What do you think about Olivia Dunne’s life so far? Someone with a $4.1 million NIL valuation, astonishing offers from big sponsors, millions of admirers worldwide, a name on the LSU Tigers gymnastics roster, and cameras pursuing her everywhere? No, Livvy is someone more than that. She has faced countless struggles to reach her current position and is already facing such. How? On February 21, Livvy wasn’t there on the mat against Kentucky. In fact, it was the fourth match in a row this season she missed making a cut. Any particular reason for her absence?

According to the latest information, Olivia Dunne has a knee issue, and there is no word on when she will return to the mat. Injuries are unavoidable in the world of gymnastics. But remember, Livvy has a handful of matches left in her final collegiate year. Struggles, right? However, since her early years in college, she has been facing challenges. Recently, she has revealed a few of those instances. 

Olivia Dunne reveals her early days in the mix 

Since 2021, Olivia Dunne has been in the headlines for her extraordinary positions in the NIL (name, image, and likeness) list. Currently, with a $4.1 million NIL valuation, she is the only female and only college gymnast on the top-10 NIL list. Stunning, no? But Livvy has always been attracting focus, much before the NIL magnified it in 2021. And several times, this focus has created issues for her. Enter her days before becoming the much-known NIL star. In her recent interview with D’Arcy Maine from ESPN, Livvy recalled those days. Her sound memory led her to say, “I was 18 years old when everything changed, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe; I felt like I couldn’t make a mistake.” But why did such things make a place in her mind? 

In the same interaction, Olivia revealed the reason. “I struggled, especially at first, with the amount of eyes on me,” she said. But did the eyes follow her? At 18, she had yet to get the offers from the large brands. Then how did she attract eyes toward her? The reason was there in her interaction with the New York Post back in 2021. In that interaction, she revealed the reason those once made her face known among the people. 

In that interview, Livvy ultimately said, “I was quarantined in Florida, and I just started making content at the beach, doing flips, and filming it. My videos started to get on the ‘for you’ page [on Instagram] a lot more, so more people saw them… and it took off.” However, soon she matched up with the situation. She learned to reconcile her life’s ups and downs. Her learning process showed another amazing thing. 

The learning can be anywhere, even on social media 

So the question is, how did Olivia Dunne stand up to thwart challenges those days? Any guide from somewhere? By then, she was already a part of the LSU Tigers gymnastics program. So, any help from her colleagues or coaches? No. Dunne has had all the respect for them. But in the question of surviving the rush in 2021, she wanted to pat social media’s back. The reason?

In her interaction with ESPN, Olivia Dunne said, “Something you learn on social media is you will get hate and you will get people that are bitter towards you, especially when you have success.” Meanwhile, she used the public’s gaze in her cause. How? She revealed the process in the meantime. 

Livvy Dunne, in fact, said, “I think that having the eyes on me has been such a blessing in my life, and I feel like it’s translated over into eyes on the sport of gymnastics, which was a huge deal to me and a huge reason why I kept coming back for more. … Watching the growth of the sport and women’s sports overall has meant so much to me.” She loves this growth so much. Even this love of hers led her to decide on her post-gymnastics career. Last year, in her interview with Flau’jae Johnson, she said, “Keep doing new and stay in the NIL space is something that I would love to do because I now have so much knowledge about it.” 

Olivia Dunne doesn’t want to let the budding female college gymnasts face the same that once she did. That’s why she wants to use her knowledge to guide them on the right track to achieve bigger success in NIL deals. Any take on this noble cause? Please let us know in the comments below!