Speaker 1: What's going on? Guys. Welcome to Legit Check. Welcome to
Speaker 1: another episode. I'm your host, yeasy bust, and I'm here
Speaker 1: with my very good friend Justin Johnson. What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me to really appreciate it, you know, Justin,
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about yourself, like who are you?
Speaker 1: What do you do? Loaded question? Man, It's it's the
Speaker 1: hardest one to answer. Yeah, I'm a I'm a Texan
Speaker 1: by birth, but probably also by choice if I even
Speaker 1: wasn't born there, originally from San Antonio, born and raised
Speaker 1: so Go Spurs Go. Probably one of the biggest, most
Speaker 1: loyal Spurs fan even though they have any shitty season
Speaker 1: this year, um to stay true to them. Pretty like
Speaker 1: interesting background in the sense that I was the first
Speaker 1: generation scholar, growing up and doing things that none no
Speaker 1: one else in my family had done or has done,
Speaker 1: or wanted to do. U ended up at the University
Speaker 1: of Texas at Austin, where I studied business and got
Speaker 1: a degree in finance and information systems. And then it
Speaker 1: was kind of crazy because uh, like taking a step,
Speaker 1: taking a few steps back and thinking of about how
Speaker 1: I ended up at UT I was salutatory and in
Speaker 1: my my high school class. And what that means is
Speaker 1: that your rank second in your class because I had
Speaker 1: really good grades and I remember the counselors telling me, like,
Speaker 1: you'r ranked second, And my only response was why wasn't
Speaker 1: I first? Because I didn't really know what that meant,
Speaker 1: but it unlocked a lot of doors. I was getting
Speaker 1: recruited by top tier universities, full right scholarships and whatnot.
Speaker 1: Ended up getting the Terry Foundation scholarship, which is near
Speaker 1: and dear to my heart that fully funded me throughout
Speaker 1: college and undergrad and sent me abroad to live in
Speaker 1: Barcelona where I did exchange business school to SADE and
Speaker 1: just like had a blast because of them. And it's
Speaker 1: kind of been amazing to come full circle present day
Speaker 1: where I live now in Los Angeles and still really
Speaker 1: involved with the Terry Foundation where now I get to
Speaker 1: and have helped them um select scholars to receive the
Speaker 1: same scholarship that I did, which is ultimately life changing.
Speaker 1: It was my Willy Wonka Golden ticket to go and
Speaker 1: like see what the world held, kind of answering your
Speaker 1: question of who who am I? Right? But essentially if
Speaker 1: you ignored everything else, I'm I'm from San Antono, know,
Speaker 1: from Texas, die hard Texan, love barbecue, love breakfast, tacos.
Speaker 1: Lived in Austin for ten years, um, sort of by force,
Speaker 1: not really by choice. I was figured that I'd go
Speaker 1: to u T Austin and and leave when my time
Speaker 1: was done at the university, and uh boy, I was wrong. Um,
Speaker 1: And I stayed there for six additional years, so ten
Speaker 1: years total, and kind of saw Austin become the city
Speaker 1: that it is today, which a lot of people from
Speaker 1: California still moved there to this day. I actually made
Speaker 1: the opposite transition from Texas to California and decided I
Speaker 1: wanted to pay stay income tax and overpay for everything.
Speaker 1: But but here I am now in l A. Very
Speaker 1: well put. So what was you think the biggest transition
Speaker 1: from from Texas to l A besides the state income
Speaker 1: tax and the six dollar gas prices? Um? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean there's there's not a lot of good barbecue places,
Speaker 1: for one, in my opinion, And I've had a lot
Speaker 1: of different restaurants and and some people don't agree with me,
Speaker 1: and that's totally fine because I don't agree with them
Speaker 1: and in their taste palette. But I would say the
Speaker 1: biggest transition and coming out from being born and raised
Speaker 1: in Texas and spending my home life there and then
Speaker 1: moving to l A completely for much big actual big
Speaker 1: city right second largest in the US, was the fact
Speaker 1: that I had no family here. That was a conscious
Speaker 1: decision I was aware of, but I didn't really realize
Speaker 1: the impact of it until I got here. Right. I
Speaker 1: can know all these people because I did some work
Speaker 1: in the music industry and had a bunch of friends
Speaker 1: out other companies, But it's a very distinct difference between
Speaker 1: being a one hour car right away from Austin to
Speaker 1: San Antonio versus being a three hour plane ride from
Speaker 1: Texas to California right absolutely different time zone as well,
Speaker 1: I'm behind two hours or you know, looking at the
Speaker 1: other way, my my family is ahead of me by
Speaker 1: two hours. And so I think the biggest transition for
Speaker 1: me was just like figuring out who I was and
Speaker 1: what I wanted out of my experience, and so moving
Speaker 1: to l A in late July, I figured, hey, I
Speaker 1: can come do this for a year and I go
Speaker 1: back to Texas because Texas is home, right and it
Speaker 1: was It was interesting, I would say the first thirty
Speaker 1: days were sort of an experiment to just try and
Speaker 1: find a rhythm, try and find where I wanted to
Speaker 1: live longer term, and find my group of friends, because
Speaker 1: all the advice I had been given prior to moving
Speaker 1: to l A was just kind of watch yourself and
Speaker 1: watch your back, right, because everyone, from what I've been
Speaker 1: told that at that time have figured out in some
Speaker 1: ways is that you know, people are looking for their
Speaker 1: next set of shoulders to stand on to help them
Speaker 1: get to where they want to go. It is, but
Speaker 1: it's right, but it is right, and it's not everybody.
Speaker 1: It's not to say it's a blanket or generalized statement
Speaker 1: that everyone I've met is trying to use or leverage
Speaker 1: what I know who I know to benefit them. But
Speaker 1: it is very different coming to a city where everyone
Speaker 1: comes to try and become someone they're not, or they're
Speaker 1: trying to be a better version of themselves, which I'm
Speaker 1: totally for right for improvement in progress, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: have Southern hospit mentality the way Texas does, right, So
Speaker 1: imagine being in that environment and being brought in with
Speaker 1: a history of like Southern hospitality and always thinking the
Speaker 1: people have the best of intentions and that's not always
Speaker 1: a case, right, So it's kind of a slap in
Speaker 1: the face the route awakening what you have, like what
Speaker 1: life outside of Texas is. And I learned it. I
Speaker 1: learned it really quickly in my first thirty days here.
Speaker 1: And now it's been a year and a half that
Speaker 1: I've been here, and now I proudly call um l
Speaker 1: a home for for now at least, because I don't
Speaker 1: know how long I end up being here, but it's
Speaker 1: where I live, and it's where I spend my time
Speaker 1: and spend my energy, um doing what I do and
Speaker 1: having fun and learning a ton about myself and others
Speaker 1: along the way. Very well put. So I know you're
Speaker 1: into fashion, right, You're into sneakers like you were in
Speaker 1: some Supreme tell wins. There we go, ye I know
Speaker 1: some things about sneak you know a little bit yea, Um,
Speaker 1: got some dunks on and um, so you worked at
Speaker 1: Champs finish Line. There we go. Okay, Yeah, so finish
Speaker 1: Line is is a crazy story. So I worked at
Speaker 1: Finish Line. It was my first real job that um,
Speaker 1: I had to pay taxes on. But would you say
Speaker 1: would you say that you worked there because you were
Speaker 1: into sneakers. Do you think that finished line got you
Speaker 1: into stinkers? I was already into sneak into it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and my and my mom actually helped me get that job.
