Austin Swift Talks About Taylor's Determination

Taylor Swift is at the top of her game in 2016, but more than a decade ago she was a teenager just trying to make her dream a reality. It's the "Taylor Swift: Story of Her Rise to Fame" that we've heard a million times, but her brother Austin Swift just managed to put an even more inspirational spin on it (if that's possible).

Speaking to People, Taylor's 24-year-old brother (who apparently is an actor now and has a small part in the movie I.T. starring Pierce Brosnan) explained that he witnessed his older sis go after her career with an insatiable amount of determination — even when the measure of success was on a much smaller scale.

"When we were kids, I saw Taylor write songs every day for years when there was no one to play them to," he revealed to the magazine, explaining that he spent his middle school spring break in Nashville "watching her go door-to-door dropping off demo CDs at labels that never called."

Austin "was there when she was performing at karaoke contests and in the corners of parties with the same enthusiasm she now plays to stadiums full of her fans," he continued. "Having seen that example, how much goes in, how long it took ... That's always going to be bedrock for who I am and who I want to be."

What I love most about Austin's account of T. Swift's humble beginnings isn't just that it's a classic story of the ~American dream~ (work hard and you'll achieve success), but that it's simply inspirational AF even if Taylor didn't become the bonafide pop star, businesswoman, and all-around powerhouse that she is today. Just look at how he describes her determination: It doesn't matter that she was performing for a handful of birthday party guests, or that no one wanted to listen to her demos — what matters is that she was relentlessly pursuing her passion in spite of the lack of positive feedback. If that doesn't make you want to ruthlessly apply to a million jobs and maybe become president one day, I don't know what does.

While the "Out of the Woods" singer undoubtedly inspires millions of fans every day, her brother's up-close-and-personal experience is even more eye-opening and probably even more motivational for him, TBH. Everyone looks up to their older siblings (at least this older sibling certainly hopes so!), so for Austin to have first-hand experience in the world of "look where sheer determination can get ya," that is pretty darn inspirational. Oh, what the Swift sibs can accomplish when they're motivated enough to go after it!