Rising Stars: Meet Kennedy Goss of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kennedy Goss.

Hi Kennedy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story really started at UC Berkeley, where I studied Media Studies and played Division I women’s lacrosse for four years. Being a student-athlete shaped so much of who I am today. Lacrosse taught me discipline, resilience, how to work within a team, and how to perform under pressure, but Berkeley also gave me the opportunity to discover another passion: creative design.

While I was at Cal, I became heavily involved with the Black Student Athlete Community (BSAC), eventually serving as president for two years. I helped rebrand the organization, redesigned the logo, created promotional materials and motion graphics, and helped build its social media presence from the ground up. That experience was really where I started realizing that I could combine my love for sports with my creativity. I began doing more freelance graphic design work and eventually interned with Cal Athletics, which gave me my first real look at what it could mean to build a career in sports through design.

After graduating, I wanted to continue working in the sports industry, so I accepted my first full-time opportunity with USA Lacrosse in Baltimore as a Graphic Designer. That was a huge transition for me. I had gone from being a college athlete who was used to having a very structured environment to suddenly being a young professional living in a new city and building a career for myself.

At USA Lacrosse, I was able to grow tremendously as a designer. I worked across social media, event and facility signage, photography projects, magazine design, illustrations, advertising, and retail work. More importantly, I learned how to think beyond just making something look good. I learned how design supports storytelling, branding, marketing, and the overall experience people have with a sports organization.

Then my life took an unexpected turn. I became pregnant and eventually made the decision to move back home to Georgia. That was a really significant transition because I was building the career I had always wanted, living independently in Baltimore, and then suddenly my priorities and circumstances changed. Becoming a mom forced me to think differently about what success looked like for me. I had to learn how to balance being a mother with continuing to pursue the career I had worked so hard to build.

Moving home wasn’t necessarily the path I had originally imagined for myself, but it gave me the opportunity to reset, be close to my support system, and figure out what I wanted the next chapter of my career to look like. I continued pursuing design opportunities and staying connected to the sports industry rather than stepping away from it.

Eventually, that journey led me to US Soccer. Getting the opportunity to work here feels especially meaningful because it brings together so many parts of my story: my background as a Division I athlete, my experience working in sports organizations, my passion for visual storytelling, and everything I’ve learned personally and professionally over the last several years.

Looking back, my path hasn’t been completely linear. I actually think that’s what makes it meaningful. I went from being a college athlete at Cal, to discovering myself as a designer, to moving across the country for my first job, to becoming a mother and moving back home, and ultimately finding my way into another incredible sports organization.

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that your career doesn’t always have to follow the path you originally imagined. Sometimes life changes the direction for you, and you have to be willing to adapt without losing sight of what you’re working toward. I’m still early in my career, but I feel like I’ve built a really unique foundation at the intersection of sports, creativity, and storytelling. I’m excited to see where that takes me next!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road. There have been a lot of moments where I had to adjust my expectations, trust myself, and figure things out as I went.

One of the biggest challenges was when I became pregnant. It completely changed the way I thought about my future. I had worked really hard to establish myself professionally and had started building momentum in the sports industry, so having to move home and rethink what the next chapter of my life would look like was difficult.

I think there was also a unique challenge in becoming a young mother at a time when people in my generation are increasingly choosing to have children later in life, or sometimes choosing not to have children at all. There can be an unspoken perception that having a child early means you’re putting your career on hold or that you’re somehow getting ahead of yourself. I often felt like I was being quietly judged or that people might see me as being behind my peers because I had become a mother while many of my friends and colleagues were still focused solely on building their careers.

There were definitely moments when I wondered if becoming a mom had put me at a disadvantage professionally. I had just started building the career I wanted, and suddenly I was comparing my timeline to everyone else’s. It was easy to feel like my peers were moving forward while I had taken a step backward.

But becoming a mother ultimately gave me a completely different kind of motivation. My daughter kindled a new fire in me. Instead of making me feel like my career was over, becoming a mom made me realize how much I still wanted to accomplish. I wanted to build a career that I could be proud of and show my daughter that becoming a mother didn’t mean I had to stop being ambitious, creative, or passionate about the things I cared about.

In a strange way, motherhood helped me find myself again. Before having my daughter, I think a lot of my identity was tied to being an athlete and then becoming a young professional. Becoming a mother forced me to figure out who I was outside of those identities. It made me reevaluate what mattered to me and ultimately pushed me to go after the career I thought I had lost.

