Founder

Justin started Hayworth because he believes that not just fair wages, but decent wages are at the core of a better-balanced future for humanity, and that these labor practices should become the norm. He hopes you share his passion and enjoyment for this beautiful ball.

Justin Lea was born in Austin, Texas, grew up in Lockhart, and attended Lake Travis High School. He played two college sports, soccer and baseball, at Grinnell College in Iowa (class of 2001), then studied sports law at Marquette University Law School.

He worked in corporate antitrust in Washington, D.C., then built a small law firm in northern New Mexico, with a broad civil practice and a criminal defense practice that ranged from misdemeanors to first degree felonies. He served on the Finance Committee for New Mexico Legal Aid, an organization dedicated to indigent representation.

He built the Taos Sports Alliance, which with the Town of Taos and the school district raised the funds for and constructed a FIFA 2-star artificial turf regulation field. For several years he served on and chaired the Taos Planning and Zoning Commission, and was president of the local youth soccer organization, more than 600 kids.

He studied sweatshop labor in the soccer ball industry in Pakistan, and drove around the world for two years, from Kuala Lumpur to London, in an old Land Cruiser. He came home to Austin in 2018, became CFO and a Managing Member of a restaurant group he had long been a partner in, and built a tequila brand that launched in the summer of 2022.

Late in 2018 he discovered a small village in Colombia. He and his team have spent the years since building prototypes, supply chains, and a small workshop that focuses on fair wages and the preservation of fine handmade soccer balls.