Speaker 1: So I was sixteen years old. It was my first
Speaker 1: real legal job before I started like working at the
Speaker 1: age of fourteen cutting grasses for seven dollars an hour
Speaker 1: in a hundred degree summer heat. Believe it or not.
Speaker 1: Respect No, it's really stupidity, um, but I didn't know better, right,
Speaker 1: and it was like I was, dude, believe this or
Speaker 1: not I would I was with a lawn more uh
Speaker 1: weed eating Your face is perplexed looking at me, like
Speaker 1: what are you talking about? Like that's how naive. I
Speaker 1: was cutting four five ft tall grass with the lawn more.
Speaker 1: No one does that, No one should do that either,
Speaker 1: but I was doing it because I was just like, oh,
Speaker 1: like this is the challenge. Is like I am near
Speaker 1: died of heat exhaustion because I was in Texas, fourteen
Speaker 1: years old getting paid seven dollars an hour. And I
Speaker 1: remember like, over the course of m a weekend, had
Speaker 1: worked Saturday and Sunday with with my neighbor at the time,
Speaker 1: who's employing me? So I had worked seven hours each day, right,
Speaker 1: so that ends up being forty each day. So it's
Speaker 1: ninety eight bucks. And I remember this guy telling me,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you a little bonus. Right. The dude
Speaker 1: gave me a hundred dollars, so I made two extra
Speaker 1: dollars on top of the ninety eight dollars I had
Speaker 1: worked for. It was then where I said, I'm never
Speaker 1: doing this again, right, But what that taught me in
Speaker 1: that time frame was not to cut grass that's five
Speaker 1: ft with a lawn more, not to do it in
Speaker 1: Texas in the middle of the summer, and to teach
Speaker 1: me that this is not a way of life that
Speaker 1: I want to live. But there's application of working hard
Speaker 1: and saving up money for sneakers and video games that
Speaker 1: as a fourteen year old to apply that in a
Speaker 1: different capacity. And so fast forward when I was sixteen
Speaker 1: years old and legal to to work in the state
Speaker 1: of Texas was finish Line. And so I was going
Speaker 1: to finish Line weekly basically to buy sneakers. And this
Speaker 1: was out of the fact that I was just like
Speaker 1: really into shoes and still am and have been since
Speaker 1: I was a kid. And so I would go into
Speaker 1: the store pick whatever the latest like quick strike or
Speaker 1: general release at the time was, which this was two
Speaker 1: thousand and when was this sometime during the two thousand's, right,
Speaker 1: and I'll go with my mom and that's what I
Speaker 1: would do, get a new weekly pair of shoes. And
Speaker 1: then from there was able to build rapport and relationship
Speaker 1: with the manager store manager, and one time he then
Speaker 1: asked me like, hey, you're always in here, like pretty often,
Speaker 1: like why don't you work here? And I said, well,
Speaker 1: why don't you hire me? And that was pretty much
Speaker 1: the extent of the interview. He's like, I will because
Speaker 1: you seem to like shoot, you know about it? And
Speaker 1: so I worked for Finish with Finish Line four Finish
Speaker 1: Line for four years and this was from ages sixteen
Speaker 1: to twenty. And the only reason two reasons I took
Speaker 1: the job. One employed discount, which is thirty percent off
Speaker 1: at the time, I don't know what it is anymore,
Speaker 1: I finished, right, And then two was I get to
Speaker 1: make my own money and be able to buy things
Speaker 1: that I wanted, which ultimately was shoes and video games
Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, it kind of just transpired based
Speaker 1: on passion and interest. Even to this day, Um, I'm
Speaker 1: still buying and spending money on shoes just because I
Speaker 1: enjoyed doing it as an expensive hobby if you will. Um.
Speaker 1: But it was kind of crazy because that experience of
Speaker 1: working at Finish Line led me to work for Nice Kicks.
Speaker 1: And this was when I was in Austin, Texas in
Speaker 1: college at ut I didn't even need the job, but
Speaker 1: I had a full right scholarship that I mentioned, but
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be around shoes and I had
Speaker 1: read about this guy named Matt half Hill, So shout
Speaker 1: out Matt Um who's now a really good friend and
Speaker 1: mentor of mine. Where he hired me, I came into
Speaker 1: Nice Kicks and like really got into the origins of sneakers.
Speaker 1: He had something at the time called the Vault, so
Speaker 1: he had some of the most exclusive seekers that had
Speaker 1: sneakers that I've ever released, but weren't available for sale,
Speaker 1: so you just collected these in a two bedroom apartment
Speaker 1: above Nice Kicks in in Austin, Texas. And so it
Speaker 1: was just a really cool time to be around shoes
Speaker 1: for me. Right this is around the time I forget
Speaker 1: what your this is, but the Galaxy Foam posits were releasing.
Speaker 1: That is when I work for Nice Kicks, and so
Speaker 1: these were just like cultural moments and sneakers in which
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to be around and be around Matt,
Speaker 1: who is very much like an O G sneaker head
Speaker 1: if you will, uh in the space. And so a
Speaker 1: lot of that came from the fact that I just
Speaker 1: knew what I was talking about, that had worked at
Speaker 1: Finish Line for four years and just got all that
Speaker 1: like knowledge and experience and being around shoes day in
Speaker 1: and day out. That's awesome, so that you really had
Speaker 1: like the behind the scenes kind of look of like
Speaker 1: how the whole shoe game works. Yeah, I mean it
Speaker 1: really helped me to basically launch a little like buying
Speaker 1: flip thing in college to just have extra money to
Speaker 1: do whatever I wanted. And so I would look to
Speaker 1: see what was going to drop and then I would
Speaker 1: just say, like, that's what I'm gonna go after and
Speaker 1: put a little bit of markup on it, and people
Speaker 1: were buying before it was like the stock X and
Speaker 1: go present day, you would just do like in person transactions,
Speaker 1: like you would buy a shoe turn around in the
Speaker 1: same line you had just waded in sell it to
Speaker 1: the person a few back because they had already sold out,
Speaker 1: but they were willing to pay a premium on it.
Speaker 1: And I'd make a hundred bucks for just buying a
Speaker 1: pair of shoes. Yeah, that's crazy. So many people have
Speaker 1: had like a very very similar beginning to how they
Speaker 1: got into shoes. Like Draf one of his friends told him,
Speaker 1: I forgot which Jordans was, but like, um, he had
Speaker 1: a pair of Jordan's and somebody offered him over how
Speaker 1: much he paid and He's like, what the hell? So
Speaker 1: the next drop he got like four pairs and then
Speaker 1: basically sold the three and then his end up being free.
Speaker 1: So you know you said before you worked to finish
Speaker 1: on you were into sneakers, right right? What got you
Speaker 1: into it? Was it because it was a basketball? Was
Speaker 1: it fashion? Was it? Like I would say basketball? And
Speaker 1: then I mean for me, Michael Jordan's right, he was
Speaker 1: the hottest player in the nineties. I was a kid
Speaker 1: during the nineties, so I saw him growing up with
Speaker 1: you know, Shock Penny and like the crazy rebox shoes
Speaker 1: and Iverson had like the Bulldog and the insul, but
Speaker 1: like specifically Michael Jordan's. I remember my first pair of
Speaker 1: Jordan's was the Jordan's fourteen. It was the black and
Speaker 1: red one. I think it's called the Ferrari or whatever
Speaker 1: the color way is. But that was my first vivid
Speaker 1: memory that I can remember of having of name brand shoe,
Speaker 1: because before that, I was very much into like the
Speaker 1: Ninja Turtle. You know, you step on the ground and
Speaker 1: they like light up. I don't even know what the
Speaker 1: brand is, but you like ten dollars shoes, twenty dollars shoes.
