Justin Miller
Justin Miller is our featured Artisan Cutter for this edition of the Moo Crew News. Born in Indianapolis on May 13, 1980 to Alexis and Nina Miller, Justin has four siblings: John, at Holy Cross School of Theology; Isaac, at Purdue; Hannah, married and living in Crawfordsville and his youngest sister, Lucy, adopted from China. Justin’s father is an Orthodox Priest, pastor of Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church and operates his own appliance repair business.
At the age of ten, Justin and his family moved to the Crawfordsville area in 1990 where they bought a 150 acre farm in an effort to distance themselves from urban living in Indianapolis and integrate into a local church community. Justin’s education consisted of: Montessori school in his primary grades, Boy Scout and Eagle Scout training, South Montgomery High School, and Purdue University where he earned a B.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources.
Fresh out of college Justin worked in the construction business for a local contractor. He met his future wife, Anne Lawrence of San Jose while at an Orthodox Young Adults Conference in December of 2000. They married in July of 2004 and started their family right away with a little girl. Looking for opportunities Justin moved his small family to San Jose, California where he made a living working construction and helping his wife’s parents. Apparently his Hoosier roots ran deep and kept calling him home since it was only sixteen months later when Justin and his family moved back to Indiana. His in-laws followed shortly thereafter. Justin’s family has grown and he and Anne have three beautiful children; six-year-old Nectaria, Jacob who is three, and little eight-month-old Peter.
As is often said, it is not just what you know, but who you know. And that is how Justin found Moody Meats. Justin was in search of a career opportunity when a family friend mentioned that Moody’s was looking for a butcher. This resulted in Justin landing at our Ladoga processing facility in August of 2008. Justin apprenticed as a Butcher’s Assistant and is currently involved in many aspects of production ranging from custom artisan cutting, to making our well known BBQ, pulled pork and ham salad.
Outside the Butcher Shop, Justin enjoys gardening, classical music, singing, prayer, walking, beekeeping, woodworking, investing and studying local and church history. He dreams of learning to fly, working with horses, and building his own house and hopes to one day establish an orthodox monastery in Montgomery County.
When asked what he enjoys about working at Moody’s Justin answers with a wry smile, “Working with really big knives.” He then adds, “Serving our patrons with the best meat around, the smell of freshly smoked hams, and providing exemplary customer service.”
Maybe you like the customer service or the top-quality meat, or maybe you just like guys with big knives. Whatever your pleasure, if you find yourself in our neck of the woods please stop by and say hello to Justin and the rest of the Ladoga Moo Crew.
