Amanda O’Brien

Amanda graduated with an honors degree in Psychology from Texas State University. A year after graduating, she found her true passion in coaching during what she calls her “quarter life crisis.”

At the age of 23, she quit her fulltime job and started to question what she truly wanted to do with her life. It was at that moment when she began a non-paid, 80-hour intensive, coaches’ development program at her local CrossFit gym. She found fulfillment in helping others during the first few hours of this internship, and while she enjoyed coaching group classes and holding personal training sessions, she quickly began to see flaws within the current health and fitness industry.

In 2015, Amanda and her husband Jesse founded Central Athlete in East Austin. Central Athlete was born out of the confluence of Jesse’s and Amanda’s experience, proven strength and conditioning principles, and an evolving set of holistic ideas centered around the client.

Amanda empowered her clients to meet their health and fitness goals by aligning their lifestyle and priorities with an individualized approach while providing encouragement and accountability. She used specific assessments and measurable data points to build a solid foundation for each individual depending upon their function while keeping them balanced and injury free.

Not only did Amanda lead in a critical role as a coach at Central Athlete, she also wore many hats within the business such as head of sales, director of marketing, and content creator throughout the years. After her son River was born in December 2019, Amanda took a step back from the business and became a stay-at-home mom. Now, as a mom of three kiddos ages 5 and under, Amanda has excitedly jumped into the role as Executive Director with a passion of enhancing the client experience and growing into the most well known, result-oriented gym in Texas.