We were lucky to catch up with Rebekah Bean Ripley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rebekah, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
I’ve done gymnastics for over 20 years. Five of those years were spent at the division one collegiate level. But most of my years as a college gymnast I spent injured and on the sidelines. It was really difficult physically, mentally, and emotionally. After years of resilience and hard work, I was finally able to make it come back. I performed a viral “Barbie Girl Floor Routine” while wearing a chunky knee brace. That routine ended up inspiring and giving hope to other gymnasts all around the world.
Looking back on my experiences. I know that those injuries were meant to happen so that I can help the next generation of gymnast. But I wanted to do more than just share my story. I wanted to do something bigger.
I decided to release a 16 week, Gymnastics Mindset Mastery course that teaches gymnast how to build a real confidence! While I was overcoming my injuries, my body was not in its peak physical condition, so I didn’t have any room to have a weak mind. I truly believe the biggest reason I was able to find success after years of injury is because I put my time, attention, and focus into strengthening my mind.
My biggest goal is to be able to help as many gymnast that I possibly can. I feel that I have a responsibility to be a positive influence in the gymnastics community.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Rebekah Bean Ripley, and I am from St. George Utah. At the time, St. George was a small town and I attended a very small gym. Our gym didn’t have very nice or new equipment, nor did we have a foam pit. (Which is essential for high level gymnasts to learn and develop). The gym also did not have many high-level gymnasts. In fact, I was the first gymnast from St. George to receive a full ride scholarship to a division 1 college. I felt I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t have other gymnasts in my gym that I could look up to and learn from. Many times when I was learning a new skill, it was also my coaches first time teaching the skill.
Sometimes I look back on my journey and wonder how far I could have gotten with coaches who had coached elite level athletes. But I think my journey was meant to happen this way. I always felt very encouraged and uplifted in my environment which helped me grow as a gymnast and as a person. At the time, it was not uncommon for the more strict gyms to produce amazing gymnasts… but they oftentimes hated gymnastics. My experience was not like that. I was lucky enough to have found a place that gave me so much joy and happiness from my small gym in St. George… Which is ultimately why I still have so much love for the sport today and want to help other gymnasts.
Once I went to college. I ended up tearing my ACL twice and my Mensicus twice. I would spend a year recovering, months making a comeback, and then tear something in my knee again. I repeated this cycle over and over for the majority of my college career. It was physically, mentally, and emotionally the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But I was able to make a comeback and be stronger that ever. Those experiences shaped me into who I am today and I wouldn’t change a thing.
I now own an online Gymnastics Mindset Coaching business. I teach gymnasts how to build REAL confidence, how to overcome injuries, how to navigate mental blocks, how to use my tips and techniques to compete better, and so much more! I feel that I have a responsibility to be a positive influence on the gymnastics community and make a difference. I have only launched my business about a month ago and I have about 50 clients in my course. Already I have seen gymnasts having MAJOR improvements in their gymnastics. One gymnast had been struggling with a mental block on a flyaway off bars. She hadn’t done the skill in over 2 years, but after 2 weeks of working with me she was able to conquer it and do the skill again! I had another gymnast who was scoring low 7’s and even got a 6.9 on bars. After working with me through her course, she was scoring high 9’s!! Those are just a couple examples. On top of that, I receive countless messages every day from gymnasts saying that I have made them feel more confident and happy in gymnastics. It feels so rewarding to be able to make a difference in other gymnasts lives:)
On top of owning a coaching business, I also do social media full time! Even after graduating, I still continue to train gymnastics and share my journey through social media. But I don’t just share my highlights. I share the real and vulnerable moments that make us human. My biggest goal through social media is to give people a safe place where they feel hopeful, empowered, and loved.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Pursuing social media full-time was not something I ever intended to do. I’ve always loved being on social media and sharing about my life, but didn’t realize it was a real job… Until I started to actually make money from it!
My social media journey started different than most. After struggling through years of knee surgeries as a gymnast, I was able to make a huge comeback and compete a “Barbie Floor Routine” that went viral across the nation! I competed this routine while wearing a big chunky knee brace, which ended up giving hope an inspiration to gymnasts around the world. Once my routine went viral, I started to gain an audience. From there, I decided to keep running with it and see what opportunities would arise… little did I know that the biggest opportunities of my life would come through social media, and I would be able to make a living through sharing my story and inspiring others. This truly is my dream job, and I am truly living my dream life. For anybody who is considering doing social media, I say do it!!! Seriously, anyone can do it! I literally tell me friends every single day that everybody should be making money social media.
Yea, I had a lucky start to my social media career, but I’ve spent the last 2 years learning how to create viral videos. It isn’t luck for me anymore, and social media is not just for certain people. If you know your audience, and you can communicate effectively to them, anyone can grow an audience and make a living off of social media!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I studied Advertising all throughout college. My plan was to graduate and get a job as an art director at an advertising agency in a big city. That was my dream and I had no doubt that I would be able to make it happen! Once I graduated, I applied for jobs… thousands of jobs. No matter what I did and no matter how qualified I was for the position, I was not able to land these roles that I wanted. It was extremely frustrating because I would watch my classmates get the jobs that I had applied for.
After almost a year of failing to get an advertising job, I questioned if this was the right path for me. From here I started to pivot. I had already been pretty consistently posting on social media, but I decided to give it my all! I started treating social media like my full-time job. I would focus on social media 9-5 while also coaching gymnastics on the side. This is when my social media really started to skyrocket and I was able to make real money from it! I couldn’t believe it. I even landed a reality TV show that I filmed. Due to an NDA, I am unable to talk more about that, but hopefully I will be taking about it soon;)
Social media was going great, but I still felt like I was missing something. I wanted to do something bigger than me. I wanted to help people! This is when I created my Gymnastics Mindset Mastery Course. My course has only been going for a little over a month, and I have already been able to help so many gymnasts succeed!
To this day, I have never doubted my advertising abilities. I just know that it wasn’t my path, and I continue to use my advertising degree every day!! I just use it for my own business instead of someone else’s.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.skool.com/gymnasticsmindsetmastery/about
- Instagram: @rebekahbean
- Youtube: @RebekahBean
- Other: TikTok: @Rebekahbean
Image Credits
Shelton Asay