BIO

Long Bio

Honored by Forbes, Black Enterprise, and the UNCF Hall of Honor. Named to Memphis's 40 Under 40. Given the Key to the City by his hometown of Rossville, Tennessee, not for one thing, but for all of it.

Justin D. Key is an actor, bestselling author, speaker, educator, and entrepreneur whose career has never fit neatly into one lane. Rooted in Memphis and shaped by Los Angeles, he has spent nearly two decades building a body of work across entertainment, business, education, and the pursuit of one question that has followed him through all of it: Where can curiosity take you if you're willing to follow it?

On screen, his credits include Netflix, BET, Comedy Central, PBS, and Amazon Prime, alongside national campaigns for Walmart, Ross, and Burlington. Nearly two decades into the industry, acting remains the craft at the center of a creative life that continues to expand beyond it.

Beyond the screen, Justin is the founder of Black Theorem Co., where he works with Fortune 500 companies, universities, and organizations on leadership, curiosity, career reinvention, and organizational culture. His work in higher education spans more than a decade, including eight years at AMDA College of the Performing Arts and his current role teaching at USC's School of Dramatic Arts.

He is the bestselling author of Mind Control and The Pursuit of Curiosity, the latter earning a CIPA EVVY Award nomination. His writing and research explore curiosity not simply as a personality trait, but as a discipline for navigating work, identity, creativity, and change.

As a keynote speaker, facilitator, and host, Justin has carried that work to audiences nationally and abroad, from Fortune 500 companies and HBCUs to stages in Seoul, Tokyo, Guangzhou, London, and beyond. His insights have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, and Black Enterprise.

At the core of all of it is a belief he lives by: Curiosity isn't a distraction. It's direction.