Locked In with Ian Bick - My Mom Got Me Hooked On Drugs At 13 — Then I Went To Prison | Justin Roark

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

Justin Roark grew up in Tennessee in a home shaped by addiction. By the age of 13, he was already using drugs, pulled into a cycle of instability that led to group homes, juvenile detention, and eventually jail. In this episode, Justin shares how his childhood set him on a path toward crime, how that path ended with a five-year federal prison sentence, and what life was really like behind the walls. More importantly, he breaks down the moment things finally changed—getting sober, taking responsibility, and rebuilding his life after prison _____________________________________________ #truecrime #prisonstory #addictionrecovery #childhoodtrauma #realstories #lifeafterprison #lockedin _____________________________________________ Connect with Justin Roark: TikTok: @thehustledaddy Instagram: @hustletalkhd Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Childhood Trauma and Growing Up Too Fast 01:56 Growing Up in Tennessee With Addiction at Home 05:47 A Mother’s Addiction and Early Exposure 07:13 Smoking Cr*ck at 13 Years Old 09:21 Teenage Anger, Violence, and Chasing the Drug Life 13:13 Group Homes, Juvenile Detention, and Rebellion 20:12 Life at Wilder and the Power of Mentorship 27:02 Rehab, Relapse, and Florida’s Pill Mill Era 33:50 Living in Hotels While Deep in Addiction 39:41 Robberies, Risk, and Hitting Rock Bottom 41:54 The Crime Cycle and the Road to Federal Prison 54:47 Inside Federal Prison and Trying to Get Sober 01:00:26 Relapse, Probation Violations, and Second Chances 01:04:03 Discovering Business and Entrepreneurship After Prison 01:14:48 Adoption, Loss, and Learning Responsibility 01:20:11 Faith, Giving Back, and True Life Change 01:29:23 Losing Loved Ones and Finding Gratitude 01:34:45 Building Stability, Family, and Fatherhood 01:36:55 Purpose, Redemption, and a New Direction 01:38:49 Final Lessons and Helping Others Break the Cycle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It really is the recreational activity vehicle. The stylish 2026 Toyota RAP 4 Limited. What's your Rav for? We try to teach our kids that it's all sunshine and rainbows, but I learned from a very young age that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows, bro. Do you blame your mom looking back on it? She would have a dude in the bedroom, right?

And she had trained me to, like, crawl in and take money out of this dude's wallet. Well, those images and, and, you know, experiences that you had with your mom or even active in addiction as a teenager ever leave your mind. We go to breakfast or whatever. I go to take my tray up, bough, I get hit in the face. What do you think was the worst thing you ever did for drugs

in the peak of your addiction? By the time he was 13, Justin Rourke was already addicted to drugs, which were introduced to him by his own mother, a path that eventually led to federal prison. Justin, welcome to Lockton. Thanks for coming from a little bit warm weather to be years. Tennessee warm right now, or? A little bit, man.

I mean, it's still cold, but there's not snow on the ground. Like, I got off the flight in New York and walked outside, and I was like, holy crap. I was like, it's freezing here, bro, because I was kind of like documenting my thing. A little vlogging. Yeah, vlogging, yeah. So I was like, bro, it is cold. And then I checked into the hotel and there was snow on the ground. I'm like, holy crap, bro.

But, I mean, it's not like warm in Tennessee by no means. It's probably like, I don't know, in the 50s, I'd imagine. Well, today you got us at a warm day. It's almost 50 degrees today. Snow is melting. So not much difference. But yesterday it was chilly. And compared to like when I boarded my flight at, you know, 9 a.m.

until when I landed here at, I don't know, 132 o'clock. Yeah. It was like a shift for sure. Yeah. Did you grow up in Tennessee? Yeah, man. So I was born in Tennessee and lived there pretty much my whole entire life. You know, I moved around a little bit, a little bit in Georgia.

Kentucky. I was on the run in Kentucky. I was on the run in West Virginia. Yeah, man, so I kind of bounced around, but I've always, Tennessee has always been my home. What was your upbringing like? Man, I get similar to pretty much everybody you've had. I was born in Morristown, Tennessee, to a, my mom has always been a drug addict my whole entire life. So I was raised by a single father, and he was like my best friend in the world. And he was a hustler, right? So my dad was like the ultimate hustler of all times, but like we stayed broke no matter what, no matter how we tried to get ahead or whatever. You know, no lights sometimes, no water sometimes, you know, eating potatoes for weeks at a time

because that was like the cheapest thing to eat. And I remember this one time, bro. So he came up on these a bunch of cases of Hardy's gravy, right? And it's like these gravy in a bag. And we ate Hardy's gravy for months at a time. So, but it's like one of those things you don't really know that you're like super poor because he always made sure we had a roof over our head. But sometimes that was like, that was it.

You know, I never had new shoes. I got shoes one time a year at income tax time. You know, that was the only time that I got new shoes and kind of moved around, bounced around a lot. And my mom would get sober and he would let me go and stay with her until she, you know, screws it up. And he'd have to come and get me over and over and over again. So kind of went through that.

for years and years. And, yeah, just, I mean, it was rough. Yeah, but not like, you know, pity me. It was rough. Like, you know, I was never beat on or anything like that growing up as a child. But, yeah, it was rough, bro. What was your mom's history? And how old were you when you kind of found out about what was going on?

Bro. So I tell people, my mom never had a chance. Okay. She was born to alcoholics. her mom and dad were alcoholics. All three of my uncles are alcoholics and crack kids. And that's the same with my mom, right? So she never had a chance at all.

And I resented her for, you know, 30 years of my life for never being there and stuff like that. But she mostly crack and alcohol. And it was always a thing that I knew. Like, I've always been a little more mature and knowledgeable because it was just my dad and I, you know what I'm saying? So, like, I seen everything and he didn't keep anything from me. So I always knew that she had a problem. And especially when I would go and stay with her here and there, you know, she would get a month clean or two months clean and then just go off the rails. So it was predominantly crack.

And so she had me smoking crack, bro, at 13 years old in Johnson City, Tennessee. Her and her then boyfriend. I have seen her with hundreds of different dudes. You know, she sold anything that she could do to stay high. So I've been there for seeing all that growing up. And, but again, it's not like a pity me type of thing because it kind of let me see the world for what it is instead of like we try to teach our kids that it's all sunshine and rainbows. But I learned from a very young age that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows, bro. You know, my mom getting in and out of these cars and smoking crack with me and teaching me how to sell crack at 13 years old.

It was, it was like a traumatic childhood. But I didn't have to like heal from it, right? I just grew out of it, I guess. How does she even present that to you as a 13-year-old kid? Okay, so we were in Johnson City and I may have been, I was either living there or I was on the run from a group home. I may have just been living with her. And I was a lot different back then myself, right? So I was very angry and a little more violent.

And I was already smoking weed. So I was out of weed. and I was literally punching holes in her wall, trying to get her to get me some weed. And she comes out of the bathroom with Donald, and she said, hey, go in the bathroom, Donald, won't you? So I go in the bathroom. We're on Fairview Avenue in Johnson City.

If anybody watching this knows where it's like in the hood. And so I walk in the bathroom, and I remember Donald was sitting on the toilet, He got up. He said, sit down. And then he has the crack pipe and he says, here, hit this. And so I started. And bang, it was a rap. Like, it kind of took a hold of me from that age. So I sold it and smoked it for the next six, seven, eight years. And when something like that happens, do you tell your friends or kids your age or even your dad about that? Like, hey, guess what I just did? No, man. Like, I never, I've never really had a lot of friends. Never. Like, I don't, I'm really good with people and I can talk to anyone in the world at any time about anything. But as far as, like, friends, nah, I wasn't just sharing secrets with people, you know, like, hey, my mom had me spoke to crack, you know? No. And as far as my dad goes, like, I've always, like, really respected my dad a lot.

So I wouldn't even cuss or, like, smoke cigarettes in front of my dad until I was, like, 17 years old. So, like, it's... How would you have described yourself as a person back then or as a kid in your teenage years? Bro. I'll tell everyone I wanted to be a successful drug dealer. Like, I never had any goals. Never wanted to go to college. Never liked school. Like, I wanted to sell drugs.

