AUSTEN ALLEN
Q: What’s your occupation? Explain your career, your accomplishments and professional highlights.
A: I am a trauma-informed personal trainer and have been the owner of my business, Lighthouse Fitness, for almost three years now. I am also a graduate student at Colorado State University in career and counseling psychology and hope to someday be both a trauma-informed trainer and therapist.
Q: Tell us about yourself, your history and how you came to be where you are now.
A: I’m a trauma-informed personal trainer who helps individuals feel safe, strong and secure in their bodies one day, one step and one rep at a time. My mission is to create a safe space where individuals can move their bodies free of judgement while discovering what “healthy” means for them. I’m committed to fighting toxic messages within fitness and diet culture, and I want to make fitness a simple and sustainable space for those I work with. I believe that movement is a fundamental human right and that everyone deserves to discover what movements feel best for them.
Age: 29
Occupation: Owner and founder of Lighthouse Fitness
Q: Tell us something unique about you.
A: I am a potter. My father and I got into pottery during the pandemic, and we’ve been throwing pots and playing with clay ever since. If I’m not in graduate classes or working in the training space, you will most likely find me at the pottery wheel.
Q: What do you consider your biggest accomplishment, either professionally or personally?
A: Following my passion for redefining the fitness space to create my own business in the midst of the pandemic and building it into a space that is supportive, trauma-informed and continuing to grow three years later. I am inspired by the hard work and compassion of my amazing clients every single day, and I can’t wait to see where Lighthouse Fitness goes in the future.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years? In 10 years?
A: In five years, I hope to continue to grow Lighthouse Fitness in addition to working as a licensed professional counselor and helping others build resilience in their mental and emotional health. In 10 years, my wife and I hope to own a private practice (she is a therapist herself) where we help individuals make the most of their emotional, physical and mental health.
Q: What piece(s) of advice would you give to your younger self?
A: My advice for my younger self would be to always be authentically you, to stay curious in all things in life and to know that it is OK to be different and stand out. For a lot of my younger life, I was afraid to break out of the box of what is “normal” and show who I really am, only to later understand that being authentically me is what truly matters.
Q: How do you define trauma-informed training and what is your approach?
A: I am a big believer that if you work with the body, you work with trauma. That means that I help my clients discover what they can do to feel safe, strong and secure in their bodies through their movement. Trauma-informed personal training involves a collaborative training approach that celebrates personal choice in the workout space and helps clients build healthy boundaries and limits within their personal fitness. Instead of forcing my clients to fit into predetermined boxes of what they “should” or “shouldn’t” do during their workouts, we invite creativity and compassion into the fitness space as they explore movements that feel good for them and their bodies one rep at a time. My training approach centers on my four core values of autonomy, safety, authenticity and compassion. I never assume that the “trainer knows best” and always make the intention to honor the choices and preferences of my clients during each workout session. I believe that my clients deserve to show up just as they are and encourage them to be themselves as much as they feel comfortable. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), I believe that the biggest key to finding success in health and fitness is compassion, and I encourage my clients to give their minds and bodies respect and compassion through all phases of their fitness journey.
Q: How do you envision combining counseling/therapy and physical therapy in the future?
A: When it comes to the personal training side of things, I hope to continue to explore and expand my understanding of trauma-informed, compassion movement. This means that I will continue to expand my understanding of the human body, not only from a muscle and movement perspective, but also from a mind and trauma-related lens as well. I believe that movement is a conversation with the body, and I’m always searching for more ways to help my clients expand their understanding of this mind-body conversation in the workout space. I also plan on becoming a therapist that has a very somatic-driven approach, which means that I’ll help my clients increase their understanding not only of their mental and emotional health, but also their understanding of how their thoughts, feelings and emotions are expressed in their physical bodies. I envision a future where individuals will be able to improve all parts of their health through a holistic, mind-body connected approach. I want to help create a future where folks no longer have to work on their mental health or their physical health separately (unless they would like to, of course). Instead, I want to help create a world where folks are given personalized tools that help them make sense of the messages their mind and body are telling them every day and apply these messages to create a compassionate, safe and enjoyable definition of “health” on their own terms.
