Nia Dennis

Around in Bault silver medalist. She was a member of the u c l A women's gymnastics team, where her famous floor routines went viral on the Internet, amassing millions of yews. Where does your story begin? I'm from Columbus, Ohio, born and raised till about fourteen years old, and then I moved to Chicago when I was fifteen, mostly for gymnastics to get better training to pursue my Olympic career.

Um I was training for the toy Olympics. Unfortunately, I tore my achilles just before the Olympics, just three months before. Felt devastated. I was so mad, you know, depressed, a little bit didn't want to continue the sport, but I had at that time already committed to U c l A verbally, so I was like, you know, I was feeling conflicted, but I did always know that I wanted to compete at U c l A, be a part of a team, being part of a sisterhood, also go

to school. Um. When I was training for the Olympics, I was homeschooled as well, so dedicating all my time to gymnastics. And you know, I was also kind of an only child till I was ten years old, so it was really like a lonely journey. So I couldn't wait to get to US. So I played competitive tennis growing up, and I think that I always thought gymnasts and tennis players had something strong and common. Like swimmers. There's just so few individual sports that require that much rigor,

and it is really lonely. How was your life when you were trained before you got to college, I mean, what was what was your daily life like in your schedule gons, I was training forty hours a week gymnastics, and then I was homeschooled, so you know, it's coming home from practice, eight hour practice and then just working on school on the computer. Sometimes I would do extra workouts outside of the workouts I was already doing. Um, not my choice, but so yeah, I was like working

out with football coaches. I was working out in sweatsuits and just weighing in, doing a lot of extreme things that kind of led to body image issues, like waiting. I was waiting in probably every other day, and you know, people are like, well, we don't see a change or not, you know, I well, I just waited in a day ago. You know, like it's going to be the same where

whatever the case may be. I was on pretty extreme diets early on, and just like, yeah, dieting what that can lead to, and just different things, eating disorders, um, compoty image issues. That was kind of my life before college, not necessarily knowing that and not really realizing that that's what I was going through until I was kind of out of it. How did you go from probably just taking gymnastics lessons to being a competitive gymnastic How old were you? How did that shift? Top it? Yeah? It

was pretty drastic. Actually, Um, I just love gymnastics. I love the feeling of flying and I feel really free and I just love I have really good air awareness and I feel like I'm just floating, you know, I have a good time. And I started gymnastics when I was four, and when I was about ten years old is when my coaches were like, she's way too good, like she needs to go to the Olympics. And at

this time, I'm like, what's the Olympics. I've never even heard of that before, like what you know, So it was really about ten years old and my coaches were just like everybody saw like a whole bunch of potential and I'm just like, I don't know, like I'm just having a good time. And then honestly, that's when it kind of just started to get worse from there because it was like that pressure got added on. The intensity

just went up like ten notches times ten. What's your family a part of the pressure, Yeah, most so so they but they weren't before they saw the talent, right, so it was like the talent was recognized and they got on board. Um, was it your mom or your dad? It was a good mix and what was that like, how did you what was your relationship with them like, and how is that? Evaul? Goodness, It's been a journey

for sure. We didn't get along for a while, not in necessarily too dramatic like you know, but um, I definitely started to resent them over the years because of how they were making me feel, because of the things that they were making me do, all this extra extreme like telling me making me feel like I wasn't good enough and not getting getting enough. We're proud of you

or not getting enough. You know, I see your effort even just like I see your effort, like I would have appreciated that too, But I know that they just really wanted the best for me. They wanted to push me to just get to that next step, get to that goal. But yeah, sometimes it can get a little extreme and a little bit too far. And it was so rocky time, a rough patch, just feeling disconnected and

it's still a journey with my parents. I feel like I we had some conversations over the last couple of years about just our journey and like how I opened up to them and told them how they were making me feel. And you know, they didn't know. They didn't know a lot of the things that I was telling them, they didn't even know. Um, so they're like, well, we're sorry, like we didn't know. Now it's a cry. Come to

Jesus meeting and we're just all crying and everything. So, you know, we both kind of realized like we all didn't know what we were doing, and I had to learn to kind of give some grace because they were just wanted the best, even though I'm like, how can you you know? Like, how can you not know? Like how you were making me feel like I feel like you could see it. But you know, everything happens for a reason, I believe, and I do feel like it made me stronger and kind of built and shape me

into the woman that I am today. And you know how to move forward what I'm not gonna do exactly. You learned the So you know, you had this devastating injury right before the Olympics, but you upheld your commitment to u c l A and to be a part of the team. Did you find the joy again in gymnastics? Did you love it again? Yes? I so glad I picked myself up and got to U c l A. Because that was my transformational years, my transition years. I really became a woman and I learned so much about myself.

