Meet Amanda Brewer of Miss Hoopdidoo in Mid-City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Brewer.

Amanda, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey has definitely been a wild ride of ups and downs, all of which I am incredibly grateful for.  This iteration of my story began in college, where I was majoring in dance, with big dreams to become a professional commercial dancer or choreographer. I have always been extraordinarily passionate about dance and movement. When I didn’t have the words to say, my body did the talking for me. During my junior year of college, I began to experience pain so pronounced I couldn’t walk, sit, eat or sleep without feeling agonizing pain. I fell into a deep depression where I barely recognized myself and slowly lost my love for movement. In hopes of alleviating some of my discomfort, I agreed to hip surgeries – one on each hip one month apart from each other – which left me unable to walk, let alone dance, my senior year of college. I spent the last year of my time at Chapman teaching myself how to walk again and while the surgeries helped to some degree, I still lived every single day in pain. Out of fear of re-injuring myself and the pain coming back, I slowly stopped dancing all together.

Flash forward two years post-surgery – I am in Joshua Tree for attending a music festival. It’s the middle of the night, the music is bumping and I am enjoying myself when I see this girl out of the corner of my twirling around within a vortex of light. I could not believe what I was seeing and upon closer inspection, I realized she was dancing was an LED hula hoop.  I honestly had never seen someone so happy and so free. Despite my affinity for dance and movement, this was the first time in my life I had ever seen anything like this. 

The next day I spent 6 hours hooping around my waist in tears because it was the first time since my hip surgeries that I had allowed myself to move my hips freely. It was the first time I felt beautiful, feminine and powerful in my body. It was the first time I had moved without fear in two years. It was truly the first time that I had felt like “Amanda” in a very long time. After this spiritual experience, I went home filled with whimsical wonder with a commitment to this new craft.

To many people, hula hooping can seem silly, which I understand. It’s a plastic circle! However, for myself and the majority of the hoop community, hoop dance is a meditation. It’s an escape from reality. A way to cope with our emotions. An opportunity to express ourselves. Hooping is quite literally magic.

Due to my background in dance, picking up hoop technique was fairly easy. I also had a very unique dance style when I hooped because of all of my professional dance training. I very quickly became more confident in my own skin and despite reservations, made an Instagram to document my journey without any anticipation of just how quickly and drastically my life would change.

While I was learning, I quickly discovered my passion for teaching others how to hoop with an emphasis on dance and feeling good in their bodies because that was the journey I was on. I became obsessed with editing tutorials and shared new videos frequently which quickly gained me popularity in the hoop community. I organically grew my Instagram account to over 30K in just two years and was selected for sponsorships with two of the biggest hoop companies in the world – Hoopologie and Mood Hoops.

From this point on I experienced a life I honestly never dreamed possible. I traveled all over the world teaching hoop dance workshops and at hoop retreats in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mexico, The United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, and Austria to name a few.  I also had the opportunity to perform internationally with Insomniac at some of the biggest festivals in the world in China, Mexico, Canada and South Korea.

During this time of good fortune and extreme growth, I became a talented video editor and used this skill to share educational posts, helpful tips, exciting videos, artistic creations and more. Due to this commitment to my audience to share, education and inspire, I developed a sincere support from everyone following my journey.

With the recent pandemic, my life definitely got turned upside down.  All of my upcoming business trips were cancelled and every hoop retreat around the globe was cancelled/postponed to the following year. Despite the challenges presented to my business and artistic expression, I quickly pivoted all my work and focused on creating experiences that would still bring hoopers together during this unique time.  I created several successful business ventures from concept to delivery which have not only given me stability and purpose in a time where everything feels so uncertain, but have also brought hoopers around the world together.

I curated an online hoop choreography challenge with several of my friends from the Los Angeles hoop community to inspire dance, play and connection in the beginning of quarantine with over 600 participants from around the world. With the support of my colleague and creative partner Morgan Jenkins, we created “Choreo Dance Party” – a themed online zoom hoop dance class experience where participants would dress up and learn a sassy hoop routine.  This was honestly the highlight of my quarantine and despite the barriers to in person connection, I felt more connected to my community than ever before. Many participants expressed that these classes were the only time they felt normal during quarantine and I am honored to have been able to facilitate that kind of experience during such a challenging time. I then went on to create two online courses for hoopers to purchase at a reasonable price to keep them active, happy and motivated during the pandemic. These courses have given students all over the world the opportunity to learn from me who may have otherwise never had the chance.

