No matter what time of day it is, odds are high that Air Force veteran Angel Johnson will be sporting activewear.
“I’ll work out in the morning in ICONI leggings and a sports bra, then shower and change into another ICONI outfit,” said Johnson, who served as a captain during her seven-year Air Force career. “If I don’t have jeans on, I have ICONI on.”
There’s a good reason for that: Johnson, who was an intelligence officer, is the brand’s founder and CEO. She launched ICONI in January 2020 while serving at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. The name is an acronym for “I can overcome; nothing’s impossible.”
“A lot of times today I think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is my life,’ because never in a million years did I think I would be an activewear business owner,” she said. “I always had a path in my head for after I left the military, and this wasn’t it, so it’s a funny feeling now.”
Squat shock
ICONI was born of necessity. In fall 2019, Johnson was exercising at the base gym when a male friend politely pointed out that her leggings left little to the imagination as she did squats. She was mortified, especially since she had spent $80 on the workout pants.
A few weeks passed, but Johnson was still irritated about the gym faux pas. So, in the middle of the night, while working a mid-shift, she made a decision: she was going to start her own activewear company.
“I felt like there was nothing I couldn’t do,” Johnson said. “I had already done all this stuff in the military ― it makes you do so much at a very young age ― so what was stopping me from starting an activewear line? Why not?”
She began researching fabrics, manufacturing processes and consumer needs. Two weeks later, she filed for ICONI’s business license.
“I think what gave me the guts to start a new business is probably everything I learned in the military,” she said. “It helped me be goal oriented, and I feel like I can stay that way because of what I learned in the Air Force.”
ICONIc future
In just three years, ICONI has sold to more than 4,000 customers in 50 states ― and caught the attention of Amazon, where Johnson was featured as part of their “Buy Black” series highlighting Black-owned businesses. Even before that, ICONI earned a spot on “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list, though Johnson initially thought it was a scam.
“But then [Oprah’s team] told me to send them some samples and they paid for postage, so I was like, ‘OK, this is probably legitimate,’” she said. “They came back a month or two later and said ‘We selected you,’ and I was like, ‘This is crazy.’”
Crazy or not, this is Johnson’s life now after seven years as an airman with stints in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Korea. She often puts in 80-hour weeks and has two employees. ICONI currently sells items for men and women, including leggings, shorts, tops, sports bras, hoodies and accessories. And no, ICONI’s leggings do not cost $80 ― nor are they transparent.
“We try to make sure we incorporate performance in every aspect,” said Johnson, who left the Air Force in 2021. “Too many activewear lines look nice but don’t perform well.”
So far, ICONI has donated $35,500 to nonprofits, many of them local to Denver, where ICONI is based. Giving back to the community is important to Johnson, as is producing quality items that fit and feel good for an ever-expanding range of body types and sizes (“The waistbands don’t roll down!” is a common review).
For now, Johnson is just enjoying the ride ― and grateful for the role her time as a service member played in it.
“When people see how I run my business, very organized and regimented, they say why?” she said. “And I say, ‘I learned all this in the military.’”
Visit https://iconi.com to shop ICONI’s latest products.