Like that's what I wanted to do my whole entire life. But I learned pretty quick, you know, a monkey can't sell bananas, right? So if you smoke and crack, it's hard to sell it, you know, because you're going to fall off time after time after time again, which is pretty much what happened to me, man. Like I would get on a good run, stack up some money, go on a bender smoking. I'd smoke everything up and then I'm out here robbing people, you know,

to try to get back on. So it's like a vicious cycle, man. My whole life. My whole life. Now, why do you have to go to group homes if your dad was, it seemed like a supportive dad or tried his best? Okay, so I didn't get like, my dad didn't put me in the group homes.

So we'll fast forward a little bit, man. She had me smoking crack at 13 years old. At 14 years old, I was at one of my buddy's house. I'm not going to say his name. But anyway, we were in Morristown, Tennessee. And he lived in the subdivision, and he had a neighbor, and she was a, I think, like a DA, or she was some kind of lawyer, right? And I had stayed all night over there with her stepson. So ultimately, me and the other guy that I was with went and robbed this house while they were gone, and I was 14 years old.

We're coming out of this house and we're walking across this field, and the lady pulls in and sees them. So we jet over to the woods with all the stuff that we have. We have like cash and jewelry. So we stash it over in the woods and we go back to my buddy's house and we're in his bedroom and his mom, Vicky, she hollered back there. She's like, hey, have you done anything over at Dusty's house? And we're like, no, why? What's up?

And she was like, well, it just came over the scanner. The police are on the way over there. And I was like, oh, wow. So we jump out his window, run over to the woods, get all the cash and the jewelry. and then we just take off running. And we see this old man outside of his house, and he's in this old school blue square body Chevrolet truck. And I was like, hey, man, I'll give you whatever it was, $50, whatever,

if you take us to the projects, because I had people that love in this projects. And so we got a ride over there. Ultimately, my dad was like he could find out anything at any time. So he found me pretty quick. Came over there and got us. and that was my first felony. I caught my first felony at 14 years old, man, for that.

So I got sent off. You know, they took me out of my dad's custody, put me in state's custody. I ended up going to a... The first place I went, wasn't even a group home. It was a... It was called CCS. It's in Kingsport, Tennessee, and it's a rehab. So I went there, ran from there three or four different times.

Because in Tennessee, you could run and stay gone for, like, 10 days. and they would hold your bed. It's weird. So I would stay gone like nine days and then turn myself in. And then I would stay for like a week and then run again and go out and get like, I don't know if you've ever heard of choroseding. Okay, so it's like these, I'm not going to get people instructions, but it's like this. Corosidin cold and cough. There's these little red peels.

You can take a lot of them and it really messes you up. So I'd go out and get some of those and get cigarettes and weed and then turn myself back in. And so it was, I did that three or four times and went from like that low grade group home. And they keep like stepping you up, right, to places that you can't run from. So I went to CCS. Then when I was 15, I was on the run from a group home called Hosting Homes. and I overdosed on clonopins. And the police found me, took me to the hospital, pumped my stomach,

and went to a mental place called Haslam. It was a level three. You can't run from there. I went there for a few weeks, and then they ultimately sent me to Mountain View. And I know you don't know none of these places, but people from Tennessee would know, like Mountain View back then was like,

you don't want to go to Mountain View. You know, it's like, you know, it's rough. And so they sent me to Mountain View. I did like nine or ten months there. They stepped me down to a group home once I completed that program, stayed there for a couple weeks, ran, and ultimately got sent to Wilder, which is the level four, the only level four in Tennessee.

So I was there for 13, 14 months, ended up getting my GED there and came home. home like right before my 18th birthday. So like from 14 to almost 18, I was in and out of group homes and on the run, getting high. And I would mostly like when I would run, I would stay with my mom because she didn't care, you know, what I did. And I could get high there and kind of like ruled that. Bonjour, compadre. It's the Priceline negotiator. How do I negotiate so many great travel deals?

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So keep it real. Look for the seal. Real California milk House, you know what I'm saying? Do you blame your mom looking back on it? I did for 30 years. And it wasn't a blame. It was more like resentment

because she was never there. And she had me smoking the crack and seeing her prostitute. So I tell everybody this story, man. She would have a dude in the bedroom right and she had trained me to like crawl in and take money out of this dude's wallet like while she's in the bed with him like that's how i grew up man like so the average person yeah you could it's easy to to blame her but when you really like i told you while ago man like she never had a chance

and i don't believe everyone is meant to be parents i believe some people are here to get birth. And I had a great father, though, right? Like, I had a great father. He taught me right from wrong. He taught me how to hustle. He taught me how to be a man. Um, but there was things that he did wrong also. Like, I was like his best friend, a lot of the times more than like son. You know what I'm saying? Like, here we go to get weed. You know, so he'd get a quarter pound of weed. Like, I got two ounces in each of my cargo shorts holding it for him and i might be 10 you know so like i had a little different upbringing than a lot of people um like yeah man well those images and and you know experiences that you had with your mom or even act of an addiction as a teenager ever leave your mind

as you're older now yeah bro listen i'm so far removed from like my childhood I tried to think a few weeks ago, man, like, I don't remember a Christmas, okay? I do not remember zero. I don't remember a Christmas at all. I don't remember a birthday. I don't remember a lot about school. Like, I went to the eighth grade. Like, that's it.

You know, I don't remember a lot about any of my childhood. And I don't know if it's like I subconsciously removed that or if I've just gotten past it and, you know, put it behind me. But no, I don't really sit and dwell on it because I feel like that's what keeps you in that resentful state of mind, right? If you sit and dwell on the same thing over and over, I was done like this as a child or, you know, I've seen these things or these things. I think a lot of people get stuck in that and it becomes a crutch for them not to be able to move past it and to excel in life. So I've forgiven my mom like we're cool, you know, because of it. I used to say literally mad. I used to say I didn't care if my mom died, right?

Like, it wouldn't affect me. But the odor I've gotten and, you know, I have kids and I would obviously care now, you know. But now, like I don't dwell on it though, bro. I feel like that's what keeps people sick is staying in that moment. Even like prison, you know, people, they use these felonies as an excuse. or their tattoos as an excuse or their education as an excuse. I'm here to tell you that is, that's all it is. It's an excuse.

Like, you can do anything that you want to do. You just have to get past that trauma, bro. And it's easier for some people. Yeah. Did you have anyone at that period of time to compare your life to? Like, maybe give you a little bit of hope or inspiration that there was something more? No. No, man.

Like I said, I never had goals. You know how some kids, they want to be like firefighters or police or they want to go to college and do this or this. Like, I never had that, man. Like, I never had the anything. And no one in my family tree had ever been successful by, you know, my uncle Jerry maybe. Like, he worked at this same company for like 30-something years. and he had a really good 401k when he retired like million dollars whatever but other than that like nah bro like we didn't have nothing nobody in my family had ever done anything so um

i never had anything to look up to like i didn't look up to michael jordan or because i knew that wasn't my you know i was never going to do that so i never had that bro so 18 years old you get your GED, what happens next? So I got my GED, so I was at Wilder. That's a group home? It's like a level four. It is the only level four in Tennessee. It is a juvenile prison.

It's some of the roughest time I've ever done. Like, and I've went through Atlanta. I've went through federal prison. I've went through county jails. Listen, these boys at Wilder, man. Listen, okay. So I got to. there at like 3 o'clock in the morning when I first got there since Somerville, Tennessee,

and it's out in the out in the woods, man. So obviously, you know, I'm a little, you know, you're filling things out. So I get up for breakfast and we go to breakfast or whatever. I go to take my tray up. Mind you, I've been there five hours. Wow. I get hit in the face, right? This is a big, tall white dude. And Jonathan LeMay, if you're watching this, I remember this. but he had F-U-C-K-C-O-PS on his knuckles, and he was like 15 years old. Big tall red-headed kid, but he hit me. And at this point, I really didn't know how to fight. True story, bro, my first 60 days there, I probably fought 50 times.

And most of the time I got beat up because I had never really learned how to fight. And once I started winning, I learned. I was like, yo, I got to hit these people. They can run up. I'm hitting them. So I kind of learned. And then I got accepted. Like, it was predominantly like black there, right?

Like 95%. So once I started, you know, winning fights. We got, I got cool with everyone. I played basketball or, you know, I would try to, I would try to rap. But it was I got pretty cool with everybody. And after that, like for 11 months, 10, 11 months I was there, never had any more problems. And then I got my GED there. And I scored very well on my GED, specifically my language arts and reading, right?

I almost had a perfect score on my reading language arts. So there was this teacher there. Her name was Tyrica Thompson. And she's one of the first people to ever believe in me. and she gave me my own tutoring group. And so I'm like teaching these guys from Memphis how to read and literally how to do multiplication and stuff like that. So she was one of the first people that ever believed in me.

