Professionally, Jim is a product management and product marketing consultant, working with clients in the areas of marketing strategy, product planning, branding, marketing communications, and organization design and staffing. He also holds adjunct faculty appointments at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (San Antonio campus) and Concordia University in Austin. He was the Director of Corporate Product Management for Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based provider of election systems and public document management systems and services.

Previously Jim was Director of Product Management and Marketing and a founding shareowner at VTEL Products Corporation, a videoconferencing systems manufacturer in Austin. He has also held product management and marketing positions at Lucent Technologies, AT&T, and Intel Corporation. Jim began his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric and advanced to positions in business development and product planning at several GE businesses.

Jim completed GE's Edison Engineering Program, Advanced Course in Engineering, and Manager Development Course. He is an Honors College graduate of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, where he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering. Jim also has a Master of Business Administration degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.