At age 11, Christy learned two things: she was hard of hearing, probably since birth, and she had taught herself to read lips without realizing it. She needed hearing aids, but her family couldn’t afford them, and insurance didn’t cover them. It still doesn’t.

It wasn’t until her twenties, when Christy was already succeeding in the business world despite her hearing loss, that she could afford her first pair of hearing aids. They changed her world. Finally able to participate and contribute to her full potential, Christy saw her career take off.

In 2021, Christy came to believe she was meant to be born with hearing loss and to go without hearing aids so she would be passionate enough to help others get them. In March of that year, she founded Sounding Joy to provide hearing aids to children whose families can’t afford them.

Christy’s work has been recognized locally and nationally. In 2024, the Tampa Bay Lightning named her a Lightning Community Hero, and she directed the $50,000 Lightning Foundation grant to Sounding Joy and The Rotary Club of Tampa. In 2026, she was named one of ten L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth honorees, selected from more than 5,000 nominations nationwide as the only honoree from the Southeast. Her recognition came with a $25,000 grant for Sounding Joy.

Christy is also a TEDx speaker and runs Marketing Direction Outsourced Marketing Experts, an award-winning, full-service marketing agency that supports Sounding Joy as a pro bono client.