Speaker 1: That's what I wanted. But then as I started seeing
Speaker 1: more basketball and essentially this icon and Michael Jordan's of
Speaker 1: like he's more than just a basketball player, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I want to be like Mike right, which is catchy phrase,
Speaker 1: but like that's like what people wanted to do, wanted
Speaker 1: to be. And I'm like, how can I be like him?
Speaker 1: If I'm never going to play basketball like him, I
Speaker 1: can at least try to dress like him or have
Speaker 1: his shoes, right, And so that kind of sparked a
Speaker 1: lot of the interest for me, and I just started
Speaker 1: collecting even further. As a kid, I want to say
Speaker 1: I was I might have been five when I had
Speaker 1: my first pair of Jordan's and wow, yeah, since then,
Speaker 1: so you know, twenty plus years since, Um, I haven't
Speaker 1: really slowed down. What's up? So and you know I've
Speaker 1: seen you, You've You've come to the warehouse a few times.
Speaker 1: You pick you know, you know what I mean, like
Speaker 1: you got you got the heat. Yeah, it's uh, it's
Speaker 1: it's just a collection. Man. I try and like pay
Speaker 1: homage to things that I enjoy, but also just like
Speaker 1: moments in time that I just want to like remember,
Speaker 1: and I remember that through sneakers, right, So like one
Speaker 1: of my my my guarded pairs that I wear here
Speaker 1: and there so often. It's like the Kobe Grinch, right,
Speaker 1: So that shoes from Yeah, that that shoes from two
Speaker 1: thousand ten, nine years going on ten years old this year.
Speaker 1: And when I first saw that shoe when Kobe was
Speaker 1: playing on on Christmas Day and I saw George Lopez
Speaker 1: sitting courtside with it, I'm like, I need those that
Speaker 1: shoe took me four years to hunt down in my
Speaker 1: size in a condition that would not crumble when I
Speaker 1: wear it. Wow, because I cared so much about that
Speaker 1: moment and I need that association to the shoes. It's
Speaker 1: more than just sneaker. Of course, for me, at least
Speaker 1: and uh, yeah, you know, I mean that's that's one
Speaker 1: of them. I still have some like O G stuff
Speaker 1: that I picked up when I was at Nice Kick,
Speaker 1: some O G stuff that I picked up when I
Speaker 1: was working at Finish Line like years ago. Um, some
Speaker 1: stuff I still have that doesn't even fit me and
Speaker 1: never did, but I just bought it anyways just to have,
Speaker 1: which is completely real. Um and like I still don't
Speaker 1: understand why I did that, but I don't disagree with
Speaker 1: my decision, even though I know that doesn't sound logical,
Speaker 1: but it's just something that it's like the journey, you know,
Speaker 1: the chase or the hunt down of whatever it is
Speaker 1: you're trying to get and you finally get it, at
Speaker 1: least you have it. You can say you have it,
Speaker 1: or it's like a trophy to some extent absolutely like
Speaker 1: bro like even like the sneakers I'm wearing right now,
Speaker 1: the Jedies. Man, I probably have another five weares of
Speaker 1: these and that's it because they will fall apart right
Speaker 1: because their sold I think these are two thousand four,
Speaker 1: I want to say, so, Like, uh, you know the
Speaker 1: original ray guns, So I got those pretty much brand
Speaker 1: like they were worn once and I wore them at
Speaker 1: Art Basel three times and now like literally the soul's
Speaker 1: coming off, like that's it. Those are my three wear
Speaker 1: It's a sad feeling, it is, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: like I'll always remember those three times I wore that shoe.
Speaker 1: And also it's like it's it's almost like an art
Speaker 1: piece now you know it is? Yeah, I mean you,
Speaker 1: I think personally, my view is that you say a
Speaker 1: lot about people. Yeah, you know, I I believe that,
Speaker 1: and those who are fortunate to be able to to
Speaker 1: get their own and select their own like totally. And
Speaker 1: I'm not saying one way or the other that if
Speaker 1: you don't have shoes it doesn't say much about your whatever.
Speaker 1: But of course I just think that like for me, um,
Speaker 1: at least when I'm building my like outfit and whatnot,
Speaker 1: like I started with the shoes and then I match
Speaker 1: everything else to the shoes. I don't do it the
Speaker 1: other way around. You go from the bottom to the top. Well,
Speaker 1: that's the thing about shoes is like my dad always
Speaker 1: told me that your shoes are the most important thing
Speaker 1: that you're wearing no matter what. And it's funny because
Speaker 1: I wear sneakers and my dad was like super fancy
Speaker 1: looking loafers. Yeah, exact loafers. But I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1: And everybody has their own swag, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't judge someone based on the fact that they're
Speaker 1: not wearing. Like you know, our friend Xander, right, he's
Speaker 1: a big boots guy. But his boots are always from Texas,
Speaker 1: you know. But but his boots are fresh and they
Speaker 1: look good on him, and he rocks them, and he
Speaker 1: probably has fifty pairs of boots. Just how me and
Speaker 1: you people might think that we're stick in the head
Speaker 1: because we have fifty pairs of sneakers or like, however
Speaker 1: many so Yeah, but I think for whatever reason, I
Speaker 1: don't know why, like it always I was always curious,
Speaker 1: like why the sneakers? Why why is it always the
Speaker 1: shoes have to be like the most important part of
Speaker 1: the outfit. Yeah, you know, I make shoe contact before
Speaker 1: I make I look down then look up, Isn't it
Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting though, Like I swear, like at sneaker
Speaker 1: cons and stuff, like you just see people just their
Speaker 1: first interaction. You just see their heads just going like this,
Speaker 1: Oh dude, those are dope. You're you're basically like evaluating
Speaker 1: people based on their feet and what they have on
Speaker 1: them isn't that interesting? But also I feel like misconception
Speaker 1: is like you look at someone's feeling like, oh, those
Speaker 1: are expensive, so you're cool. Like, Nah, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's about that. I think it's about how you put
Speaker 1: it together more so. Is that like you could wear
Speaker 1: all black pair of vans and still make it look dope. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know, as long as it's presentable, as long as
Speaker 1: they don't have sixteen thousand holes in them. But I
Speaker 1: mean everybody, everybody has their own. Like I never judge anyone,
Speaker 1: but like, I just feel like I have friends who
Speaker 1: have like super dope outfits, like very expensive clothes, and
Speaker 1: their shoes are just trash and like it just makes
Speaker 1: their whole outfit look whack, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, dude, like come on, bro, let me
Speaker 1: get you right, like you know what I mean. Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, the shoes are so so important, you know,
Speaker 1: so like you from a young age were always into
Speaker 1: it kind of like you know, yeah, and and the
Speaker 1: opportunity to be around that, um both by choice really
Speaker 1: like going in weekly to purchase the Shoe and then
Speaker 1: me working there at Finish Line, and then me being
Speaker 1: around shoes again, working at a Nice Kicks for a
Speaker 1: bit of time when I was at school was just
Speaker 1: it was you know, it was just like a perfect
Speaker 1: storm of everything to be around what I what I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed wanting to be around, and like it's it's
Speaker 1: something I care about. So for me, it's always like
Speaker 1: entertaining and interesting to be able to like see things
Speaker 1: in person that I've only heard about or read about
Speaker 1: or seen on Internet or magazine from way back when,
Speaker 1: and to actually see it as a tangible thing in
Speaker 1: front of me. It's like a special moment. After you
Speaker 1: worked in Nice Kicks, what kind of took you away
Speaker 1: from working in like the sneaker industry. Yeah, opportunities, man,
Speaker 1: Like I originally went to school because my goal was
Speaker 1: to work for the FBI. Wow. And I wanted to
Speaker 1: fight white collar crime. Wow. I basically wanted to catch
Speaker 1: bad people doing bad things with money. Yeah. So originally
Speaker 1: I wanted, Yeah, I wanted to be like Batman in
Speaker 1: the suit, right. And originally I wanted to study accounting
Speaker 1: because I was going to basically do forensic accounting to
Speaker 1: see what sort of money laundering was happening and where
Speaker 1: and how can I track it down? But I want
Speaker 1: to do for the FBI because I've seen a show
Speaker 1: when I was growing up, and I'm like, I want
Speaker 1: to do that. And so I started doing that when
Speaker 1: I entered college, to like get on track and get
Speaker 1: on path to have that degree and have those opportunities.
