What do you get when you mix the Eurovision Song Contest, 22,000 keyword combinations for duvets, and two decades of digital marketing? You get James Ullman—VP of Sales at NP Digital, former BBC/ITV/Sky producer, singer, charity founder, and self-confessed “generalist who knows enough to be dangerous.”

On this episode of The Struggle Bus, Vinny O’Brien sits down with James to talk about:

• Why sales isn’t a dirty word—and why empathy still beats algorithms.

• How imposter syndrome and performance can weirdly co-exist.

• The evolution of digital marketing from Yahoo! and Periscopix to today’s AI-fueled, “search everywhere” world.

• Why careers aren’t linear, they’re more like Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody—full of chaos, solos, and sudden shifts.

James shares honest reflections from 20+ years in the trenches, from TV studios to agency boardrooms, and proves that the real “secret of life” is still pretty simple: talk to people.

🚍 Hop on the Struggle Bus for grit, laughs, and some unexpected life lessons.

Struggle Bus Ep 6 Dropped: Some guests talk about ecommerce like it’s a spreadsheet. Scott Lux talks about it like it’s a song. 🎶 On our latest episode, Scott (EVP Global Ecomm & Tech at Esprit) reminded me why I started this podcast in the first place: to capture the real human side of retail and technology. Not just the KPIs, not just the jargon, but the lived experiences that shape how we show up in this industry.

Scott grew up in Dallas, Texas, in his dad’s lighting store. Before “big box,” before Home Depot, before Amazon. Just a shop on the high street where half the business was B2C (families coming in to buy lamps for their homes) and the other half was B2B (homebuilders needing fixtures for projects).

Weekends for Scott meant sweeping floors, carrying boxes out to customer cars, and watching his dad build relationships one handshake at a time. When his dad splashed out on a half-page ad in the Dallas Morning News sports section, Scott remembers seeing the family business side by side with the Dallas Mavericks , a reminder that retail is as much about belonging in culture as it is about selling.

And right across the street? A record store called Sound Warehouse. That’s where Scott discovered punk, heavy metal, and the thrill of finding music that wasn’t on FM radio. His first CD was Led Zeppelin IV.

What did we learn from Scott?

💡 That retail relationships outlast any tech stack. His dad’s lessons about knowing customers, looking after staff, and building trust still apply, whether you’re running a lighting shop in Dallas or a global fashion brand.

💡 That slowing down beats rushing ahead. Scott sees “first-mover advantage” as overrated, whether it’s AI or ecommerce tools, moving fast without purpose is just asking for injury. Like running a marathon, you have to train, grind, and embrace the bad days.

💡 That technology should enable, not replace, thinking. His contrarian take on AI is simple: it’s not that he’s against it, but he’s against outsourcing our brains. Retail is complex, but we’re the ones making it overcomplicated by chasing shortcuts.

💡 That humility matters more than ego. He leads with transparency, curiosity, and ownership. In his words: “Not every day is going to be a winner. But you put the work in, and the reward is greater when you do struggle and get through it.”

This episode of The Struggle Bus is one you won’t want to miss. 🎧

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Hop on. 🚍

#TheStruggleBus #retail #ecommerce #leadership #technology #AI #storytelling

🚨 We weren’t supposed to drop this episode yet. But when a guest is this good, you don’t wait. You hit publish. 🚨

Welcome to Episode 7 of The Struggle Bus: Profitability, Product-Market Fit & Everything in Between with the brilliant Jamie Roller.

Sometimes conversations meander. This one did not. Jamie came armed with lived experience, brutal honesty, and more clarity than most brand decks ever manage. She’s sat in consulting trenches, battled burnout, scaled global brands, and found her way into the chaos and opportunity of marketplaces. And what came out of our chat? Gold.

Here’s a taste of what we covered (and why you’ll want to listen on your next commute, dog walk, or doom-scroll break):✅ Burnout isn’t the end — it can be the trigger that reshapes your leadership style.✅ Profitability without product-market fit is possible… but short-lived.✅ The “ownership mindset” isn’t a LinkedIn buzzword; it’s what separates average teams from great ones.✅ Being Irish (or South African) is a networking currency. Use it wisely.✅ Transparency > ego. Every. Single. Time.✅ Virality isn’t strategy. But if you take enough shots, some will land.

Jamie’s take on leading with humility, keeping KPIs sharp, and refusing to pretend that ambiguity doesn’t exist — it’s the kind of perspective that makes you stop, rewind, and think: why aren’t more leaders this candid?

We also dug into the big structural questions brands are wrestling with right now:– What does internationalisation really look like when tariffs, supply chains, and time zones collide?– Why is profitability still treated like an afterthought in some corners of ecommerce?– And how do you actually build teams that can thrive at the pace marketplaces demand?

This one hit differently. So much so that we decided to bring it out early. Because The Struggle Bus is about one thing: cutting through the nonsense and surfacing conversations that make you smarter about how this industry really works.

And because no good bus runs without fuel — we’re opening up sponsorships for future episodes. If you’re a marketplace operator, a SaaS vendor, or a tech platform looking to get in front of senior commerce leaders who actually care, now’s your chance to ride shotgun. Title sponsorships, segment mentions, and community exposure via our partner network are live.

The Struggle Bus isn’t just a podcast. It’s a platform for the brutally honest conversations this industry desperately needs.

Hop on. 🚍

#TheStruggleBus #ecommerce #marketplaces #growth #leadership #podcast