So, and I still remember her, and it's, you know, 23 years later. But I think you kind of remember the people who, made you feel like you were worth something, you know, or believed in you. And there's another one that I'll touch base on briefly who kind of, after I got out of federal prison, that kind of believed in me. But yeah, she really, she made me feel like I was special, man. And so for like the last few months I was there, I had my own tutoring group. and got cool with everybody.

Like it was, it was dope. Sounds like they had more rehabilitation at this facility than they do in most federal prisons. Man, you know, listen, that's why I tell people, it's very hard to get rehabilitation in prison. Unless you go in there programming and programming and programming. Now, I guess the feds are a little better than state, which I never did state prison time,

did a bunch of county jails. but there's not a lot of programming in the state, you know, especially in Tennessee. Like you're just there and then they let you out. You know, five, 10, 50, 20 years, it don't matter. So I feel like that's a huge flaw in our, you know, in our system for sure is they don't offer their rehabilitation. And then they wonder why the recidivism rate is so high.

You know what I'm saying? Why everybody keeps going back. But they don't really want people to get better because they don't pay the bills. You know what I'm saying? Just like doctors don't want to heal people. They want to get people on medicine because heal people don't pay the bills, man. Sick people pay the bills. Same with the prison system.

Same with the rehabs. Well, the rehab thing's crazy. Everyone's creating a rehab now. Yeah. And but then all they're doing, they're putting people on Suboxin and Subjects, you know, like, now I'm not against that, so don't comfort me, y'all, okay? Whatever works for you. But that's what they want to do.

They want to replace one thing, and then they want to keep it on a long term, long term, because that keeps money in their pocket. And nine out of ten people, they get controlled by that money. And they see how much money is bringing in. They're like, oh, I'm going to keep him on this for 10 years. And then you look down, you've been on Suboxone for 10 years. And you're still not healed. You know what I'm saying? You're still afraid to come off these Suboxin after 10 years.

You're afraid you're going to do heroin. You know, that's not, like I said, there's a flaw in the whole system when it comes to reaffirmed. have or jails or prisons, bro. It's a flaw. Now, this level for facility you're in, what kind of kids would go there? What are the charges? What does it take to get there? Bro.

The worst of the worst. Like, there were murderers there. There was, you know, 14, 15-year-old kids that were there for murder. Aggravated assault, aggravated robbery. You know, I had a few different charges. But mostly my thing was like running. You know, I would run from everywhere. And so eventually, and my dad had always told me, he's like, Justin, they're going to put you somewhere that you can't run from.

And I won't be able to come and see you. And so where, you know, Somerville was four hours for my dad, I didn't see my dad the whole time I was up there, you know, 12, 13 months. So, but he told me everything my dad ever told me came true, bro. Everything. Like, because he, you know, he did some prison time. and stuff like that too. So everything that he told me came to fruition. And it's one of the things high size 2020, you know, if you were to know, you ought to listen. But I'm thankful for my journey, man. And I'm grateful for my journey. Like I don't, I'm not one of pitty pot dudes, right?

I don't sit back and dwell on it. Like, man, if I just did it now, because I, everything I went through got me to where I'm at right now in my life at 39 years old. Man to man, bro, my life is great. Like, dude, I could not have written a better ending to my story. Right? Like, when I first started getting in trouble, catching felonies, whatever, if they said, hey man, in 20 years, I need you to write, I need you to write this down right now. In 20 years, if you could have any ending to this that you want and it comes true, just write it down.

Dude, I couldn't have written it down better. Like, real talk, bro. My life is, it's amazing, dude. So you make it out of there at 18, you feel somewhat rehabilitated for the most part, good mindset? Man, not not really because I'll tell you, as soon as I came home, it wasn't long until I was, you know, I was smoking weed again. And this is back when Florida was very popular for these pain clinics, okay? Anyone could go down there and get a prescription of Roxy's, right? it didn't matter.

As long as you were 18, you had an ID, you could go down there, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, all these places in Florida. And you could get an MRI, right? So I got my first MRI. Check this out. There was a 18-wheeler, like the trailer, though. You know, behind the strip club, they had an MRI machine. This is true story, bro. You go, you paid $300.

or whatever, you go into this 18 wheeler, they run you through this MRI machine, and then you get this MRI that says you have back problems. They forward it over to this clinic. You go to the clinic, you pay a $300 visit, and they write you a prescription for, say, 210, Roxy30s, 100, Roxy15s, and Xanaxanx. Right?

The wildest thing. So at 18 years old, I have degenerative disc disease, bro. You know what I'm saying? According to this MRI. So I did that. I got into that. Like, that was my, that was the beginning of the end for me as far as like my, my run. So I started going down there to Florida.

I got in really, really good at, well, let me back. up. So I'm down there going to this one clinic in, in West Palm Beach. It's called Executive Pain. And I'm down, I can't remember. Dang, I remember the names of that place, bro. Jeez. Executive is on Okachalbee Boulevard, West Palm Beach. So I got in, I was going down there to that one. I had left there and I was at this gas station one night. And I was getting something to drink or whatever. There was this younger guy there. He had one arm. Okay. And he has a single water. That's it.

And he's trying to pay for the water with, I always got his $100 bills. And they're like, hey, we don't have change. So I was like, yo, bro, I got it. And so I paid for that. He was dressed nice, you know, nice looking dude. And I paid for his water. We walk outside and he said, he's seen I have Tennessee tags.

He was like, yo, you're from Tennessee? I was like, yeah. And he was like, you up here going to the doctor. Are you down here going to the doctor? I was like, yeah. He's like, bro, I own a clinic in Jacksonville. And his name was Ryan. So he gives me his card.

He's like, call them, tell them you know me, and they're going to take really good care of you. So long story short, man, I called this place in Jacksonville. I can't remember the name of this place. But I called them. I was like, hey, my cousin, Ryan, I told me my cousin. I was like, Ryan told me to come down here, boom, boom. So I got in really good at this clinic. to where I could take, you know, a whole minivan full of people.

And I would just pay for all their, all their MRIs and their scripts. And I would break them off with whatever they wanted, a few of these and a few of these. And then I would keep everything else. So it was like, you know, I'm coming back with, you know, a thousand pills. So, but again, monkey can't sell bananas, bro. So I get to where I'm doing 20 or 30 of these pills a day, myself. And that was like the beginning of the end for me. Probably went to that same one for a couple of years.

I stayed at the same hotel, the Diamond Inn. And mind you, I'm still smoking crack too, bro. Like, I had been down there one time like three days, and I had smoked so much crack. And we were about to drive back. So I was trying to come down. And so I take a bunch of somas. It's like a muscle relaxer, right?

So I get to where my heart is like so slow, and then it's fast, slow and fast. So I'm laying on this bed in the Diamond Inn in Jacksonville, butt-necked, thinking I'm going to die. And God got me out of that somehow, right? Like, again. Another story about that place. I made this dude, man.

Big old dude. And we started talking, whatever. He sold crack. I was like, man, I want an ounce. I'm a whole ounce. So right over to the north side with this dude, I'm super trash. I'm drunk old patron. I have a pocket full of money.

Go over there with this dude. Come home or come back to the hotel. Next morning, wake up. I still have all my money. I have an ounce of cocaine in my pocket. This dude could have easily robbed me. And I wouldn't have known it. I was so trashed, right? It's just like another one of things that I got out of. Like, I have so many

of these situations where I have been, I put myself in the wrong place at the wrong time where I could have died over and over. Like, I've gotten robbed, man, I've gotten beaten the back of my head. Um, I've overdosed multiple times, bro, starting at, you know, when I was 15. I want to back up just a little bit. I've never talked about this. I've done a couple other sit downs and podcasts, man, but this is as real as it gets right here, okay? When I was 18, maybe 19,

I was living with my dad, and we had gotten into it, and I was on volumes. I had taken, you know, 10 volumes, and I had drinking a couple of budlides. Him and I start going back and forth, and ultimately we end up outside. And I had just bought this this 32 over and under. It's a little bitty pistol, man, two shots. So we're outside, and I have this 85 Lincoln Town car, and I'm beating the heck out of this car, right?

