James “Jay” Young is an aggregate of talents, all of which lend themselves to his creativity, ability and drive. James was born and raised in West Baltimore and left immediately after high school to become a global citizen. Having joined the Marines, he enjoyed a 12 year career which formed the foundation for a career in technology, management and networking. While a Marine (and always a Marine) he developed a strong ability to lead, through a number of formal leadership training courses & workshops and myriad opportunities to hone those skills.

After leaving the Marines, he immediately began contracting for two technology companies. When his talent, work ethic and leadership ability was recognized, he was hired permanently and within three years would become the US Manager of IT Support for over 4500 customers.  He would go on to hold two more management positions, which were more customer-focused, and would further develop his acumen for customer satisfaction and process development. Additionally, these roles would offer international business experience in Latin America, the UK and The Far East.

Having always been a creative under his corporate skin, he picked up photography as a hobby in late 2005. In 2006, he fully committed himself to mastering photography by aligning himself with working, professional photographers - his skill, both behind the story board and the lens, became apparent soon after. 

In mid 2009, his corporate technical career was interrupted due to the reorganization of the public company he’d worked for over a decade. Having planned for this a year or so earlier, James L Young Photography Inc. was formed in January 2009 to provide commercial photography & imaging for small to medium size businesses.  The company continues to specialize in commercial still and video image productions for print, advertising, promotions and more. 

Today, in addition to running his business, Jay Young is Creative Director of Aspire Online Media (AOM) and is responsible for the look and feel of nearly every outlet AOM produces for web and print.

Jay is a husband and father of two and resides in the Atlanta Metro area. He holds a BS in Computer Information Systems from Capitol University (U.K.) Additionally, he is a graduate of numerous leadership academies (to include Dale Carnegie) and is Six Sigma Yellow Belt certified.