.

And for me to able to, uh, be able, be able to reach and help more people and people that. Weren't able to come see me at my gym that were, were, but were, were in the area that had heard about me. Um, I took the leap on this app and over the past, probably year and a half, I have been using this app. So it's, it's still pretty new to me in the grand scheme of my career.

David Pasqualone: Okay. And then the personal side of Austin, between your birth and today, did we miss anything significant in your story? Then we're gonna focus on where are you at today and where are you heading next. So how can we help you get there? So first, between your birth and today and the story, is there anything we missed, significant that you want to [00:36:00] cover or that would inspire the listeners?

Austin Page: No, not really. Uh, like I said, pretty, pretty normal. Upcoming. Upcoming besides my parents splitting up and just, I guess, had a, a wild hair in me when I, when I turned 17, 18. 

David Pasqualone: All right. And then now are you. Socially, uh, like drinking wise, are you just like abstaining to be safe? Do you drink casually? What's your position on that?

Austin Page: So, for a while and still even currently, I, I drink, uh, not even socially. I say I drink casually with my wife. When I say I drink, like we'll have a glass of wine with dinner, uh, or I'll have a beer on the beach with her or something like that. But. We aren't typically going out, we aren't going to dives or bars and, and typically drinking, like going out for drinks type of deal.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, no, no. Good can come of that in my opinion. But I just wanted to know, are you a total teetotaler? Are you, are you drink, like you said with your wife or special 

Austin Page: occasions? Yeah. So, yeah, [00:37:00] I guess occasions if, if it, if it speaks to me, um, most of the time what helps keep me, and it sounds like a sobriety aspect or like a recovery thing when I, when I start to talk about it.

'cause I actually work with a lot of people with their own recovery. But, you know, it's something that I've just sort of held a standard to myself is I, I use fitness and exercise as like an an alignment tool to keep me. From drinking and going out, like, 'cause I get offers all the time. Hey, you wanna go out for some drinks?

Hey, you wanna do this? And you know, it's hard to say no at first. Saying no is a skill and over time you can develop it. And one thing that helps me say that no, that much easier or no thank you, is knowing that I have goals personally with my fitness, with my health, how I show up my own brand, like pretty much my own standard, the way I conduct myself and, and drinking isn't aligned with that goal.

So I try and not do it as much as possible. 

David Pasqualone: That sounds wise in general, for every human, drinking's expensive and there's really not much good that comes from it. But when you [00:38:00] have a history, like you said, you drink in blackout, that's no bueno, man. Best to stay away, right? Yeah. On the side of caution. All right, well, where's Austin today?

We kind of talked about that, but where are you today and where are you heading next? How can our listeners get ahold of you? How can we help you? 

Austin Page: Austin today is, uh, still living in the same area near Richmond, Virginia. I'm obviously married now, like I mentioned. Um, and I met my wife. I would've never met my wife.

The, the, the old version Austin used to be. I I was a straight loser. I was not happy with myself and, uh, I would've scared her away. And there's something that I, I, I heard this from a mentor of mine. He was like, don't chase a attract. And when he said that, it, it reminded me of. How I've attracted some, not everything, but I, I believe that you do attract a lot around you from the person that you are, the way you conduct yourself, the way you show up and, uh, your, your habits.

And you, [00:39:00] you'll, you'll, you'll chase a lot of people will get lost chasing after something when they aren't at the level it needs to be to attract that thing. And I'm not saying you have to be some like super rich, super jacked, super in shape person, but like. There's an alignment or like a universal alignment per se, that like most, if you want to get the next level, you have to become the next level.

And I'm not saying the ultimate Greek God or this huge rich dude, but like there, there's levels to it and you won't be able to move up to that until you actually become it. And I was able to fortunately find this woman who has her head on right. And uh, that loves me dearly and I love her back and. It's, I think I would've never gotten her unless I changed my new identity and had this new lifestyle.

And like I, I think I lean into it a, a personal brand book for myself or a guidebook, a way of I conduct myself. 

