Meet Mira Wate: From Jump Rope Champion to Global Coach (Ep. 11)

Dizzy Skips (00:52)
Mira Waterkotte, thank you so much for joining me on Skip Squad Chronicles. I’m so excited to have you here and talk to you.

Mira Wate (00:58)
Thank you for inviting me. I’m as excited as you.

Dizzy Skips (01:02)
that’s terrific. As we said, I’m trying to represent for Germany. I’ve got my Wate Rope here. By the way, you personalize these ropes by putting names on them and that is just amazing. That was so nice to get my rope with Dizzy on it. Yeah, thank you. So, Mira, you are a coach, you’re an entrepreneur, you have a jump rope business.

Mira Wate (01:14)
You’re so welcome.

Dizzy Skips (01:27)
You’re a multiple award winner. I think you were a national champion for like six years in a row, correct? And you’ve been a champion in the EU as well. You have done jump rope for much of your life, haven’t you?

Mira Wate (01:42)
Yeah, I actually started when I was seven and yeah, ever since it stuck to me and yeah, I’m now more in the role of yeah, doing short performances as an artist or giving back in coaching kids, athletes and adults. And yeah, at the end, it’s all about yeah, keeping the passion up and yeah, having fun skipping, right?

Dizzy Skips (02:06)
Yeah, well, I will say that having fun comes through in all your videos. I’ve joked that you are one of the smileiest skippers on Instagram, and I just think the positivity that you bring to the Jump Rope community is amazing and the inspiration too.

Mira Wate (02:22)
That’s very kind, thanks. I really appreciate it because that’s what I want to show basically, that it can be fun for everybody and everybody can learn it and just give it a go. Yeah, thanks.

Dizzy Skips (02:29)
Yeah.

Yeah, well I think you do that quite effectively. I’m curious, you’ve got so much stuff going on, what does an average work day look like for you? Like jump rope is your profession, right? Like you don’t have a day job, this is your day job.

Mira Wate (02:49)
Yeah, that’s actually my passion. I always say it’s a passion which turned into a profession. So yeah, so basically that’s how it started. It’s very interesting because every day looks very different. And it’s not every day is super planned because I don’t want to have it, you know, like fixed in a role and I have to do it because that’s my job. And obviously it’s my job. I need to make money with it. I mean, I need to live with it and pay rent and food and everything.

so it’s always different. So sometimes I decide quite spontaneously that I saw a cool song I like and I want to do a performance to. So I do a video, but then I do a phone call.

I don’t know with somebody who is interested in show performances, so I explain everything how it rolls because I have different costumes, different show length, different music and different options regarding the show. So every day is kind of exciting. Obviously, get emails which I answer. Then I have the Wate Rope shop and online coaching, live coaching, athlete coaching.

Yeah, you can tell it’s like a lot, but I think that what makes it so fun and so special and I try to do less planning, which makes it not that efficient, but keeps it fun. And that’s the most important thing for me.

Dizzy Skips (04:09)
Yeah, that’s great. I saw in looking at your site, like you do corporate team building and then you mentioned performances. What type of people hire you to do performances?

Mira Wate (04:22)
actually kind of different people. So a lot of HR want to do like new benefits for their employees. For example, like, let’s say a day of jump rope. So I do jump rope workshops, team buildings, yeah, then performing at night, for example, yeah, companies, but also variety. I always say pronounce it wrong, but I hope you understand. It’s like when like kind of circus work. Yeah. So that’s also what I do every now and then.

Dizzy Skips (04:32)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (04:52)
I also did birthday parties or special occasions for private people. So everybody could book me if they’re interested and I’m super open for it. It’s always fun and it’s always different to perform.

Dizzy Skips (05:00)
Mm-hmm.

That’s really cool.

Yeah, I bet. I hadn’t really thought of it as corporate team building, but that would be such an awesome corporate team building venture, you know? Like, just get a whole bunch of people together and start learning jump rope.

Mira Wate (05:23)
Yeah, and actually my goal with the team building, for example, is because I mean, the ropes are assembled by people with disabilities. So my goal is to do it more inclusively so that even like a person in a wheelchair and it might I know it sounds like absurd. But I would even try to get this person in included into the team building. So obviously the person cannot jump, but you could, you know, make them work.

Dizzy Skips (05:45)
sure.

Mira Wate (05:49)
or include them into the team building. So that’s my admiration, if that’s the word for it. Remember, it’s my second language, so I’m very sorry trying my best that everybody understands. Yeah, it’s okay. But yeah.

Dizzy Skips (05:56)
Yeah.

Yeah. Your English is so much better than my German. I will say that.

