Olivia Dunn is one of the most followed college athletes
on social media,
but success wasn't handed to her.
From racking up medals to raking in 1,000,000,
Dunns Rise to the Top was filled with lots of
hard work and dedication.
Olivia Dunn is a Hillsdale,
NJ native whose parents have athletic pass of their own.
Her dad was a member of the football team at
Rutgers University,
while her mom was a cheerleader who also did gymnastics.
However, it wasn't her mother who inspired Dunn to become
a gymnast at age 3.
Dunn saw her cousin wearing a pink glitter leotard and
fell in love with the look she recalled to Elle.
I was like, mom, I want that.
And she said, well, you can't have a leotard unless
you do gymnastics.
So I was like, sign me up.
Her parents obliged, and Dunn soon began training at a
local gym.
By 6, she upgraded to a new gym,
the Eastern National Academy of Gymnastics and Paramus.
The coaches at Ena Gymnastics trained gymnastics from Level 3
all the way up to the elite category,
the highest level of competition.
So it was the perfect fit for a serious young
gymnast looking to develop her skills and start competing in
meets.
It didn't take done long to impress one of her
new coaches,
Craig Zappa, He told northjersey.com.
She is very smart about what she does,
and she learns very fast.
At Ena Gymnastics. It took Dunn just a year to
advance from Level 4 all the way up to Level
8.
At this point, her best event was beginning to become
evident as she earned a New Jersey scoring record on
the uneven bars,
coach Zappa told northjersey.com in 2017.
Most skills that take a lot of kids a couple
of months.
Sometimes she can just pick it up in two days
or one practice and just move it through.
Dunn reached level 10 at age 10,
an achievement that allowed her to compete at the 2013
Junior Olympic National Invitational Tournament.
The the following year, she earned Junior International Elite status.
She was just 11 years old at the time,
making her the youngest elite competitor in the US
Dunn created her Instagram account at age 9 and began
building a following by sharing gymnastics content.
In one of her earliest posts,
she's pictured posing with someone she looked up to fellow
gymnast Aly Raisman.
The photo was taken just a few weeks after Raisman
returned from the London Olympics with two gold medals.
Olivia couldn't have known then that she'd someday have more
than twice as many Instagram followers as The Olympian.
Olivia's mother, Catherine, explained to USA TODAY that she was
fine with her daughter being on Instagram at such a
young age because her busy gymnastics schedule made it difficult
for her to spend time with her peers.
She told the newspaper she used it to stay in
touch with friends she had from gymnastics who were around
the country.
But for Olivia, social media was so much more than
a means of communicating with people she knew,
she told the New York Post.
Doing social media is always something that I've loved and
I've always taken it pretty seriously.
I think consistency is key with social media.
By 2014, Dunn was already so popular on Instagram that
an impersonator began stealing her content.
The gymnast was 11 years old at the time and
really upset that someone else was taking credit for her
hard work.
However, Dunn's team mates helped cheer her up by creating
a funny video,
Dunn told the gym Turnett.
Everyone wore masks with my face and pretended to be
me.
It was really funny and made me laugh about the
whole thing.
That same year, Dunn had her sights set on the
Olympics and was training hard to get there.
She headed to Corolli Ranch,
the national team training center in Texas,
for a five day developmental training camp.
According to Ena Gymnastics, her gym sessions lasted 7 hours
each day.
I pretty much sacrificed my summers.
You know, those pool days,
those beach days with your friends.
I was in the gym training.
Dunn told the Daily Voice that she started homeschooling in
2016 so she could prioritize her gymnastics training.
By then, it was evident that the sport was going
to get her into the College of her choice.
She cracked the top ten at 2 events at the
2016 National Championships,
finishing 8th place on beam and 4th place on floor.
Months later, Dunn returned to the Karolyi Ranch to sharpen
her skills.
One of her fellow trainees was future Olympian Jordan Chiles.
Coach Zappa told northjersey.com Com
The development camps really make her accountable for her gymnastics.
You go there and watch everyone else kick butt and
she realizes that she has to keep up.
Dunn attended a selection camp the following March,
and her performance there landed her a spa on the
USA National team.
Dunn represented her country at the 2017 City of Gesolo
Trophy in Italy and left with a gold medal for
the team event.
She also placed sixth in the junior All around In
2019,
Dunn told Famous Birthdays that this was her proudest moment.
In 2017, Dunn shared an update on our Instagram following
with
northjersey.com, revealing that it was up to
8602. She said it's really cool how some people look
up to me and think that I am really good.
Some say I inspire them and made them stay with
gymnastics.
From watching my videos, it makes me happy because gymnastics
is fun.
2018 was a tough year for Olivia Dunn.
Karolyi Ranch, which had been an integral part for her
training,
shuttered its doors following the sex abuse conviction of Doctor
Larry Nasser,
the physician for the US Women's National Gymnastics team.