David Pasqualone: Awesome. So what's the best way for someone to reach you if they are [00:40:00] on a, check out your app, check out your website, continue the conversation. 

Austin Page: Yeah, well, I'm super, uh, active on Instagram. At eight page, man, I'm on there daily, all throughout the day, posting on my stories, on daily processes of things that work for me, what works for my clients, and, uh, tons of q and as within my stories as well.

And I post quite frequently. That's a page man on Instagram, but if you wanna learn more about my coaching or sign up, you can sign up today at www.jimflowcoaching.com. That's G-Y-M-F-L-O, no w coaching.com. 

David Pasqualone: Awesome. And we'll put all this in the show notes of these and gentlemens, whether you're listening to the podcast, checking out on Rumble, Spotify, YouTube.

Wherever you're listening, uh, just check out those show notes. You just click a link. Alright, Austin, well, it's been inspirational and great to hear. I. W spend time with you today and hear your story. Um, before we wrap up this episode, are there any final thoughts or words of encouragement? And then I got one more business question for you in [00:41:00] this space that we're gonna kind of end the episode with, but any other words of wisdom about just life in general, second chances, wherever you want to go.

Austin Page: Yeah, so there's something that I have on my gym wall and I also remind my clients, and I have it on the wall for myself to remind myself daily. And it's, uh, you're only as good as the example you set. It's not what you're thinking about. It's not what you talk about. It's what you do and how you conduct yourself.

And you hear me say that conducting conduction quite a lot, but it's only, you're only as good as the example you set as you talk or do. And uh, that's something that I try and remind myself daily, but I'm trying to cut a corner or skip out. 

David Pasqualone: Awesome. Very nice. Now let's do this, if you don't mind, business wise, there are a lot of people all over the world, especially within the United States 'cause we're so prosperous.

Yeah. Who they would love to be a personal trainer. But like you said, you had, you went through Gold's Gym, you learned the The financial side of it. The business side of it, and now you're doing your [00:42:00] own thing. You have your app, I'm sure there was a a hundred landmines you hit. But if you were starting over and say, Hey, here's like a quick little roadmap to anybody wanting to be a personal trainer and B, c, D, what would you recommend to people?

Austin Page: Now knowing what I know, just start training. When I say start training, start training people, but only if you have the product or results yourself. If you don't have the result, yourself. Hypothetical was hypocritical. If, if you don't, if you don't have it, or at least know how to get it or have had it before.

You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Hypothetical is hypocritical. So as long as you have the results and or some type of product approved with proof, uh, then start taking action by reaching out to people around you. Friends, family, start somewhere. Start now. Not tomorrow. Start today. You start that by cold DM and people, it's a little awkward at first, but start doing that next thing you know, you have a few clients and you don't, I mean, yes, you wanna be certified, you want to have credentials, you want to know [00:43:00] the books.

But I think a lot of people get, uh, paralysis by analysis and say, oh, I need to get this certification. That certification. No, you just need to start training. Do what you've done to build your results and help others do the same. And, uh, then as you either. Build the confidence, gain the money, gain the time, you'll be able to get certified, blah, blah, blah.

But if I, if I did it that if I went and did it backwards, I would do it that way. 

David Pasqualone: And what about, well, do I need a website? Do I need business cards? How do I get the first client? What ideas and, and like suggestions do you have about that? 

Austin Page: Yeah, so for anybody that's watching this now in 2025, we have thing called social media, Facebook and Instagram.

It's free. There's billions of people in there. And like I mentioned earlier, cold dms do a hundred of them a day. You know, it's not the best product that sells, it's the most well-known product that gets sells. So like the more noise you can make with people, the more, and I'm not saying [00:44:00] like be, Hey, you want training?

Hey, you want training? No. Make a friend make a sale. Get social on social media. Say, what's up? Ask 'em what are they struggling with, how could you help 'em? See what they're working on, and then start to give tips, advice. And if they say, oh shit, you actually know what you're talking about. Or Man, you look like you know what you're talking about.