Yeah. With regard to like your coaching, I know you do one-on-one coaching. You also do seminars and things like that. How many, I think I read on your site that you’ve coached over 10,000 people over the years or something like that. How many people do you coach now on an ongoing basis?

Mira Wate (06:21)
Yeah.

On an ongoing basis, I mean, if you include the classes I’m coaching, I think it’s maybe 50 people more or less. yeah, it’s, I mean, including kids, adults and teenagers, so athlete coaching, preparing for world championships, so kind of all like actively. And then there might be people who bought the online coaching from the website, so the beginner coaching, so they might be…

Dizzy Skips (06:33)
Okay.

Mira Wate (06:55)
also learning from it. So at the end, cannot really tell. And then obviously there’s like YouTube. So maybe people are using YouTube to learn from me or even like Instagram, the quicker tutorials. So yeah, at the end, I’m not not so sure. But I mean, I’m always happy for everybody who is inspired to learn.

Dizzy Skips (07:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, I noticed on your YouTube, people can subscribe and actually sort of like pay a monthly fee to get certain videos and perks and things like that.

Mira Wate (07:21)
Yeah

Yeah, you’re actually super right with that and reminding me that I need to update this because that’s not really up to date, but a good reminder that I have to look into it. And this is a good confirmation for me to see I do so many different things that I need to be more up to date. But then, for example, it’s more important that we meet today or that we’re in touch than looking after the subscription model on YouTube.

Dizzy Skips (07:34)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (07:53)
As you can see, it’s always priorities and yeah, I got a little bit like stuck with that. I haven’t been looking into that, but then in this case, we have the time talking and that was more priority for the moment. Yeah, trying.

Dizzy Skips (07:54)
Right.

Well, I appreciate your prioritizing this. This is wonderful. I’m curious when you’re coaching, do you have a different approach or do you have a standard approach when you’re coaching beginners versus more advanced students or you’re trying to prepare someone for a competition? Like how do you start with those different types of people?

Mira Wate (08:23)
Yeah, that’s a very good question actually. it’s a very good question because some people are mad because I’m not doing group coachings anymore and it’s never about the money. It’s just that I noticed, especially athletes or people who want to learn from scratch or want to learn certain skills, for example, mic release all these things, that it needs some time and it needs some structure. And then obviously I could have, let’s say,

even two or five people in one group, so a small group, but everybody learns different and everybody has different levels. And it’s stressing me out because I want to make people get it, you know what I mean? So I’m very, very, very ambitious. So I want everybody to achieve it. I noticed when I like back in COVID times where I had like three full classes with people all over the world, with, I don’t know, eight to 12 people in one class.

Dizzy Skips (09:03)
Yeah.

Mira Wate (09:18)
But I’ve got very, very ambitious and I couldn’t, how do you say, I don’t even know how to say in German, but I really wanted to get them the skill, get them, make the skill. And sometimes it was not possible or that just needed longer time. So decided to go back to one on one and let’s say, yeah, be more like accurate on this. And then for example, athletes have like a proper training plan, which they follow.

Dizzy Skips (09:28)
Yeah.

Right. Sure.

Mira Wate (09:45)
Also with video analysis, so they send me skills. So if they’re stuck, they send it to me, I can give them a video analysis and they get pushed faster. So even though I don’t have time to coach them the next day, I can still be in touch and help them. For example, even also adults is like a similar thing. So it’s always what you want to learn is in focus. And for example, if somebody says, I want to learn and mic release so bad, then…

Dizzy Skips (09:48)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (10:14)
Okay, then we try to work on skills before to get the mic release faster. And I leave out other skills, for example, some footwork skills, which might be not so important for that person. But the mic release is like number one priority. then the coaching is obviously like guiding to the mic release. But just an example. So it’s very, very individual. And then it’s also more fun. It’s not like

Dizzy Skips (10:21)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Mira Wate (10:39)
Everybody needs to learn this. Of course, there are like skills I recommend everybody to know or things we learn in like games or as a warm up, like as an additional warm up. And but all in all, it’s about what you want to learn. And that’s your goal. We try to achieve together. So it’s more fun.

Dizzy Skips (10:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And it’s on brand with your wanting to be inclusive. Like when you have a group of people and people are at different levels and stuff, I could imagine that that gets a little stressful when you don’t wanna leave somebody behind and you wanna make sure everybody gets the maximum value out of it.

Mira Wate (11:12)
Yeah, I mean, I’m open. I’m not saying I will not do it again. It’s just I think I’m super ambitious and I try to make everybody happy. So I will see if I’m going to do it again because I mean, we always still had a good time and I never had the feeling somebody was left out. But yeah, yeah, let’s see.