The coaches who ran the ranch,
Bella and Martha Karolyi, had also been accused of fostering
an abusive environment.
Dunn Tol Dell. It shut down,
obviously, because it was not a good place,
but I went from the age of 10 until I
was 16.
That was the only way to make your dreams come
true as a gymnast.
Dunn became a senior elite gymnast in 2018,
but an ankle injury kept her from competing in every
event except the uneven bars at the US Classic.
Meanwhile, Dunn was granted an injury petition to compete at
Nationals,
where she placed 18th in the all Around that August.
Dunn told Flow Gymnastics that she hurt her ankle while
practicing on the beam during an appearance on the BF
FS podcast in
2021. Dunn said she later made peace with the fact
that the injury was probably responsible for killing her Olympic
dreams.
I was like, maybe this is not for me anymore
and maybe I should just go to college and be
healthy and happy.
Olivia Dunn was still a tween when she caught the
attention of recruiters from Louisiana State University.
Being a young Jersey girl,
she confessed that she'd never heard of the school before
then.
However, one thing her coaches told her about the college
immediately appealed to her.
They're like, the colors are purple and I was like,
Oh my gosh, I'm so interested.
Now, based on her experience,
Dunn thinks it's a positive thing that age restrictive recruitment
rules for colleges have since been put into place.
You shouldn't know where you want to go to school
when you're like 11 years old.
Dunn accepted a full scholarship to LSU in 2017 and
didn't regret the decision,
even though it was initially based on what color her
leotard would be,
she told 225 magazine in
2022. I visited my freshman year and they had the
best facilities and the best coaching staff,
and the school spirit is the best I have ever
seen.
While chatting on the Twin Talk podcast that December,
Dunn said that her older sister Jules was already a
student at LSU when she started attending school there,
That was another big plus,
Dunn said on the podcast.
She lives right down the hall for me,
actually, thank God because I don't know what I'd do
without her.
She is my rock. Dunn joined TikTok in 2019,
but didn't plan on participating in the apps Popular trends
at the time,
she told
WGNOABC in 2020 it was mostly people posting dance videos
and I can't dance really like they do.
What she could do was tumble.
So she started sharing videos that showcased her skills in
the gym.
Among her early tik toks are a blooper reel of
some pretty painful looking gymnastics,
six fails, including the fall that resulted in Dunn hitting
her back on the uneven bars.
According to Dunn, she didn't start gaining a huge social
media following until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
It was during that time that she switched up the
setting of her videos,
Dunn recalled to the New York Post.
I was quarantined in Florida and I just started making
content at the beach doing flips and filming it.
She believes that the sunny locale and her happy demeanor
possibly resonated with social media users during a period of
fear and uncertainty,
she told Elle. I don't know if it was just
just a little glimmer of positivity,
but people loved the vibes in my videos.
Creating the videos was also something to keep her preoccupied
while she was unable to train at the gym or
compete in meets,
her mom told Dell. She just started doing social media
like it was her job.
Dunn became a big celebrity on campus at LSU.
However, she did reveal on Twin Talk that some of
the school's sorority members weren't her biggest fans.
Dunn told the hosts. Most people didn't even know I
actually did gymnastics.
People just thought I was just a full time beach
flipper.
But instead of worrying about her social media popularity overshadowing
her collegiate gymnastics career,
Dunn monetized her beach flipping fame.
In 2021, the NCAA changed its name,
image and likeness or nil policy,
which allowed Dunn to get paid for endorsement deals with
companies.
It is very cool that someone in college has the
opportunity to do that now.
LSU showed its support for the move by paying to
have a Times Square billboard showcase Dunn and some of
its other student athletes.
Dunn recalled what it was like to see your likeness
on the Billboard.
Telling Elle that was surreal.
I didn't really know what was to come,
but I knew it was going to be special.
Because she hails from New Jersey,
she was able to make the trek to Times Square
to see your image on the Billboard.
The first deal done struck was with the athletic apparel
company Fiori.
She told Forbes that September.
I was trying to find a brand to work with
that is authentic to me.
The then 18 year old reportedly made six figures from
that deal alone.
Dunn soon took advantage of earning opportunities offered by other
brands,
including American Eagle. Dunn's notoriety didn't just make her a
hot commodity with brands.
She also landed apart as a cheerleader in the
2022 music video for the Walker Hay song Y'all Life,
which afforded her the opportunity to visit Music City.
She said on Twin Talk.
I am in love with Nashville now.
I'm so glad that work brought me to there because
now I'm going to just live my life there.
Dunn also got to walk a red carpet for the
first time in
2022 and it was fittingly for a sports related event,
the ESPYs. She later recounted the surreal experience of being
asked how it felt to be the most famous person
person at the event,
Dunn told nola.com. I was like,
I am not. I was in the presence of people
like the Rock,
Steph Curry, huge names. It's just so funny to me
that social media has that kind of power.