Speaker 1: And I remember being in touch with the FBI and
Speaker 1: being in touch with the CIA for recruiting purposes. And
Speaker 1: then shortly after I just decided, like it's not for me.
Speaker 1: I spent some time in New York City, UM doing
Speaker 1: a program at Goldman sachs In and realized, like this,
Speaker 1: this is not for me, and I needed to be
Speaker 1: honest with myself of what I really wanted to do,
Speaker 1: and that just wasn't didn't feel a line, didn't feel
Speaker 1: like me right UM. And so then I had the
Speaker 1: opportunity to join Google. And so I spent over the
Speaker 1: course of three years some time with Google, living in
Speaker 1: New York, San Francisco Bay area, and then yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean this, these experiences an exposure to tech world, tech life,
Speaker 1: and I'm still in tech to this day, more so
Speaker 1: like entertainment with talent management um with digital creators. It's
Speaker 1: just kind of like trial and Eric, trial by fire,
Speaker 1: trial by error, where I kind of just ran with
Speaker 1: it and was sort of taken away from what I
Speaker 1: originally want to do, which was you know, this FBI
Speaker 1: thing forensic accounting to what I do today, which is
Speaker 1: probably the furthest thing I could probably do from what
Speaker 1: I originally want to do. And that's fine. That's fine. Um.
Speaker 1: And it's kind of funny because I still have a degree.
Speaker 1: I have a degree in finance, um, but I don't
Speaker 1: really do much financial stuff outside of like personal investing. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm very removed from like Wall Street and uh,
Speaker 1: the FBI and CIA and and all the things I
Speaker 1: originally wanted to do. Isn't life crazy with it is?
Speaker 1: And anything that I've taken from it is just the
Speaker 1: fact that, like it's okay if you have the plan
Speaker 1: and the plan doesn't work out. Dude, I was supposed
Speaker 1: to be a doctor. I remember telling, yeah, so do it.
Speaker 1: And it's crazy because like you go through your whole
Speaker 1: life king like this is it, this is what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do, and then you start doing it. And don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong, like I I still loved it. I
Speaker 1: love anatomy. I think the human body is the most
Speaker 1: interesting thing on this planet and how it functions. Like
Speaker 1: I know it sounds really creepy, but like it's I
Speaker 1: enjoyed going to anatomy class. I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people probably think I'm a psychopath for saying that, but like,
Speaker 1: literally that was like the most interesting thing in the
Speaker 1: world for me. Like I sucked a chemistry, I hated it.
Speaker 1: Physics I was okay because I was good at math,
Speaker 1: but like biology and like anatomy, that was like my ship.
Speaker 1: I loved it, Like I thought, it was just so fascinating.
Speaker 1: So that's why I was like, you know what, maybe
Speaker 1: I want to be a doctor, and that's why I went.
Speaker 1: And then you know, this opportunity came up kind of
Speaker 1: like how you were saying, how it was the opportunity, right,
Speaker 1: and you know, now I'm here, so you just gotta
Speaker 1: roll in ride the wave. And you know, for me,
Speaker 1: I've always been a big believer of that while it
Speaker 1: is important to know what you want to do, I
Speaker 1: think it's equally, if not potentially even more important to
Speaker 1: know what you don't want to do. Of course, and
Speaker 1: you get that through experience and exposure of those things. Um,
Speaker 1: most definitely because I think had I not been fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to land these opportunities with again, I also realized,
Speaker 1: like my trajectory is like crazy where you know, top
Speaker 1: tier university in Texas or in the US, basically one
Speaker 1: of the best schools in Europe when I was living
Speaker 1: in Barcelona. And then you look at down the track
Speaker 1: record of Goldman, Sachs, Google, Oracle and present day Facebook,
Speaker 1: like you know that that's like hitting the lotto. Um,
Speaker 1: I feel right, and it's something that I don't think,
Speaker 1: like me, Yeah, it's but it's because I've just kind
Speaker 1: of I've gone with it, but I've also gone with
Speaker 1: intention and purpose to like get me where I feel
Speaker 1: like I belong. Absolutely, And it seems like you love
Speaker 1: what you do man, from like every interaction that I've
Speaker 1: ever had with you around like where you work now,
Speaker 1: I just I feel like you love it man, And
Speaker 1: I feel like you're having a blast. I am. I
Speaker 1: mean it's and I love seeing that. Yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's a fun um opportunity that I'm I'm very fortunate
Speaker 1: for it. And don't forget about that, and and and
Speaker 1: stay grounded in it and have fun with it because
Speaker 1: life's too short, man, So I want to just enjoy
Speaker 1: as much as I'm able to buy as many shoes
Speaker 1: as I'm able, to help as many people as I can,
Speaker 1: absolutely and and have fun along the way more importantly,
Speaker 1: and just not take anything too seriously. Well, man, you're
Speaker 1: such a humble guy when it comes to everything. And
Speaker 1: it's it's funny, like like I can always sense people's
Speaker 1: like energy and like the type of people there, and
Speaker 1: I knew off the rip. I was like, I was like,
Speaker 1: this guy is a good dude. Like I feel like
Speaker 1: I have a pretty good read on people. I've been wrong,
Speaker 1: but it was funny, like the way we met was yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, well, first off, thank you for sharing that
Speaker 1: and u venmou later for that compliment. But I'll send
Speaker 1: you an invoice please do um. Yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 1: reciprocated man like that. The reason I'm here is is, uh,
Speaker 1: it's not for me, it's for you, right, like appreciate
Speaker 1: you know. I'll come through l a traffic and deal
Speaker 1: with it all. But doesn't matter, right, And I think
Speaker 1: how we met and sort of like by happenstance or
Speaker 1: chance of being at the same event a year and
Speaker 1: a half ago, when when you're running the first people
Speaker 1: I met actually randomly in l A, right, and uh,
Speaker 1: we've stayed friends, and it's kind of just goes to
Speaker 1: show like it's it's reciprocated both ways and umbly, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's it's been a pleasure on my end.
