Named to the 2026 NAR 30 Under 30

Reflections on a decade in Colorado real estate, an act of generosity from 10,822 people, and a year that asked harder questions than I expected.

Gratitude is the only place I know how to start.

I've been named to the 2026 NAR 30 Under 30, a recognition by the National Association of Realtors honoring thirty real estate professionals under thirty who demonstrate excellence in business, leadership, and community impact. From 280 applicants nationwide, thirty are named. I am one of them, and the only finalist from Colorado in this class.

The voting moment

I want to acknowledge something that humbled me deeply.

During the public voting period, 37,577 total votes were cast across all fifty finalists. Nearly one-third, 10,822, were cast for me.

I have no other way to describe that except as an act of generosity from people who chose to give their time and support to someone they believe in. I don't take that lightly. I won't forget it.

A milestone for LIV Sotheby's International Realty

This recognition also marks the first time in LIV Sotheby's International Realty history that a nominee has been named to this class.

That milestone belongs as much to the brokerage, the people within it, and the culture they've built as it does to me. The freedom to do this work the way I believe it should be done, with deep market knowledge, genuine investment in clients, and an unwillingness to cut corners in a market that doesn't reward them, has been made possible by being part of a brokerage that values those things at the level it does.

What this moment means personally

I want to say something honest.

The past year has included more grief than I anticipated. Loss that arrived in different forms and asked things of me I didn't always know I had.

What I found in those moments was a community that showed up without being asked. Colleagues, clients, mentors, and friends who extended grace and stayed present. That is not something I take lightly, and it is something I think about when I look at a number like 10,822.

To receive this recognition while still carrying some of that season with me, it lands differently. It means more because of it.

Ten years in Colorado real estate

June will mark ten years in Colorado real estate for me.

My first full year as an independent broker with LIV Sotheby's International Realty has been defined by the same things that brought me into this work in the beginning: deep market knowledge, genuine investment in the people I serve, and a refusal to do this job in a way that compromises the trust clients place in their broker.

The Summit County and Colorado Springs markets I focus on, Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Fairplay, the broader Front Range luxury segment, reward operators who treat the work as a craft rather than a transaction. The clients I'm fortunate enough to represent expect that, and they deserve nothing less.

What this means for clients I work with

A recognition like this is meaningful primarily because it reflects a standard of work the people who entrust me with their real estate decisions have come to expect.

For buyers and sellers I'm currently working with, and for those considering engaging me on a future transaction, the recognition changes nothing about the day-to-day commitment. The level of analysis, the discretion, the responsiveness, the willingness to tell hard truths when the situation requires them: those are the things that matter, and they are the things I will continue to bring to every client engagement.

This recognition belongs to them, and to everyone who has been part of building this.

Thank you.

Justin Black LIV Sotheby's International Realty 719-684-3329