And I took this gun out, and I put it to my head, and I pulled the trigger two times on this gun. And it didn't go off. So my dad grabs this gun and he throws it over in this field. But it's another one of them things, man, where I could have easily not. And it wasn't because I was like, you know, wanting to off myself. It's just like that was how I was, you know, 20 years ago, bro. Like I had no regard for anything other than myself. And what I wanted, anytime I wanted it.

I didn't care about people. I didn't care about anyone's feelings at all. It's wild how life can change. And my dad prayed for me my whole life. Through everything that I went through, man, he never stopped praying for me. And his prayer is like, somehow we're finally answered. This is Taco Truck Salsa, whether it's Verde, Roja, or the orange one.

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When you're deep in the addiction, do you have like normal everyday bills? Do you have like a phone? Do you have an apartment? How does it get paid for that if you're just using all the money for more drugs? What does that look like? I lived in a hotel for the most part. So back then, you know, a hotel room was 40 bucks a night. The main hotel I lived in, it was in Greenville, Tennessee.

It was called, uh, the green villa. So I stayed around back, room 131, and it was $40 a night. But I would get down so bad sometimes right, I didn't have the $40. You know what I'm saying? But that was one of them instances like, people didn't want to see me coming if I was down bad.

You know what I'm saying? Like, if I was up, I'd get people crack. You know, I've always had a good heart, man. Like even saying that I had no regards for people like, I don't know. Like if I was up, I would just give you stuff, right? But if I was down, you didn't want to see me coming. I'm not trying to make myself to be no, you know, tough dude or anything like that at all by no means. But nah.

And then, you know, back then was when straight talk was like the main phone. And it was like $40 a month. but there was times when the phone was cut off. But I knew I had to keep that phone on if I had any chance of selling any kind of drug that I was selling. But I had been addicted to stuff my whole life. So even back up to my early, early, early days, man, five or six years old, I remember being on the porch of my grandmother. And there was like a 40 ounce, coat 45, 40 ounce. And there was like this much in it.

and, you know, there was eight or ten people on the porch, and I picked this 40 up and I kill it. You know, I drink the rest of it. Mind you, I'm five, six years old. Instead of getting scolded, he's like, yeah, you know, woo. You know, they're like cheering me on. So, like, I never had a chance either, bro. In those early days, I never had, uh, I never had that guidance, you know, even, like I said

from my dad, he taught me right from wrong. game, tried his best to reel me in. But man, I was just, I was hell on wheels, bro. Like, I was, I wanted to be a successful drug dealer, bro. That is it. Like, that's what I wanted. So, nah, there was no bills. I didn't have my first place to live on my own until I came home for federal prison at 27. Yeah, bro. Like, none. What do you think was the worst thing you ever did for drugs in the peak of your addiction? Probably robbing, man. I was never like a stealer.

You know, I felt like stealing. No, I stole before, but like that wasn't my MO. Isn't robbing the same thing is stealing? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, stealing is sneaky. You know what I'm saying? When somebody's got their back turn, you want to take, you know, the $10 off their dresser. Robbing is when you go in there, why everybody's looking and lay the whole house down

and take the dresser and the $10. You know what I'm saying? So there's a big difference between a thief and a robber. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, there's a big difference there, man. I just, I was never like, I would rob, man. So I was thinking about it too

because I figured we would kind of get to this topic. So what I would do, say, I would go to the hood, right? And I'd pull up, and I'd have a little cash. show me. I might have a $100, whatever. So the dope boy would come up to my car and I'd be like, hey, man, I want a hundred, but I need to double up or whatever. And so they would put the crack in their hands and they would stick it inside of the car. And I would park where I could just, so when they stick it inside of the car, I'd just slap their hand and just drive off, right?

So I did that multiple times, man. Yeah, dude, I was, it didn't matter. Like, the worst thing. Like, I have, I seen a girl jack a dog off for a 20 rock, you know. Like, bro, I've been through there. Like, I've been down through the mud, bro. But it's all self-inflicted, right? I've always known right from wrong.

I've always known how to make good decisions from bad decisions. And I don't know how. but I've always known that. So everything I've been through, man, it's all self-inflicted. I don't sit here and blame my mom. I don't blame my dad. I don't blame my grandmother or the way that I was raised at all, bro. Like, I feel like we all go through things that we go through for a specific reason.

And you can either outgrow them things and mature as like a good functioning, member of society or you can be the one that asked that a recidivism rate bro right which is what i did for years and years and years i was just a statistic that had um never you know never had any guidance really like as far as real life paying bills and maintaining a uh a home or like i said man i was 27 when I got my first little tiny apartment out of prison. So that was like the first time that I had my, and it wasn't even an apartment. It was like a room in a boarding house that I shared with, you know, three or four other guys. You know, we shared the same kitchen. We shared the same bathroom and the same living room, but we all had like a room with a lock. It was like my first

place out of prison. How did you end up in federal prison? So going back to the, uh, Okay, back up until I was 18, you know, you asked me if I had being rehabilitated when I left Wilder. No, I caught my first adult felony at 18, so it wasn't long after I came home from there. We, I was smoking crack and selling crack. And there was this smoke shop in Whitesburg, Tennessee, J&J smoke shop, two or three in the morning, one morning. I'm high. And this is how crazy, like, I was wired. Like, I had crack.

And I had money, but I'm like, yo, let's go rob this, this tobacco store, right? So we go down, me and this guy that he used to drive me around all the time. His name was, call him Ninja. His name was Ninja. And so we go down to this tobacco store, and I kicked the door around this tobacco store, right? And I go in there, at first I get all the Newports and all the Marlboros, because I know that's what sells. the alarm went off and it's like on the main street dude like on the main street so we go back to where we were staying at and we drop everything off and i was like man let's ride back down there

and see you know because there's still plenty of stuff in here so i take another guy with us that was there at the house so it's me ninja and mike this time so we ride back down there the alarm is off. Like, it's not going off anymore. But there's no polis. And the door is still open. And I'm like, go. So go back in there. This time we get like all the GPC cigarettes, all the off brand cigarettes, right? We go back and unload. I'm like, bro, let's go back. True story, bro. Went back a third time to this place. I was so desperate to take things. Like, you know, the big tall trash cans? You you know, whatever, 30 gallon trash cans, I'm filling those up with the,

with the 20-ounce drinks out of their cooler. Like, I'm stealing their drinks. So a couple weeks ago by, I'm at that same house. It gets raided. Someone I sold cigarettes to had gotten pulled over, and they were like, I got them off of this guy, boom, boom.

They found out where I was staying, came, got me. So I ended up catching my first felony off of that. responsibility to burglary, criminal responsibility to theft over 1,000, because I wouldn't, I never told on either of the people that were with me. I was the only one. So I got two years in a day out of that. And down in Tennessee, I don't know how it works up here. But if you get two years or less, you get an automatic kickout, right? But if you get two years in a day, if they add that day on there, then you have to go meet the parole board. So I ended up going to this county jail, which was some of the worst time I've ever done.

It was in Hamblin County. And I did like 10 months there. I made parole out of there. And in order to make parole, you have to have a job. So my dad went and talked to this lady at Pizza Inn in Greenville, right? So she gave me a job without ever meeting me just so I could get out on parole. And so I get out. I work there.

I do good for a little bit very briefly. And I start smoking crack again. So I'm out delivering pizzas like on the first of the month or whatever. And I have a bag full of money from the pizza deliveries, right? And so I get that feeling, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, yo, I want to get high, bro. So I call up the crack dealer. And I said, hey, man, meet me for 100 or whatever it was.

So I went and met him while I'm out doing deliveries. And so I started getting high. And before I know it, like, you know, I know I'm not giving this money to these people, right? I know that. So I go in there and I'm like this, you know, I'm all tweaked or whatever. I'm like, man, you wouldn't believe it, but I lost the money. I don't know where it's at. So they're like, yo, go see if you can find it, retrace your steps or whatever.

So I'm out here, like getting high like I'm retracing my steps. And ultimately end up getting fired from there. And another little funny story. I went to pick up my last check from there. The owner, his name is Mark Dauphett. I just, I remember these people, man, for some reason. Like, I remember their names to the people that I did wrong. It's wild to me.

I went to pick up my last check. And he was like, well, you owe this much for whatever. I was like, mind you, I'm still on probation during this time, right? Because I'm a parole out of the county jail. So I was like, well, look, follow me to the bank. And I'll cash a check and I'll give you what I owe. So he's in a white Saturn view SUV. And I'm in a 94 Crown Victoria.

