Justin Black has always preferred motion to stillness. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colo., this year’s 30 Under 30 Web Choice winner was more likely to be at a friend’s house or out being active than sitting alone in front of a TV. He was a good student, but spending hours at a desk in a classroom never really felt right.
That may be why Black never really settled into college, and it’s likely why he agreed when a childhood friend suggest they leave their respective schools after the first semester to work as missionaries in Spain. Black did that missionary work for about six months, then spent a summer in California working as a counselor at a camp for children with vision impairments or physical disabilities.
He tried college again after that, but it still felt like an awkward fit. That’s when Black’s father, an attorney who had started investing in rental properties, suggested Black earn his real estate license. Black didn’t necessarily think of real estate as a career path, but he quickly found something in the profession that addressed a deeper part of him.
“It’s hard to put into words, but the traditional route never really made sense to me because I needed to be out and about meeting people, creating opportunities and serving people in a way where I was always moving,” says Black. “Everything about real estate felt like the polar opposite of what I felt in the classroom.”
Black has spent much of his career so far working on teams in and around Colorado Springs, first with Keller Williams and later with REMAX and eXp. He loved knocking on doors. Loved building connections. Loved supporting people through challenging transactions. And he was good at it.
Working in that team environment was great for learning, but Black eventually started to feel burned out. He had relocated to Breckenridge, Colo., a Rocky Mountain resort town west of Denver, and he was looking for something to reinvigorate his interest in his work. He found that about a year ago when he went out on his own as an associate broker with LIV Sotheby’s International Real Estate. Black shifted his focus from first-time home buyers to luxury second homes, and he started building a business for himself rather than for his team leader.
“It’s been the best move that I could have made. I’m having so much fun, and I’m totally energized and reactivated,” Black says. “Looking back at the timing, I think it all just worked out the way it was supposed to. I’m thrilled to be independent and serve clients the way I want to serve them.”
Community Comes Through
With 10,832 votes in his favor, Black received nearly one-third of the 37,577 votes cast in this year’s Web Choice competition. That’s a remarkable reflection of the community he has built over the years, but Black almost didn’t pursue the honor at all.
Black’s brother died eight months ago, and more recently he lost a close childhood friend and his grandmother on the same day. Black had already seen so much support from friends in the form of GoFundMe donations for his 10-year-old nephew or meal trains for his family that he was reluctant to ask again. Once he did, though, he found a community that he’d spent so many years building once again eager to support him.
“I had people setting alarms and voting on multiple devices each day,” he says.
One friend’s mother, a cheerleading coach, recruited the moms of some of her cheerleaders’ moms to cast votes. She would text him every time they voted.
One longtime friend happened to have built what Black described as “a massive following” posting funny videos online. Once he learned about the Web Choice competition, that friend volunteered to reach out to his social media audience. Black estimates that support accounted for one third of his total votes.
“I’ve spent so much time planning funerals and trying to be the glue that holds things together, I honestly wasn’t sure I wanted this award,” Black says. “This year has been a rollercoaster, but seeing the work I’ve put into building community pay off with this kind of support has been incredibly rewarding. It’s a true honor.”
