This Is How Katie Martin Became A Sweat Trainer

From already being an established member of the community to having Kayla Itsines sliding into their DMs, every trainer has a unique story about how they came to join the Sweat app, but Katie Martin’s might be one of our favourites. 

Before she became part of the Sweat family in 2022 and launched her iconic first program, Strength & Sculpt, Katie was a personal trainer at a hotel in Brisbane who met our co-founder and head trainer Kayla in the unlikeliest of circumstances. And yes, it turns out we have Kayla’s husband Jae and Katie’s brother Will’s mutual love of cars to thank.

Sharing the hilarious story on a recent episode of the Sweat Daily podcast, Kayla and Katie recounted the chance encounter in a Brisbane car park between Jae and Will. 

“My brother calls me on a Saturday night and says, 'You will not believe who I just met,'” Katie shares, telling Kayla that Will was struggling to pronounce her last name (we’ve all been there!). Will tried to convince Katie to come down to meet Jae and Kayla after he recognised Kayla, hilariously describing her as “that fitness chick”. While Katie didn’t show up, Will managed to get her the next best thing: an Instagram follow.

“He said, ‘My sister’s a personal trainer, she works here. She’s the best personal trainer. You should talk to her,’” Kayla recounted. Will later told Katie that he wasn’t going to leave until he convinced Kayla to look Katie up, and his persistence paid off. 

Kayla was immediately impressed and started following Katie on Instagram, sending her a DM to let her know she came across her profile thanks to her big brother. Katie’s reaction? “This is the weirdest message I’ve ever received. This is a bot,” she says.

While it’s hard to imagine a time before Kayla and Katie’s epic friendship began, it wasn’t until some time after that chance encounter that their paths finally crossed in person. 

“A year later I was working at the Calile Hotel as a PT and I burst out of the lift and there were Kayla and Jae standing in front of me,” Katie shared. “Kayla points to me and goes, ‘oh my god it’s you!’ I was running so late for a client but how do I tell Kayla I don’t have time to talk to her right now?” 

A week later Katie was resting after a fitness retreat, marinating in fake tan on her bedroom floor when a video call from an unknown number popped up on her phone. She wasn’t sure what drove her to answer the call, except that she was single at the time and thought it could be a cute boy on the other end of the line. 

“There was Kayla’s face and I was like, oh good god,” Katie said of her reaction. “She said to me, ‘do you want to be a Sweat trainer?’ I didn’t know if it was a joke. I didn’t have her number and I’d never spoken to her before.”

The rest, as they say, is history! With multiple incredible Sweat programs under her belt and an amazing community training alongside her, we’re so glad Katie and Kayla’s paths crossed!

Want more from Sweat Daily? Listen to the full episode from Katie’s Tuesday Talk instalment, where Kayla and Katie discuss everything from the birth control Katie convinced Kayla to try to Katie’s ongoing journey with her gut health.