I was born in Berkeley, California too long ago to remember. I’ll just say that after some time in Michigan and Wisconsin, I found may way to Texas permanently. In fact, most of my grade school education happened in Texas – much of it in Austin. Right after graduating from high school, I went straight to Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. Overnight, Houston became one of my favorite places on earth. Between the people, the food, the music, the culture, the proximity to Galveston Bay, and the warm winters, I became a lifetime Houston fan. I didn’t grow up in Third Ward, but I spent part of my life there, and I loved it, all of it. Texas Southern will always occupy a special place in my heart. After my mother became ill I had to leave Houston to go back to Austin to take care of her. It was there that I started what would become my first legitimate career, a salesman.
I was fortunate. I was taught to sell by sales legends. The guys who taught me were door-to-door guys, the type who believed that the sale was the start of everything. They also taught me about making promises to people and keeping them. Look, I was always comfortable being around people, and having discussions, but in sales my gift of gab got to flourish and I could feel good about it – I was helping people. I started making six figures in my mid-twenties as a salesman, so while I was getting paid to learn, I thought I might as well become a student of marketing and the psychology of the deal. I did just that.
After several very successful years in salesman and sales manager roles, I started my second corporation. I opened a petroleum and automotive maintenance distributorship in Central Texas. Around that same time I started my third corporation, a quick copy and fulfillment center in San Antonio. Sales grew in all of my businesses and profit was good. But, I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough for the communities that had shaped me as a person. One day, after having a phone conversation with my childhood best friend, David Godsey, I found myself at the University of Texas at San Antonio applying for admission. David had successfully talked me into going to law school – and I’m so lucky that I listened.
I completed eighty one hours of undergrad studies in eighteen months, got admitted into what was then known as Texas Wesleyan School of Law in Fort Worth, sold my two homes (not without considerable difficulty), and moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area to start law school. After completing law school, I was eventually licensed to practice law in the State of Texas. It was then that I became a partner at my own law firm, Godsey Martin, P.C., and officially became Justin the Lawyer.