James Cooley a motivational speaker and a retired Navy Officer (23 years) was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is a community activist, dedicated speaker, husband, and father. He is the Host of the National Live Radio/Podcast The James Cooley Show…IT’S YOUR LIFE. He is the author of “Country Boy, City Boy, A Journey, That Ain’t Over Yet” (2020) & Audiobook narrated by James Cooley (2021), The Book of Knowledge: “Your Pathway to Enlightenment (2015), My Path (2014).
James is the President & CEO of JC Cooley Innovation Solutions, LLC, and The JC Cooley Foundation Options & Opportunities / The Choice Program.
Cooley began his Navy career as an enlisted sailor. Through hard work and extreme dedication to excellence, James worked his way up through the enlisted ranks to reach the rank of E-9, Master Chief Petty Officer, prior to closing out his enlisted record after 15 years. James Cooley was then selected and served as a US Navy commissioned officer for 8 years and obtained the rank of Lieutenant (LT/03E). After 23 years of military service, Cooley retired and worked for the U.S. Government and DOD aerospace industry and started his own company as a U.S. government contractor.
James was presented with the 1992 Senior Enlisted Admirals Gallery and Renken Award of Merit for the Cooley Fitness show breakfast tutoring program for underprivileged and academically at-risk students, the first of its kind in the USA. James was selected as one of the first George H. Bush’s One-Thousand Points of Light recipients for outstanding community service.
He was awarded and the recipient of the ABC Channel 10 Salute to San Diego Military Heroes Award for the April 2015 special airing on ABC 10 and ABC.com (worldwide) on 18th May 2015.
James is currently, a dedicated business owner, motivational speaker, author, and community activist whose primary focus is on our Youth development. He has been the featured guest speaker for several major companies, the U.S. military, various Rotary Clubs, churches, Boys and Girls Clubs, several high schools as well as middle schools, and local community events.
James is a Doctoral Student at Concordia University (E.D.D. Transformational Leadership). His educational background includes a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Central Michigan University, Executive MBA Masters Certificates, and an Executive Master Certificate in Transformational Non-Profit Leadership and Management from the University of Notre Dame. He graduated From Villanova University with several Masters’s Certificates in Six Sigma (Black Belt Certified), Lean Enterprise Solutions, Applied Project Management, Masters in IS/IT Project Management, Masters in Information Security Management – GOVERNMENT, Masters in Information Systems Security, and Masters in Organizational Leadership
He resides in Temecula, California, and Fort Worth, Texas with his wife of 14 years Michelle.