Phyllis Goggins was born and raised in Hartford, where she formed the Black Magic Double Dutch Team with Lisa Butler, Shantell Smith, and Connie Williams. Black Magic defeated all other teams in a regional final at the Hartford Civic Center, now the XL Center, and then won the world finals in New York against more than 40,000 other competitors. A counter recorded Goggins's left foot touching the floor 369 times in two minutes, earning her the title of the world's fastest jumper in the Guinness Book of Records. She graduated from Weaver High School and later became a licensed practical nurse.