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People all around the world know MyKayla Skinner‘s name. And they know her for her #1 passion: gymnastics.
But now that she’s retired from the sport, she’s finding a new passion in content creation.
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Skinner spent years as a top-level pro gymnast. She was a two-time NCAA champion, won 11 medals at the USA National Championships during her career, competed in the 2014 World Championships, was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team, and when Simone Biles got the twisties at the 2020 Olympics, she stepped in and won a silver medal for Team USA.
While competing in gymnastics in college, Skinner met her now-husband, who was “really good at creating content just for fun for himself,” she tells Tubefilter. “We talked about doing a YouTube channel, but then it was hard because with NCAA rules, you can’t take money and all this stuff.” Post-college, when Skinner began getting ready for the highest possible level competition, things changed. “[W]e were like, ‘Okay, now that I’m training for the Olympics, we have got to start a YouTube channel,'” she says.
Skinner recorded her entire Olympic journey–good times and bad.
“We got to film stuff from the Olympics and Olympic trials and just the camps and everything that I went through and my burns, bones for injury and COVID and everyone just got to get to know the real me,” she says. “That’s what I loved about it. It was super cool to take off on YouTube and do some stuff on social media.”
These days, her channel has more than 130,000 subscribers. And, like we mentioned, it (along with her other social channels, like Instagram) is becoming a central focus of her life now that she’s retired from gymnastics and has a new baby. She’s embracing making family lifestyle content, and has been vlogging her first months with a newborn. (She also just signed with Viral Nation to help her pursue content creation as a career.)
It hasn’t been easy finding a passion outside of gymnastics, all while hitting the ground running as a new mom. But Skinner–as you probably guessed–is not one to shy from a challenge, and she’s ready to take this in stride.
Check out our chat with her below.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: Great to meet you! Let’s dive right in. Imagine somebody’s reading this and they don’t know who you are. Give me a little bit of introduction to you, how you got into gymnastics, where you’re from, that kind of thing.
MyKayla Skinner: I’m from Gilbert, Arizona. That’s where I grew up most of my life. I lived in Utah for two years when I was younger. I fell in love with the Red Rocks University of Utah gymnastics team. I knew as a little gymnast that it was my dream to go and compete for the Red Rocks. Of course, it was my dream to go to the Olympics. I started gymnastics because my mom put all of us in it so we did. My brother and my two sisters– I’m the baby in the family, they all did gymnastics. My mom fell in love with gymnastics. She was a swimmer and decided to put all of us in it. I was the one that had most of the talent and stuck with it.
At the age of 12, that was when I was like, “Okay, I think the Olympics could really happen for me.” I started the elite program, which is like the Olympic route and made the national team, went to world championships. I was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team. I didn’t get to compete in Rio, but after that, I was like, “I am done with elite gymnastics” and ended up going to the University of Utah and competing on their gymnastics team for three years. Then my senior year, decided to defer and go and train for the Olympics.
It was a hard, long journey, and with COVID and everything that happened, didn’t even know if the Olympics were going to happen. It was just a crazy time, but I’m glad that I stuck with it. I pushed through it and pushed through all the trials and was able to make the 2020 Olympic Games.
Even though 2021, ended up being 2020 just because they didn’t want to change all the logos and everything. Technically, it’s 2021, but competed for 2020. It was seriously a whirlwind. It was so cool. I don’t know if you have heard of my story, but a lot of people that follow our YouTube channel got to see all the behind the scenes and the journey and the hardness and what it took to make this Olympic team. I was actually going to be flying home to go home because I didn’t make any of the event finals, and then Simone got the twisties and I was able to jump in and compete in vault finals and take home that silver medal.
That’s a little bit about me and my journey. Still so crazy to think that I went to the Olympics and won a silver medal. Still doesn’t feel real. After the Olympics, I decided to move to Utah with my husband and I had to finish my senior year of college. I didn’t do gymnastics, but ended up finishing and getting my degree in communications and journalism, which was really cool because I wanted to do sports broadcasting and then didn’t get to pursue that because I got pregnant and now have a baby. That’s still in the works to see if I want to do sports broadcasting or not. That’s a little bit about me and my journey.
Tubefilter: Perfect. I know you also had COVID, and you had a really tough time with COVID.
