BACK STORY ENCORE
Anika Johnson
Owner, Soccer Shots Kalamazoo & Great Lakes Thrift Co
Brian Powers
A
46 | ENCORE OCTOBER 2019
t 27, Anika Johnson is the owner of two businesses: the Kalamazoo franchise of Soccer Shots, an organization that teaches kids 2 to 8 years old the basics of soccer while creating a solid foundation of confidence and teamwork, and the Great Lakes Thrift Co., a thrift/vintage clothing store in the Park Trades Center. Johnson will be the first to tell you that her journey to becoming an owner of a Soccer Shots franchise was not linear. “I will say my journey's kind of crazy, but not in a bad way. My path, it took a lot of turns, which is OK,” she says. Johnson, originally from Baroda, played soccer from the time she was a toddler. She played for the former Kalamazoo travel soccer team TKO Premiere from 2007 to 2010. In 2012, she joined Swedish soccer team Mariebo, but her soccer career was cut short by a hip injury and a severe concussion. After surgery, Johnson decided to complete her bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising at Western Michigan University, (continued on page 45)