JJ Hampton is a Texas lady who wears many hats including mother, wife, real estate broker and 17-time World Champion cowgirl. Her life might be chaos but she manages to handle it all.
Hampton comes from a rodeo family, her father Johnny Wayne Hampton, was a steer wrestler, calf roper and team roper. She grew up around rodeo greats like Roy and Bill Duvall who Hampton and her sister would haze for when they were at the house.
“I grew a love for the sport. I always tried to go with them to pen cows and really they tried to leave me at home because I was such a pain in the butt and I always got in the way and something always happened when I was there with them. It was always funny for them but I always would beat them up and I’d make it outside and they had to take me,” Hampton said.
It all got started at the age of four. Hampton entered the flag race at her first rodeo and her career took off from there.
“I’ve always been pretty tenacious and head strong and believed in myself and always wanted to do it,” she said.
Two years later she started roping and although it was a rough start, she persevered and has added her name to the rodeo history books.
The family dynamic was all about rodeo. Hampton’s mother, Barbara, was a huge part of it all. She drove the kids to the rodeos, switched saddles when the kids shared a horse and more.
“My mom was a beast. There’s no other way to say it because she made it happen for us and worked hard to get it done,” Hampton said.
There were times when her grandpa would help too, a man that Hampton says was everything to her.
“I had the best grandparents in the world that treated us like we were kings and queens and took care of us. They molded me into a champion,” she said.
Hampton’s family foundation in rodeo is something she holds dear and it is a legacy that she continues to build on.