Dizzy Skips (11:20)
Yeah.

Yeah. Right, right.

I’m wondering, like, when you’re starting with new students, how do you approach things in a way that gives people momentum so that they continually make progress? I guess I’ll tell you, like, when I started out, I’m kind of crazy, right? I went out and I jumped for two hours the first day, and then I jumped for two hours the next day, and I injured myself outside, right?

Mira Wate (11:49)
Hmm.

outside.

Dizzy Skips (12:02)
And I just had the bug, you know, so as soon as I healed, which took like six weeks, I was back out and I was jumping, but I eased into it because it was very important to me. But I can see some people start and they get frustrated because they keep tripping up and they’re like, I just don’t want to do this anymore. This makes me feel stupid. How do you get people to get that momentum, to get that excitement so they keep going?

Mira Wate (12:27)
Sometimes I think it’s just like, you know, talking to each other and seeing what is the issue. And often it’s because what I notice a lot is people learning from videos and then they’re stuck or they even started learning from videos and then they notice, okay, so I have shin splits, I have all these problems. How would I have known I would not have started or then the worst in my opinion, when I see you.

is you got the bug, you got like kind of addicted and then psychologically your brain is like, my God. then you get like, depression is like a hard word, but you really fall, right? So it’s like a, not like a good feeling because you feel stopped, although you want to keep going and it’s just your body, what’s stopping you, your mind could do it. So I think like for every beginner who’s starting jump rope, all he’s like,

Dizzy Skips (12:59)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (13:23)
I can feel my body a little bit, make sure to have enough breaks. And I don’t know, you said you started like jumping two hours, right? Right away. Yeah. I mean, it’s a good thing because that means like you got ambitious and you didn’t want to give up. you know, you’re like, that makes me so happy. And I mean, it’s, it’s known that jump rope spreads endorphin and tremendously. And, but in my opinion, so if we’re talking and somebody is listening, who’s like an absolute beginner, I just said the beginning, write down.

Dizzy Skips (13:30)
Yeah, it was ridiculous. Yeah, it was way too much.

Right.

Yeah.

Mira Wate (13:51)
into your calendar when you jump. So let’s say maximum, let’s say three to four times a week. You could even jump every day, but as we know, it’s good to have a break and start with literally just like five minutes of active jumping and then like increase the jumping time or let’s do, let’s say jumping and swings as an active break. So that could, you know, separate the jumping part, but like to go like more slow into it because

Dizzy Skips (13:54)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Sure. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (14:20)
that can cause shinsplits because you’re not used to it or even there’s, don’t know the word, in German we call it Achilles. It’s like the back part. Yeah. Achilles, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (14:27)
Yeah, The Achilles tendon. I had plantar fasciitis, is, yeah, was one of the most painful things I’ve ever had. I would wake up in the morning and just roll out of bed onto my hands and knees and crawl to the bathroom because it hurt so much to walk.

Mira Wate (14:34)
Yeah, I’ve heard of it. It’s like even worse.

And it was from Jumping Rock.

Dizzy Skips (14:48)
Yeah, it’s because I didn’t warm up at all. I was just so excited and I went out and I jumped for two hours on Christmas and two hours on Christmas, or two hours on Christmas Eve and then two hours again on Christmas. And I got to the point where I hurt so bad I was jumping on one foot and I wasn’t listening to my body, right? And so I injured myself. But once I got back, then I took it easy and sort of eased back into it and I’ve built things up.

Mira Wate (14:49)
Bye.

Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (15:13)
One of the things I am really excited about is my Wate Rope. And I would like you to talk a little bit about Wate Rope and when you started that brand and…

Mira Wate (15:18)
good.

Dizzy Skips (15:24)
I guess one of the things I will just say as an observer is I’ve bought jump ropes from all sorts of different manufacturers and I’ve made my own jump ropes. And I think, you know, I’ve heard some people say like a jump rope is a jump rope. And to some degree that’s kind of true. I mean, there’s a rope, there’s handles, there’s beads sometimes if it’s a beaded rope. right, right. But there are some differences in quality. But I’ve seen a lot of

Mira Wate (15:43)
If we’re lucky.

Dizzy Skips (15:51)
jump ropes just shipped straight from China and they all look basically the same. They’re just little different colors. Your ropes are quite different. Like this is the first rope I ever had with a wooden handle. It’s got a little wooden ball bearing in there. This one happens to be your heaviest beaded rope. But I love the quality and one thing I have to say is I love that you are using local businesses and that you’re working with the disabled. It makes me feel better jumping with your rope.

