MY STORY — JOEY JAMES
WHO THE HELL IS
BIG BRO JOE?
There wasn't one masterplan. There were opportunities, failures, pivots and lessons. This is the lot of them.
THE SHORT VERSION
NO MASTERPLAN. JUST WORK.
Joey James is a British entrepreneur with a career spanning entertainment, hospitality, graphic design, technology, e-commerce and food businesses.
His career has included working as a professional entertainer, building hospitality businesses, creating technology platforms, operating online retail businesses, selling a company, launching restaurant concepts and developing new community-focused technology.
He is now also building Selbit & Co., a magic emporium opening soon in Suffolk, and The Wizard, a revival of P. T. Selbit's periodical, coming early 2027.
Big Bro Joe exists to document those lessons — while they're happening, not ten years later with the rough edges sanded off.
THE TIMELINE
FROM THE STAGE
TO THE KIOSK.
01
THE ENTERTAINER
Started out as a professional entertainer. Learned early how to work a crowd, read a room, and keep going when the plan falls apart on stage in front of everyone.
02
HOSPITALITY
Built hospitality businesses — the kind where you're on the tools, on the till and on your knees scrubbing the floor at 2am. Hospitality teaches you business faster than any MBA.
03
DESIGN & BRAND
Graphic design and brand work. Learned how businesses actually get noticed — and how much of 'good branding' is just having something worth saying.
04
TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE
Created technology platforms, operated online retail businesses and sold a company. Discovered the difference between building a business and building a very demanding job.
05
FOOD BUSINESS
Launched my first restaurant brand, Joey's Java, from a food truck during COVID in 2020 — grew it into one of the top 3 restaurants in Essex, then closed it when the winter numbers said stop. Later came Big Bro Bao and Tubby Spud — because the restaurant business is 10% food, 90% operations. The hard way, mostly.
06
COMMUNITY TECH
Started developing community-focused technology with MunchMob — a delivery platform built to keep money circulating locally instead of leaking to the big apps.
07
BIG BRO JOE
The personal brand that ties it all together — documenting the wins, the failures and the numbers while they're actually happening. In public. No filter.
