Meet our founder
As a professional water skier for over twenty years and the world record holder in women’s slalom from 1992–2010, In His Wakes founder Kristi Overton Johnson took to the waters of the world with passion, perseverance, and a desire to impact the world of water skiing. This wife and mother of three now focuses her passions and experiences to encourage and equip people for victory in every season of their lives.
Kristi married her best friend, Tim Johnson, in 1994.
Kristi and Tim met while attending the University of Central Florida. Upon graduating with business degrees, they attended the University of Florida College of Law where they both received Juris Doctorates and licenses to practice law. They have three children: Ty, Dalton, and Ivy. Dalton and Ivy were adopted from Russia in 2005. Currently, Tim and Kristi reside in Greenville, North Carolina.
A native of Greenville, North Carolina, Kristi began her competitive water ski career at age five on the shores of the Pamlico River in Bath. With the help of her Lord, family, friends, and sponsors, Kristi captured state, regional, and national records in the slalom, trick, and jump events before turning professional at age thirteen.
Although a US Master’s Champion and number one world ranked athlete in the trick event, Kristi began to specialize in the slalom event in 1988 due to a congenital hip deformity. For fifteen years, Kristi dominated the women’s slalom event, accumulating eighty professional wins and capturing more number one world rankings than any other female skier in history. She is an eight-time US Masters Champion and four-time US Open Champion. She held the world record in women’s slalom from 1992-2010.
Kristi travelled the world, bringing home the gold and setting records as a World Champion, Pan American Games, and US Pro Tour Champion. She won the British, French, Italian, Australian, and Austrian Masters. Her ski career was honored through her induction to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in May 2012. She was also inducted into the USA Water Ski Hall of Fame and Florida Water Ski Hall of Fame in 2013.
Kristi departed the professional circuit in 2004 after ten surgeries, including a complete reconstruction of her pelvis. She made a brief appearance back on the water at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships, as well as the 2008 and 2009 US Masters Water Ski and Wakeboard Tournaments. After undergoing more surgeries, Kristi once again stepped away from competition. Although retired, Kristi remains active in the sport of water skiing.
In 2003,
combining her passion for water sports with her love for people and Jesus Christ, Kristi formed In His Wakes, an international watersports outreach. To date, In His Wakes has introduced thousands of at-risk youth and adults to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ through the avenue of watersports.
With a passion to encourage and equip people to live victorious lives,
Kristi Overton Johnson combines her faith, love for people, and the keys to victory she learned as a world champion water skier in her not-for-profit organization, Kristi Overton Johnson Ministries. Founded in 2009, KOJM encourages and equips people to live victorious lives through tangible acts of God’s love and the powerful truth of His Word through Victorious Living magazine, and Victorious Living Prison Outreach. KOJM also supports orphans in India through a partnership with Favour the Helpless as well as orphans in the Russian orphanage where Kristi’s children once resided.
Kristi gives a dynamic interview and is a sought after faith-based motivational speaker in various arenas. She has a remarkable ability to encourage and equip people to victory through analogies from her life experiences and her faith. She has been featured on national outlets such as CBN’s The 700 Club, TBN’s More than Conquerors, and Kenneth Copeland’s Victory Magazine. Her water ski career has been highlighted on ESPN, ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Water Ski Magazine, among others.
Kristi is the published author of Running the Course and Hit It! She is also the publisher of Victorious Living magazine and was a featured columnist for The Washington Post. Kristi launches weekly encouraging videos and writings on social media to help people experience victory in every season of their lives. You can link to her social media sites here.
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
Champion’s Heart “In His Wakes” Founder, Kristi Overton Johnson, was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on May 9th, in Raleigh, NC for her accomplishments in the sport of water skiing. Kristi joined Hall of Fame members such as Dale Earnhardt, Michael Jordan, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, and Ricky Proehl.