Speaker 1: Really your privileged to like just kind of be in
Speaker 1: the stands and watch you go to appreciate like this
Speaker 1: wasn't a thing. This podcasting wasn't a thing when I
Speaker 1: now it is. But it's just like the progression I
Speaker 1: think is really important because it's not it's not just
Speaker 1: me watching or your parents watching. It's like there's a
Speaker 1: big following that you have across the world, right, that
Speaker 1: I think is like it comes with responsibility, but it's
Speaker 1: also like, because you've earned it, I appreciate it's really amazing.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. I genuinely appreciate that. And it's
Speaker 1: crazy like the way because like when we first met UM,
Speaker 1: obviously just even just being at that event at the
Speaker 1: same time was just funny, but like the UM for me,
Speaker 1: it's crazy how I've met so many people through sneakers
Speaker 1: because I remember you were wearing blue tints, right yeah,
Speaker 1: the easy yeah. And I was like, I was like, yo,
Speaker 1: it was good broth, nice shoes, like literally, that's it,
Speaker 1: and then started that started whole conversation absolutely and um,
Speaker 1: you know you actually I don't know if it was
Speaker 1: at that event or at a different one where you
Speaker 1: where you made this comment, but it got engraved into
Speaker 1: my brain and it really made me look at things
Speaker 1: differently because you were like, because obviously you know what
Speaker 1: you do, I'm sure there's people hitting you up seven
Speaker 1: like yo, do this for me, do this for me,
Speaker 1: do this for me, because everybody always wants something. And
Speaker 1: when somebody asked you for your phone number, I think
Speaker 1: you were like why yeah, and and like yeah, I
Speaker 1: still I still do that sometime. And dude, when I
Speaker 1: heard that, I was like, holy sh it. I was
Speaker 1: like I would be petrified if someone said that to me,
Speaker 1: because I'm like, oh uh, like you know what, but like,
Speaker 1: I feel like I would never put myself into position
Speaker 1: to where like if I asked for someone's that where
Speaker 1: was specifically for wanting something, because I always thought that
Speaker 1: was whacked. Like there's a difference between becoming friends with
Speaker 1: someone and sharing each other's connections, you know what I mean, Like, like, dude,
Speaker 1: if you want to accomplish something and I know someone
Speaker 1: who can help you, bro all day vice versas. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And but there's a difference between oh,
Speaker 1: oh you work with so and so yo, let me
Speaker 1: get your number real quick or that person or whatever
Speaker 1: it's and that's whack. But there's but there's like a
Speaker 1: much bigger difference, you know. And and that's why I
Speaker 1: think it's so important to have like friends around you
Speaker 1: who are successful and who are like doing ship not
Speaker 1: only makes you want to work harder and work more.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's like, I don't know, like when
Speaker 1: I see my friends doing well, it just makes me happy,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I'm like, fuck, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and if there's anything that I can do
Speaker 1: to make you look better or do better or anything
Speaker 1: like all day. So I don't know, I think I
Speaker 1: think it's so important. Yeah, thanks for thanks for sharing that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's just something I started doing, um,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of years ago, where I care
Speaker 1: more about quality of relationship quantity to and um that
Speaker 1: question makes people uneasy because it puts the person that's
Speaker 1: asking for something on the spot. Dude, I would have
Speaker 1: shipped myself if you said that, right, and because because
Speaker 1: that's that's the thing, like I would, you know, I
Speaker 1: would tell you why, but I would just be so
Speaker 1: taken back. I'd be like, you're not used to it,
Speaker 1: or you're used to you know. And the reason I
Speaker 1: do it is because I wanted, like more times than not.
Speaker 1: The comment there is that so so we can connect.
Speaker 1: And my response is like, well aren't we connecting now? Like,
Speaker 1: why don't we just do it now? There's no need
Speaker 1: to like unless there is a need to do it later, right,
Speaker 1: because we've continued something to to then continue later, but
Speaker 1: to just like, hey, what's up. I'm justin, Oh, I'm whoever.
Speaker 1: Let me get your number. And it's like I don't
Speaker 1: even know you, you don't even know me, you know, like,
Speaker 1: and that that's the thing where I'm just like, that's
Speaker 1: really interesting. It's it's almost a test of people, right
Speaker 1: and understanding and seeing how like by asking a simple
Speaker 1: question of why I can really like help you filter
Speaker 1: people that either you should be around or shouldn't. And
Speaker 1: that's my sort of litmus tests if you will of that,
Speaker 1: and so if you if you've never done it, I
Speaker 1: encourage you'd at least try it once. It's it's uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: It used to be uncomfortable for me because I don't
Speaker 1: want to come off as like brash or rude because
Speaker 1: I'm that's very far from who I am. I can
Speaker 1: vouch for that, but also will send you a venlo
Speaker 1: chrestro comp thank you. Um. But it's also just understanding
Speaker 1: of like others. And I think that's the thing that
Speaker 1: I always think back to. It's just like I rather
Speaker 1: honestly have a few good, no, a few great friends,
Speaker 1: and I'll optimize for that as opposed to a lot
Speaker 1: of good friends. I've rather have like a few great
Speaker 1: friends to just keep me ground, to keep me honest
Speaker 1: and make sure I stay who I I'm trying to become. Yeah, definitely,
Speaker 1: man Like the way I view life is so black
Speaker 1: and white. To me, it's either like your family or
Speaker 1: I really don't care. I know that sounds terrible, but
Speaker 1: like I let people into my life to be hum family,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Because I meet people all
Speaker 1: the time, and some people become my best friend. Some
Speaker 1: people I mean, essentially, some people become family and some
Speaker 1: people don't. And that's just kind of how it is
Speaker 1: with me. So like you said, like you'd rather have
Speaker 1: a few just a couple great friends and like a
Speaker 1: jillion good friends, right, dude, I'm I'm literally on that.
Speaker 1: Like my friends I'll do anything for, Like they're literally
Speaker 1: family to me. Like I'm closer with some of my
Speaker 1: friends that I am with blood blood relatives, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: And I would do more for my certain friends than
Speaker 1: I would for certain relatives. So I think that that's
Speaker 1: so important. And like one thing that I learned is
Speaker 1: like building a relationship is so important with everyone, doesn't
Speaker 1: matter who the funk they are, right, And obviously it's
Speaker 1: super important to be around people who are doing good
Speaker 1: and because you want to surround because you are who
Speaker 1: you hang out with, No, yeah, there a reflection of
Speaker 1: who you are. So I mean, bro, even this year,
Speaker 1: like there's a few people I really had to like
Speaker 1: cut out of my life and if you of them,
Speaker 1: I didn't want to, you know, and it was really difficult,
Speaker 1: And to this day it's still still kind of bothers
Speaker 1: me a little bit, but it's all a part of growth.