He's got the V8 in it. So he's like, behind me, follow me to the, bank. I didn't even have a bank account probably, bro. And I just stomp it. I take off on him and leave him. And then an hour later or so, my P.O. Stacey Martin, she calls me. And she's like, hey, I just got a call from Mark. He said, do, do, do, do. And I was like, yeah, we must have got split up. Like, I don't know. I was like, I'm heading back there right now. So ultimately, she violated me. Then during all this though,

but I had to call other charges as well. Like I caught a forgery charge for cashing this check for a dude. Then I went on the run from that, from the parole violation, whatever. I end up getting caught. I go back to jail. And then I get out on this work crew. And I worked at this like a state park,

the sweetest job. you know, we're gone, we're out seven days a week. It was the only job in the jail that you got to go out seven days a week. And it was like 6 a.m. to like 9 p.m. And we were like, Mo and we'd eat. But it was sweet, bro. Like you could do whatever you wanted to, essentially. So I end up getting messed up on Xanax one day out there.

And I run from there. So I got a felony escape from there. then trying to see what happened next from there I started going back to Florida getting the pain pills I came back one night and I got a hotel in Morristown the place that I was born at

and I had gotten really messed up on Xanax's there and the next morning when I leave they're banging on my door the next morning I slept through the checkout or whatever. So they're like, you know, banging on my door. And it was my cousin, it was myself, my cousin, and two other people there with us. And so like, boom, boom, boom, you miss checkout or whatever, you got to go. So I don't know how, but the police were like got put on to me from there. So this hotel is like a super A or something like that. You can pull out the back or you can pull out

the front. So my cousin goes out the back and I go out the front and we both kind of get pulled over simultaneously, right? And I have, I have some roxies, some pills. I have a little bit of cocaine and I have a firearm. I have a nine millimeter. Minds you, I'm a convicted felon already, right? So I have the, the gun is behind the CD player in my car and with the drugs or whatever. So instantly they get me out and they seen a roach like a marijuana, you know, like a weed roach. So they pulled me out of the car. Search the car. They got me on the side of the interstate right there or the freeway, whatever.

And they're searching a car. I searching a car. And they don't find anything, right? And I'm there like an hour. So last minute, man, this dude comes out and he's holding the gun like this. and my heart drops, you know, because I know, like, I know that's federal. The drugs, cool, whatever. That's state charge, but I knew that gun.

Like, I knew I was gone, right? So I get an attorney on that. I go back to jail for a little bit, and I get an attorney, the same attorney I had used a couple of times, really good paid attorney. My dad helped me get him. Brett Hansley out of Greenville. So we go to state court on the gun.

They gnaw it. And I don't know if you're familiar what a gnail is. It's like it's dismissed, but they can pick it up within a year, right? So 300 days go by. And I'm like, out. I'm in the free world, right? I'm chilling. And he calls me one day.

He's like, Justin, I got some bad news, bro. And I was like, what's up? He's like, I got a federal indictment for you. I was like, for what? And he's like, for the gun. So they indicted me on that. He's like, you can either turn yourself in or you can make them come and find you. I was saying, they go come and find me, you know.

And I end up getting pulled over one day and they found me. How long were you on the run for? Man, I don't know. A few months. I mean, it wasn't, you know, a substantial amount of time, but it was a few months longer than I would have been. You know, I'd have been in jail that day if I'd have turned myself in. So we, I get, I get, I go back to jail, go to federal court, you know, get charged or whatever. So I go from Green County Jail to, to Ocilla, Georgia is like a big holding place for the federal.

So I do like five or six months there and come back, get sentenced, and I go through, I go through Atlanta for a while. How much did they give you? How much time? I got 60, 60 months fed. And then, but mind you, I still have like four years to back up on state time. But somehow this all goes concurrent instead of consecutive. I think that's the right term for it. the state time was because of violations, like violation.

Yeah, violation. Now, I'm still on the two in a day from Rob, and I still have, I got a year for the escape. I got a year for the forgery. I had a, I had caught a robbery charge that got dropped down to theft. So like, I'm just racking them up, bro, like over this whole, you know, couple years span.

And this is all related to drug use. Yeah, I mean, for the most part, yeah, bro. Like, Yeah, I was a, there's no other way to put it. Like, I was a drug addict for my whole life, essentially. So I get my, I get my time, whatever. And I go and do, so I came home essentially when I was 27, right out 27 years. I came home March of 2013.

Like I told you, I don't have any crazy. prison stories. I never got into, and I was the FCI and I went through the USP, but never, I never had a problem. Like,

I never, nothing. Where'd they send you? So I went through Atlanta at first and then I went through a place in Florida. Okay, I'm going to tell you this.

It was, it was a sweet spot. It was an FCI, but there's 1,400 people on the compound. 1,200 or so were either petos, snitches, gang dropouts, or something like that. There was probably 200 of us on the whole compound that had like straight,

legit paperwork, no 501Ks, no downward departures, no debriefing. Now, I didn't have a charge partner. So, you know, it was just my case. So it's called Marianna, Florida. Um, again, sweet, sweet spot, but it's also like super uncomfortable because you know, like, you, you can't really trust anybody down there because you know like what people they're there for for the most part, right? Um, so I did a few years there. And then when it was time for me to do my, again, I had no problems, right? I never, I never borrowed anything from anybody,

never got into debt. I worked in the bakery there. So which was the sweet. sweetest job like I'm stealing every day you know I'm taking out flour and sugar in my boots and eggs and um the sweet spot though um I worked out a lot and you know I programmed a little bit took some anatomy classes and uh like a piano class where I was it was it was it was a sweet spot you know wasn't a lot popping off there for the most part you would have like the occasional you know Nortenos and serenios beefing with each other or this car, beefing with this car. But I was like, if you were from Tennessee or the South, essentially,

and you were cool and you had good paperwork, I was cool with you. You know, I wasn't, it wasn't like one of them places that was like, you thought this was your run club era. Turns out it was more of a thinking about run club era. The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on Deepop.

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Uh-uh. No, not at all, bro. Not at all, man. The whole time I was gone, you know, roughly, you're looking from, you know, 04 to 13, pretty much. You know, I had a couple out here, a couple out here. but nine years I was like you know I put myself through it so when it come time for me to to do my halfway house I'm supposed to go to I'm sending us out of this one district

so I'm supposed to go to to a halfway house in Knoxville right they were full this is another one of those things where God works right he knew he had the foresight Um, so they sent me to Nashville temporarily. Never been to Nashville before my life. So I go to this halfway house in Nashville and I'm there like two weeks and start smoking weed. Right. And I fade them the whole time on my drug test, six months. Never failed one there.

Because they would come and tell me in the morning, yo, you got to take a drug test today. So I drink water all day, all day, all day. I'm talking about two, three gallons of water until I'm pissing clear. And I know, you know, if you're pissing nothing but clear water, you're going to fade the drug test. So I faded them for six months there. Never had any issues there. And in this six months, I had gotten this job. And this is where my life kind of takes a good turn, right?

I gotten this job, man, at this record pressing place in Nashville called United Record Pressing Place. And I was working like 80, 90 hours a week there. And I met my now wife. Okay. We both worked third shift. And we started, you know, chatting it up. I've probably been home like, you know, eight months, nine months, whatever. I met my wife.

And we started, you know, kicking it, whatever. And then ultimately we get fired together. other, we got caught upstairs, you know. So they fired us, bro, from there. And this was in like, probably end of, end of 13. Yeah, because I came home in March. So end of 13, beginning of 14, we get fired from there. I have no clue what I'm going to do, right? I'm thinking about, like, going back to my dads in East Tennessee, you know, it's three hours away. So back it up just a little bit. I got sidetrack talking about my wife. But when I first got out of the halfway house

and was moving into my own place, I go on supervised release. And I had either three years or five years. I can't remember. But my PO, her name was Amanda Russell. First time I go and see her, I'm like, hey, I've been smoking weed. So I'm going to fail this drug test. I just want to give you a heads up.

And she's like, okay, you know, We got 30 days to clear out, whatever. She was, she was chilled. 30 days come, fell the next one. So mind you, you're familiar. I mean, if you fell three, it's usually, do not pass go. Don't collect the $200. You're going back to the feds.

From then until April of 2014, man, I felt 31 you waste. 31. Okay. They finally do my revocation. And this is where I told you the next person that would believe in me, right, where I felt it. So they do my revocation. I go into this meeting, this dude, the director of the Board of Probation Parole in Nashville. His name was something Shelton.

