Justin
Halladay has built a career across industries, working
for small businesses and global corporations alike. He’s been involved in
general IT, customer support, sales, education, and software development. His professional
expertise has steadily grown, built brick-by-brick over
more than a decade and a half. Climbing up the corporate ladder took a lot of
energy and time, but it was a challenge that Halladay ultimately didn’t back
down from.
You can see his dedication in his willingness to move
around the country for his career. In fact, he’s had quite a trajectory since he first started working
after high school. Having traveled to Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey,
Colorado, and Florida, he was ready to go anywhere there was an opportunity for
him to get ahead.
Halladay’s first
position was the World Trade Center, where he worked
for six years at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. After that, he left for
Jacksonville Beach, where he worked at a small development company. This would
lead to his role as a rollout manager in Denver for five years. He would end up
going back to his home state of New Jersey before heading to Philadelphia and
then back to Florida. That foundation has been the key to giving his entrepreneurial ventures a leg up in a competitive world. He delves more into this philosophy,
faith, and personal goals below.
How do you come up with your career ideas? What
inspires you to do what you do?
My career is ultimately a confluence of my skills and
interests. Education, IT, business development, customer support, sales teams:
on the face of it, they may not look very similar. However, I have a
perspective that allows me to see the big picture, which makes it possible to
excel in more than one area. Having the vision of a visionary is crucial.
What’s a typical day look like? What are your
personal tactics for making it more productive?
I think of my day as a triad: I’ve got my faith, my family
and my business. I’ve got three young children that are all homeschooled, so
it’s a complex operation for me at home. In other words, my days get pretty
busy.
To keep things a little more organized, the first thing we
do is start with worship. As a Christian, spending time with Jesus is extremely
important to me. That grounding experience sets me up for my next activity:
physical exercise. When my days are filled staring at a screen, it’s important
for me to have that release so I’m prepared to be stationary for a while.
Most days, I work with development teams, coordinating
everything from timelines to roadmaps. It’s definitely an exciting time for me
and my partners, one that’s stuffed with new projects and, of course,
opportunities behind them.
My boys finish school around 2 p.m., so I make time for
them when they wrap up their day. Thankfully, being an entrepreneur means space
to set my own schedule. That kind of flexibility ultimately means quality
family time for us all.
How do you get your ideas off the ground?
I surround myself with the right people. When I was
younger, I had a mentor tell me to befriend professionals who were smarter than
I am, and I’m so glad I followed that advice. Having that kind of network has
been invaluable to me because I don’t have to worry whether people are just
telling me what I hear.
If I pitch a terrible idea, my partners and friends are
going to tell me. It’s their feedback (plus my instincts and background) that
make it possible to evolve the seeds of a product or service into a
reality.
When you look at how different industries are
progressing, what’s the trend that excites you the most?
Technology and education. It was my first job at the World
Trade Center, but I had gravitated to it long before then. Even when I was
working in sales, I was focused on IT. This passion is bringing real solutions
to real problems, and it’s changing how we imagine the future. The best part is
that we’re really at the beginning of it all, so there’s a lot more on the
horizon for me and my company to be a part of.
If you had to single out one habit that makes
you more productive, what would it be?
That’s tough, but I guess I’d have to say it’s my
consistency. You can be truly great at something, but without that practice,
it’s just not going to take you that far. To really get results, be it in
family, eating habits, growing your professional network, you have to be
willing to keep showing up and doing the work — even when it’s the last thing
you want to do.
What would you tell your younger self?
Get the right people in your corner. I already talked about
how it helped to have the right network, but I cannot stress enough how
important it is to build those relationships while you have the chance. The
good news is that most truly successful people aren’t trying to keep you down.
They actually want to share what they’ve learned so that everyone can do a
little better.
What’s one thing that you believe that most
people don’t?
I believe it’s possible to earn a billion dollars, and not
just in an ‘I’m the next Elon Musk’ kind of way. This just isn’t something that
most people have their goals set upon because they don’t think it’s realistic.
I have my goals and they are most certainly set in stone.
What do you think all entrepreneurs should do
constantly to make them more successful?
Write down specific goals every day and look at them on a
regular basis. There’s something about seeing them that can make you more
successful, and I consider it a major component of building your wealth.
What’s a strategy that helped you get your
business going?
I have to say that finding a balance between consistency
and tenacity was my best tactic.
Name a failure of yours and tell us how you
overcame it.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a failure, but not having a
college degree wasn’t an easy place to start my professional life. I overcame
it by seeking out the education and experience needed to outshine the college
grads in the technology space.
What’s the best $100 you’ve spent recently and
why?
Efficient software. It helps me increase my productivity,
which is truly priceless to me.
Name a software or web service that makes you
be more productive?
NoteEvetything. Literally anything that helps me set goals,
make reminders, or jot down ideas is just so critical to perfecting better
habits.
What book do you think entrepreneurs should
read and why?
The Bible. No matter what you believe, there are a lot of
business solutions packed in the epic pages. Some of the best professionals of
our time were avid readers.
Tell us a favorite quote.
“It’s OK to be a copycat.” The key is that you have to
choose the right cat to copy. I also love “Success leaves clues.” It’s a nod to
the fact that achievements don’t actually come out of nowhere.
The Takeaways:
- Write down what you want to accomplish.
- Build a network of people you can bounce ideas off
of. - Believe in the power of consistency to get you where
you want to be.
