{"id":21261,"date":"2022-06-08T04:46:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T11:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.parsons.com\/?p=21261"},"modified":"2022-12-20T16:43:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T21:43:33","slug":"an-open-mind-is-a-prerequisite-to-an-open-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.parsons.com\/2022\/06\/an-open-mind-is-a-prerequisite-to-an-open-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Mind Is A Prerequisite To An Open Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Innovation<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Justin Hampton leads with an open mind. As senior counsel for our Mobility Solutions and Connected Communities groups, his natural curiosity, compassion, and adventurous spirit make him a skillful problem solver. In just the two-and-a-half years he\u2019s been with us, his role has expanded from negotiating smaller contracts to integrated project delivery, design-build, and joint venture deals, and to the environmental and energy sectors. In record time, he\u2019s worked with his mentor, Leanne Rogers, our chief labor and employment attorney, to rapidly progress in his career and achieve his goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin says, \u201cLeanne and I began having regular meetings over the phone, and she helped me track my progress and provided guidance on how to achieve the goals I set for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he\u2019s very clear about where he wants to go in his career now, he didn\u2019t always know law was his passion. A high achiever in math and science throughout his education, he used to think he\u2019d have a career as an architect or construction engineer. However, once he got to NC State and took a course called Legal Aspects of Contracting, where lawyers came to his class to share their day-to-day lives in dealing with construction contracts, the law-school seed was planted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from NC State, he went to work for an engineering company as an estimator and scheduler. He even spent some time in the field after Hurricane Katrina. However, a couple of years later, he enrolled in law school at Campbell University\u2014on a full scholarship. After graduating, and passing the bar, he spent time working as an assistant attorney general for the North Carolina Department of Transportation and practicing construction litigation with a couple of regional law firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin, an only child, credits his mom for his success, saying, \u201cShe\u2019s always been the guiding force in my life. She always stressed education as I grew up and poured all of her effort and energy into me, pushing me to excel at whatever I was doing.\u201d Justin\u2019s mom, Patricia, was a schoolteacher and single mother (and often worked two or three jobs to make ends meet), and the first in her family to go to college. She understood, more than anyone in Justin\u2019s life, the value of a good education. Justin blossomed under her guidance to become the second person in his family to go to college. He also learned other valuable lessons from her, like the importance of an optimistic attitude and seeing the best in people. \u201cMy mom taught me compassion and how to do my best in every situation,\u201d he says. \u201cShe taught me that doing so creates opportunity that leads to a better work product and helps me become a better human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That compassion came in handy when, as a junior in high school, Justin and his girlfriend, Danita (now his wife), were pulled over by the police, told to lie face down on the asphalt, and interrogated. The couple, who didn\u2019t understand why they were pulled over, were eventually let go after the officer concluded there had been no wrongdoing. Both Danita\u2019s and Justin\u2019s parents later filed a complaint with the police station because they felt the kids had been treated unfairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would\u2019ve been easy, then, to lose faith in law enforcement, but because Justin\u2019s a glass-half-full guy, he actually joined a program at school the following year where students were paired up with a police officer and allowed to shadow them by going on ride-alongs. Officer Clayton, the man he was partnered with, developed such an intimate rapport with Justin that he became a kind of father figure for him. Through that experience, Justin was able to understand the complexities regarding race and policing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were times, Justin says, in his career where he\u2019s been underestimated or undervalued, but maintaining an open mind and heart has allowed him to overcome those challenges and find his way to a company where he\u2019s appreciated for his talent and expertise. \u201cWithin the workplace, you need to have a space where you feel like you can share ideas, and be your authentic self, and reach a level of understanding with people from all walks of life, and I\u2019ve found that at Parsons,\u201d Justin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin\u2019s successful not only because of his ability to connect with everyone but also because he\u2019s the first to raise his hand when presented with a challenge.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He says, \u201cI’m the type who, if my manager asks, \u2018Who can take this on?\u2019 my hand immediately shoots up, even if it\u2019s something I\u2019ve never done before. I’m always open for trying to expand my horizons, and I\u2019m not afraid to take a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe that\u2019s why he and his wife love mountain biking, traveling, and teaching their two children, Emerie and Maxton, to be go-getters. Maybe that\u2019s why he\u2019s able to approach every opportunity with a fearlessness that propels him forward in his professional and personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe it\u2019s that kind of open mind that paved the way for the open heart that Justin has become known for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Hampton leads with an open mind. As senior counsel for our Mobility Solutions and Connected Communities groups, his natural curiosity, compassion, and adventurous spirit make him a skillful problem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":21263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"286,762,764,770,773,778","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10756,7716],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employeestories","category-critical-infrastructure"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Open Mind Is A Prerequisite To An Open Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Take an inside look at one of our employee\u2019s journeys 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