It might be Stephen Shelton. I can't remember, but I'll just say Mr. Shelton, right? So I go in there with my attorney that they appointed me, Mariah Wooten. And I'm in there and I'm like, hey, just give me a year. Let me go back for a year. Flat now, I'm cool with that. And this dude tells me, he's like, Justin, he's like, I feel like if I do that, I'm giving up on you.

He's like, you're smart, bro. He's like, you are not the average person that comes through my office, dude. He's like, can you find a rehab? I was like, yes. Yeah, I can find a rehab, bro. Come on. So I go on this search for rehabs. And I found one in Nashville off of Shelby Avenue, man, because Samaritan, Samaritan recovery community.

I go there. I don't have any insurance, so I get a grant to go there. I get in. Mind you, my PO is pissed. Amanda Russell is pissed because she thinks I beat the system. So before that, I go into my revocation hearing in front of the judge, and he tells me the same thing. He's like, Justin, he's like, I see you've been in trouble since you were 13, 14 years old. He said, I see it all.

You've never been off of probation. You've always been into something. He's like, I'm going to let you go to this rehab. If you do six months in this rehab, I'm going to squash everything. Your supervised release is over, then you'll be free. So I go to the Samaritan and that's where I kind of start piecing things together, right? Because I meet this guy, man, my counselor, his name is Spencer Philippi. We're still friends to this day.

And we still talk. And he actually runs. He's like the president of another rehab now. But I meet him and he looks like me. He has tattoos. He's an ex-Meth head. and he happened to be from Johnson City where, you know, the first place I smoked crack at, bro.

So we just, we click and he like gets through to me and no one had ever been able to like get through to me and let me know like, yo, bro, you can do something with your life, man. So he kind of, you know, he plays a big part in that. and while I was there, I was never like a, I wasn't like a client. Like I was the only person that had been through the feds. And so when I would talk, people would listen. And I took notice of this, right?

Like, they would, like, naturally listen to me and gravitate toward me and my story. And, like, in a good way, you know. So I was more like I don't know man I felt like a counselor there right And not just a resident So I did six months there My wife

You know my girlfriend then She kind of rides it out with me And then I get this apartment I move in with this In this like house with This guy was renting a room out For like $100 a week Over on Shelby Avenue

And I live live there and I get this job at this fabrication place. We made like the casings for ATM machines, like these big metal casings. And in two weeks, I became a supervisor there. So the owner, another guy that plays a part of my story, his name was Jeff Dugan. We're still friends to this day. He would be out there working alongside of us and teaching us. And like every day he was there, right?

He was a leader. He wasn't just a boss. There's a huge difference. You know what I'm saying? He owned the company, but he also took time to lead the people that was there working for him. So I became a supervisor there. And a guy that I had met in the halfway house, his name's Casey.

He's dead, man. He overdosed a couple years ago. We're chatting one day. he's like, bro, we should start a business. I was like, dog, I don't know how to do nothing. You know what I'm saying? And he's like, you don't have to do nothing? I was like, well, man, I learned how to strip and wax floors in prison.

He's like, let's start a cleaning business. I was like, shoot, okay. So we go downtown, man, and we get a $15 business license. And I called my dad before. I was like, hey, dad, I was like, I need a name for a cleaning business. And he's like, I'll call you back. So like 15 minutes later, my dad calls him back. He's like, wall to wall of janitorial.

I was like, cool. So we go down to Nashville, fill out the stuff, get a business license. We think we did bomb, you know, like, yeah. And we're on, I'm posting on Facebook, business owner, you know what I'm saying, entrepreneur. And we don't, we, we, we need the one, got no money, though. So we take like everything that we have, bro, and we go to the Dollar General. And we buy, like, the cheapest broom, the cheapest mom. the cheapest mop, the cheapest chemicals.

And we started grinding, man. And it wasn't too long. We had, you know, you're familiar with H&M? The clothing store? Yeah. So I had two of them seven days a week. I had the one in Opera Mills Mall, and I opened up the one in Cool Springs Mall in Franklin, like the good part.

Seven days a week. So I had two employees at each store seven days a week. I had eight T-Mobiles. I would go in and clean and strip and wax their floors. Had every Chipotle, every Comcast cable. I had two banks, bro, that I had keys to, that I would go in after hours and clean these banks. Like the wildest turn of events ever.

So I did that for a while, made some good money, right? But I had no clue how to manage this money. Like, first year did like 300. Come tax time, I have zero dollars. Like, I'm spent, like, I'm just spending it. Because that's the way my mind was wild. Like, easy come, easy go, right? But it just, it didn't work like that in the real world, you know.

During this time, I got married December 21st, 2014, to my wife now. and I kind of had to learn to be a man and to pay bills and yada yada yada right so it's just it's been like a it's been a good journey because I've been self-employed since then since 2014 I have been part of some very cool stuff. I have, let me stop saying, ah, man, because I'm a,

I said this in my, in my notes that I sent you. Like, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, okay? And I want to put that out there. It was convicted me, okay?

Because I kept saying, ah, I, none of this is me. I'm tearing up. None of this is me. Um, but it has been a good journey

to be able to be a part of making multiple seven and eight-figure businesses with an eighth-grade education and ten felonies and covered head to toe and tattoos. It is very special, and I want everybody to know that's watching this, man, if you have made it this far, what you're going through right now probably isn't going to matter in six months, man. Or what you've been through in your life, you cannot hold on to that as a crutch because it would keep you sick.

There comes a point in your life where you have to stop with the pity and the feeling sorry for yourself or thinking that you can't do this because you can do whatever you want to do. Brother, you've been on the same road too, man. You might not have been on crack at 13 years old, but you've got felonies. You know what I'm saying? And bro, listen, y'all, when I walked in this place today, it blew me away. I know y'all only see this room right here.

Bro. Like, I got emotional walking in here, seeing what you built. Like, that's amazing. Like, I want to tell you that man to man, bro, it is amazing. Everything that you're doing here is awesome. I appreciate you, man. Yeah, man, I appreciate you for the platform. You are doing great work.

And you are, I think you are helping a lot more people. I know a lot of people just see this as content. But you are helping a lot more people, I think, than you'll ever know. Yeah, I think it's more than just, I know, like, a lot of people do look at it as content, but I think when you break down to the root of a person could come and sit here and literally carry the whole conversation and talk on their own and tell their story and wherever that leads, it leads, you know? Yes, bro.

I think that's the power of it. You know, it's more like a, it's more therapeutic for the person. I think that's why people travel from all over because there's not that many podcasts where you could just sit down. There's not really an agenda, you know. I mean, I came from Tennessee, bro. Yeah. You know, I took two flights yesterday to get here.

Like, you were exact, you hit the nail on the head, bro. It is, I mean, I guess you could call it a safe space. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's why I don't push back with people. People in the comments will be like, oh, why didn't you ask this, this, that to push back and I think that's when people would be hesitant to come on. Yeah, I mean, you, you, you're doing exactly the right light. You give people the stage, man, and then you

interject when, when you feel the need, but like, it's super dope. And you have a super dope set up here. I'm grateful to be a part of it. All right, so getting back to, when I got out of the, I still had the cleaning thing going, and my wife was, uh, She was general manager at this restaurant. And the owner had been there like 10 years, right? It was a franchise. It's called Sauceritas. It's like a fresh mix grill.

The store had never been a million dollar store, okay? In 10 years. So he essentially told my wife, hey, you give me this much money every month and it's yours. So Sarah, she's like, hey. The catering sales suck. They're like $5,000 a month. Why don't you come in and be my catering manager? I was like, all right, cool.

So the first year we had it, I took the sales, catering sales from $5,000 a month to some months we was doing $50,000. Okay. Cranking it, bro. And this is where I kind of catch fire. Right? I'm like, okay, I can, I'm good at this. Like that's where I really started

Caring more about people and I say it all the time you catch more flies with honey than vinegar Right I'll stop being fake nice just to get something And I started being real nice No matter what Okay And that's got me everywhere in the world

Because now I don't I don't go up to each person with the agenda of just Wanted to stick my hand in their pocket right And that attracts more than anything So I did the store, the restaurant for a couple of years. And like it was a franchise, like I said. So the corporate came in. They tried to change stuff.