Can you talk about starting the company and why you did?

Mira Wate (16:21)
Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it. It’s actually it’s funny because it’s not a company, but I always say it’s we because we’re in this together, right? I mean, I have all these people without all these people, I could not build the Wate Rope. So in this case, that’s why I’m always saying we but at the end it’s me. And just also many people most probably don’t know it’s just me running the business and yeah.

we are one family, like building the rope together and without them I couldn’t do it. Yeah, so yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of stuff you can see on the Instagram, but I mean, the handles are made from Wolfgang. There’s also video how we started designing it, the handles and yeah, all the pieces are coming from Germany. So that’s also as far as I know that the transparent beads the…

Dizzy Skips (16:52)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (17:14)
they don’t exist or maybe like different colors exist but not the colors I have as much as I know. I’m always happy to hear new stuff about it. yeah, so it’s basically like a new design also from the the timing because when I was overseas, so when I was coaching overseas and like all the countries during my world trip, I noticed that like a lot of people have

Dizzy Skips (17:18)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure.

Mira Wate (17:38)
hand or like ropes which are not very good quality and they break very fast and yeah that come from like from places nobody knows where they’re from so I decided okay I really want to make like a high quality rope which has like a social cost and at the end it’s supporting the local businesses exactly I know everybody in person was visiting them and talk to them hey how do you do produce so I saw how they produce

Dizzy Skips (17:49)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (18:05)
how the people are, if they’re happy in their company or if they hate their job basically and everybody just loved what they did. Even though it was like bigger companies, yeah, it was nice. Most of them are even the owners of the parts. So that’s even very cool. Sadly, no woman, but it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy that everybody was super nice and yeah, and then everything, all the pieces get shipped.

Dizzy Skips (18:12)
That’s so awesome.

Mm-hmm. Cool.

Mira Wate (18:32)
to the sheltered workshop and then they put it together and yeah, it supports them and gives them a little bit of support in their life. And how do you say, there is an English word for it, appreciation. So they feel more appreciated because they have fun. And what they told me is like they have fun work to do because often they have these massive glass pieces. I don’t know how you call it, sorry, plastic glass. And then you pull the glass like.

Dizzy Skips (18:36)
Great.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (19:01)
some foil from the glass. So like work like this or stack like robotic stuff together. And that’s like they told me even people who are very disabled are able to put it together or to sort out like the pieces. yeah, yeah. So that’s why, you know, it always makes me happy. I know it’s super selfish to say, but when I go there, I come back with much more energy than I came because it’s like they’re so happy to see me and I’m so happy to see them.

Dizzy Skips (19:16)
beads and stuff.

That’s wonderful.

Mira Wate (19:30)
And it’s like really like so, yeah, it’s very, very rewarding. So if you have a bad day, go there.

Dizzy Skips (19:31)
That’s lovely.

I bet. So can you… Yeah. So when you need a little pick me up, you just go visit the people who are assembling the ropes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Mira Wate (19:42)
Yeah, or just in general, it’s always fun because they’re most of the time super happy

Dizzy Skips (19:48)
So like how much time did you spend on research and development? Why did you go with wooden handles? How long did it take you to come up with this specific design?

Mira Wate (19:58)
Yeah, actually by accident. I wanted to do like a plastic handle or it doesn’t it didn’t matter to me like how the handle was made or what it was made of. But like to build like like the form. I think there’s a name for it again, but I forgot. The mold yeah, exactly that one. But to do it is like in Germany, it’s like 50,000 euros.

Dizzy Skips (20:12)
Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah, like a mold or something like that. Yeah.

Mira Wate (20:22)
And I said, okay, I’m not having 50,000 euro to make it made in Germany. And I couldn’t find alternatives, which was at least made in Europe. So I would have been okay to say, okay, I produce in Europe if I know the people who produce it. But I just couldn’t find anybody back then, 2019 on 2020. And then I decided, hey, why actually not? And I talked to some people, what would you think about it? And I said, that’s so cool. That’s actually cool idea and feels very natural. And then I’m

Dizzy Skips (20:39)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (20:52)
Also, I like natural stuff. So I thought, okay, why not doing that? And yeah, that’s how it was like more like an emergency solution. But then now it’s like so beautiful. And then I tested it like one and a half years before I brought it to the market. I mean, I could have been bringing it out earlier, but then, you know, you really need courage to do it. And then it’s a new product. It’s not like, let’s say one of the typical ropes everybody knows. So you need more explanation. And then I do everything by myself. So

Dizzy Skips (20:54)
Yeah.

Yep.