MyKayla Skinner: Yes, I had COVID, then got pneumonia and I had a bone spur injury. I had like all these setbacks, didn’t even think I was going to make the Olympics at this point. It was so crazy, but I had a positive mindset and attitude. I was like, “You know what? I’ve proven people wrong so many times, I can do this again.” I worked my butt off and was able to peak at the right time and made that Olympic team. It was so cool.
With the last Olympics, it was crazy because they had an individual specialist spot. They had two of those, and then they had the four-man team. My main goal was to make that four-man team. I ended up getting fifth at Olympic trials by like half a tenth. They took it rank order because in 2016, they didn’t do rank order and I placed fourth at Olympic trials and they replaced me with seventh and eighth. I ended up being the alternate.
I don’t know if you guys heard about the Larry Nassar scandal. Once all that stuff happened, they’ve been reorganizing USA Gymnastics and getting a whole bunch of new people in. With the new Olympic coach, Tom, he wanted to take it rank order. I’m glad they did it that way so it was fair, but then I ended up being in event specialist spot. I didn’t get to compete for the team. I was on my own, basically. Anyway, it was just crazy because the two per country rule. I had made it in for vault finals, but because of the two per country rule out of the top eight, I didn’t make it because Jade and Simone made it. Since Simone ended up getting the twisties, that’s when I got to fill in for her.
So many crazy things happened. I was just so blessed and so grateful that everything happened the way that it did. I couldn’t have asked for a better Olympics or a better turnout. It was just like after all the trials and all the things I’ve been through gymnastics and the politics, I feel like nothing has ever gone my way. Then I felt that same thing at the Olympics. I didn’t get to go in for team. I didn’t make it in for any individual events. It was just so devastating and sad. Then all of a sudden, this still small voice kept telling me, “It’s not over yet. It’s not over yet.” I’m like, “No, but it’s over.” It was like God had this plan. I got to go out with a bang at the Olympic Games and compete one last time. Anyway, it was super cool.
Tubefilter: Just a wild cascade of things that happened?
MyKayla Skinner: It was so it was so crazy, literally sitting there watching team finals thinking I’m going to fly home the next day. Then all of a sudden Simone goes and it’s like, “We’re changing your flights.” So cool. I felt bad for Simone, but she was so nice. She texted me that night when we got to the room. She was just like, “You know what? There’s no one else I’d rather go in for vault for me than you.” She’s like, “You deserve this. You got this,” because at that point, I think she knew she just wasn’t even going to try vault again because she was just so scarred from it.
I knew that I was going in for vault. No one else could know until 24 hours before vault final. It was like a whole two days later. Anyway, she was– literally couldn’t have asked for a better teammate. To be able to give up an Olympic medal, to have me go in for her. It was it was just amazing. I still just can’t believe that it even happened. Again, it still doesn’t seem real. Simone was cheering me on every step of the way. It was incredible. An incredible experience. Yes.
Tubefilter: I’m glad that good things came out of it. Clearly you performed very well.
MyKayla Skinner: Thanks!
Tubefilter: When did content creation come into it for you? I know you’re doing really well on Instagram.
MyKayla Skinner: Thanks. Originally, I started building my fan base just because of gymnastics and Olympic trials and the Olympics from 2016. Then, of course, with NCAA rules, we couldn’t really do much with social media. It was always a dream of mine to do a YouTube channel and document gymnastics because it was different. I wanted people to see the rawness and what it takes to get to where we get.
Anyway, I ended up meeting my husband, which was my boyfriend at the time in college, my sophomore year. He is really good at creating content just for fun for himself, and so I was like, “Oh, this is awesome.” We talked about doing a YouTube channel, but then it was hard because with NCAA rules, you can’t take money and all this stuff. When I decided to go back and train for the Olympics when we moved back to Arizona, we were like, “Okay, now that I’m training for the Olympics, we have got to start a YouTube channel.”
We started a YouTube channel and we got to document my whole Olympic journey. Everybody just loved it. We got to film stuff from the Olympics and Olympic trials and just the camps and everything that I went through and my burns, bones for injury and COVID and everyone just got to get to know the real me. That’s what I loved about it. It was super cool to take off on YouTube and do some stuff on social media. Then it got hard because we moved back after the Olympics to Utah because we had to finish school. I just wanted a break. I was like, “You know what, I need to detox from life. I want to enjoy life now that I have a life.”
