Meet Justin Householder Sr | Artist + Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Justin Householder Sr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I started my career a little unorthodox. I was in the military at the time stationed on Oahu and wasn’t too sure after 10 years of service if I wanted to continue my career in the Marine Corps or try something new. I was running out of time to decide so I made the split decision to leave the service and figure out a new career. I was fortunate enough to have about 4 months of paid time off saved up so I felt comfortable trying to figure out what my next career would be. I was going from job fair to job fair interviewing at random companies but never felt passionate about the jobs I was finding.

It was actually pretty funny how I fell into the beauty industry. I was leaving a job fair disappointed as usual and on the radio I heard an ad for a local barbershop school. The ad was so outdated and cheesy sounding I even remember laughing thinking how bad the ad was but it was enough to entice me into giving them a call. To my surprise, when I called they said they were doing tours that day so I drove across the island to make their next tour to check them out. I really didn’t have an interest in the hair or the beauty industry at the time and I had zero experience but I’ve always loved working with my hands and thought I could express my creative side in this field. I had no intention of enrolling that day but it sounded like something fun and I’m pretty impulsive so I said f-it and enrolled without even thinking it through. I attended Hawaii Institute of Hair Design at the end of 2016 and honestly my experience there was amazing. The staff were always supportive and I learned a lot but I hated it. I wasn’t very good and didn’t know a bobby pin from a round brush so I struggled being a Marine Corps Veteran who never played with barbie dolls.

After I graduated from barber school I really wanted to pursue a different career so I went back to Hawaii Pacific University to finish my MBA while I got a job doing hair at The Black Cat Salon in Kailua, HI. It was at The Black Cat Salon that I really fell in love with doing hair and decided to stay within the industry. The culture of the Black Cat was unlike any other I have ever experienced and honestly I have adopted many of its practices into my own culture mindset. It’s Unfortunate that the salon closed down because of COVID but the mark it left on the industry still remains.

While I was at The Black Cat Salon, I grew my skills and rose to one of the salon’s top performers and an in-salon educator. Because of this I was presented the opportunity to move to Colorado and work at Centre Salons as one of their salon managers and since then I have been promoted to be our General Manager and Creative Director. Being Centre Salons Creative Director has really allowed me to express my more creative side and fall even more in love with what our industry has to offer! It was this opportunity that was the drive for me to start my own business, Unortho Creatives with my business partner Michael Trey. Unortho Creatives is an all-in-one brand marketing business but it’s also a mindset! We’ve trademarked the term “Think Unortho” as our main motto to teach our clients to think outside the box and tap into their most creative and unique selves to represent their brand!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This one’s hard, there’s so many good spots in Denver and I have a pretty good appetite 😆

One place I’ve been going to more than most recently is a dim sum restaurant called Star Kitchen. They’re not the recommendation you’d expect but if you like authentic Asian cuisine then look no further! Their pecking duck appetizer is one of my favs and I’m a sucker for chicken feet 😅

One of my fav things to do when someone comes to Denver tho is take them to a sporting event! Denver has all the pro teams which makes it easy to attend one but my fav is probably the Rockies or Avalanches!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve had many mentors over the years, some more than others and all of them in their own unique ways but my biggest mentor in life will always be my father.

My parents were both teen parents and definitely learning and making mistakes along the way, but they always provided for us. See my mom was a stay at home parent with the four of us children and my dad busted his self-doing construction work. My dad would easily put in 60+ hours a week to put food on the table, clothes on our back and have just enough to spoil us where they could.

One of my core memories of my father will always be him making every single one of my sporting events. He would always be coming straight from work, a lot of the time in his dirty work clothes but he was always in the stands cheering us on.

Looking back at it all you can see the struggle they went through but we never felt it as kids. They spoiled us where they could and always made sure we had what we needed and then some but they were present. I never asked for much as a child but seeing how hard my dad would work to support us and still want to come watch me play after a long days work was the most impactful thing I have ever experienced in my life.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/nomadjustin

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinhouseholder/

Image Credits
Michael Martinez