You do any coaching. Yeah, for sure. You could just start coaching for free if all you have is time, like if you don't have anything else going on outside of your nine to five and you just have a little free time in the evening. Give it away for free until you can start developing the social proof and testimonials to where you can start charging and be like, Hey, look at the results I got for Tom over here.

If you'd like to do the same, reach out to me. And you can start low. And as you move on, you can increase your price and do whatever you feel fits. But I think, uh, in today's day and age, it's social media, Instagram and Facebook DM and cold dms.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, I would definitely agree. I'm a marketing guy. And that's what I've done my whole career. Sales and marketing [00:45:00] consulting and doing it firsthand and coaching others to do it. But if you don't have results yourself, there's a real issue, right? Yeah. It's like the fat gym teacher in high school. It's like, yeah, you're a real motivating man.

And again, they might have been a great athlete and they've backslid in, but it's a lot easier to, you know, if I'm going to a financial advisor, I wanna see somebody with great wealth, if that's what 

Austin Page: I. Yeah. For somebody that to relate outside of fitness Yeah. You wouldn't take advice from a broker person.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And you know what's crazy? I was just on this in another podcast episode recently, but our, so our listeners may be familiar with it, but for your and I conversation when I was in college, I worked full-time at a large computer retailer, and eight outta 10 times a financial advisor would come in, and that's probably a conservative number.

They would apply for financing. I. And they wouldn't get it. Ah, and these are people who made back then $250,000 a [00:46:00] year plus. So that's easily 500,000 a year today. Yeah. But they were so bad with their own finances that they were basically broke. Yeah. So it's like, that's exactly what I was talking about.

If you see somebody. Who's outta shape now? Somebody just went from 400 pounds down to two 50. That's somebody you might wanna learn from if you wanna lose weight. Yeah. But again, even the, the social media, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen people take that approach and they have terrible form, so you can be very careful what you put out there.

It could actually harm you if you're 20 years old and putting up a lot of weight. You think that's impressive? But 20 years from now, you're gonna be crippled. Yeah. And I'm not gonna let you train me even if I'm in my forties. So 100%. Do you see, what kind of content do you see works best? Because there's so many options out there.

You could just say, Hey, here's a health eating tip. Hey, here's a lifting tip. What kind of stuff are you seeing is giving you the most return on investment for your [00:47:00] time invested in making clips and videos? 

Austin Page: So for me, not everybody's gonna be your, your client. Not everybody. And that's something you just have to realize and accept.

Moving into coaching or with anything, most likely not everybody's gonna be your customer. Not everybody's gonna be for me, and I'm not for everybody. I've had plenty of people quit on me because I'm either, I don't co old enough, I'm too hard, but I want results and I want winning. And if you want that, then I'm your guy.

But outside of that, uh, as far as your content, make it about what's worked for you. Don't try and make shit up. Don't try and, uh, be very vanilla. I've done plenty of that in my, my past, and it doesn't get type, any type of, when I say engagement, nobody either talks about it or, or brings it up. Um, typically just showing what's worked for me, what's helped me, and if you can tell the story about that of where I came from.

A background of not knowing who I was, chasing vices, having bad habits, and how I've [00:48:00] corrected my life and my life has leveled up exponentially now. From correcting these habits and just removing a couple bad ones and replacing 'em with some daily good ones, and if you would like to do the same, I can help put together some type of structure, daily plan of building your days to build you and offer that as a, as a product or a service.

And it, it's, it's fitting into your niche, whatever that is. If you're the guy that lost 250 pounds. That's probably gonna be your customer set. Like that's gonna be your avatars. People that are severely overweight because they're gonna relate with you the most. It's not gonna be some guy that just wants to lose 10 pounds.

It might, but you want to focus on when I'm saying, like, when I say focus around your content and your cold dms, you don't wanna be reaching out to chicks in their twenties. You wanna be reaching out to these people that look like they severely need some help. Like you did, you know, being 250 pounds overweight, uh, that's gonna be your best bet.

Are these other people. Potential. Yes, but they're a lot colder than maybe somebody that is more what you used to be, and it's [00:49:00] finding that, that mirror image of what maybe you used to be, that would probably be your avatar at first, and especially around your age group. Most of the clients I have are within maybe, uh, mid twenties to about late forties.

