Interview with Justin Halladay — Entrepreneur Resources

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.

Originally published at https://www.entrepreneur-resources.net on March 25, 2022.