James is originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey and tries to return to visit family as much as possible. As an undergraduate, he received his B.A. from Rutgers University and returned to Rutgers to complete an M.A. in history in 2016. In between those degree, he worked full-time for more than six years at a supermarket in suburban NJ where he helped to manage a produce department. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in modern U.S. history and working on a dissertation that explores the history of supermarkets in American cities beginning in the 1960s.