Along with many other athletes, gymnast Laurie Hernandez is currently training several hours a day, multiple times a week to once again earn herself a spot on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team at July’s Tokyo Olympics. The bubbly 20-year-old New Jersey native is known for her crowd-pleasing, high-energy performances which, of course, originally earned her a coveted spot on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team back at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Hernandez has certainly proved in recent years that she’s more than just an elite gymnast. She went on to become a NY Times Best Selling author for her book, ‘I Got This.’ Hernandez then showed the world that she is also a champion dancer as she won ‘Dancing with the Stars’ back in 2016, which crowned her the title as the youngest winner ever on the show.
In addition to all of those impressive accomplishments, Hernandez is a role model to many. She has spoken out about her own personal struggles with mental health as she tries to break the stigma surrounding anxiety and depression. To continue inspiring others, Hernandez partnered with Little Words Project, a brand meant to inspire self-love and kindness with words on their bracelets. Each bracelet is meant to be worn for as long as you need it, then passed along to someone who’s in need of some kindness and encouragement.
To celebrate Mental Health Awareness month, Hernandez chatted with HOLA! USA all about her Latina background, her new partnership with Little Words Project, and how she is approaching this summer’s Olympic games.
“I learned that words do have an impact, they matter, they are important, they always carry weight.” [Hernandez]
Photographer: Grant Legan
You only work with a few specific brands and never a jewelry brand. Why did you choose to team up with Little Words Project?
First of all, Little Words Project is adorable, the whole concept is adorable but also as someone who was raised with my mom being a social worker and a therapist, my sister is a therapist, I see a therapist, I learned that words do have an impact, they matter, they are important, they always carry weight. So to have a company that values these little words and gives them weight and shows that when you say these things, it does matter and it can make an impact not just on other people but on yourself as well and I’m a big believer of that. I know in Rio right before I competed for beam, I kind of whispered ‘I got this’ before hopping up and then I turned into a meme but because that got so big, it shows that I value words and I just feel like this partnership aligns perfectly.
Photographer: Grant Legan
What was the process like of figuring out which words you wanted to include in this collection?
It was interesting coming up with words because for some of them I was like, ‘Is that really cheesy?’ And for others, I was like ‘Oh I say this to myself everyday’ and I don’t know if anyone else says this too so I guess also when you grow up and see words and different things on like Pinterest and Tumblr and you’re not sure what is being overused and what not but at the end of the day, it was just picking words that inspire me and make me feel grounded and make me feel connected to my family, and my heart, and my friends, and my support system. So all the words that we picked, it has some kind of tie in with that.
Photographer: Grant Legan
These bracelets are colorful, beautiful and really represent who you are as a person. What word speaks to you the most from this collection?
Oh I think ‘grateful’ would be a good one. Grateful has always kind of been my parents’ thing and my mom’s thing like, ‘Okay wherever you are, be grateful.’ There was one meet where I completely wiped out and I was so disappointed and my mom was like ‘It’s okay, you can be frustrated and disappointed but there are so many little girls who would love to be right where you are right now, so we’re going to celebrate, we’re going to get some ice cream.’ So that was like her grateful teaching moment for me so that is my word.
Photographer: Grant Legan
From your previous experiences in your personal and professional life, how do you motivate yourself to continue staying positive regardless of the outcome?
I’m not going to lie, being raised by an optimist probably really helped with that. My mom is always looking at the bright side. I’ll have a situation where I’m like melting into the floor, the Earth is going to swallow me whole and she’s like, ‘But it’s warm down there, you can meet people!’ and I’m like ‘What in the world?’ [laughs] So I think that probably shaped my brain a little bit but at the same time, I was actually talking about this to someone a year ago because every athlete can kind of agree, there becomes a point where they’re like, ‘Alright, I’m done, it’s not for me.’ Then you end up sticking with it. I noticed every time that I made the choice to stay in it, it’s never really been about motivation. Motivation is great and if I could get it, I want as much of it as I can get but I noticed that motivation sometimes can die out pretty quickly for me so instead, finding purpose. ‘Why am I doing this? What is the bigger picture?’ Of course I want to make the team but what else is there? There is more underneath it that I could look for. And everytime I think about those things, that keeps me going.
Photographer: Grant Legan
What is your advice for others on how they can shift their perspective to a positive one?
The biggest thing is that everybody does things differently and something that works for one person may not work for you and that’s okay. Knowing that you can give advice to other people and that may not work for them and that’s okay, just showing up and meeting people where they’re at, that’s kind of the best way to support people and for them to support you. We’re all our own people, that’s what makes us unique, and doing our best not to wash that away to fit into a group and what not.
Photographer: Grant Legan
You’ve been vocal about your take on mental health, can you elaborate a little more on that?
I was always kind of a stressed person and I definitely will get anxious sometimes and most of the time it is situational, something will happen and I’m like, ‘Oh wow, that makes me really worried and really uncomfortable. And big reactions to it and the older I get I think the more it’s understood. ‘Okay, I have this feeling in my chest, I know what’s happening here, there’s a word for it. What works best for me?’ And different things like that. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder a couple of years ago and then I started with antidepressants and I remember listening to podcasts of people who were open about it and who were talking about their experience and it made me feel a lot less alone and I didn’t think it was this big task that I had to tackle, it was something that was just kind of going to be a part of everything little thing I did and that was okay. So it was just being open and talking about it, not being ashamed about it, and pulling the stigma as much as possible and there’s been a lot of love and support in that.
Photographer: Grant Legan
You’ve been through quite a lot with gymnastics being your career and none if it has been easy. On your resume you’re also a NY Times Best Selling author, you won Dancing with the Stars, you’ve seen life outside of gymnastics, why are you going back to try it again for the Tokyo Olympics?
Honestly, I just wanted to try things differently, trying to make the team for the first time, there was so much added stress and pressure that happens there and I remember at 16 feeling like I was going to explode every four seconds because I was like ‘I need to make this team, it’s never happened before.’ So now that I’ve been able to achieve that, I wanted to be able to do it again but to actually be able to enjoy the process and not worry so much about ‘This needs to happen, I need this to happen.’ Of course now I still want to make the team, that is my end goal, but I also get to enjoy the workouts and I get to enjoy the in betweens. That wasn’t really something I was able to do before and then there was also the curiosity of if I was to do things completely different - different environment, different training schedule, different people, I wonder what the outcome will be. That’s kind of where we’re at now.
