Beautiful Brains Turning a Pandemic Challenge Into a Thriving Business

Chrisitan Johnson

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Roswell Park is highlighting minority women-owned businesses making an impact.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, healthcare facilities like Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center faced a critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Medical supply companies struggled to meet the sudden demand for gloves, masks, and gowns, creating immense pressure to fulfill large orders quickly.

For Chrisitan Johnson and her company, Beautiful Brains, this crisis became an opportunity to support her hometown.

“We were able to tap into our global supply chains and deliver the products hospitals needed,” Johnson recalls. Before the pandemic, Beautiful Brains primarily supplied medical devices to the U.S. Department of Defense.

“We all felt helpless, and it became a question of how we could step in and help. Supplying hospitals wasn’t our core business, but we leveraged our work with the Department of Defense to pivot,” she explains. “My brother and I were renting U-Hauls, personally delivering masks and gloves to hospitals. It was an overwhelming effort, but it was a moment of pride for us.”

Five years later, that initial contract with Roswell Park helped Johnson expand Beautiful Brains, allowing her to work directly with healthcare facilities in Buffalo and beyond.

“We now offer a full suite of medical products and supplies. We had been working to become manufacturers for Cardinal Health, and Roswell Park really advocated for us in that process,” Johnson says, referring to one of the country’s largest healthcare service companies. “That opportunity came directly from our partnership with Roswell Park.”

A Buffalo native, Johnson graduated from Nardin Academy and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her entrepreneurial journey began in 2013 when she invented Driver Watchdog, a safe driving device that uses a camera-equipped rearview mirror to alert drivers to real-time hazards.

“That was my first national recognition, but Buffalo is home, and I always prioritize my work here,” she says. Despite opportunities to relocate her manufacturing and distribution operations, Johnson remains committed to Buffalo.

“Creating jobs is incredibly important to me. My parents rely on the healthcare system here, and during COVID, we didn’t just sell products—we donated them. It was our way of keeping things moving,” she says.

Giving back is central to Johnson’s mission. In addition to supporting the community through Beautiful Brains, she actively mentors small businesses and prioritizes hiring retired veterans.

“ About 80% of my team is veterans, and I serve on the African American Veterans Monument board. I’m not a veteran myself, but it’s important to me to support those who have served,” she says.

She also prioritizes uplifting Buffalo’s Black business community, sharing insights on how small businesses can secure contracts with major companies.

“I mentor business owners on working with large corporations. There’s a path to success, and I want to help others navigate it. It’s not impossible,” she says. “Entrepreneurship is resistance.”

For Johnson, working with Roswell Park remains a point of pride.

“Roswell Park was at the top of my list. They do incredible work, and unfortunately, I know many people who have needed their care. Even though we have opportunities nationwide, making sure hospitals in my hometown have the supplies they need will always be a priority for me.”