My name is Justin Murphy, I was born and raised in Dallas, TX. I grew up my whole life playing sports. Everything from baseball, soccer, track, cross country, skateboarding, powerlifting, football, and CrossFit. Sports were always something that I gravitated towards. Ever since I was three years old, I just couldn’t seem to get enough. As the years went on, I began to become more and more interested in the human body. High school was when my fascination with anatomy and physiology really took off. I became obsessed with the way I looked, what I ate, and how I performed. Between football, baseball, track, powerlifting, and school I stayed pretty busy through high school. I remember walking into the local supplement store at least once a month to pick up whatever the “expert” sales guy told me to take to get stronger and perform better. Everything from protein, pre-workouts, prohormones, and whatever else would make me better. I had no clue what I was buying or what I was putting in my body. I was too young and naive to think about the possible side effects. I was basically just a young kid getting taken advantage of. Side note, I also used to think bulking up meant eating five chicken burritos from Taco Bell each day.
Fast forward to my senior year of high school, I received a scholarship to play college football. My dream that I had been working for had finally come true! I was so happy. I literally didn’t even care what school it was, I just wanted to say that I played college football. I felt like I was on top of the world! I felt like I was invincible and that’s when my luck all changed. Over the next few months, everything that I had worked so hard for soon began to slip away. My ego got the best of me. I lost focus on what really mattered in life. I became selfish. I started to prioritize impressing other people and I lost focus on the things in life that really mattered. How could a kid that with such a bright future throw it all away? Well, almost…
My senior year through the end of my first semester in college were some of the darkest times of my whole life. I started getting into drugs. I started to live for the party scene. I became one very selfish individual. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was locked up in jail. That’s when my life changed forever. I had been living the fast life for the last year and a half and now my whole world came to a complete stop. That night, I was walked back to my jail cell after interrogation only to meet my cellmate who was serving 8 years for stabbing two people. As an 18 year old kid, scared was an understatement. I hadn’t been to church in years, but that night I grabbed a bible and I read it all night. I prayed for forgiveness and I promised God that I would completely change my life around if he would give me the opportunity. I promised that I would dedicate my life to helping others. I promised that I would become selfless instead of selfish. My life was forever changed that night.
The next morning, I had received notice that my bail was set at $10,000. A few hours later, I got word that my parents had posted bail and I would be scheduled for my court date at a later time. I was in shock. I had so many emotions, all I wanted to do was cry. My parents drove all the way to Kansas to bail me out without any hesitation. Facing my parents that afternoon was one of the toughest moments of my life. I could see the hurt in my parents hearts. I could see how disappointed they were. I could see how bad I had let them down. I could see how I dishonored my family.
The next nine hours were filled with tears, questions, and most of all love. My parents welcomed me back with nothing but love. I couldn’t even imagine being in my parents shoes. The worst part of going home was facing my little brother and sisters. I was eight years older than them. They looked up to me, I was there rolemodel. They asked why? I had no answer. From there, the rumors continued to spread. Before I knew it, I was in complete darkness again. I felt so lost, so unmotivated, and honestly worthless. To go from a popular college football player to then what other people described as a loser who through away his gift was one of the lowest points in my life. My confidence and self worth had gone from sky high to non existent. After I got over feeling sorry for myself, I decided to take action. I decided that I refuse to let my past define me. I decided to follow through with my commitment to God. I decided to dedicate my life to helping others.
At this point, I had no idea how I was going to do this. A few days later, I was working out at 24 hour fitness when one of the trainers asked if I wanted to start working out with them. The next day I jumped in. After the workout, that same trainer asked, “why don’t you become a personal trainer?” I thought to myself, what is a personal trainer? Over the next month I studied for my first personal trainer certification and ended up failing it. I was devastated. I thought that I just wasn’t made out to be a trainer. With a little motivation from the other trainers, I decided to retake the test a month later and passed. From there, the rest is history.
Almost ten years later, I am more passionate and hungrier than ever to help as many people in this world as possible through nutrition & lifestyle coaching. I have learned so much since I got started back in 2010. I have made so many mistakes, but have continued to fail forward. I have helped thousands of people truly discover how to live their best life. I believe that this is the platform that God instilled in me that dark dark night when I thought my life was over. I truly believe that this is my purpose in life. I truly believe that I have been gifted with the ability to empathize with anyone in the world because I had to completely rebuild my own life, physically and emotionally. I had to block out the noise, put my head down, and become the best nutrition and lifestyle coach in the world.
I couldn’t be more thankful for this second chance at life. You see, we define our own legacy. Everyone makes mistakes, especially out a young age. I could have let that lowest low define the rest of my life. But I didn’t. You see we have one life, one opportunity to live the best life. Helping others discover how to live their best life has become one of the most rewarding “jobs” in the world. I absolutely love what I do. I’m on a mission to change the world. Everyone deserves to live their BEST LIFE!
THANK YOU!