Speaker 1: You know. I mean, there's there's no growth without challenge
Speaker 1: or pain, man. And it's the hard things that you
Speaker 1: learn from and grow from, not the easy things. You
Speaker 1: kind of those just happen and you forget that they happen. Definitely, definitely,
Speaker 1: and like, yeah, to this day, man, that that was
Speaker 1: just ingrained in my brain out I was like, damn, dude,
Speaker 1: that's crazy because I caught myself after that, like some
Speaker 1: people just randomly asked for my number and I'd be like, like, okay,
Speaker 1: just so you can have my number saved on your
Speaker 1: phone so you can randomly text me in six months
Speaker 1: asking me for shoes, because that's typically what happens, like
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Or is this person genuinely
Speaker 1: interested in like making a connection and becoming friends and
Speaker 1: then sharing each other's further connections, because that's just how
Speaker 1: relationships work, you know what I mean. But but it's
Speaker 1: not all about like like, oh, I can do this
Speaker 1: for you, but if you can't do this for me,
Speaker 1: then we can't be friends. Yeah, if it's a trans
Speaker 1: actional friendship or relationship, it's not I mean that that's
Speaker 1: not what I invest in. You know. If that's this,
Speaker 1: you should never keep taps. No, not at all. It's
Speaker 1: my view absolutely, absolutely, And like you know, I feel
Speaker 1: like everyone who you've brought my way has been an
Speaker 1: amazing person as the reflection of me. Man, I have
Speaker 1: to vet these people through time, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's just important for me to just not only say
Speaker 1: this stuff, but live this stuff, to say, those people
Speaker 1: represent who I justin represent right, So I'd hope that
Speaker 1: there is alignment and representation of like what those people
Speaker 1: stand for and believe in. And I'm I'm again I'm
Speaker 1: not saying everyone needs to be similar, because that's not
Speaker 1: how I learned from I learned through diverse perspective and
Speaker 1: opinion and whatnot. But I'm just saying, for like, morally,
Speaker 1: being a good person doing the right things, that's just
Speaker 1: something that I try to look for and someone that
Speaker 1: keeps their word. Do you think that you being from
Speaker 1: Texas and having like a certain morale coming to l
Speaker 1: A shaped you as a person. Do you think if
Speaker 1: you grew up in l A you'd be, like to say,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be who I am today. I know that
Speaker 1: for sure. M sure answer to your question around the
Speaker 1: Texas thing, absolutely, I mean, for me, my word is everything, right,
Speaker 1: My my word and my time is everything. And so
Speaker 1: whoever I tell something to, I do. And I know
Speaker 1: that sounds so trivial and simple, but like some people
Speaker 1: don't and to have a reputation of being that person
Speaker 1: that it's like, oh, yeah, I'll see you there, and
Speaker 1: in your mind you're like, I'm not going to see you.
Speaker 1: That you're lying. I never want that to be me.
Speaker 1: So if I'm not going to go, I won't. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go. I'm gonna go. And if I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be there, you're not gonna be surprised you're seeing me
Speaker 1: there because I told you I was gonna be there.
Speaker 1: So just these things that I think about in my
Speaker 1: life day in and day out, just to be as
Speaker 1: much of a consistent person as I can possibly be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely remember that event that you had on the on
Speaker 1: the rooftop through hell and back to Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: you had it took you like what six hours to
Speaker 1: get from San Diego to l A. But you said
Speaker 1: you were coming and you did and you got there
Speaker 1: towards the end, and that's fine. But you were there, right,
Speaker 1: And I think that that speaks volumes of yourself. But like,
Speaker 1: I think the lesson there for others to to just
Speaker 1: take away would be like, if if you're going to
Speaker 1: do something, do it and let your action lead lead
Speaker 1: your words. You don't need to be announcing every single
Speaker 1: thing you're gonna do, right, And I think by doing
Speaker 1: so that builds your brand, builds your credibility more importantly,
Speaker 1: and builds your reputation, so people know what to expect
Speaker 1: when they're dealing with you or me or whoever the
Speaker 1: person may be. Yeah. Absolutely, And then also another takeaway
Speaker 1: from that situation is never take the train when you're
Speaker 1: in a rush. Yeah, we'll leave out the details of
Speaker 1: what happened, but yeah, yeah, I mean when you're on
Speaker 1: someone when someone else is driving you and you're on
Speaker 1: their time, you're not on yours. That's the lesson. There's
Speaker 1: no more, no less. You dealt with a very anomally
Speaker 1: scenario that hopefully that never happens to anyone. The most
Speaker 1: anomaly scenario, I would have to say unbelievable things, but
Speaker 1: like it clearly happened because there was news on it. Dude,
Speaker 1: It's funny because everyone's like, who's listening, Like what happened? Yeah? There,
Speaker 1: we gotta tune into the next episode, and that's where
Speaker 1: you give the big reveal. Yeah that you know, you
Speaker 1: get people to come back and listen to exactly, So
Speaker 1: make sure you listen to the next episode. And it
Speaker 1: definitely was not an alien that was on the tracks. No,
Speaker 1: definitely not not an alien or a spaceship could have
Speaker 1: been next episode. So with everything, like with all your
Speaker 1: life experiences and like all the various places that you've
Speaker 1: that you've worked and like the people you work with,
Speaker 1: what would you what would you take away as like
Speaker 1: a life lesson from like everything? Is there one thing
Speaker 1: that you've been like, damn, like, like I really learned
Speaker 1: this one thing. I mean again, I go back to
Speaker 1: just staying ground it and being the fact that, like
Speaker 1: I've worked my ass off to get to what I've
Speaker 1: had and where I'm at and where I'm going. So
Speaker 1: I don't forget that, um, because nothing comes easy, right,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that it doesn't, because I don't think
Speaker 1: I appreciate it as much as I do now. Um.
Speaker 1: But to your question, and this is something that I
Speaker 1: think of and have thought over the last few years
Speaker 1: and how I've chosen to operate right, And it's simple. Um,
Speaker 1: And it's that I treat people like celebrities and I
Speaker 1: treat celebrities like people. And that's what's really allowed me
Speaker 1: to connect on a human level with all the people
Speaker 1: I've ever been in touch with, in contact with and
Speaker 1: met and whatnot. And I think that allows like my
Speaker 1: best skills people, right. I know that. The reason I
Speaker 1: know that is because I've come to realization with what
Speaker 1: I just shared and have practiced it every single day
Speaker 1: in all my interactions that I do, because that's me,
Speaker 1: that's what you get. Yeah. So that's the big takeaway
Speaker 1: is the treating people like celet breties and celebrities like people. Ceveryone.
Speaker 1: It feels equal. I've never heard that before that. I
Speaker 1: love that. Put on a shirt sell in the next
Speaker 1: episode swipe of for the merch use Clode justin for
Speaker 1: t Off. Yeah. I mean, dude, that's crazy because I
Speaker 1: do try to definitely, like whenever I made a celebrity,
Speaker 1: I try to really bring him down to earth. I've
Speaker 1: like had some celebrities that I've come by blitz that
Speaker 1: I have had to almost put in their place. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna really say who, but like literally they'd
Speaker 1: be like Oh, dude, come on, you're treating me like
Speaker 1: a normal person. I'm like, because you're you're all human
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, what are you fucking
Speaker 1: the Martian or something like? How am I supposed to
Speaker 1: treat you differently? Am I supposed to get you like
Speaker 1: a silver pedestal when you walk in and lay out
Speaker 1: a carpet and you know, and like they and like
Speaker 1: I feel like that's why. I like, that's how a
Speaker 1: celebrity will respect you or somebody who's like because I
Speaker 1: get it. It's not easy being at the top and
Speaker 1: having people constantly asking you for ship and like people
Speaker 1: only want to photo with you and ship like that.