Mira Wate (21:20)
Am I doing it right? Is it like that people understand? it’s a, yeah, it’s, it’s a lot of self doubt. People don’t think that, but to have the courage to do it, took me, think like, yeah, one and a half, two years to really bring it onto the market, sadly, but it’s finally there.

Dizzy Skips (21:22)
Yeah.

Sure.

Well, no, mean, it takes what it takes. And I think the end result is lovely. just, I have so much fun with my rope and it’s helping me get buff here with this heavy rope.

Mira Wate (21:48)
I’m very happy. Yeah, that’s also like super special. I think it’s the only one I know on the market existing. the world, like that’s why I call it like the world heaviest as well. Like if there is like a new one, please tell me. But as far as I know, I wanted to do something because people requested it. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (21:55)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I’ve talked to some of my friends who use this rope like @skippyimmy or aaronjumps.365 and I think we all have decided that it’s really fun to start practice with this rope.

Mira Wate (22:19)
Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (22:19)
and work out for a while and then sort of downgrade to one of our normal beaded ropes and then downgrade to a speed rope and you just feel like Superman, right? Because, or Superwoman, because you could go so fast. One thing I really love about these heavy ropes is it feels like it’s easier to learn some tricks because you get so much feedback with where the rope is.

Mira Wate (22:24)
Mm-hmm.

Much heavier.

I was actually amazed because you were one of the first people I saw doing advanced jump rope tricks with the heavy one, which I haven’t been doing a lot because I use it as a fitness rope. really to build strength, example, triple unders and stuff. But it was cool to see because I thought, wow, I was not brave enough doing it or trying it. But I mean, that’s what the, let’s say, the normal Wate Ropes are for.

Dizzy Skips (22:51)
Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (23:07)
So with a little bit longer handles, you can cross easier, but it’s not a long handle. It’s not a short handle. So it’s like, you know, you can hold it here like for normal jumping or hold it here if you want to do advanced tricks. So that’s why I think it has like a good weight to learn tricks, but it’s always good feedback. If you say this is like a very cool rope to learn the heavy one, I take it with me. Thanks.

Dizzy Skips (23:08)
Right, right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I think it’s great. There are certain moves that I was able to nail with the heavy rope that I hadn’t been able to before. And once I got the practice with the heavy rope, then I could go back to my other ropes and, okay, now this is how I do it, you know? And I think it just has to do with the amount of feedback that it gives. But I…

Mira Wate (23:37)
Wow.

wow.

That’s amazing.

Dizzy Skips (23:49)
Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. So I’d like to talk quickly about like when you got into Jump Rope, you got started at seven. What were your first experiences with Jump Rope and when did you start competing?

Mira Wate (24:02)
Yeah, actually my best friend took me to a sports club where they offer jump rope. And then it was a village where I started and where I live, where I used to live. And there were not a lot of people, but I started and all my friends started with me, but all of them stopped and I kept going, which was kind of sad. But yeah, so I had my first competition and then I turned 14 in the first competition. Then in the second competition, I turned second. And then in the

Third composition, I turned first place. And then I tried to stick to that a little bit.

Dizzy Skips (24:37)
Nice.

So once you won, how did that affect your trajectory? Like once you started actually winning competitions, how did that change your view of jump rope or the way you approached it?

Mira Wate (24:52)
That’s a very interesting question. I don’t know. I think it just showed me that when you work on something you like that you get rewarded, something like that. So and I really always just enjoyed it like building routines. Also, I was building show choreographies for myself. mean, now for myself, but back then for our team and things like that. And it’s really, you know, like

Dizzy Skips (25:06)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (25:20)
especially as you most probably know people who has never seen it they’d be like wow my god it’s so cool so it’s kind of that rewarding that you know okay you have a skill where you can also impress other people or yeah yeah show other people so yeah interesting interesting very cool question i don’t know how to answer that

Dizzy Skips (25:36)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. When did you start learning tricks or what was the first trick you learned?

Mira Wate (25:48)
That’s good question. don’t know. think normally what you learn first is some footwork basics. So to get your coordination going. So that’s very typical tricks. So in my opinion, that’s already tricks because everything what’s addition to normal jumping is already a jump rope trick. But that’s, think, the first things I learned. And then you learn some cross or swings and turns and then some leg crosses. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (25:53)
Mm-hmm.

Yep. Right.

Mm-hmm. Were there any things that were particularly difficult for you to learn or harder than others?

Mira Wate (26:16)
yeah, hated… In America, it’s like known as crossover. In Europe, it’s more known as crisscross. So like a crossover. At the end, it’s all the same. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a different name. And so I was never good in crisscross because I was like going very, very fast and I wanted to go fast. So I opened my arms too fast. And I remember once when I was younger, the TV was there.

