Meet Justin Johnson of Metro Living

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Johnson.

Justin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Like many others, the Johnson family found its way to Phoenix Arizona looking for a better life. What brought my grandparents here more than 50 years ago, is the same thing that brings people here today and what encourages them to stay – opportunity.

Regardless of who you are or what motivated you to come here, there is one constant in Phoenix: with hard work and determination, this is a city that enables you to prosper. My grandmother came here from the hills of West Virginia and began to make her way by picking cabbage in Laveen Arizona. My grandfather and his brother when they were very small boys hitchhiked across the United States, leaving the dark coal mines, looking for a better life. The common denominator between them was their determination to make life better and doing it, here in Phoenix.

I am a second-generation Phoenician, not a common thing in America’s fifth largest city. My wife Lauren and I are raising three children who represent the third generation of Johnson’s in Phoenix. That long history and continuity gives me a profound appreciation for the city of Phoenix and a keen family perspective on how it has evolved. Every day, I am grateful to have deep roots in this community of ours.

My family has built its life here working in construction. My grandfather and father started off hanging drywall. My brother and I spent our summers working for my dad and grandfather for $.50 an hour as young boys; scrapping houses, stocking drywall, and picking up left-behind nails on a long trail of job sites. Construction is a line of work that tests you, especially on the long hot days that are so common here in the Valley. That test is only overcome by hard work and succeeding gives you a sense of accomplishment.

That commitment to hard work extended to my grades in school and to the importance of education. In our family, if you weren’t doing one, you needed to be doing the other. Both my parents worked but were unwavering in their commitment to making education a priority for my brother and me.

One of our family’s great honors came when my father was elected Mayor of the City of Phoenix. I can remember taking the public bus to City Hall after school every day because my dad wanted me to do my homework in his office where he could make sure it was getting done. I knew that he valued his family and our education. Being Mayor was important, but being a father who continued to instill the values his father had taught him was even more important. My goal is to live up to his example.

After graduating high school, I went on to Occidental College in Los Angeles and majored in Economics. It was a great experience becoming an Oxy Tiger, but living in Los Angeles helped me develop a true appreciation for my home here in Phoenix. So, I came back home, met and married my best friend Lauren. We started a family together and today, with our three kids, we are raising them less than a mile away from the Sunnyslope home where I grew up.

That home was a small 800 square foot two bedroom house. In those years, Sunnyslope was a tough area, but also a place where hardworking families could afford their first home. Today, that opportunity has vanished for too many hardworking folks and families here in Phoenix. I watched as many people I grew up with and worked with had no choice but to move out to Buckeye, Avondale or Verrado in order to find a home they could afford.

Watching that phenomenon helped me decide to become a homebuilder. Construction and the trades were my roots after all – a natural step. I wanted to make certain that the Phoenix I knew and grew up it could still be a place with safe neighborhoods where people could raise a family and call home. I want to provide an opportunity for folks in all trades and professions, not only to work here but to fully enjoy living here as well.

And so, in 2005, I decided to start my own homebuilding construction company, focused on creating affordable opportunities in the City of Phoenix, knowing that we needed to do something to create entry-level housing not so different than the home I grew up in.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In 2005, I decided to start my own homebuilding construction company, focused on creating affordable opportunities in the City of Phoenix. It seemed like a great idea – until the great recession hit in 2008. It was one of the hardest times in my life, but it was also the best learning experience I have ever had. Lauren and I spent a morning, noon and night going back to the toil of my construction roots and grinding away to keep a roof over our family’s head and food on the table.

I don’t have a big company. I don’t have the assets that large homebuilders or public corporations have. But I discovered a secret that helped me be successful. I learned the key to being competitive and that was recognizing my company’s greatest asset — my employees, my subcontractors, and the hardworking people that work for me … and them. I learned that if you believe in people and invest in their ability to make a difference, they usually will live up to that belief tenfold. With my team, we succeed or fail together.

Metro Living – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Building entry-level housing in the City of Phoenix for young professionals. My company is not like any other homebuilding company in Arizona. We focus on our unique communities. Our architectural amenities. Our paint colors and interiors. I want my homeowners to be able to describe to people their house without having to say, “the third tan house on the right.” I want to give them the ability to say, “the blue house with the yellow door.” And most importantly, to be proud of their home.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The thing I am most proud of is the relationships I have built with each of my buyers. I am proud of the people that live in my community and honored to have them be a part of something special. I am also proud to be a father of three and husband to my wife Lauren Booth.

Contact Info:

• Address: 710 E. Roberts Road
• Website: www.encantolivinghomes.com
• Phone: (602)570-8656
• Email: sam.milleraz@gmail.com
• Facebook: @encantoliving

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