I started to heal, I started to shed layers, UM just learned so much about me that I didn't even know that My coach, Miss val she Um, was a head coach for U c l A Gymnastics for many years. Amazing woman. She's like a second mom to me, and she just really valued my well being over my talent as a gymnast. And before coming to u c l A, I felt like that's all I was was a gymnast.

I identified as a gymnast. I didn't know what else was there was to me, and she was the first one to kind of help me see like there's so much to You're a star, Like you're a star. I'm like, what do you mean? Like like you know, So she really just opened those doors for me. And you know, you have to do the work. You have to want to do the work to heal and get better and just kind of shift your mindset and think positively because I do feel like I had a negative mindset growing up.

Just that was my environment, you know, just all kind of negative, bottled up tense energy just kind of within and Um, I just started to become free at u c l A. So upon graduation, what did it feel like to enter this new adulthood chapter of your life? Stepping into adulthood has been a huge transition. Um feels like something's getting thrown at you left and right. Every day. Life is just lifing. Lately, life has just been lifing, and I'm honestly enjoying it. I'm enjoying the new things

that I'm trying to do. Like I've spent so much time in gymnastics, so it's great to just explore all the other interests that I've had when since I was a kid but just didn't get to try out and just dedicate any time too. But honestly, the hardest thing I would say is taxes and learning about taxes because I'm like, like they didn't teach me this in school.

I'm not ready. So what is your relationship to money? Like, you know, we don't get to speak to a lot of twenty three year old today is and like, how do you think about money? Well, Um, I personally don't. Well I think money rules the world, makes the world around, and I wish it was love that made the world go around. Um, I just like money because I needed to survive and needed to live and you know, get basic needs for myself. But you know, money isn't everything

to me. I really am looking for passion. I look for fulfillment. I look for love and positive things, inspirational things and things like what's her story? And Maker's conference and yeah, and how do you spend your days nowadays? So it's been hard, honestly, because I'm such so used to like a regimented schedule like eight am, two five literally in nine to five, but in gymnastics. So it's been really hard because I don't have anybody telling me what to do, and like I'm active, I want to

be active. I want to be fit. I want to be tight tighten right in the gym, you know, keeping it together and um. So it was hard to try

to find that motivation for a while. But eventually I found my groove and I figured out honestly what what it was was like I was putting so much pressure on myself, like I when I think of working out and when I think of just being fit, you know, it comes with like all the things that I'm used to eight hours a day, forty hours a week and just all that intensity and learning to find growth in exercise and different types of exercise like in yoga and

um StairMaster pilates, just doing a whole bunch of different things that I've never done. Like I'm just used to gymnastics workout, which is a whole bunch of stuff that it's like all full body working out. It's just weird.

It's a lot different things. But um, now I get to explore other types of working out, other forms of exercise that bring that makes me feel good and I feel like I got I got better and I felt like I got one percent better even if it wasn't huge, Like I had to just take that pressure kind of off of myself. Um, it was a long time. It's had a long time, but now I find a I got a groove. I work out multiple times the league, but on my own terms, and I don't have the pressure.

Like if you don't feel like it's today, girl, it's okay. You know, tell yourself it's okay. So my days started with usually working out in the mornings, and I also I'm a new dog mom now at Cavalier King Charles. So you got the long group of years. Lady in the tramp, he's my bestie and you know, I love caring for him. He gets me outside too, you know, he got to be outside, So taken outside and I'm really focusing on dancing right now and kind of perfecting

my dance craft. I've always loved to dance since I was a child, but like I said before, gymnastics took up that time. So now I'm trying to build my expertise in dancing. I just love performing in general. So even if I'm not that good, I'm gonna sell it. You know you're not, You're not gonna know what kind of dancing. Um, I'm focused on hip hop right now, but I just took a jazz plunk for the first time kind of a few weeks ago, and I love it.

I think that's my style, honestly, I really do. I think it's really close to kind of gymnastics a little bit, and just in terms of sharp movements that I can relate to. So so where can you take that. I really would love to go on tour with an artist, anybody. I would love to new music videos, commercials. I've already

done one commercial Old Navies coming out. I'm really excited. Yeah, I just love to any any place that there's a stage and I could just get out there and move and just tell a story, whether it's you know, crunk or funnier, happy, whatever it is, upbeat or more contemporary even I love to just move and tell that story and now a quick break. You seem to also have a really important story to tell other younger girls who are coming up in elite sports. Do you do that?