Dizzy Skips (26:22)
huh.

Right, right.

Yep.

Mira Wate (26:42)
And it was so because we have like a comp, like where we do speed, like, I mean, speed steps. And I was so good, apparently I didn’t feel super good, but I was apparently very fast. And then they filmed me and they wanted to film me, but missed me because I filmed somebody else. And then I said, okay, she’s going to go again with crosses. And then I did crosses and I messed up, I don’t know, 14 times, literally. And I was trying to find like a spot where they was not, you know, where I was not missing to put on.

Dizzy Skips (26:46)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Right.

Mira Wate (27:10)
on the TV back then. Obviously, back then TV was like a big thing. But I remember this, I was never liking it. And now it’s like one of my favorite things like cross floaters. And then obviously, it’s one of the basics you need to know to get into harder skills. So yeah, so it’s a hate love relationship basically. With the crossover.

Dizzy Skips (27:15)
Yeah.

Sure.

Yeah.

When, so was it the competitions when you started transitioning from jump rope being more than just a hobby for you, like, when did you kind of get the bug and think, yeah, I might actually wanna do this for my job. This is maybe what I wanna do.

Mira Wate (27:50)
Yeah, no, very cool. I mean, I was always doing competitions and then I was doing show performances on the side, workshops like on the side. And then I thought, okay, I travel a little bit back then with my duo show partner. And we were doing show performances as a duo and we were traveling a little bit. And then I thought he wanted to go back to school because he was a teacher. And I said, okay, I keep a little bit going and why not? I could actually teach kids how to jump rope on my journey because

Yeah, I felt like doing that. And then, yeah, I was all over the world and a lot of time in Africa and was teaching like, yeah, kids under a big tree and on dams, trash dams and stuff. And I thought if they can forget their worries, everybody can. And then I decided to come to Germany and teach jump rope. I got already like doing full time from 2019. So I was always

Dizzy Skips (28:39)
Yeah.

Mira Wate (28:48)
a side job, like then it was like full time. COVID hit and everything got stopped, like everything got canceled and decided, okay, what should I do? And then luckily the Instagram community, people texted me and said, hey, if you would do online classes, I would do it. So that actually helped me to literally survive because I mean, I came back from a world trip. I had no money left. I was spending everything on traveling.

Dizzy Skips (28:50)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (29:14)
And then I needed food and at least needed to pay for my small apartment. And that really, really helped me. So I’m very glad. I mean, not glad that COVID hit, but very glad that there were people who really appreciated it. yeah, building, we were building a community that was very nice.

Dizzy Skips (29:14)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Yeah, that’s great. I know I’m not sure if you

Saw the clip But one of my previous guests Sean Hargis had mentioned when I asked him when he got started He said, you know, it was 2020 COVID hit I was depressed kind of at home and I started watching mirrors tricky Tuesdays on YouTube and and how much that meant to him and how that helped him learn and So I was gonna ask you like how did COVID change the face of what you were doing? So it sounds like you actually kind of converted a lot of things

Mira Wate (29:54)
Aww.

Dizzy Skips (30:08)
online.

Mira Wate (30:09)
Yeah, was actually so luckily I was not converting because there was basically no job sadly, because everything got cancelled. But I think it got me more confidence to say, okay, that’s how it is now. And now it’s like one of the pieces I do all the time online coaching. So it’s not like I need to go or I cannot train with you Mira, I would love to but there are possibilities, right? So or if we’re stuck.

Dizzy Skips (30:24)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (30:37)
at the internet and say, hey, we can be lucky to have the internet so we can see each other and train. Otherwise, there would be no possibility. And I think before that, before COVID, and no one had the knowledge of doing it. yeah, it’s just like a new part of business. at the end, it’s every time, like, we’re meeting because we can. And it’s so wonderful. It’s, you know, it’s like these things. And I think that’s what’s like the most benefit about.

Dizzy Skips (30:51)
Right.

Yeah.

Mira Wate (31:05)
Yeah, what happened in COVID times.

Dizzy Skips (31:08)
Yeah, so many people’s jump rope origin story started around COVID or as a result of seeing people like you who were really gung ho in COVID or Lauren Jumps who started putting out stuff.

Mira Wate (31:13)
Mmm.

Dizzy Skips (31:24)
I’m curious, you have such a following on social media. I think you’ve got 90 thousand followers on Instagram and 100 and what is it, 106 on TikTok and 37,000 on YouTube. Do you manage, so you manage all of these social presences yourself or do you get any help?