They try to cut my pay. They try to do all it is. Try to cut my white. Boom, boom, boom. So we get out of there in 2019. And I had gotten into the sneaker game a little bit before that, like buying and selling, a few pair here. couple pair of there. So when we walked away from that in 19,

I leased a building and opened my first sneaker store, which was Sneaker City. And then a couple of years, I opened another one across town. Then I meet some guys and we form who everybody that's watching this has probably seen. They're like, oh, that's a sneaker guy. Like the dude on the plane yesterday, like as soon as I get on the plane, the attendant. He's like, you want to flip for your seat? Like, he knew who I was, right? So we formed what was called Kiva-Doo Kicks. And the end of 2023, we ended up going mega-viral,

you know, thousands of times, probably, you know, 100 million views across all platforms. And I got really popular for like spending these large amounts of money at these sneaker shows. Ended up getting picked up by SneakerCon. They signed us. They paid for our travel, hotel, et cetera. Did that with these guys. So from September 23 to March of 25, did like $40 million in sales, sneakers and, you know,

streetwear, stuff like that, anything related to that area, man. during all these you know these past few years though like i've had two of my i call them my sisters right but i'm technically an only child so these are my cousins that i grew up with you know and we just always called each other brother and sister so both of them died at 35 one of them from alcohol one of them from fentanyl so my wife and i have uh uh adopted three of their girls. One of them when she was 13, she would be 20 next month. One of them when we've had one of them since she was like 10, she'll be 20 in June. Then the youngest of my seven, she will be six in May. And we took her stride out of the hospital.

So she was born opiate dependent, right? And so I had to have my sister in this rehab. And I know I'm jumping around back and forth, so just bear with me. But I had to have my sister in this rehab, and she was supposed to be, like, clean, and she got pregnant. And she had the baby, and the hospital called. A couple days later, they're like, hey, what's DCS actually called? You know, Department of Children Services? Like, hey, we know you have the youngest, or her sister, so can you take this baby? I said, no, heck no, I can't take no baby.

Like my youngest was five. Like my son was five. Like, I'm done with that. So that night, I get in the shower and I pray. And I say, God, use me how you want to use me. And I will listen. Next morning I woke up, I looked over to my wife. I said, hey, we're getting a baby.

So we got flower. And we've had her. And then, like I said, her mom passed away three years ago this month. it has been a wild, wild ride for me. Because growing up, like, like I said, I never had any aspirations to do anything whatsoever. And to go to prison and to get out and still not have any goals or any plan. And then God, like, came through.

He's like, man, I'm going to use you. if you'll just shut up and listen and stay still man so i've always known like he has had his hand on me because i've been in some very bad situations you know like i said i've overdosed you know five times i've been beaten the back of the head man i've been robbed i've robbed i've laid whole households down um i have been in a lot of situations man but he's always like he's always had his hand on me. And so fast forward to March of 2025 last year, the guys I was with, and I'm not going to go into too much detail because I don't want to be on here like I'm bashing people.

But the guys that I was with in the sneaker thing were pretty much using me and my image, right? and holding my money, and I'm not talking about $1,000. You know, I'm talking about, you know, six figures plus. And I found myself, like, going through this mental warfare, like, I see this, I see the CEO buying McLaren's when I'm owed, like, 180 grand, right? So I'm praying on it. I'm talking to my wife about it. God made it to where I got my money back, and I walked away from that in March of 2025.

Okay? I had no clue what I was going to do. Keep in mind I have a mortgage. You know, I have seven kids. I have a wife. I have two dogs. Like, I have a lot to provide for and a lot of financial responsibilities every day.

So I walk away from that end. And in March, I've always, like, you know, you notice I'll talk about God. So I've always known him. I've always been saved. But I've never been like a huge churchy guy, right? And so last April, I went to church just for Easter, right? Just for Easter. My yearly Easter church service to a new church right behind our house.

That service changed my whole life. I don't know what it was. I don't remember what it was about. I'm sure it was about Easter, right? I haven't missed a Sunday since. Okay. I felt like I was at home. And it's a bigger church.

Probably a thousand, you know, a thousand people plus in the service. But the way that Jeff, like, teaches and talks, It just, I don't know, man. It hit me and it stuck with me and I felt like home there. Let me not lie, I did miss one Sunday. My wife and I went to a Saints Titans game. I'm a huge Saints fan.

So two weeks ago, I went to the Saints Titans game, okay? It was on a Sunday. But we got tickets for our anniversary. Shout out to Mark Gray. But in April, man, he just, he spoke to me like I've never, heard right and since then i have stopped worrying about i've always chased a dollar since i've known what a dollar was that's consumed me my whole entire life bro nothing but a dollar something changed though last year he really grabbed a hold of me and he really started like working through

me like i you know like he orchestrated a turkey drive and thanksgiving man we fed 82 families full Thanksgiving meals like not not a plate I'm talking about turkey dressing macaroni and cheese green bean corn rolls pumpkin pie gravy like you know and I didn't have to buy a single thing man just donations me using my smaller platform so now that's like where where he has me like he just want I just listen bro and during this time like I've been was a lot bigger. You know, I've lost some weight. I've lost like 100 pounds. So I've started a, I own a peptide company now. So I'm in the peptide space, which allows me to kind of be home and present in my family life instead of traveling, you know, three to four weekends out of the

month to go to these sneaker cons and being stressed out all the time. That's why I told you when we first sit down, man, my life is great. Like, I don't. have any stress since I stopped just letting the dollar consume me because I'm like, yo, when is enough enough, right? Bro, I'm good, right? As far as my bills are paid, you know, I'm good, you know, like for the foreseeable future. And even when I started the peptide thing, like, it's like it has blown.

my expectations out of the water. But I know like it's me listening now and actually obeying instead of trying to do everything Justin's way because it never ended up right. It never ended up. I never felt fulfilled

off of the hundreds of the hundred million views, the $40 million in sales, people asking to take pictures with me, I never felt fulfilled. Because I was doing all that me and for my flesh and to feed an ego or whatever. It was never about anything else, man. So now it's like, it's totally different, man.

I can actually enjoy my life and just do what God leaves me to do and to love every single person that I come in contact with as I would love myself. that's that's all I know to to say about that like my whole life is different than it was a year ago and I thought I was cool you know we had all the month like you know we're cool but that I want to like money doesn't equate happiness for sure and I'm a I'm a firm believer in that now whereas you know growing up poor you know one new one new pair of shoes a year that's all you you think about it's oh man when i get when i get big you know i'm gonna have some money but that doesn't equate to true genuine happiness like them time with them kids that's what they remember they don't remember they're not going to remember this hot wheels car they're going to remember time i said all time in the videos that I do presence over presence you know P-R-E-N-C-E-N-C-E-N-T-S. Like a lot of these parents, busy parents try to buy their kids off and they're not going to remember

that, bro. They remember the times that you was there when you showed up, you know, for this or this or this, this ball game and this, like, that's what they remember, bro. Because I never had that either. My dad always worked. It was always chasing the dollar. At first, I didn't think it was real. I woke up to this blinding light, and I was transported to another place.

Pluto TV. Then I heard a voice. Come with me if you want to live. There were thousands of movies and shows, and they were all free. The truth is ours. It's just so beautiful. On Pluto TV, free streaming of Terminator 2, Fringe Arrow, the 100 NX files may cause excitement, loss of sleep, and sudden belief in a internet.

extraterrestrials, no credit cards or alien encounters necessary. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never. People are full of surprises, especially when you travel together. Thankfully, Verbo is not. When you book a Verbo, you get Verbo care and 24-7 live support, so your house doesn't surprise you like your friends might. If something's not as described or doesn't work, Verbo's there. Real people, real support. Anytime. Book today on the Verbo app. If you know, you Verbo. Terms apply. See Verbo. The crispy chicken sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'm crispy.

Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Like, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me, and baby, I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just $4. Quiet, no. Krispy, saucy, and $4?

Very. Only at 711. Valley 36-2326, participating stores only while supplies lastly, I never got to play any sports, which I really didn't want to, but I never had that opportunity. What happened to your parents? So, man, my mom is still alive. She lives in Johnson City. We're cool, you know. She's still out there. She broke down now, though. She's like 55, and you would think she's, you know, 80. You know, she broke down from being on drugs and drinking her whole entire life. Then...

Is she sober now? No. Uh-uh. So you don't have a relationship with her? No, no. Not a mother-son relationship. No. I think we're beyond that, though.

You know what I'm saying? Like, what we have, if she called, I said, like, I Western Union her money. You know what I'm saying? Not no thousands of dollars, though, you know, $50 here, $50. You know, I went down and bought her a new mattress and, you know, glasses and stuff like that. But as far as a mother's son, no, but I forgive her because without her, there's no me. Without me, my kids aren't here. Without me, these three girls that we adopted, they're in state's custody.

