"Nobody's footsteps to follow in" - Olivia Dunne makes her feelings known on initial struggles in navigating NIL deals

Olivia Dunne recently shared her thoughts on managing the demands and opportunities her rising career presented her way. The LSU gymnast expressed how she navigated her ventures during the early days of her fame.

Dunne is a prominent internet personality who has amassed 5.3 million followers on Instagram. She has signed multiple sponsorships and NIL deals and has the most following on social media for an NCAA athlete. In a recent discussion with ESPN’s D'Arcy Maine, she expressed how she directed her professional and business prospects, as it was unfamiliar territory, and there was no one for her to look up to.

“There definitely were some learning curves, and it took a long time to learn how to balance it all. Especially between my sophomore and junior year, that was a super hard time because I just didn't know what to do and there were nobody's footsteps to follow in. So I kind of had to learn on my own how to navigate all this.”

The 22-year-old expressed that she was learning along the way and faced difficulty during the early years of her collegiate career. She also mentioned that the period was arduous and she learned to walk on her path. Last year, she was named to the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll and the Scholastic All-American.

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Olivia Dunne revealed the essence of her multifaceted brand

Olivia Dunne at the 2024 LSU Archive - Source: Getty

Olivia Dunne began pursuing gymnastics at a very young age and went on to compete at state and regional levels. She qualified for the Jr. International Elite competition and became the youngest athlete in the country to do so. Dunne, with her prominent social media presence, has reached new heights and shared her thoughts on her brand image via Forbes.

“I would say it's a little bit of everything. It's my lifestyle, it's fashion, it's fitness, friends and fun,” she mentioned. [0:15 onwards]

Dunne expressed that the personality of her name’s brand is an amalgamation of different aspects of her life. In 2017, she was selected on the US Junior Women's National Team. At the Jesolo Trophy competition in Italy, the team won the all-around gold medal, as per her official site.

With her collegiate career and social media growth, Dunne has become one of the most financially successful college athletes. She will hope to cap off her final uear with LSU with yet another NCAA title.