Austen Alexander has never been one to sit on an idea.
The Navy veteran’s mind is always working, thinking of new entrepreneurial goals, leveraging his large YouTube following of over 1.6 million subscribers to promote his businesses.
From fitness to gaming to computer software and beyond, if a tangible plan pops into his head, Alexander pursues it. But Alexander’s passions go beyond just business ventures and social media; the former master of arms wants to improve people’s lives. Especially veterans.
And he believes there’s a path for veterans to succeed as entrepreneurs without earning master’s degrees in business or pouring boatloads of time and money into an endeavor that flames out within months. Sure, some of his ideas are a little “out there,” but he’s willing to try them. Alexander might stumble, but he will learn from it and apply it to his next venture.
“I’m the type that if I make a decision, I just go with it,” he told Military.com.
In less than a decade, he’s developed five thriving businesses in fitness gear, live competition events, software with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI), and a mobile challenge bus.
“If I commit to something, I’m hyper-obsessed with learning it and with doing it,” Alexander said.
How it Started
After dropping out of college, Alexander decided to give the Navy a try, and he found something that clicked. He served from 2013-2020, becoming a master of arms, a security position, in the Harbor Patrol division.
“I drove a 27-foot ‘metal shark’ around the harbor, and we provided security on the ocean front,” Alexander said.
In the Navy, Alexander was deployed on a WESTPAC cruise in 2017, patrolling the waters around Hawaii, Guam and South Korea.
“That’s when North Korea was testing all those nuclear bombs out in the ocean, and we were kind of teeter-tottering around the DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea,” Alexander said, “in case they were willing to do anything, we were there with manpower and dozens of jets and the whole fleet was out there at one point.”
In the Navy, he still found ways to ignite his creativity. In 2017, the Alabama native dipped his toes into business, building AMA Marketing, a digital media production entity, crafting content for YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook. A fitness buff, Alexander found success on YouTube in 2016, posting military fitness exercises, training tips, and videos encouraging everyday folks to test their physical limitations, but in an entertaining and informative way.
Fast-forward a decade, Alexander has garnered more than three billion views across his social media platforms.
“When it was time to re-up (for the Navy), I was going to potentially get out, get my feet on the ground, start a family and the Navy said, ‘Hey, it’s time for you to re-enlist,’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t think I want to re-enlist,’ and they’re like, ‘What are you gonna do?’ and I said, ‘I’m going to take YouTube full-time,’ and they were like, ‘What are you and idiot? You can’t do that. You can’t just make videos?” Alexander recalled. “Well, I got out, and I kept producing videos. Eventually, I realized that I was doing it as a job. That was really hard. For about six months, I struggled. What is my future going to look like? There was just a lot of overthinking and overanalysis on my part.”
For several months, Alexander struggled to transition from the Navy to civilian life. But he kept doing what he loved – making YouTube content and connecting with people.
“I was able to tell myself, ‘Hey, if this doesn’t work out, it’ll be OK,’ and just have fun with it,” Alexander said. “We only have one life. It doesn’t make sense for me not to have fun with everything that I do and that allowed me to take bigger risks, hire people and go all-in on the production.”
Battle Bunker
After he built his audience, it was time to start marketing products.
Capitalizing on his military background, Alexander created Battle Bunker, which features fitness and training gear, including weighted vests, resistance bands, ab straps and training programs. Manufactured in the U.S., the products are made with military-grade durability. According to a press release, more than 5,400 customers have purchased items from Battle Bunker, drawing praise from military members looking to upgrade their fitness, along with civilian athletes.
“When I got into the military, I learned how much fitness can have a huge impact on mental health. When in doubt, if you’ve had a bad day, get a workout in, and I would almost immediately feel better after the workout,” Alexander said. “Seeing all these positive sides of fitness, I just really leaned into it and when I started posting for YouTube, I posted about how to do more push-ups, how to run faster and I eventually competed in a bodybuilding show.”
The Battle Bus
Just as his businesses started rolling and his social media presence was expanding, came a death knell to many companies – the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.
Alexander, however, took a challenge and turned it into an opportunity. With gyms across the country shut down, he brought fitness directly to people, bringing The Battle Bus to gym parking lots, challenging strangers to pull-up and push-up contests for cash.
In less than two months, the Battle Bus series generated more than 100 million social media views, adding 100,000 new subscribers. This unique concept also attracted national attention from news outlets, sharing stories of improving mental health through fitness, especially during a nerve-racking global pandemic.
“From there, I started a bunch of subbrands,” Alexander said. “They all start with production, and I just follow a format. Hey, if you’re going to have a brand, it needs to start with production, producing content and videos to share with people. It’s been a great journey.”
Hybricon Games
With the success of Battle Bunker and The Battle Bus in the rear-view mirror, the Navy veteran focused on his boldest endeavor yet, the Hybricon Games, a multi-day hybrid fitness challenge to find the “toughest male and female athlete in the world.”
The competition debuted in 2024 as athletes flocked to Catalina Island, California, for a wide range of events from strongman medleys to max deadlifts to sumo wrestling. Hybricon Games was released as an Amazon Prime documentary, attracting more athletes to the annual event.
AI and the Future
In recent months, Alexander has shifted his focus to building AI tools, creating AMA Softwares, to help other veteran-owned businesses become more efficient. While he didn’t have a technology background, he was interested and willing to learn.
“Learning and being in the realm, you just learn how to stay updated with everything going on and that’s how I progress,” he said. “Being interested and committed to the craft is how I learned it.”
Alexander believes one of the main ingredients to succeeding in business is simply diving in and figuring out the details along the way. Through ingenuity and a “can-do” spirit forged in the military, the Navy veteran doesn’t let setbacks get in the way of his dreams.
“In the Navy, every day is different and that’s something you have to get used to,” Alexander said. “You wake up in the morning and it’s like, ‘OK, I don’t know what I’m going to do today, so I’ll just roll with the punches.’ And that really taught me how to roll with things and to be flexible every day. That’s the biggest thing that helps me with business, because things change. Being able to adapt on the fly is a huge skill I’ve been able to add to my toolbox.”
And if he can do it, why not other veterans? And if one venture proves fruitful, why not pursue others? With more than 2.5 million veteran-owned businesses in the U.S., there are certainly opportunities out there.
“If someone wants to start something, make sure they’re passionate about it,” Alexander said. “Because if you’re constantly doing something that you don’t like, or you’re not passionate about, you’re not going to stay consistent and you’re not going to be able to go long-term.”