I also had to learn not to view changing direction as failure. Moving back home wasn’t necessarily part of the plan I had created for myself. For a while, it could have been easy to look at it as though I was moving backward while everyone else was moving forward. But I eventually realized that everyone’s timeline looks different. Going home gave me the support system I needed while also giving me the opportunity to rebuild and figure out what I wanted next.

Looking back, I don’t think the difficult parts of my journey set me back as much as I initially thought they did. They changed me. They made me more resilient, more adaptable, and much more intentional about the career and life I want to build.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work sits at the intersection of sports, storytelling, branding, and design. I’m a graphic designer who specializes in creating visual identities and experiences for sports organizations, athletes, and communities. My work spans a pretty wide range from branding and social media to editorial design, illustration, advertising, event and facility signage, and creative direction.

A lot of my approach to design comes from my background as a Division I athlete. I played women’s lacrosse at UC Berkeley for four years, so I understand sports from both the perspective of the person creating the work and the person experiencing it. I understand the emotion, competitiveness, community, and identity that people attach to sports. That perspective has become a really important part of how I approach creative work.

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work with Cal Athletics and also served as president of the Black Student Athlete Community at Cal. With BSAC, I helped completely reimagine the organization’s visual identity, including its logo, promotional materials, motion graphics, and social media presence. That experience taught me that good design isn’t just about creating something visually appealing, it should create recognition, build community, and communicate something meaningful.

I carried that philosophy into my work at USA Lacrosse, where I was able to work across a much broader range of projects. I worked on social media campaigns, event and facility signage, magazine covers and editorial spreads, illustrations, advertising, retail creative, and photography projects. I really enjoyed being able to move between different mediums while still maintaining a cohesive visual story.

Now, in my role at U.S. Soccer, I’m continuing to grow as a sports designer and storyteller. What excites me most is the opportunity to work on a scale where design can help shape how fans experience a sport, how athletes see themselves represented, and how an organization communicates its identity, especially during the World Cup era this past summer.

I think what I’m most proud of is the evolution of my work. I’ve gone from teaching myself how to design and taking on small freelance projects, to creating work for collegiate athletics, to working professionally within a national sports organization, and now contributing to one of the biggest sports organizations in the country. Each experience has expanded my understanding of what design can do.

What sets me apart is that I bring both the creative and the athlete perspective to the table. I don’t have to imagine what it feels like to care deeply about a sport. I know what that feels like. I know what it means to represent something bigger than yourself, to be part of a team, and to have moments in your athletic career that become part of your identity. I try to bring that understanding into my work.

I’m also someone who genuinely enjoys being a versatile creative. I don’t want to be limited to one type of design. I love moving between branding, digital, editorial, environmental design, illustration, and motion and figuring out how all of those pieces can work together to tell one cohesive story.

Ultimately, I want my work to make people feel something. Whether it’s excitement before a game, pride in being part of a community, connection to an athlete, or a stronger sense of identity within an organization, I’m most proud when design becomes more than just something that looks good, it becomes part of the experience.

How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happiest is feeling connected. Specifically, to my family, to the people around me, to creativity, and to the things that make me feel like myself.

My daughter is probably the biggest source of happiness in my life. Becoming a mom changed me in a lot of ways, but it also gave me a different perspective on what I value. Some of my favorite moments are honestly the simple ones: watching her learn something new, making her laugh, spending time together, or just being present with her. She reminds me to slow down and appreciate the parts of life that aren’t tied to a career or an accomplishment.

I also feel incredibly grateful for Kenderick, Karsyn’s father, and the role he has played in my life. He supported me throughout my pregnancy in ways that meant more to me than I can fully put into words, and he continues to put his best foot forward for our family. Whether it’s supporting me through a difficult day, encouraging me in my goals, or simply finding a way to put a smile on my face, his presence has brought a lot of happiness into my life. Becoming parents together has given us another reason to show up for each other, grow, and appreciate the life we’re building.

I also feel happiest when I’m creating. Whether I’m designing something for work, working on a freelance project, painting, or just experimenting with an idea, I love the feeling of taking something that exists in my head and turning it into something tangible. Creativity has always been a way for me to express myself, and it’s one of the things that makes me feel most like me.

I’m also happiest when I’m outside and experiencing life rather than just working through it. I love being around the people I care about, going on hikes, having picnics, listening to music, painting, watching movies, and finding little adventures. Those things help me recharge and give me balance. Ultimately, happiness for me comes from the people I love, the life I’m building with them, and having the freedom to create, explore, and be fully present in the moments that matter most.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kzion02.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenndesignn/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedy-goss