Who is Christy Johnson of United Goods?

By Christy Johnson, founder & CEO of United Goods

Tomorrow is National Boss Day, so I thought it might be fun to peel back the curtain and share with you a few random things about the person running things (mostly) behind the scenes at United Goods.

I've owned my small business for 21 years now (bonkers!), but I know I haven't opened up a lot during that time. That's because I'm an introvert and I'm just not the kind of person who lives their life online.

But while I'm kinda private and shy, honestly, oftentimes I don't show you the messy, behind-the-scenes stuff because I'm just focused on doing the work and simply forget to document it with photos.

But! I think it's always fun to learn more about who created the art you love. And if you're here reading this I feel you must be a fan of my State Icon prints, and you may want to know more about the person behind them! So I will oblige.

I actually wrote a post on Instagram this summer in which I spilled some info about me, my background, and other odds and ends. It seemed like a lot of people had fun gaining insight into me and how I got here with my small business.

So here, in no particular order, are six things about Christy from United Goods:⁠

🔲 I've been an artist since I was a very little kid. I drew for hours almost every day with markers on blank computer paper that was provided in bulk by my grandpa, who I believe got it from work. It was the kind with the square holes along the edges, with perforation marks where you could tear them off…remember that?!

I continued to draw until high school, but then my passion for sports took over my life.

🔲 When I was little, "what I wanted to be when I grew up" was a trapeze artist in the circus. Later, that dream morphed into becoming a gymnast in the Olympics. I was obsessed with Mary Lou Retton, Nadia Comaneci, and other super-strong, super-fast, super-poised athletes like them.

I took community gymnastics classes, but after getting dropped on my head several times by coaches and realizing the training we could afford wasn't going to get me very far, I turned to other sports I loved—ones that didn't require joining an "elite gym" with ridiculously expensive registration fees.

When I got to high school, my career goal was to be a fashion designer. I only changed my mind after realizing that most of the best fashion schools did not have athletic programs, and I was dead set on playing either volleyball or softball in college.

So, I had to find another career path. I chose Mass Communications, with the thought that I'd work at a sports or fashion magazine someday.

🔲 I'm a plant mama. I own many, many plant babies and they all have names.⁠

🔲 I love having deep conversations with my best pals and family members.

🔲 I am an actual part-time model (any Flight of the Concords fans out there?), and my hands, bod, and hair have appeared in many different photo shoots and product pics over the years.

⁠🔲 I still play competitive women's volleyball (indoor) with a team that's been together at least a decade. From fall through spring, match nights are the highlight of my week. Even in our 40s, we're still pretty damn good, y'all.

I would likely still be lacing up my red cleats for softball (fastpitch) if COVID hadn't killed our women's league.
 

Thanks for reading. Which of these tidbits surprised or delighted you the most? Share your thoughts in a comment!

📸 @wendynielsenphoto (Bonus fun fact: my twin sister)