‘Most public humble brag ever’: After a Goodwill becomes inundated with a woman named Phoebe Kong’s awards, the internet rallies to find her

The nonprofit organization Goodwill has its issues — and plenty of them, at that — but it’s also home to countless hidden gems, tucked away and waiting for someone to dig deep enough to discover them. 

Locations across the country are packed to the gills with treasures, from practically new plate sets and unique items of art to… entire trophy collections? That last one is certainly not common, given the resale nature of Goodwill, but it’s apparently not unheard of. That much was established by TikTok user Zack Wickham (@thezackwickham), who recently made a thoroughly unexpected find at the Goodwill location on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. While perusing the store’s offerings, he unearthed an entire collection of trophies once owned by a woman named Phoebe Kong. 

The illustrious Phoebe is apparently quite talented — the Goodwill is stuffed to the brim with trophies celebrating her excellence. Wickham and his friend highlight several, including a handful of impressive tennis trophies, a softball award, and a trophy for “excellence in piano.” As Wickham accurately notes, our girl Phoebe is “super talented,” and deserves those silly plastic reminders of how hard she worked throughout her early academic life. 

The discarded trophies were more than enough to upset viewers all on their own, but their presence at a Goodwill ramped emotions up even more. Goodwill’s reputation has taken several major hits in recent years, as the business’ tendency to gouge prices, underpay its employees — particularly its disabled employees — and fire whistleblowers have come under scrutiny. Those controversies and several more have served to turn potential customers away from Goodwill and toward local alternatives instead. 

Despite the rampant criticism of Goodwill, Wickham’s silly little plea to TikTok promptly took off for the creator, and the magic of the internet swooped in to answer his call. Within a few days, a video showed the situation rectified — Phoebe’s mom, after finding out the trophies became TikTok famous, rushed to Goodwill to buy them back. A video posted by Pheobe herself documents her mother’s journey to the store to find and re-purchase the cherished memories of her daughter’s accomplishments. Phoebe even provided some clarity on the situation. 

Noting that she had instructed her mom to donate the trophies did a lot to soothe concerned commenters, who were initially irked with the mother for tossing out those hard-won awards. Phoebe’s further clarification deepened the lore surrounding the situation when she informed viewers that she did not “become a tennis star or a concert pianist,” but instead refocused all that hard work on physical art. 

And, just as she did with tennis, piano, and other academic achievements, Phoebe is knocking it out of the park. Her work toes the “intersection of fantasy and fear,” and involves the juxtaposition of “colorful figures, expressive faces, and certain whimsical marks against these more mature and disturbing narratives.” 

It’s a deeply satisfying conclusion to a tale tailor-made for the internet, and commenters got good news at the end of it. Thanks to her mom’s voyage to that California Goodwill, you can no longer own a Phoebe Kong trophy for yourself — but you can take things one step further and purchase a Phoebe Kong original work of art, and secure your own spot in the TikTok history books.