We ended up taking a break. We just started ramping it up again now that I got pregnant and we’re moving on to this next chapter because I feel like for a while, we were at that dead spot where I was like, “I don’t know what to create, what content people would like. I don’t know.”
I feel like my life’s boring now because gymnastics was my life. That’s all I knew and that’s what I was good at and I was good at talking about it so now it’s been really cool to make that transition into motherhood, fitness, life. It’s been hard to figure it out, but we’re just starting to get there and we’re bringing back YouTube and everybody’s been loving it. We’ve just been working really hard to get it going again.
It’s been really fun, really challenging. I would like to create more gymnastics content, too. I did a post before the baby came just talking about gymnastics and made a reel and everybody just went crazy about it because I still have that fan base of my followers that follow me for gymnastics. They loved that content. I’d love to still mix in gymnastics because that’s who I am and then this new chapter of being a mom. It’s been awesome.
Tubefilter: That kind of thing is difficult to transition into. It’s interesting, you having to figure out what you’re passionate about now.
MyKayla Skinner: Right? It’s so different, and again, I’m good at gymnastics. I could talk about gymnastics all day, every day. It’s weird transitioning into like fashion and mom life because it’s all so new to me but I think that’s what people love about it because we’re being real. We were talking to one of my friends the other day and she’s like, “You were talking about your breast milk coming in and just talking about your boobs and all these things.” She’s like, “I can’t believe you talked about that.” I was like, “I know, but I want to be real with everybody because a lot of people don’t talk about how hard postpartum is and having a baby is.
Our daughter has been really– It’s been hard and everybody has been able to relate, and getting all the DMs and the feedback has been incredible and just the help… It’s scary when you transition into this mom world because I think a lot of people want to attack you and try to tell you how to parent, which I was super nervous about, but with anything that we’ve had so far, a lot of it has been such good feedback and everyone’s like, “I love that you are real and talking about all this stuff.” That’s just been awesome to hear. It has made me feel better as I transition into this new realm.
Tubefilter: It can be difficult for people, especially when you’re doing family content or content about your kids, to know where the line is between your life behind the camera and then your life that people are allowed to see. How have you navigated that?
MyKayla Skinner: It’s been hard. I even remember during the Olympics, we just went on vacation for the first time. We went to Hawaii and we went with a bunch of friends and everyone was like, “Why didn’t you document your trip to Hawaii?” I’m just like it’s so hard because sometimes I feel like when you’re creating content, sometimes it doesn’t always feel real because you’re sitting there thinking, “Oh, I’m going to have to get ready” or “I have to put makeup on because I don’t want to be on camera looking like this,” but then you have to like take a step back and be like, “Oh, well, that’s the stuff people want to see.”
It’s been hard trying to navigate that to be more real. A hard part of it is Jonas and I film everything. Sometimes I’m like it’d be so nice to have another person with us to film it so you could just see everything that’s real instead of putting a camera up and just feeling like I’ve practiced in front of the camera. It just doesn’t feel as authentic, but again, we’ve really worked on just being real and showing everybody, this is what life is like. Just really trying to take in the moment and document it and going through the steps of the day instead of just morning, night. We’ve just been taking more chunks throughout the day and trying to capture those real and authentic moments
Tubefilter: Obviously you have a very young child and that’s a lot to deal with, but in terms of production, what does the average day look like for you now?
MyKayla Skinner: it’s really hard. For the longest time, I couldn’t even get ready. Seeing me with makeup on is like, okay, today’s been a productive day, but it’s been crazy. Even just filming with a newborn, it’s hard. Even getting on this call, because I’m breastfeeding and she wants to eat and so I’m trying to figure out, okay I got to breastfeed here, then I’ve got to make time for this and make time for that and schedule out my day.