Mira Wate (31:41)
Yeah, I actually have one girl, she’s helping me with my graphics. So if you have seen some beautiful graphics within the last six months, she was helping me with it because she said, Mira, I cannot see this anymore. We need to make this more beautiful. You deserve better. I’m like, OK, we’re to do it. yeah, and yeah. And she also just finished her studies. So I thought, OK, it’s cool thing so I can support her. And she’s really good. So that’s what she’s helping me with. But yeah, so.

Dizzy Skips (31:46)
Okay.

Mira Wate (32:11)
Yeah, filming everything is just most of the time over here or outside. Yeah, it’s a lot, but it needs to be fun. If it’s not fun, then I think I wouldn’t do it. I would just do less or not at all.

Dizzy Skips (32:16)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Real quick to go back to your traveling. I saw you posted a video, I think it was a week and a half or so ago, and then followed up with the second video about your travels to Africa. I think you went to Uganda and you had an incident where you were assaulted and sort of thought about maybe giving up a little bit and then kept going. Can you tell us a little more about that?

Mira Wate (32:54)
Yeah, I mean, in Africa, there was a lot going on because I was actually traveling with local buses or trains. So it like it can be like super dangerous. So that nothing happened is like, I don’t know, kind of a miracle. I mean, that I just got robbed is, you know, like a miracle because it was like kind of dangerous. And I’m very adventurous and I try to trust the world, let’s say, and trust people, cultures. But yeah, that was not the best.

Dizzy Skips (33:11)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (33:23)
incidences. So we were arriving really late in the night and normally people say, you shouldn’t leave like a walk around as a tourist in the evening times. And yeah, somebody came up and then actually pushed their hand on top of my, I don’t know, here and I was wearing glasses. So back then I got my eyes lasered. But before that, like a long time before that, I was wearing glasses. So they were robbing my glasses and then and then obviously tried to rob everything else.

Dizzy Skips (33:39)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (33:52)
I was trying to, I was very brave, but it was very dangerous. So I was actually shaking that they go away because they were actually just 14, 15, 16 years old. What we found out later on. But for the rest of the trip, I don’t know, like five more months, I couldn’t see far. So when we were traveling somewhere, I couldn’t really see and yeah, even like watching monkeys in the wild in Uganda. So I couldn’t really see that because, you know, I haven’t had my glasses off.

Dizzy Skips (33:55)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

So.

Mira Wate (34:21)
This was like the saddest part about it. But like, yeah, all in all, think it’s always, yeah, that we should try to see the positive and the negative. Yeah, also Uganda, somebody robbed like my laptop and all the stuff was on the laptop. I mean, I could have thought it can happen, but it was got robbed out of the hotel and I was just actually on the way to meet the female coach in Uganda.

Dizzy Skips (34:23)
Yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Mira Wate (34:50)
So that also makes it sad, but you know, I always try to see the positive because at the end we’re so rich. We have enough food to eat every day. We can talk. We have internet. So we have a roof over our head. have people who love us. So I think if we already have this, like then material stuff is sad because I had a lot of cool photos. But yeah, there’s like more important things to care of.

Dizzy Skips (35:04)
Right.

Yeah. But you went on to travel for an additional like you were you were gone for months, right? You said five months.

Mira Wate (35:21)
Yeah, so Africa was actually six or seven months, I think. But in total, I was like on the go two and a half years. So a very long time. And people say, my God, you must be rich to travel. And I think you can travel kind of smart if you don’t have a lot of things you need. You know, so I was even like sleeping on. Do you know the packages you pack the stuff? I don’t know. I was sleeping like on that on the ground.

Dizzy Skips (35:25)
Wow.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mira Wate (35:49)
I was showering with cold water in a bucket and then you can stay over for 3 euros a night and eat for 1 euro a day. So there are options how you can be very, very cheap. And then I was not traveling, for example, to the US by then because I knew US is super expensive, but then traveling to parts of Asia or even parts of Europe.

Dizzy Skips (35:49)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Mira Wate (36:14)
and parts of Africa are super affordable to travel for a longer time. I was hitchhiking, I was doing like, obviously, like crazy stuff. But yeah, yeah, quite adventurous.

Dizzy Skips (36:16)
Mm-hmm.

You’re quite adventurous. Yeah. I’m curious, what do you think are like the three biggest mistakes that beginner jump ropers make?

