Our Team
Robert Johnson
Founder
Robert Johnson is an innovative entrepreneur from Madison, NE. Robert has always loved cars and racing. Growing up, he frequently volunteered to help with a family friend’s stock car pit crew, eventually racing his own stock car at age 16.
Robert started working at a young age, beginning with a paper route and then pumping gas at the Pit Stop in Madison. While in high school, Robert worked at M&J’s Service, Madison Market, and Pfeifer Autobody. By senior year, Robert was recruited and later hired as an assistant manager at Valentino’s.
After high school, Robert enrolled in the U.S. Navy, where he served for 4 years. While in the Navy, Robert attended Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL and Law Enforcement School in San Antonio, TX.
Robert is a hard-working, family-oriented man. While serving his country, he met his wife and had his first child, a daughter, in Cuba. Robert returned to Norfolk after getting out of the Navy to start his family. Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, he applied to Nucor in their Vulcraft division. While working at Vulcraft for seven years, he started his first business, Hot Wash Custom Mobile Power Washing. Robert sees the needs of his community and likes to use his creative and hard-working personality to help fill these voids.
In 2003, after Robert’s youngest son was diagnosed with autism. Robert knew his family needed to move to a bigger city where more extensive educational and behavioral support was available. Furthermore, Robert needed a job where his hours were flexible so he could be available for his son. Ultimately, he wanted to get back to his passion: cars. He enrolled in a 2-month Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) certification program at U.S. Dentools located in Kansas. After the completion of the training, he started Accurate Paintless Dent Repair, which has been in business for 18 years. While building his PDR clientele, Robert was hired as a supervisor at Design Plastics until 2006, at which time his PDR business became well-established. In 2019, Robert made the decision to enroll in Creighton University’s Business Certification Program to further prepare him to create his dream business, Americarts.
Stephanie Goodrich
Co-Founder
Dr. Stephanie Goodrich is an enthusiastic and passionate special educator from Omaha, Nebraska. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of educational and community settings as a teacher, administrator, professor and educational consultant. She is very involved in the community and serves on multiple non-profit boards and committees.
Stephanie completed her Ed.D. at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in Educational Administration. Her research focused on comprehensive transition programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Midwestern universities. She specializes in the areas of social programming, inclusive employment opportunities, and the overall health & wellness for individuals with diverse abilities.
Through her consulting business, BOLLD Collaborations, she has developed several programs to enhance the lives of students and young adults with diverse abilities. Her programs focus on career readiness, social competence, recreation and wellness, and community independence. She has written and managed several grants, including one that focused on paid supported internships at four metro-area businesses.
Some of her favorite social programming is through a non-profit called Gotta Be Me. She connects local college students and young adults with diverse abilities to create year-round unified sports teams and weekend/summer social clubs. Each summer, the social group, C.R.E.W., travels to fun destinations, such as Texas and California.
Stephanie enjoys researching and collaborating with local and national organizations to provide optimal outcomes in the areas of inclusive academics, social activities, and employment. During the pandemic, she utilized video-conferencing technology to bring individuals from all over the world together to participate in over 1,000 daily classes and activities.
During this unexpected, reflective time, she began to imagine how she could bring all of her passions together to help the most people. This is where the work to create Americarts began.