Do you talk to young women who are in middle school or in high school who are whether they're you know, in elite gymnastics or tennis or anything, you found a way to speak to those communities. I have before. I do a lot of gymnastics camps in the summer where I'm a coach or I'm a special guest, and they'll have me come and speak a lot of times. Um,

I do speak, but a lot of girls. I find that at those gymnastics camps specifically, UM, the girls gain a lot more from me being a coach to them rather than me like you know, speaking in the building them my life story or whatever it is. Um. But

you know, they just love that. And I love being able to help somebody achieve their goals get better in a little bit, in a little way, whether it's just like a little mental cue, like all you need is just think go big or something, you know, and they're like, oh, my god, all all I did was to do what you told me to do. That I made it was amazing. That just brings me so much joy. I really love

to to do that. Um inspired. But aside from kind of the gymnastics community, not necessarily tell us about the Olympic dream and did that die completely when you got injured? No, So, like, here's my thing. I have really like vivid dreams, you guys, like messages like come to me in my dreams. And I made about it myself that whenever I would have a dream that had a very specific message, like I was going to go for it. But even if I

didn't make it like I was going to try. So after you know, COVID happened and Olympics got pushed back year, all of a sudden, I'm having all these dreams that I'm in the Olympics, you guys. And I was like, no, like I thought this was long and gone. I was like, I already went through that, Like I thought I did

that already. Um So I did try to go for Unfortunately didn't work out, just because balancing college my senior year in college and trying to get back to those forty hour regiment was just a little bit too much. But um, I do still do gymnastics all the time for events like this. You're commercials for jobs. Everybody loves that. I can flip, but I do love to do always just do gymnastics and that far away, you know, So I don't know. I'm just keeping it in the back pocket.

Just OK. I love that. And it sounds like you have the healthiest relationship with gmnastics that you've ever had, so perhaps that's what's gonna get you to reach your Olympic dreams. Absolutely, I really do feel like I wasn't ready at that time. I do now realize it was a blessing in disguise. I wasn't really ready. I wasn't fully developed and mentally and physically even just to take on that whole world. I feel like I feel like I would have been just a head case. So I'm

grateful for it. You mentioned before as part of this, you know of your training that there was a lot around weight, a lot around food. What's your relationship with food like today? It's tricky, It comes and go. It's like I don't know. I try not to think about it too much because I feel like once I do start thinking about it over and over or just like really deeply, which is I think deeply about a lot of things. Unfortunately, overthinker, I feel like it does kind

of take me back to the past in that whole place. Um. So I try to just go one day at a time, just take it as it comes by trying not to overthink it. That's just where I'm at with it. How do you, Reckon Tyler, think about what happened in terms of gymnastics and the sexual abuse scandal. You weren't directly affected by that, where you Yeah, Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even realize that. It's okay, I didn't mean I never told my story. Okay. What was your relationship to

Nasser and the and the sexual abuse scandal? Um? Well, you know, in the elite world, we had these camps every month that we were going to in Texas, the Curly Ranch. So he was at the Curly Ranch a lot out of times. But my experience with him came actually in twelve that the PNG Championships UM, which is

a big meat for US. It's like kind of the qualifier to make the national team for USA and UM at the time, I was at Ohio and so we were kind of like an underdog Jim, and I really did feel like my coach at the time was just kind of doing any and everything to get on her goods onto Marta Karoly she was ahead of USA Gymnastics team. Say, I feel like she was trying to do anything to get on her good side and just make you know, make her look good, make me look good, just anything.

So if Marta said go to Nasser, we were going to Nasser. And um, my first real injury was at that meet PNG Championships. I tore my hamstring, of course right and I had like a high hamstring dare, so you know, he was working on me on the table. It was pretty It was kind of in public too, so I was like looking around and my coach actually I felt like she saw it, but she didn't say anything, just kind of like looks away, looks on her phone. So then I was like, well, we're not saying anything,

you know. So I've never said anything even like until just now, Like is the first time I've ever even said something. Because I feel like even when a lot of girls were coming out, I feel like a lot of people had a way worse than I did because it was just that one time, and I was like, I'm never you know, like, I was like, you know, my coach, We're never going back to him again, like ever again. And she's like why not? You know, she's getting mad at me. I'm like, I don't care, Like

we're not doing it. So I never went back to him. I was at least able to have enough courage to tell her like, we can't go back to him. But I which is incredible, by the way, and the twelve and so did to have the fortitude at twelve to know that that's just not an acceptable way to be treated and to actually use your voice to stand up for yourself is so incredible. I mean, you are amazing. It's really incredible that you were able to do that. Thanks,

and I'm so sorry that happened to you. Okay. Do you feel like the culture of us A Gymnastics is changing? I really, I really hope it does change. Um, I don't know if it's changing enough. Honestly, I would like to see like just drastic changes, but we have. We do have women leading the team now, which I really love. Um. You know, Martha was a woman as well, but there was a lot of male coaches still involved, and I

just would love to see a lot more women. But you know, we do need mail coaches for spotting and just like catch me if I you know, like a girl, I'm not. I'm not catching you, you know, like, so you better find a man to catch it. But yeah, I would like to see, I think, more change and just more people being proactive about the change. I feel like we like we all rally really hard for just like one moment and then it just kind of dies down.