Mira Wate (36:36)
That’s a very interesting question. Definitely getting most of the time the wrong rope. If I see people starting with a wire rope, I think that’s not the best option. Then I would say it’s obviously like the technique. So how they jump rope, especially with their arms, they jump out of like a full arm rather than.

out of like more wrist movements or forearm movements. And maybe the third thing is, I know there are different people who explain it differently, but in my personal opinion, if you have a better rope length, you can achieve skills faster or even like get physically, you can get the rope around you faster. So that way you can achieve things faster. that’s my opinion. yeah, so which rope?

Dizzy Skips (37:06)
Yeah,

Right.

Mira Wate (37:32)
maybe technique and rope length are three very important things.

Dizzy Skips (37:36)
So when you talk about which rope, what do you recommend for a beginner? Obviously a Wate Rope, right? But what type of rope?

Mira Wate (37:41)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, obviously, I created the beaded rope as well, because I think a beaded rope is very good for the feedback. So in general, this either with short handle or I decided to like a middle length so you can hold it especially as a man, like more in the middle. So men with like bigger hands have like easier grip to do that. And then later on, if you say, okay, this is like super, super simple.

Dizzy Skips (37:52)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Sure.

Mira Wate (38:09)
to do, can do, I don’t know, 10 double and a crossovers, let’s say. Okay, I can definitely hold the handle like outside and I definitely have like the longer handle, but not the longest handle. mean, that’s why I created it because I thought it’s a good option, like a two in one to get started, but then also get better with your actual skills.

Dizzy Skips (38:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, nice flexible.

Do you have a personal favorite rope? do you have, I mean, obviously you’re a brand of ropes, but like, when you go out to jump for yourself to have fun, like, do you have a go-to rope that you grab?

Mira Wate (38:44)
Yeah, I mean, the original Wate Rope was like the first one. So that’s why I always like that one. But yeah, I use all of them. And I think it’s also good to use all of the different ones. mean, also now I have like long handle ones. So it’s always good to use different ropes. So to yeah, to get better with your skills and learn it with different feedback, different, yeah, heaviness. So.

Dizzy Skips (38:49)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Mix it up.

Do you name your ropes like I do?

Mira Wate (39:14)
I mean they have names but they have names for everybody so it’s not their Jack or Joe but original or Happy Hope.

Dizzy Skips (39:19)
Right, So like, my Wate Rope’s name is Smiley because it’s named after you because you’re so smiley.

Mira Wate (39:27)
that’s very cute. nice! I didn’t know.

Dizzy Skips (39:34)
Yeah, I name them all and I talk to them too. I’m a little crazy, but.

Mira Wate (39:39)
But that’s sometimes like so healing, right? So to really tell your thoughts and I mean who cares? Nobody does. So if you feel better, that’s the most important thing.

Dizzy Skips (39:48)
Yeah, it makes me laugh. Yeah. Yeah, and then I can say, I was dancing with Smiley today.

Mira Wate (39:56)
Yeah, that’s very cool.

Dizzy Skips (40:00)
Yeah, let me just ask one more question about the future for you. So, and how people can engage with you. my question is, what’s next for Mira? Like what’s next with your business and what’s next on the docket for you?

Mira Wate (40:04)
Ooh, future question.

That’s a good question. think what’s next is always funny because people always want to know, okay, what’s going on next? What’s like the next big steps? But I think like maintaining what I have created, like the Wate Ropes the jump rope meetup, like the kids coaching, like all the things. So maintain and be like, yeah, be like a nice person. I think that’s already like a lot. So to maintain what I already created.

Dizzy Skips (40:33)
Mm-hmm.

Mira Wate (40:49)
But I mean, I love the social projects. I would love to do like a new social project soon. Nothing planned yet, which I did like 23, 22, 23. I did big projects, buy one, donate one. And it’s a lot of work. So I will see what I want to do, what I can do with the community, obviously. But yeah, to stay happy. Yeah, because…

Dizzy Skips (40:49)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I love that answer. Yeah, I love that answer. Basically, it’s just keep on trucking. Like showing up sometimes is the tough thing and you’ve got a lot to balance.

Mira Wate (41:22)
Yeah, and as you said, you know, posting every day, answering all your questions is really what I want to do and what’s important to me. And to do that frequently, like, takes a lot of time and to do new projects will take like a new time. yeah, I think.

Dizzy Skips (41:32)
Mm-hmm.

Well, Mira, I really, really, really appreciate you as a person and I appreciate your support on Instagram. And I just think the world of you, I love your ropes and I just can’t thank you enough for spending your time with me on Skip Squad Chronicles. Thank you so much.

Mira Wate (42:00)
Thank you so much. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Bye bye.

Dizzy Skips (42:03)
Thank you, you too. Have a good coaching session. Bye bye.