While the future still looks uncertain, I am still incredibly excited for all of the online business opportunities that are manifesting due to the massive transition to online services and events. I am excited to explore new ways to create art that has an impact, discover unique methods to safely educate and empower hoopers in our current environment and ultimately live a fulfilling life growing my own business that I am extraordinarily passionate about. 

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Despite all my victories, the road has been difficult and I have experienced many bumps along the way. However, every huge bump has always been followed by tremendous success and growth.

The first life changing hurdle I had to overcome was the recovery process following both of my hip surgeries. After the procedures, my insurance refused to cover physical therapy so I rehabilitated myself and taught myself how to walk again. It was a difficult process and destroyed my dreams of becoming a professional dancer.  Little did I know that there were other plans for me and soon I would pick up a hula hoop and it would change my life.  

Another challenge I experienced was my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease when I was 15, which made it difficult for me to live a normal life at times. Stress can exacerbate the symptoms and when I have a “flare up” I am so exhausted it is challenging to do anything, even simple things like leaving the house. I’ve had to cultivate an extremely positive attitude to combat my body’s tendency to feel sick to accomplish everything I have today.

The most recent challenge I’ve experienced, along with everyone else in the entire world, was the COVID-19 pandemic.  Virtually all of my 2020 plans were cancelled and I lost quite a bit of money.  While I acknowledge it’s strange to say this, for me personally, the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise because it forced me to get grounded at home, find ways to creatively move my business forward and gave me the time to spend doing all the things I love so dearly, like edit videos and hula hoop. 

Miss Hoopdidoo – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Miss Hoopdidoo is a combination of event planning (both online and in person), production (visual story telling through videos/photos with the focal point always involving a hula hoop), teaching workshops (nationally, internationally and online) and connecting the hoop community through unique projects, gatherings and online challenges. I am my own boss, production coordinator, marketing specialist, content producer and teacher.  My work ethic, creativity, commitment to inspire others, adaptability and goal-oriented mind set are what set me apart from others. I am constantly trying to outdo myself.

Every hoop teacher has their strengths, but due to my background in dance and my aptitude for story telling I am known best for my hoop choreography and my ability to empower people to feel beautiful in their own bodies and move powerfully. Due to my challenging journey with my own body and personal health, it is my mission to guide people on a journey of self-love through their hula hoop practice.

In the hoop community, I am known for the videos I produce and edit – I am constantly in production mode conceptualizing, filming and editing new content. My goal is to always inspire people with what I share. I have a commitment to being vulnerable, open and loving, which is demonstrated in my work.

I am proud of so many things, however, I am most proud of the community I have created despite my hip surgeries and my “dreams ending” years ago. I am proud that despite my own challenges with my body I have been able to inspire other to feel beautiful in theirs. I’m proud of my reach – I have seen all corners of the globe and met people from dozens of nationalities and been able to share my story. Many people who hear about where I came from are incredibly inspired. 

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It is honestly hard choosing just one!  One of my favorite moments in my career that I look back on are releasing my “On Camera Choreo Challenge” class – a one day intensive combining my love for choreography, film and dance.  During the workshop, I would teach my students a piece of choreography and then film them in small groups of 3 and as solos in a professional studio. I later on would edit each video for every participant so they would have a visual memory from the class. The “challenge” was learning the choreography, but also letting go of being perfect on camera and feeling empowered while doing so.  I consider each workshop and retreat I teach at a favorite memory, but the two that stand out are my first international workshop in Tel Aviv, Israel and teaching at the Alpine Hoop Retreat in Austria where I made some of my closest hoop friends. The most recent memory I am most fond of is releasing my online hoop courses where I have made my classes accessible for anyone anywhere in the world.

Pricing:

• Online Courses ranging from $15-$25 dollars as thinkific.misshoopdidoo.com
• Private Online Lessons $40 per hour
• “Choreo Dance Party” Class Access $10

Contact Info:

• Website: misshoopdidoo.com & thinkific.misshoopdidoo.com
• Email: misshoopdidoo@gmail.com
• Instagram: @misshoopdidoo
• Facebook: facebook.com/misshoopdidoo
• Other: hoopography.ticket.com/cdp

Image Credit:
Underground Exposure (for the fire photo and the photo in front of the Ferris wheel)

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