And I would just like to see consistency throughout. But you know, there's only so much we can do, and it's just I mean, I feel like the worst people are always at camps and schools because that's where the kids are, so that's where the predators are, and it's just so um. In your story, when I was twelve, I fired my tennis coach, and everyone was so horrified that I I would fire him because he was amazing that my parents didn't want to fire him, and I called him.

They made me call him myself to fire him. But he turned out to be a huge pedophile and it was one of those things where no one, you know, I think that the tendency is not to expect the worser. It's to expect the best of someone who is an expertise in something, and it definitely overshadows a lot of other things. But I agree. Thank you so much for talking to us. You are amazing, amazing, Thank you guys. That's your speed quick so we'll ask you some quickly.

A fun party? Who leaves you star struck? Oh? I love that. We've never gotten that. It's such an obvious one. It's jaw dropping. She's amazing me. I'd love to one day. Right. What are you reading right now? My goodness, I'm reading.

This book is actually called Mindset Um. I started it in college, but it's just basically learning how to have a growth mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, which you know, I had a fixed mindset and I would like to think I have a growth mindset now and if not, I'm working towards having a growth mindset. Where would you like to go on vacation? Bora, bora? Ready, I'm ready now. Everybody likes to take I'm ready to go.

I'm ready. Now. How would your friends describe you? Oh, my goodness, I think crazy, A look crazy funny like crazy in a good way, not like crazy crazy, but like crazy, like what are you doing crazy? Why are you doing over there? Like I don't know, um fun And definitely I would say I feel like they know that I have their backs and that I would do anything for them, and that they know that they can call me. Yeah, thank you, thank you. Guys, Sam, what even made you think to ask about Larry Nazer? I

don't know. I just had this weird sense that she must it was like the age that she was a top gymnast. And there is something also about like I think as you know, like I had a coach as a pedophile, and I feel like there's some radar I have when someone's been through something. I just felt like

there was more to her story. And she's such a remarkable woman, and there's also a part of her that's clearly very fragile, I want to say, or you know, vulnerable, And I was so impressed with her for sharing everything with us and even just the way she talked about it. She is truly remarkable. I mean, this is a woman who you know, was competing at this elite level that

very few people in the world could ever understand. When she was eleven twelve, and to them layer on top of it at that age, when she was still a child, she was assaulted by a monster. Well, and that the crazy thing is that this is the first time she's ever shared this publicly, and it won't even make a difference in the case because the number of people to sheer, number of people that were impacted by that monster is so enormous that one more person doesn't impact the case.

You know, I think that it also speaks to just how difficult is it to be part of an individual sport, right, She felt so pressured from so many directions at a young age, and I think there is something to that, you know, whether it's tennis, whether it's swimming, whether it's gymnastics, ice skating, there is just nothing comparable to being the winner or the loser all on your own. Yeah, I mean that's a really articulate way of saying all of that.

And I think you know one thing, although this can't impact NASA's criminal case, and he is a prison where

he will stay and where he should be. Nia as a coach now and I think you know, she does coach, you know, I don't think that's her full time profession, but she does some coaching, and I think there's something so powerful about her ability to use her voice, both as someone who in some ways survived being put into elite athletics as a child, because I think it is something that you know your psychologically being put in a place that few adults can handle, and so to be

able to mentor young women and men in the same position as remarkable, and then also as a survivor to be able to share her story that matters very very much when we have young guests like this, you know, Nias is in her early twenties. I think we've had a couple of others, Tory Dunlap, we've had Victoria Garrick, and we have another one coming up. I feel like there's also so much left of her story. There's so much left to tell, and it will just be interesting

to see where and how this unfolds. There's a discovery that you haven't gone through and a personal journey you haven't gone through when you're in her twenties, and that changes over time in your thirties forties. I think it really comes into fruition in terms of who you're going to be and who you're meant to be. So I think that there's so many chapters of Nia's story that have yet to be written. Thanks for listening to What's

Her Story with Sam and Amy. We would appreciate it if you leave her review wherever you get your podcasts, and of course, connect with us on social media at What's Her Story podcast. What's Her Story with Sam and Amy is powered by my company, The Riveter at the Riveter dot c O and Sam's company, park Place Payments at park place Payments dot com. Thanks to our producer Stacy Para and our male perspective Blue Burns