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A lot of things about Anna McNulty's world are oh-so-relatable. She hearts hiking with her BFFs, rocking colorful skort-and-crop-top combos, enjoying coconut yogurt (her nutritious bite of choice!) and reserving at least a little "me-time" for herself every day. 

But, when it comes to some things in life, pretty much only Anna has experienced them (think: becoming a ballerina in one day, sleeping in the splits and earning the title of Canada's Top YouTube Creator). 

As a totally self-taught contortionist and athlete, Anna's made a name for herself sharing her love of stretching online and helping others to build their own flexibility skills. She's even gearing up to possibly break some world records when she hits the 10 million subscribers mark (!) on her channel. 

"Not to jinx it, but the current record for the longest middle split is only like three hours," she laughs. "I feel like I could definitely beat that." (Meanwhile, we're over here like....only three hours!?) 

So, the Q on all of our brains is: Can anyone learn to do what Anna does? She shares the answer below—and it might just surprise you...

@annaemcnulty

Girls' Life: How did you start getting interested in contortion?

Anna McNulty: I started as a cheerleader. I was always a flyer, or the person on top for the stunts. I started stretching to get more flexible for that, and then I discovered contortion online. Actually, I didn't even really know it was contortion at the time, but I wanted to try to push my flexibility with tricky poses. Over time I just learned a bunch of them and taught myself contortion that way, just for fun.

GL: And when did you decide to bring that interest to YouTube?

Anna: Once I started getting more and more flexible, so many people were asking me how I did it. I realized, Oh, this is something I could definitely teach people online how to do too. The main thing I was doing was tutorials. How to do the splits, how to do a backbend— all the basic beginner things that you need to learn in order to do contortion.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Anna McNulty (@annaemcnulty)

GL: Is it really true that anyone can learn to do what you do? Or do you have to be born with it?

Anna: I would say everyone has a different set point of how flexible they can get. Maybe not everyone can do full wall splits to the ground, but everyone can definitely improve. Anyone that doesn't have restrictions on how they can move can touch their toes and then some. You just have to have the daily commitment to stretching.

GL: What go-to contortion move can always impress a crowd?

Anna: Personally, my signature move is my 270° split. It's exactly what it sounds like: You put your legs all the way at 270°. It's really a common trick.

GL: Do you remember the first YouTube video you ever made?

Anna: It was a pretty basic A-B-C challenge where you try to perform a trick for each letter of the alphabet. Other than that, for the first two years my channel was almost all tutorials, until I started branching out into collabs and fun stuff like that.

@annaemcnulty

GL: How did you react when you were named Canada's Top Creator?

Anna: I was so surprised! I was not expecting it at all. I just got an e-mail from YouTube one day, telling me I was the Top Creator for Canada. When I started making videos, it was completely for fun so it's crazy to look back on that. And it's such an honor because there's so many amazing creators in Canada.

GL: Is it hard to stay motivated when you're doing all of your filming and editing completely solo?

Anna: It's definitely lot with the editing and everything. I can stay consistent because I love getting feedback on the videos. My audience is always brings so much excitement, and I know sometimes people online are not the most supportive so I'm very grateful for them. 

GL: What advice you would give to someone who wants to share their passion on socials?

Anna: It can be hard to stay true to yourself when you're seeing the same things on your feed over and over. Your main goal should be to find a niche that you're never going to get tired of because it is a lot of time and commitment. If you love crafting, you could become, like, the first big knitting creator and make that the most entertaining thing ever. You've just got to be creative with it.

Check out Anna's epic YouTube videos here! 

More from your fave creators, right this way:
💕 Here's what inspired Kinley Cunningham to write her first single
💕 Charli D'Amelio spills her self-confidence secrets
💕 Pressley Hosbach takes us behind the scenes of her latest movie 

Slider image: @annaemcnulty
Top image: Vince Trupsin

by Madelon Basil | 2/9/2024