Speaker 1: But like I feel like when you put yourself on
Speaker 1: the same level as them, they're like, oh, ship, this
Speaker 1: is a real person, Like this is a real, real
Speaker 1: dude who like I can be cool with you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean for me, I'd rather, you know, open up
Speaker 1: my mind or their mind before I opened up my phone, right,
Speaker 1: Like that could come later, if anything, but that's the
Speaker 1: least of my of course. And then I'm thinking about
Speaker 1: dude definitely, like I think it's so important to like,
Speaker 1: you know, really realize that there's just people too. You know,
Speaker 1: before I, before I ever came to l A, I
Speaker 1: had this like mindset about celebrities. I was like, holy
Speaker 1: sh it, they're like untouchable. I've only seen them like
Speaker 1: on TV or like whatever it might be, or have
Speaker 1: only heard their voices through through music or whatever. And
Speaker 1: I always used to think it was like this crazy
Speaker 1: thing because where I grew up, I never saw any
Speaker 1: And then when I came to l A and the
Speaker 1: first time I ever saw a celebrity, which is funny
Speaker 1: because he's not like anywhere remotely close to where he
Speaker 1: used to be. But the first time, okay, i'll say it,
Speaker 1: the first time I met um, the celebrity was I
Speaker 1: love mcconan. I don't even know who that is, you know,
Speaker 1: the club going up? Okay, that dude cool, right, And
Speaker 1: the first time I met him was like, dude, holy shit.
Speaker 1: I was like with with one of my old friends
Speaker 1: and I was like like, holy sh it, like what's
Speaker 1: happening here, Like dude, this this guy's this guy's celebrity,
Speaker 1: like you know, And then I really felt like I
Speaker 1: fucked up because I definitely did not act as if
Speaker 1: he was just another person. I was just like oh, yeah, dude,
Speaker 1: whatever you want, like, you know, just like and like
Speaker 1: I remember they made me sit outside because we went
Speaker 1: to their studio and they made me sit outside, and
Speaker 1: I was like, damn, dude, this guy's a dickhead, you know.
Speaker 1: But then I thought about it and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: well there's a little respect, but whatever. My whole takeaway
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, holy sh it, this
Speaker 1: is insane now, Like I mean, it's cool to meet
Speaker 1: these people, like people who I look up to, but
Speaker 1: I never really view them as like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: like I just met so and so, so I'm cool.
Speaker 1: Now I'm like, I just met so and so. This
Speaker 1: person worked their ass off and they're on top of
Speaker 1: the world right now, and it's I'm blessed to even
Speaker 1: like pick their brain about something, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: That's how I view it more so. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: growing up in Texas too, like I wasn't exposed to
Speaker 1: all the stars that I am here on a like
Speaker 1: daily basis just completely Like living in l A's a
Speaker 1: new norm, which is not the real norm, but it's
Speaker 1: the l A norm that I get to live in.
Speaker 1: And I mean I think to that point before moving
Speaker 1: out here, Like the biggest celebrity I've ever like interacted with,
Speaker 1: actually drink tequila with, was Matthew McConaughey. Very I mean
Speaker 1: obviously still like a very big star, but in Austin,
Speaker 1: like he was the poster child Golden Boy still is
Speaker 1: like like a figure for U T Austin, Right, is
Speaker 1: that where he's from? Uh he makes a school there,
Speaker 1: but I don't know where he's from actually, And then
Speaker 1: now it's just like kind of crazy where you could
Speaker 1: be at a restaurant and then like in walks you
Speaker 1: Kate Beckinsale or you're leaving a restaurant and then you
Speaker 1: know one of the Megos people are like getting their car.
Speaker 1: Like it's just like it's a whole it's a whole thing. Right, So,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to say the Megos people, but
Speaker 1: someone from me Goes would be getting Offset Ryan you
Speaker 1: know whatever, like take off and quite phone all the well. Um,
Speaker 1: now my question is, did you drive a Lincoln before
Speaker 1: you got paid to drive a Lincoln McConaughey is isn't
Speaker 1: that commercial? I'm just making a joke, dude, I don't
Speaker 1: even know what he drives to be honest, No, No,
Speaker 1: he said he drives Lincoln before he got paid to
Speaker 1: drive Lincoln. From what you've told me, I knew you
Speaker 1: had like an insane story of like where you used
Speaker 1: to work, like how you built up to where you
Speaker 1: are now? What do you what do you see yourself
Speaker 1: doing next? Is there is there a next chapter? Is
Speaker 1: there somewhere else? Like is there a place where you've
Speaker 1: always wanted to work or you've always wanted to start
Speaker 1: something of your own? Or like what do you see next? Yeah? Um,
Speaker 1: I haven't really given much thought to to the future. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I try to look at things in terms
Speaker 1: of a yearly basis. Um is my view, like the
Speaker 1: short slash long term. Um. I mean what's important for
Speaker 1: me is like education, like that that gave me, Like
Speaker 1: getting the scholarship that I received got me the golden
Speaker 1: ticket to be where I'm at today. Right, So I
Speaker 1: definitely want to do something with education to give back
Speaker 1: to students to be able to have a similar or
Speaker 1: better opportunity than than I was given. Whether that's some
Speaker 1: sort of nonprofit or foundation that I'm able to don't
Speaker 1: raise money or donate my own money or resources to help.
Speaker 1: That's something I'm very much of interest in and then um,
Speaker 1: other things I think about that that I still very
Speaker 1: much enjoy would be like the youth, Right, so how
Speaker 1: can I get back to the youth maybe visiting them,
Speaker 1: coaching them if it's a basketball team or something like
Speaker 1: that I think I care about deeply. And then you know,
Speaker 1: on the personal side, you know, getting married last year
Speaker 1: it was definitely like a big moment for me, and
Speaker 1: so like looking through the future, I'm like, I want
Speaker 1: to be able to have security and stability for my
Speaker 1: own family right and have to provide that. And so
Speaker 1: these are things, uh like lenses of of things I
Speaker 1: got to think about as I consider decisions that I'm
Speaker 1: gonna make that not only impact me, but others. Um,
Speaker 1: it doesn't give you the the here's what I'm thinking, Like,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna build this business and do this thing and
Speaker 1: that and I'm okay not knowing that. And even for
Speaker 1: all the success that I've had in my career and
Speaker 1: personal life, there's been a lot of things where I've
Speaker 1: been told no, and I've been um rejected for and
Speaker 1: and I've haven't eve been given the time or day
Speaker 1: to even be thought for. And that's what drives me
Speaker 1: and so taking that and just kind of moving it
Speaker 1: forward day by day and and having progression in that
Speaker 1: is something that I really tried to like transpire, uh
Speaker 1: in my life to figure out, like what is it
Speaker 1: that I want to leave behind? And I think more
Speaker 1: in terms of like not necessarily like money, but like legacy.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing, like what are people saying about
Speaker 1: me when I'm not in the room because I'm like
Speaker 1: long gone. That's so that's then I really think about.
