From trading stocks and shares to founding a tech company that works with thousands of clients in more than 25 countries around the globe, James Smith has found success across multiple arenas.
The common thread that links the varied aspects of his life is the educational institution where he worked, studied for two degrees and has now been made in Honorary Doctor – Staffordshire University.
A vocal supporter of the University over many years, Jamie credits Staffs with transforming his life chances and fuelling his thirst for success.
“It’s impossible for me to overestimate how much Staffordshire University has changed my life,” he said. “The impact of Staffordshire University runs throughout my life, even down to my personal life because I met my wife here.”
Jamie’s early life, in Mow Cop in Staffordshire, was tough. His mum was a single parent with a disability and Jamie got his first job at the age of nine, showing early entrepreneurial flair by subcontracting some of the work to other children.
No one from his family had been to university before and Jamie didn’t initially think it would be the right route for him. He took a job at an engineering firm in Stoke-on-Trent but soon knew it wasn’t for him.
“I realised that education was going to be my way out of that situation and that I should have stayed in education for longer,” he said.
Watching the film Dead Poet’s Society gave him the inspiration to take Literary Studies at Staffordshire University.
“I decided I was going to be Robin Williams and inspire kids. I based my future career plans on a film! Once I was at university I quickly realised that what I was really interested in was people. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with that, but I’d built some great relationships.”
Jamie stayed on at Staffordshire University after he graduated. He had done some work experience in the accommodation office and was offered an admin role. “I loved it and I loved the people I met at the University,” he said.
He was quickly promoted and ended up in the strategic planning office working closely with the then vice-chancellor, Christine King.
Alongside his day job Jamie was developing an interest in the internet and technology. He started selling items on the internet and ‘dabbling’ on the stock market.
“I’d work at the University and then go home and run my online empire,” he said. “I’ve never looked back. I’ve been involved with ventures that failed along the way too. Some start-ups didn’t take off and others did.”
C-Learning is one of Jamie’s ventures that did rather more than take off – it went global.
Founded by Jamie in 2011 it is now a Google Premier partner and was the first technology specialist to introduce chromebooks to education in the UK.
He is the co-founder of Statistics24, a google analytics company which supports new technology start-ups, working with entrepreneurs to develop their businesses.
In 1999 Jamie returned to Staffordshire University as a student once again, to study for an MBA. He says this gave him a growth mindset and skills that he now uses every day.
The University isn’t the only educational institution to have benefited from Jamie’s dynamism. He has also worked at Birmingham Metropolitan College and at South Staffordshire College, leaving a legacy of positive transformation at each.
He was Chair of the Governors of a Staffordshire school for five years and Trustee for the Alpha Academies Trust.
Openminded to opportunities to change outcomes for young people, he recently became a trustee of the Friends of Staffordshire Army Cadet Force.
On being made an Honorary Doctor of Staffordshire University, Jamie said: “This genuinely means more to me than any other thing I’ve achieved in my professional life. It’s something I hold in the highest regard. To be recognised means more than anything else.”
He added: “I believe that education is the most powerful force to change the world.”