It’s been a little bit tricky but from day to day, I wake up and I got to try to get content going. My husband can work from home some days and of course with having a new baby, he’s been home a lot more so it’s made it a lot more easier to film a whole bunch of stuff during the day instead of waiting till he comes home from work. We’re we’ve been filming. We’ve been trying to get footage every single day and we just did a video of our whole day routine. That was really tricky. A lot of it included just her wanting to eat and being fussy, but again, we’re just trying to be real. We just we tried a video every single day, trying to get content. Hopefully we’ll start making more reels and doing all the things.
We’ve just been super busy and then I’ve just been at home on the couch just trying to survive at the moment, especially with a newborn. It’s been very difficult and for the last couple weeks, I haven’t really done much recently.
Tubefilter: I don’t think you can be blamed for that.
MyKayla Skinner: I know. I know. It’s been so hard. I’m still trying to figure out what our daily routine looks like just because I’ve been living literally on the couch nonstop. Again, we’ve just been capturing all that real and authentic time with Charlotte and just what we’ve been doing and it might seem boring to me but a lot of people love it because it’s real and they get to see what we’re doing
Tubefilter: It is very interesting to see how other people live. It always is.
MyKayla Skinner: Right, and then so many people can relate because they’ve been through it. It’s been fun.
Tubefilter: This might be a tough question to answer, but now that you’re with Viral Nation, do you have any plans or goals that you’re working toward in terms of content?
MyKayla Skinner: Yes. My husband would like to not have to make YouTube videos and Viral Nation, seriously, they have stuff in every category you can imagine, which has been what we’ve been looking for. Even just help with creating content because sometimes I feel like I might have a good idea and then I try to make it and I’m like, that just didn’t go the way I wanted it to.
We’re excited for them to have a team to help us to get stuff going that we really like and that we enjoy and how we can make it fun for our followers. We’re also working on a book. It’s been a dream of mine to write a book about my whole life, my story because it is definitely one to tell. All the things that I’ve been through, all the trials, all the ups and downs, being cheated, being robbed, just everything that has gone on in my life has just been a story that needs to be shared. We are finally in the process of getting that started.
We wanted to get the book out during the Olympics next year, but it’s really hard because you just don’t know if the timeline is going to work. That’s the goal as of right now. Hopefully, the book can come out next year, but it might not come out till the year after. We’ll see how that goes and then I want to do more public speaking. I’ve done a couple public speaking engagements, but hopefully, to get more. Trying to think what else because yes, we have YouTube, oh my gosh, my mind just went blank. I can’t even think.
Tubefilter: I can imagine you’re not getting enough sleep to think very clearly.
MyKayla Skinner: I know. I know. It’s like pregnancy brain, but like it’s still happening. It’s crazy. Obviously, just the little things. We just want to be doing more. We want to be real with our followers, get them engaged more. Just trying to stay on top of it and finding that routine is like the biggest thing and Viral Nation has already been amazing on getting things started. They’re trying to get stuff wrapped up right now.
I just signed with them. Hopefully, we’ll start more stuff here in the next couple weeks or so, but we’re just excited to be part of the team and to hopefully grow our following and just to keep our social media growing and to keep fans engaged and hopefully they can enjoy our videos as much as we enjoy being a family. It’s been fun. I think the biggest thing is just getting that book out there. That’s the biggest thing for me right now is to get that book and just to keep growing with YouTube and just staying on top of it. We’ll see how it goes.
Tubefilter: Perfect. Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
MyKayla Skinner: Oh, man, I don’t know.
Tubefilter: I know that’s a broad question.
MyKayla Skinner: I don’t know, I feel like I’ve talked about it, just transitioning into motherhood, it’s a whole different thing. I still feel like I’m not that good at it, but I’m learning and I’m getting there. Postpartum depression is a real thing. We’ve had to have so much help through all of this. If we didn’t have– My family still lives in Arizona because we’re here in Utah and so my husband’s family’s here. His mom’s been here all the time and helping in the night just because she’s been so colicky. We think she has acid reflux. It’s just been a nightmare.
I’m like, if I didn’t have that help, I literally would be in postpartum depression so bad, because it’s hard. A lot of people I feel like, some babies are really easy, but I finally get the opportunity to sympathize and help other women get through this challenge with their baby. Yes, I don’t know. Just learning, growing, becoming a mom. I get to start this new journey. I’m excited for everything and just to grow as a person. It’s been awesome going from an Olympic athlete to a mom.
