Ethics in Mentorship and Coaching
Podcast

This week, I sat down with Austin Stout, who is a coach, business owner and bodybuilder with a deep understanding of functional health and the ability to teach to a wide variety of people. His goal with each client is to maximize every area of their programming through science, anecdotal evidence, and practical experience. Control of lifestyle factors, such as stress management, that can improve overall results and quality of life, is also essential. The body and the mind are strongly interconnected, and ensuring that each body system works in unison is vital to success and long-term sustainability.

This was Austin's third time on the podcast, and this conversation hit different. We started talking about ethics in the mentorship space after I noticed something disturbing: 30% of testimonials I received from past mentees mentioned negative experiences with previous mentors. That's not a coincidence. That's a pattern.

Austin and I don't always agree on everything, but we align hard on this:the education and mentorship space in our industry is failing coaches. Not because information isn't accessible—it's everywhere. We're failing coaches because we're teaching them the wrong things. We're giving them protocols when they need problem-solving skills. We're automating connections when people are starving for it. And we're selling them shortcuts that lead to volatility instead of sustainability.

This conversation went deep into what actually separates coaches who build lasting businesses from those stuck on the content creation hamster wheel. Here are the ten insights Austin shared that every coach needs to hear.

10 Key Takeaways from Ethics in Mentorship and Coaching

Bad Past Experiences Are Poisoning New Coaching Relationships

Austin started calling out industry problems publicly when he noticed people coming to him with heavy baggage from past mentorships. They showed up with preconceived biases, hesitations, fears, and commitment issues that made it harder for him to connect with them and actually help. Their past experiences with other mentors had moulded their entire view of coaching relationships. When what you're offering is so different from the clickbait they've been absorbing on social media, they become hesitant to work with you because they don't understand it.

Education Models Going Back Thousands of Years Agree: Mastery Isn't Knowledge

Austin referenced education mastery models from well-known educators spanning hundreds and thousands of years. None of them defines mastery as knowledge—not a single one. Mastery is always somewhere in the application realm. His entire philosophy centers on this: "I can teach you how to think. If I can teach you how to think, I can teach you how to solve any problem." That's what separates mentorship from courses. Coaches are problem solvers and information organizers. People could theoretically find the information themselves over months or years, but they wouldn't be able to compartmentalize it, separate it out, or apply it fluidly in daily situations.

Protocol-Based Models Fail Because Life Throws Curveballs

Austin doesn't use a protocol-based model—he uses a problem-solving-based model with case study work. He intentionally throws obstacles and curveballs into the scenarios because that's what happens in everyday life as a coach. You're very rarely going to get a client who says, "Here's my GI MAP, my life is perfect, I can do exactly what you tell me to do, and there will never be a challenge." That scenario doesn't exist. Teaching protocols without teaching problem-solving leaves coaches completely unprepared for reality.

The Education Space Is Failing for Two Primary Reasons

Austin is direct about why education is presented the way it is: money and lack of understanding from the educator. Some people probably do have high-level skill sets and application abilities, but they choose not to market or teach that way because it's not sexy and won't make them maximum dollars. Others genuinely lack the understanding to teach beyond protocols. Either way, coaches are getting half the education at best—maybe 25% of what they actually need.

Your Client Quality Problem Is Actually Your Content Problem

When Austin worked with mentees who had massive followings but terrible client inquiries, the issue was always obvious: look at their social media content. One guy kept getting clients who just wanted to take drugs because all he posted was clickbait, sensationalistic drug content. Your content creates a perpetual loop—if you're attracting crap clients, you're posting content that doesn't align with your ethics, morals, foundations, or standards. Those clients then refer friends who are very similar, and you've trapped yourself in a cycle that's completely misaligned with who you want to serve.

Young Coaches Are Afraid of Hard Conversations That Could Change Everything

Austin sees younger coaches paralyzed by fear of having hard conversations with clients. They think the client will leave, or they're dealing with imposter syndrome because they're 22 trying to coach a 35-year-old. He gets it—he's been there. But the reality is that having those hard conversations is what creates the breakthroughs that lead to referrals and retention. If you really understand your core values as a coach, those values will guide every decision you make, including whether or not to make that social media post you're questioning or have that difficult conversation.

Service and Retention Are the Foundation—Not Acquisition

Austin's friend, a well-respected coach, once told him that people just need to focus more on servicing their clients than anything else. If you're excellent at that job, your likelihood of failing is low. There are tons of coaches who don't have big followings, who you've probably never heard of, who are excellent coaches making good money with great retention and tons of referrals. Those three to four things—service, retention, referrals, and doing a great job—should be the foundation of everyone's business. Social media acquisition takes about six months on average, but a referral? That client is already sold on you before they walk in the door.

Outside Perspectives Make You a Better Coach Inside the Gym

Austin goes to therapy with an Irish lady in her 60s who understands what bodybuilding is but has no lived experience in the space. Getting perspective from someone outside the industry is invaluable because everyone in fitness tends to share very similar personality styles—primarily Type A to some extent. That creates biases and limitations in how they present feedback and information. Austin also has hobbies outside of fitness and friends who aren't in the industry. Watching body language and having conversations with people outside fitness gives him a much wider lens than if he only stayed in the fitness bubble, where everyone thinks similarly.

AI Can't Replace What Happens in One-on-One Mentorship

Austin tested this recently by plugging blood work into a couple of AI engines. The analysis wasn't bad, but when he took two people with entirely different lives who had very similar quantitative data, he got very similar answers for both of them. The solution for those two people would be entirely different in reality. That's where one-on-one mentorship, experience, case study work, and problem-solving skills become critical. There's just no way to plug and play at this point in time. If we ever get to that point, we'll all have much bigger problems anyway.

He Personally Responds to Every Single Inquiry

People tell Austin all the time that they appreciate his personal responses and thoughtful answers to their inquiries. His reaction is always the same: "What do other people do?" The concept is strange to him. When someone reaches out, that's his opportunity to connect. He has a marketplace where people can purchase classes and watch them, and he does his absolute best to provide case studies and applications, but it's not mentorship. There's nothing online that will replace one-on-one or even group settings. Nothing. And he doesn't believe there ever will be, at least not in our lifetime.

The Bottom Line

Austin's perspective on this industry comes from years of making mistakes, holding himself accountable, and turning life experiences into lessons. The coaches who are struggling aren't struggling because they're dumb—many of them are brilliant, technically proficient people. They're struggling because they can't figure out problems, and that's usually because of everything we talked about in this conversation.

If you're a young coach, stop chasing one more certification or protocol. Learn how to think critically. Develop your soft skills. Get perspectives from outside the fitness bubble. Build a business model around problem-solving, not plug-and-play solutions. The coaches Austin works with who implement this approach don't just survive—they build sustainable businesses with clients who stay, refer, and actually get results. That's not because of what they know. It's because of how they think and how they connect with people. Everything else is just noise.

Find Austin:

austinst8 | Facebook | Linktree

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