You know what I'm saying? So it's all for the, like I said, everyone isn't meant to be a parent. I believe that with my whole heart. Like, she carried me, she did her job for nine months, and the rest is history. But then, I got to be careful because I will cry. So my dad, who was literally everything to me, he was always big, you know, like overweight-wise. So in 2020, October 20th, or October 21st, 2020, I get a call from my auntie, who is now dead as well. At like 5 in the morning, and she never calls me, right, especially not that early.

So I answered a phone and she's like, I said, hey, what's up? And she's like, she's crying a little bit or whatever. And she was like, Justin, it's your dad. And it's like, what's wrong with it now? She's like, he's gone. I was like, bro, don't play with me like that or whatever. So then, like, once I comprehended it, I guess, like, my chest, man, I remember, like, to this, like, the feeling.

My chest just felt like it was like caved in. And I had this ceiling fan in my living room. And I'm standing under the ceiling fan. And I'm trying to breathe. And I literally thought I was about to die. Like no, I'm not exaggerating that. Like I thought I was about to die. I couldn't breathe.

So essentially he had a heart attack. at 56 years old. And it was just from years of being unhealthy and, you know, just eating. And he was probably like 450 when he died. He was a bit tall. He's like 6'4. But, you know, he had smoked for a bunch of years. And he had quit for a few years prior or whatever.

But he didn't really move around a lot. And he just, you know, he'd get sick and going to the hospital. and make it out. But this time, it was just like, it was his time, man. And worst day of my life by a long shot. Also, you can back up to, you know, I had a 14-day-old daughter that died, you know, oh, the middle of 0506 or something. But yeah, she came home from the hospital.

She died. She's born, what, January, 20,000. seven she died February 10th so 14 day old daughter died that's who i have a gracey tattoo right there like so there's there's some things that you know i just didn't get to in this uh in this story because i tend to to bounce around a little bit but um it has been a it's been crazy to say the least and when i lost my dad i i felt like i even though you know you know, I have a have a great marriage, bro. I was actually telling your girl before you got here, you know, we were just, we're talking,

and I posted on Facebook yesterday or whatever. I know there's no such thing as a perfect marriage, right? But if there was, I'd be in the competition, right? If Mr. Bees had a competition for perfect marriage, I'd be right. I'd be pretty darn close. I have a pretty near perfect wife. She's a preacher's daughter You know my father-in-law

Pastered for you know 40-something years And that's another thing like they've always My in-laws have always accepted me Like you know I've always had to keep their house And always been welcome Even the way I look and my felonies And so they've taught me a lot as well About you know loving people and

And things like that bro So I do. I have a solid, a solid life, man. At 39, I'll be 40 this year. And if you would have told me years ago that my life would be a half or a third or an eighth of what it is, bro, I pull it to my house sometime, right? I bought my first house three years ago.

Right. It's not like the biggest house, right? And I'm like that. But when I pull up to my house, I sit in my driveway sometime and I just admire my house. Not the thing of it. Not because it's a possession. But this is like my home, you know? This is my kid's home.

And I'm guilty of stuff, too. like I like cars and you know like you know so like I but I'm trying to get out of that and make it you know more less of my flesh and um but this is a tax write off so everybody knows um shout out high neck jewelry the the greatest jeweler on earth um but um I do man I sit in my driveway and I cry sometimes and I thank God for giving my kids a stability and a stable home and routine you know I have the greatest kids in the world too but my kids never talk back they never tell me no like never it's wild but because I'm not worthy of 99.9% of the stuff and

people that are in my life but I think it that makes it even more to me because I cherish them. Like my kids get told I love you more times than they should probably hear. You know, we pray together every night as a family. You know, we do our, we look in the mirror every single morning before I take them to school. We do what it's called our homework. So I get my five-year-old, so I only have three at home now. All my other ones are, you know, eight.

19, 19, 19, and 23. So I have three at home, my 12, 10, and 5. So we get in the mirror every morning in my bedroom. And we all look in the mirror and I started, I say, I am made in the image of God. And they repeat it. And I say, I am the glory of the Lord. And then I say, I am worth it.

I am enough. I am worthy. Like, we do these every morning, right? Just routine. and I feel like that's the most special thing in the world to me because I never had that. Like I would eat dinner sometime at 4 and sometimes I wouldn't eat dinner until 10 p.m.

You know, like I never had a routine. And as a parent, I feel like that's very special that your kids are coming home for the same home every day and we're eating dinner around the same time every day. and we're praying around the same time every night, and we're getting up for school, and we're doing the same things, and dad is taking them to school every day,

you know, every day, other than this morning and tomorrow morning, obviously. But dad takes them to school, and it's just things like that that I'm holding, the odor I get, I'm holding that more valuable than any type of stuff. because you can't take stuff with you, man, you know, no matter how hard we try. Ain't none of that going with us, bro. And when I do go, I want my kids to be like, yo, he valued us and time more than stuff.

You know what I'm saying? So that's kind of where I'm at in my older years. But again, it's a, it's a blessing to be a part of some of the things I've been a part of. and to, you know, I'm very business oriented. I love anything to do with people. So I've been, I've been fortunate, you know, to do some pretty cool things and to meet some very cool people. I mean, just like this right here, bro, like, this is very special to me to be here. And for you to allow me to use your platform to tell my story, right?

And I know this ain't your average. You know, I'm not in here stabbing people and all that. But I feel like people love and need a redemption story, man. And that's the hope that I'm trying to give to your audience. You know, I don't care if this does a million views. I don't care. I just want one person who is struggling right now with, you know, just getting out or, you know, thinking about going down the road that I went down.

That's what I prayed at the hotel. I was like, man, just let me one person. Just one. That's all I want is just for one person to see it and comment and be like, hey, bro, you help me. You know what I'm saying? And then my job is done. And it makes the early morning yesterday, the two flights, it makes it all worth it to me. You know what I'm saying?

Like, I don't look to gain. Like, I don't want followers. I've had all the followers in the world. I've had the views. I don't, I'm not on that search anymore. You know, if you need pet tops, hit me up. I'm just, but no, it's like, I'm not even, I'm not even. I'm kind of like, that was cool, though.

Don't get a twisted. Like, yeah, it was cool. But that's just not what even, that's not what I'm looking for now. I just want to try to make a difference and spread the word of God and meet some cool people while doing that. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's my end game, bro, is to help. And anybody watching this, man, my inbox is always open. I respond

And that's another thing I like about Ian He will respond to your comments And he will That's very very cool And I hope you always do that 100% Always bro People love that

And it lets them know you're human You know what I'm saying And But my inbox is always open as well You can find me You know on Instagram or TikTok But I'm always available and I respond to every message,

unless it's some weird stuff. Then I just delete it. But if it's like a serious thing, I am available to a fault, like to a fault sometimes, how I make myself available. But I'm right where God wants me to be at, bro. I believe that with my whole heart. I give all the glory to him.

I pray this morning also that I would not come on here and try to glorify my past or myself in any way. And I feel like he spoke through me through this whole process. Because I was, listen, I've done podcasts before, obviously, but for some reason, I was so anxious to come here. But as soon as I walked in out there, like as soon. Even out the door out there, like before I came in, I was like a little, you know, but as soon as I walked in, it was like, it's wild, man. That's awesome. It means I'm doing my job, right? You are, bro.

I am very honored to be a part of it. Like, you are going to do bigger things than you have already done, like, much, much bigger things. Thank you, man. I believe that with my whole heart. If my wife was here, you could ask her, like, I, I had this thing. I know I'm good with people. My job depends on it. Every job that I've ever had since, you know, being in business.

And there's a reason that I've been able to work for myself, you know, since 2014. You know, like, there's a reason that I've been able to build these brands. to seven and eight figures. It's not because I'm cool. It's just because I treat people, like people and love people. And I'm very, very good with them. Without being, you know,

I don't believe in that fake nice stuff. Yeah. Because you'd be fake nice once, you have to be fake nice. Every time you see this person, right? I believe in keeping it all the way real with somebody. And it pays off,

So catch more flies with honey than vinegar, bro. 100% for sure, for sure. Well, I appreciate you coming on the show today. Absolutely, bro. Yeah, this was a great conversation. I appreciate you having. And it was a pleasure to meet you. Yes, sir, man.

Thank you. Awesome. Yes, sir.