Maybe she hasn't quite achieved the same level of fame
as an NBA icon or pro wrestler turned movie star,
but Dunn did top the on three NIL valuations list
of the most influential female college athletes.
That same year. The college sports platform placed Dunn's earnings
at
$2.3 million at that time when she showed off her
S PS dress on TikTok Dunn and also received tons
of compliments from her fans.
In 2022, the New York Times published an article about
the
NCAA SNIL rule change. The title of the article was
New endorsements for College Athletes Resurface An Old Concern.
Sex sells. Meanwhile, the lead image was of done wearing
one of her LSU leotards.
She was interviewed for the piece and explained why the
opportunity to make money from NIL deals in college was
such a blessing for female athletes,
Dunn told the outlet. There are no professional leagues for
most women's sports after college.
However, Stanford basketball coach Tara Van der Veer said that
it was a step back for female athletes because physical
appearance can be a factor in social media popularity,
which translates to interest from brands.
Dunn seemed to throw shade at Van der Veer in
a TikTok video.
In it, she wore another team leotard and lip synced
the words.
If you don't like me,
that's fine, But you know,
watch your mouth. On the Full Send podcast in June
2023, Dunn accused her New York Times interviewer of being
overly fixated on her appearance.
She also called the newspaper out for its headline and
photo combo,
Dunn said on the podcast.
Let's say they went into the football facility,
took a picture of one of the players working out
without a shirt on.
They would never put a giant headline.
Sex sells. When Sports Illustrated offered Olivia Dunn the opportunity
to pose in the Swimsuit Issue,
it wasn't her social media fame that put her on
the magazines Radar.
As the gymnast recalled on the Full Scent podcast,
she was told that the publication liked her New York
Times clap back.
I got off the phone with them and I was
jumping up and down and I think I cried and
I was so excited.
The magazine's editor in chief,
MJ Day, defended Dunn in a Sports Illustrated article that
included a sneak peek at her photo spread.
They said the refusal of some to appreciate Livy for
being more than just a pretty blonde is missing the
point.
She praised Dunn's hard work and dedication to her sport,
as well as her major entrepreneurial moves,
Adding in a world where women are constantly being forced
to pick a lane,
Livy isn't all of them winning.
Sports Illustrated made sure that its sole focus wasn't on
the way Dunn looked in her cut out bikini by
quizzing her about a variety of top
She spoke about social media,
gymnastics, mental health, and the fun she was creating to
help other female college athletes earn money through nil partnerships.
Dunn also expressed her desire to be a positive role
model for her fans,
saying I want to show young girls that you can
have it all and you don't need to choose between
whatever it is you're passionate about.
There's a lot of young girls that look up to
me.
When Dunn appeared on Twin Talk,
she opened up about her struggle to recover from a
long term relationship,
saying I dated someone for like a year and a
half and that heartbreak was one of the most painful
feelings I have ever felt.
The gymnast also shared that she finds it difficult to
make a genuine connection with guy she meets online.
It can be hard to trust them because she worries
that they may only be interested in her fame.
Luckily, this wasn't a problem when she found love again
in
2023. In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that
August,
former LSU baseball player Paul Skeens revealed that he and
Dunn met through her roommate Elena Arenas,
who happened to be dating one of Skeens close friends.
Skeens was the number one pick of the
2023 MLB draft that July and scored a
record-breaking signing bonus worth over $9 million
from the Pittsburgh Pirates, so he's likely not dating Dunn
for money or clout.
In fact, he wishes that both of them didn't get
quite as much attention whenever they go out together,
Skeens told the newspaper. It can be a pain in
the butt sometimes,
to be honest. Skeens also said this about his girlfriend.
I do wish you could come to a baseball game
and just enjoy it.
It does irk me. I don't have any control over
it.
She really doesn't either. In September
2023, Dunn snagged the 48th spot on the Forbes top
Creators list.
In addition to her $2.3 million in earnings,
she had 12 million followers across all social media platforms.
At the time. Dunn spoke to
nola.com about why she didn't simply quit college gymnastics to
become a full time content creator,
telling the outlet I love my team and I still
love to do gymnastics.
That's why I'm still here.
But losing that camaraderie was always inevitable,
as was the future where she would be forced to
rebrand herself as something other than a student athlete.
For her college major, she chose an interdisciplinary studies program,
a combo of leadership, communications,
and sociology. These are all fields that an entrepreneur can
gain useful knowledge and insight from,
Dunn told Forbes. She isn't certain what her future holds,
but she would like to develop her own brand someday.
I definitely want to keep expanding my Livi brand.
The possibility she mentioned included an apparel line or an
app of some kind,
she told the outlet. I do feel like I have
an entrepreneurial background,
so I want to put that to good use.
Becoming a commentator is another option.
All of her interviews and podcast appearances have made her
a natural when it comes to speaking on camera.
As for where she plans on living,
Dunn told Elle. A coastal city would be ideal.
Saying then I can just honestly go back to what
I started doing.
I could flip around on the beach.