Speaker 1: That's awesome, that's awesome. Well, that's that's a great thing
Speaker 1: to like look towards in the future because I don't
Speaker 1: even know what mine's going to be yet. And that's okay,
Speaker 1: Like you know, you have time. Yeah, that's all we
Speaker 1: have until we don't. That's all you have. That's true,
Speaker 1: That's very true. And the only things that are guaranteed
Speaker 1: in life or death in Texas. Yeah, and a little
Speaker 1: bit of life whatever you're giving taxes, yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: of course, of course. And maybe the Spurs winning another championship.
Speaker 1: Probably not, but I'm hopeful. I don't know, I don't
Speaker 1: know about that one chief that ain't it, especially this season,
Speaker 1: But I know, I mean, no way, the local y
Speaker 1: m C a team is playing better than them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm a Spurs fan. Um. Yeah, we'll see if
Speaker 1: they make the playoffs. If they don't, I'll be sad.
Speaker 1: If they do, I'll still be sad because there's no
Speaker 1: way they're going to compete in the West with with
Speaker 1: what the West looks like an NBA. Man, they're too
Speaker 1: good this year, man, I mean Superstar, it's the Monstars. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's true. Who you think is gonna take a Clippers
Speaker 1: or Lakers? I'm gonna say that, And this this hurts
Speaker 1: me to say because I'm not even a fan of
Speaker 1: either the teams, the Lakers. Do you think the Lakers
Speaker 1: are gonna take it? If they stay healthy and they're
Speaker 1: playing the way they're playing, they're really hard to beat. Dude,
Speaker 1: I mean me as a Lakers fan, I'm proudly saying
Speaker 1: that I hope they win. Okay, Well, one of my
Speaker 1: um obviously, one of my friends plays for the Clippers,
Speaker 1: so I wouldn't mind if they want to be really
Speaker 1: happy for him. But like growing up, I was always
Speaker 1: a Kobe fan. Got it transferred translated to being a
Speaker 1: Lakers fan too, So and I'm happy that they're finally
Speaker 1: you know, winning again because it was they had to
Speaker 1: buy half the NBA. But now it's working, right. Yeah. Basically,
Speaker 1: like who's in the Western Conference All Stars? It's get
Speaker 1: them to l A, dude, Like, yeah, I mean the
Speaker 1: All Star team this year is gonna be what Lakers
Speaker 1: and Clippers. Basically, Yeah, the starting the starting five for
Speaker 1: the Western Conference I think is might be like Lebron,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, Harden Hawaii and I'm missing one. I saw that.
Speaker 1: I saw the post recently have the starting five, but like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty stacked. Leave them from l A. Yeah, absolutely, well,
Speaker 1: we gotta play basketball Monday. Yeah, let's do it, dude.
Speaker 1: I just just hoop the other day and I feel
Speaker 1: so good. I gotta get back in Monday night, eight pm.
Speaker 1: I'm down Santa Monica where I'm gonna be. So if
Speaker 1: you could, like I know, I kind of pretty you
Speaker 1: pretty much said this, but like would you say that,
Speaker 1: Like if you could leave with something as almost like
Speaker 1: I don't know, you could just say yo, go fallo
Speaker 1: men on Instagram if you want. But I always at
Speaker 1: the end, I always give my guests an opportunity to
Speaker 1: kind of like have the floor. If you could leave
Speaker 1: with saying something would you would you leave with like
Speaker 1: treat people like celebrities and celebrities like people. Because that's
Speaker 1: an amazing quote. I'm going to use that one and
Speaker 1: use it, taking everyone who's listening to take it, but
Speaker 1: practice it. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, So what would you like?
Speaker 1: The floor is yours? Go ahead? Um? Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: I've been told a lot of things in life that
Speaker 1: have worked for me and also that haven't worked for me.
Speaker 1: So I'm just trying to think of like what what's
Speaker 1: important to me and how I decided to live. It's
Speaker 1: two words really and um this was told to me
Speaker 1: by a healer in Bali when I was in Bally
Speaker 1: this past summer. Um, and it's simple, but it's something
Speaker 1: that I had. I'd been living like through through these
Speaker 1: two words without really knowing un till it was like
Speaker 1: made clear to me that this is what I need
Speaker 1: to keep doing. And it's whatever it is, whatever you're pursuing,
Speaker 1: just just keep going, just keep going. And so those
Speaker 1: are two words that I keep in mind when I'm
Speaker 1: at the gym doing the reps, or on the treadmill
Speaker 1: or on the track doing the ship that I absolutely hate,
Speaker 1: but I do because it's important for me and my health. Right,
Speaker 1: just keep going, right, And yeah, I think that's whatever
Speaker 1: it is that you're doing, want to do, thinking about doing,
Speaker 1: people you want to reach out, work with, help, donate,
Speaker 1: whatever it is, just keep going because at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, that's really all you have, right, you
Speaker 1: have the now, but then you just keep going. Just
Speaker 1: keep and so that's what I tell myself every single day.
Speaker 1: Just keep going because I'm not done yet. I'm running
Speaker 1: my own race, which looks like a lot different from yours,
Speaker 1: and that's fine because we're all different. But I'm not stopping.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm moving and I'm just I'm moving forward
Speaker 1: and I'm I'll just keep going. I love it, man,
Speaker 1: that's it. That's it. That's great. Those two words are
Speaker 1: very powerful, even though like like I was expecting you
Speaker 1: to say, like some like Harry Potter language like crazy
Speaker 1: two words in some other language, but like, honestly, keep going.
Speaker 1: It's actually extremely powerful if you think about it, because
Speaker 1: I mean, we're all well, we're all doing is if
Speaker 1: we're you know, were we all try to keep going
Speaker 1: right because you know, I'm human too, So sometimes there's
Speaker 1: things where I I doubt myself or I question it,
Speaker 1: and you want to give up, you want to quit.
Speaker 1: You you find a reason escapegoat to try and not
Speaker 1: do something because it's easier to not do it because
Speaker 1: you you don't have to do ship just stop. The
Speaker 1: hard thing is is when you like you have to
Speaker 1: keep going in order to get to what you want.
Speaker 1: And that's the part that I appreciate most to be
Speaker 1: able to look back and say, I did it all,
Speaker 1: I got it all right, accomplished it all right. Help
Speaker 1: this person, I did that and this and the other
Speaker 1: um and that. That's literally the thing that I think
Speaker 1: about every single day before I go to bed and
Speaker 1: when I wake up, because that's what moves and pushes
Speaker 1: me through. I love that. I love that. And you're
Speaker 1: gonna be you gonna turn into the next Gary V.
Speaker 1: I hope not. Man, I just want to stay myself now.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. No, I love that. Well, justin, thank
Speaker 1: you for coming on. Really appreciate you you having me.
Speaker 1: Make sure you guys go follow Justin on Instagram. What's
Speaker 1: your J J. Johnson t X. Yeah, go follow just
Speaker 1: on Instagram and trust me, like you can learn a
Speaker 1: lot from this guy and if you ever run into him,
Speaker 1: don't ask for his phone number immediately. Wait one minute. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: thanks again for for coming on. Appreciate you. Thanks for
Speaker 1: letting me pick your brain and I learned a lot.
Speaker 1: So yeah, thank you man. Appreciate it again. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell you like I told everyone, keep going, yes, sir, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: I mean you know, we'll have Justin back on the
Speaker 1: on the show one time. We'll have them again. So
Speaker 1: appreciate you, guys. I'm gonna kid you guys next time
Speaker 1: on Legit Check. I'm easy, best piece.