Typically. I have older, I have clients as old as 64, but you know, my, my bulk of my clients are close to me and typically. I mean, as over time it's, it's, it's been spread out. But at first it was a lot more niche. People that wanted to get jacked, tan and juicy like I did when I was younger. Yeah. And now it's developed into more overall just growth.

Having, uh, realizing that I. Your, your physical fitness and how that relates to and translates bleeds into everything else that you wanna do. It's mindset training, doing things you don't wanna do when you don't wanna do it, like going for that workout, controlling that food, controlling that wake up time, and controlling what you drink and who you hang out with.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, that all so affects your life and they can pull you down so quickly. All that work can be undone fast. Yep. So, yeah, and, [00:50:00] and I agree like I don't care ladies and gentlemen, you know me from the last six years if you've been listening to this podcast. But men or men and women. Or women, and I don't think men should be training women and women should be training men 'cause they don't know the body.

They don't know. I mean, grant, you have exceptions and you can have a woman who can train Navy Seal men. That's not what I'm saying. But in general, the way a man thinks works out, reacts the what he needs. He is a man. I. So he should be working with a man and with a woman. She should be working with a woman, especially when you're in the gym and it's so intimate and you're all over each other and you're looking at each other in tight clothes.

So for every reason in the world, I personally think men should turn with, when women with women, I think it's a lot more productive. Um, what's your opinion all that from what you I typically agree. 

Austin Page: Uh, I, I do have a few females within my group, but they, they. Typically females aren't something I focus on and like you were sort of already mentioning, I, I try and [00:51:00] find who would look like my old self or who would relate with me when I'm, when I'm doing this, you know, uh, marketing or these cold dms and content.

You know, I'm not trying to talk to throughout my content the way I talk. I'm not trying to talk to just like a female or a feminine aspect. I'm talking to. The guy, the man, the guy who wants to become something next level. You know, when I, when I do try and talk or create content, that's what I'm having in mind.

So, and, and they're gonna relate the most. If you're, you know, you're not that you'd waste your time, but you to find that client, your client, if you're a guy, it's gonna be a lot easier and a lot more effective going after guys than it will be the chicks. 'cause I mean, I, I just agree. 

David Pasqualone: And the thing is, it's like in business, um, I have clients all over the world and I turn down more business than I accept because I want not just to make money, I wanna help and do something that has a purpose.

And [00:52:00] it sounds like that's your heart. You want to help people. And help them, like not just physically, but it's gonna mentally, emotionally, spiritually, convert into a better life for them. So you want to do something with purpose? Yes. And you can put more energy and get more results in working with.

Like-minded, similar people than you can if people are on a different side of the spectrum. So, you know, any feminist can hate me. Anybody can hate me, but it's reality's reality and it is 

Austin Page: man. It is. And you know, at the end of the day, their results are my results. So like, I want people that are ready to go, like I said, like-minded and uh, so typically the process very quickly weeds people out that.

Aren't fit for me, and they, I'm not a fit for them. And that's totally fine. I don't get bent up about it anymore. 

David Pasqualone: Yeah, there's 8 million, I'm sorry. There's over 7 billion people in the world. Almost 400 million in America now. With all the bills that came over. We got plenty of business. Right. 

Austin Page: [00:53:00] Yeah. 

David Pasqualone: So that's it.

But all right, man. Well, listen, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today, Austin. Ladies and gentlemen, like our slogan says, like Austin said repeatedly today. Daily habits. Don't just listen to what he's saying, but do the good parts that apply to you. Repeat them each day so you can have a great life in this world, but more importantly, to come in eternity.

So Austin, thanks again for being with us, brother. 

Austin Page: Appreciate the 

David Pasqualone: time, David. Oh, it's been a true pleasure. Uh, friends, share this with your friends and family and we'll see you in the next episode. Ciao. 

Epic Voice Guy: The Remarkable People Podcast, check it out,

the Remarkable People Podcast. Listen, do Repeat for Life,[00:54:00] 

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