Hi! I’m DJ.

THE SHORT STORY

Currently Head of Content & Model Design at StubHub, reporting to the CTO to architect the future of agentic AI and live event commerce.

I’m a Cannes Lions 30 Under 30, award-winning design leader, tech startup founder, and international industry speaker. I’ve led major AI and growth initiatives at Meta, scaling Meta AI app DAU by 500% and building viral content loops for Meta Quest. Beyond the data, I'm a social media insider with 330K+ followers and a proven core loop creator. Fun fact: I was Mr USA in 2021.

THE LONG STORY

As my portfolio link hints at, I unfortunately have no musical talent whatsoever. DJ stands for Dustin James, but I could probably drudge up my recorder from 3rd grade and play some wicked Hot Cross Buns if it came down to it.

After moving to NYC the day after graduating from the University of Miami, my career ran in a comedic parallel with the storyline of Mad Men—the show that motivated a childhood dream of mine to move from the Midwest to NYC ad agencies.

Having started at McCann and GREY, the show’s two main namesakes, I pivoted into the digital side of advertising at AKQA, working with Nike, Maserati, and Beats by Dre, where I would go on to win a few shiny objects including Gold Clios, Addys, and other industry awards.

Collecting all the advertising hardware I wanted, I left the agency world and was a founding team member of the marketing tech startup Perksy as VP, Brand & Marketing. There, I entered the industry speaker circuit, giving talks at conferences like Ad Week, Cannes Lions, and App Summit on viral marketing for Gen-Z.

After boomeranging back to AKQA to lead the launch of Nike's app across APLA markets and P&G's first metaverse experience at CES, I joined Meta's Reality Labs team. I led content strategy for virtual reality before pivoting to the brave new world of AI, leading branding and growth for Meta AI across the entire family of apps.

Today, I’m at StubHub, leading the transition from static content to autonomous, agentic experiences. I bridge the gap between technical AI architecture and pro-social behavioral frameworks to redefine how we experience live events.