Transitioning off the beam, Peng has made her way into the world of content creation, gaining mass recognition amongst followers and quickly capturing the attention of highly recognized brands such as Third Love, Conair, FabFitFun, and Casetify to name a few. Her passion for the art and skills to carefully curate content has provided for successful campaigns, including her partnership with Chevrolet which was later hand-selected to be entered into Cannes, and her recent partnership with Alicia Keys’ Keys Soulcare that got love and a duet from the founder herself. Additional campaigns Peng has taken part in include Super Coffee, Suave x Target, Sodastream, Airheads, Romwe, and Levis.

Outside of content creation, Peng has kept busy, hosting events such as the USA Gymnastics National Championships and USA Olympic Trials. She has also made her way on-screen appearing on Twitch and Amazon Prime’s Ultimate Crown Fire & Ice Edition competition, which she went on to win and can next be heard in the upcoming Nickelodeon series WARPED as Princess DerpyDerp. Most recently, Peng will be seen appearing in Balero’s latest music video “SOBER,” out now. 

Next, Peng is taking time in retirement out of her gymnastics career to pursue her childhood dream. After dabbling in learning instruments such as guitar, piano, and violin at a young age, Peng knew there was a part of her that always belonged in the music world – Teasing her skills to fans over her booming platforms is just the start. Fans can expect music from Peng at the top of 2022. 

Best recognized for her gymnastic roots, Peng made her gymnastics debut in 2004 at the age of eleven, competing in Elite Canada. Her gymnastics career quickly took off at a junior level, receiving multiple accolades that quickly followed her at the senior level. In 2012, Peng’s career continued to take off as she qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London but unfortunately had to pull out due to an ACL injury. Not letting injury put her down, she went on to join the Olympic team as acting captain. Peng quickly turned to compete at the collegiate level in 2017, dedicating six years as a UCLA Bruins gymnast. Her dedication to the sport honored her in 2018 when she was awarded the prestigious Honda Sports Award, NCAA Balance Beam Champion, and later named Co-Pac-12 Conference Woman of the Year, Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Balance Beam Champion amongst a few other titles. 

Now that life has slowed down, Peng has put her energy into all her passions her time as an athlete prevented her from fully pursuing. She has since taken time to surround herself with loved ones and create memories by partaking in some of her favorite activities, including golfing and traveling to new destinations. Peng is also using retirement and large platform to focus on causes she holds dear to her heart such as staying involved in the community and speaking on the importance of mental health, something she knows we can all relate to. 

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Tell our readers about yourself.

My name is Peng Peng Lee, and I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I have a Bachelor’s of Art in Sociology with an Entrepreneurship and theatre minor from UCLA. I grew up doing many activities both in arts and athletics; however, I did competitive gymnastics for 18 years. I continued on to be one of Canada’s top athletes, 2012 Canadian Honorary Olympic team Captain, 2x NCAA National Champion with UCLA, and PAC-12 Scholar-Athlete of the year. After my memorable gymnastics career, I continued to pursue my other dream in entertainment. I am currently a content creator, actress, artist, and host.

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When did you know that you were an artist, more specifically a musician?

Since I was a baby, I have always loved to sing and music. When I was about two, my parents got me a karaoke machine, and I would have my own little concerts in my room. As I got older, I realized that I had an interest in writing songs; music has always been my therapy through difficult times, specifically songwriting.

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Tell me about your path that led you to entrepreneurship and influencer?

I come from a family of accountants, so naturally, I have always had an interest in the business. As much as I am having fun with my accounts, I think of my pages as my little business. I enjoy learning the back end of marketing and negotiating.

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Can you tell me about a challenge you have surmounted recently?

Something that has been a challenge for me is the inconsistency with community. I am very extroverted, and I have found that a lot of my work is from home. I love meeting new people in the industry; however, I wish we could hang with them / work with them all the time. I think it’s because I’m so used to being on a sports team that I have been surrounded by a group my whole life, including school. This is the biggest adjustment for me in my adulthood. If you ask any of my close friends or family, they know that I tend to go crazy if I’m by myself or in the house too long, lol. I also wish I could meet my fans in person. Honestly, I’m just missing human-to-human connection.

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Looking back at everything you’ve accomplished this far, what advice would you give yourself or other women today?

My biggest advice is to live in the moment. Sometimes we get too caught up on the end result, and that’s where frustration and anger can come in. However, if you enjoy the process and celebrate all the little steps, the end results will come. 

What does success represent to you?

I have learned that success is very much like what we learned at UCLA with the pyramid of success. It’s not based on the accolades you’ve accumulated but on the personal feeling you have when you get there. 

What is your long-term vision to grow your brand? Give us your 5-10 year vision.

My long-term vision for my brand is to build a Penguin Empire (my fans, including me, are called penguins). I want to create a bigger community to a point where we can all meet up to do events and have fun with one another. I want to be able to celebrate their accomplishments as well as mine. 

What inspires you to think bigger?

I have always been an optimist and one to dream the impossible. I truly believe that anyone can do anything in this life. Something that also inspires me to dream bigger is to put out good energy in this world so that what I put out I attract as well. I think gymnastics has taught me to dream the biggest because, why not? There’s nothing to lose. 

How do you define work-life balance? How do you apply it in your day-to-day life?

I am still figuring out my work/life balance. I tend to stress so much on my work or get frustrated that I am not where I would like to be. However, I’ve realized life is about the connections and memories you make with one another and the success as work comes. I try to schedule days where I can just enjoy myself with my friends/family or do something fun for myself if I’ve had a long day. 

Finish this sentence: I want to be remembered for…

I want to be remembered for inspiring others that anything in this life is possible with hard work, happiness, and patience. 

All Photo Credits : Jason Rivera

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