Paralympian Christy Gardner Forges Her Own Business Path Through Service

After serving overseas, Gardner has shifted her focus to helping others through her passion for athletic competition and community service.

This story is a partnership with The Street, part of Sports Illustrated’s exploration of the ways sports and finance intertwine—from the NIL revolution to online betting, business-minded athletes and more. For more on sports and money, see SI’s October 2023 Money Issue or go to TheStreet.com.

Christy Gardner followed a different path to business success than many athletes. A retired Army Sergeant who served with the United States Army Military Police in Asia, she used her life experience to create multiple non-profit organizations that serve the communities she is a part of.

Her first organization, Mission Working Dogs, helps people with disabilities by providing them with a properly trained service dog. That’s a group where Gardner takes a hands-on role as she’s a certified dog trainer with 11 years of experience training service and therapy dogs and seven years of experience with breeding.

Gardner, however, remains a competitive athlete and that fuels her second non-profit. She currently competes with Team USA on the women’s Para ice hockey team and on the USA Para surfing team. Gardner is also a world-ranked Para thrower and competes in the Paralympics for track and field.

Her on-ice experience led her to found the New England Warriors Ice Hockey Program, a sled hockey program that is a chapter of the USA Warriors. Gardner did an email interview with Sports Illustrated’s Daniel Kline to talk about her experiences as an athlete and a business person.

Sports Illustrated: What did you learn as an athlete that has translated into the business world?

Christy Gardner: There is so much from sport that translates to the business world. Everything from teamwork to considering failure as a learning opportunity. It's also important to surround yourself with people who build you up but also compliment your strengths. People who can teach you new things. Knowing, for example, that I'm not great at math, means it's important to find or hire a good treasurer or accountant to help with that.

SI: When did you see yourself as a business person and an athlete?

CG: I've been a part of a number of non-profits over the past decade but forming my own (Mission Working Dogs) in the summer of 2020 was a big shift for me. Our mission is to improve the lives of those living with a disability by providing them with properly trained service and therapy dogs.

To do so, I first had to learn all the pertinent parts of the IRS and state regulations. On top of that, we designed and planned the construction of a proper facility to train service dogs, while working toward accreditation. It took a lot of work with the town and planning board along with daily meetings with contractors.

Gardner’s first organization was Mission Working Dogs, which helps provide people with disabilities trained service dogs / Courtesy of Jessie Dietzler

SI: When do you see yourself fully moving into the business world?

CG: I’m not totally sure when I’ll be ready to make the move full-time, but likely when I retire from sports. I will likely retire from sled hockey at the international level after the next World Championships so that I can rehab some old injuries and properly focus on my throwing career for shot put and discus.

I am thankful for everything that being a professional athlete has brought to me, and when I retire, I am looking forward to devoting 100% of my time to helping improve the lives of others who are living with a disability.

SI: What lessons did you learn from a mentor, coach, or someone else?

CG: I've learned a lot over the years. Certain coaches were instrumental in teaching me the intangibles, such as mental toughness and biofeedback, while others helped sharpen my on-field techniques. Off the field, I’ve benefited from mentors guiding me on how to run a business – everything from learning electrical codes to operating power tools.

SI: Have you learned any lessons from family that have helped you in business?

CG: The biggest one is to dream big. When I first told my brother of my dream to build a service dog training center, he said, "please don't just put a job trailer in a field and call it good." I had no intention of doing that, but also didn't know exactly what I wanted, so I talked to a handful of other accredited service dog programs to see what we could do to best serve our population.

My brother is a successful businessman in Maine, so he had a lot of input along the way, and I know he's proud of the final product.

SI: How are you giving back to other athletes?

CG: In 2014, I was playing sled hockey on a team out of Walter Reed Medical Center, but USA Hockey had rules in place to play for a team within 100 miles of your home. When I moved back, there wasn't a team here in Maine, so I started one. I wrote grants for equipment and recruited other players. I’m proud to say that the New England Warriors have played within the Northeast Sled Hockey League ever since.

In 2016, I competed at the Rio Paralympic Trials in shot put and discus and placed at the top of my class. When I returned home, a family reached out about their daughter who was disabled doing track and I found that there were no adaptive sport clubs for Para athletes for track in the whole state, so I joined the board of Central Maine Adaptive Sports and started a track team there. I helped them expand to also offer sled hockey, cycling, and kayaking programs.

In addition to starting different sports programs for people with disabilities, I’ve also been fortunate enough to become an ambassador as part of Team Citi. Since joining the team, Citi has provided me with a platform to have my voice heard and help change the perceptions around people with disabilities. I want to show the world what we can do with disabilities; I want to inspire the next generation of kids, and to let them know what exists for them in the world of adaptive sports. It’s so important to me that the next generation knows they can dream and that anything is possible.

An accomplished hockey player, Gardner founded the New England Warriors team in her native Maine / Courtesy of Citi

SI: So, part of it is about providing more opportunity?

CG: As a matter of fact, it’s not only about enlightening kids about the benefits of participating in adaptive sports. There are still opportunities to grow Para Sport on an international level, including equal opportunities for men and women.

I just returned from the second annual Women’s World Challenge, an event made possible by Citi. This is a Para Ice Hockey world competition for women’s teams from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Team World. Para ice hockey isn’t yet a Paralympic sport for women, but with Citi’s help we’re working to move the needle for gender equality in sports, and I’m eager to see the momentum continue. Citi’s advocacy for gender equality in sports is a good example for us athletes in our professional lives – the push for equality Citi is driving for the Para Sport community is how I want to run my business – with determination to help others.

SI: What’s the worst mistake you made in business, and what did it teach you?

CG: I haven’t made any major mistakes because I’m surrounded by a good team of volunteers and our board of directors at Mission Working Dogs. We all offer checks and balances as we go. We’ve definitely adopted and adapted some policies to help ensure the success of candidate dogs and handlers. We’ve also evolved from a more passionate board to a more skilled board. The passion is still there, but we’re doing our best to bring in people who have the skills to keep us moving in the right direction.