American Tanning & Leather’s Queen of Gator

“ONCE I STARTED HANDING OUT THE QUEEN OF GATOR CARDS, PEOPLE STARTED REMEMBERING ME. THEY MAY NOT REMEMBER MY NAME, BUT THEY WOULD REMEMBER QUEEN OF GATOR.”
—CHRISTY PLOTT

Christy Plott is part of multi-generational family leather business, American Tanning & Leather LLC. “Am Tan” is a five-generation business that is located in Griffin, Georgia, 40 miles south of Atlanta, right at the source of the finest raw material in the world, the Louisiana alligator.

The Name

Christy was named after her father Chris Plott, but she is known throughout the industry as the “Queen of Gator.” The title is self-appointed. Several years ago, Christy heard about an alligator buyer from Italy working in Florida who was calling himself the “King of Alligator.” This was very aggravating to Christy. For one thing, there are no alligators in Italy and none of his family had ever been in the alligator business. More importantly, royalty is demonstrated by blood line and nobody in the world can lay claim to a more established lineage than Christy’s.

As a joke, Christy had personal cards made up – beautiful cards edged in pink with a big crown and her self-appointed title, “Queen of Gator.” She sent some to the Italian distributors as a joke. She also took them to her next trade show and once her actual business cards were gone, they started handing out the QoG cards. They became an instant hit. The top designer brands from New York and Europe took notice and soon everyone was calling Christy, the Queen of Gator.

“When I would go to New