Her Story
About Christy
I currently work as a disposition and mitigation specialist for the Public Defender's Office, a position I've held for three and a half years. Before this role, I was actually an investigator, which I preferred to what I'm doing now since that's what my degree is in. I graduated from Keiser University in 2022 with a degree in law enforcement operations, and I'm incredibly proud that I became valedictorian while working a full-time job. In October, I launched my own homemade skincare products business. I started with melt and pour soaps, and my husband sold me out to the female coworkers at the bar next to his shop in my first two weeks. I couldn't keep up with the orders! Then I started dabbling in cold process and doing tallow, whipped body butter, and sugar scrubs. My husband pushed me to go out and start doing vendor fairs because I had saturated all the girls that work next to him. We do craft fairs at the Salvation Army in Port Charlotte, Florida, and all of our vendor fees go directly to them. We also do a different drive every month, like last month it was pantry products, this month it's senior products. I'm very inquisitive and like to get to the bottom of things. Even if somebody tells me a story, I'm going to pick that story apart to find all the actual facts behind it. And I'm very stubborn.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Christy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my dad and my husband. My husband is my backbone. I've had anything creative in my personal business for years, and I've done a bunch of different things. He's the one that pushed me this time around to actually go out and start doing vendor fairs. When I started with the skincare products, I started with melt and pour, and they sold me out in my first two weeks to the female coworkers at the bar next to his shop. I couldn't keep up with these orders. Then I started dabbling in cold process and doing tallow, whipped body butter, and sugar scrubs. He told me I had all this product now and that I'd saturated all the girls that work next to him, so I needed to go out and sell my product and stop being afraid. He's also the one who told me when I was wanting to go back to school that we'd figure out how to make it work with schedules and everything, and that he'd help me a little more around the house with the animals. He told me if there's anything I need help with, he'd help me. Seeing him as proud as he was the day I graduated as valedictorian really surprised me. My dad was in the military, so I'm used to the military mentality where you never say you're doing good, nice job, I appreciate it, or I love it. I think that kind of surprised me, but it also gave me more of a backbone to follow my dreams.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
This would be the same as any woman would give to any other woman: don't let men walk all over you. Unfortunately, I deal with that on a daily basis.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Florida
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.