The daily work ethic was strongly ingrained laboring together with his dad on their Tennessee farm at an early age. Even stronger was the desire of the son, Max James, a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and current CEO of innovative retailer American Kiosk Management, to be all he could be.
"On the farm, I’d drag a cotton sack up and down the rows picking cotton in the fall and clearing the creek banks of all the brush in the winter," James recalls. "In the spring, it was time to plow. I got behind two big mules. Finally, we got a tractor. It was hard work, yet my folks were totally committed to allowing me the opportunity to believe I could be anything I wanted to be in life."
James studied hard through high school and got top grades. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy at age 21. As a pilot in Vietnam and serving with valor in Air Rescue, he saved the lives of many soldiers, often risking his own, and coming away a highly-decorated veteran. After Vietnam, he attended Stanford University and received his MBA. In Silicon Valley, James was introduced to real estate, entrepreneurship and to the richest man in the world at the time, Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi.
"Working for Adnan was tall cotton for this farm boy. I started as a real estate analyst. We bought real estate, office buildings, banks, screenplays, stocks, and so on. The international travel was intense, in private planes and yachts, throughout the entire world — Acapulco, Beirut, Milan. It all came to a head though on Adnan’s yacht, the one they filmed one of the James Bond movies on. Anyway, I hadn’t seen my family for a long time. I needed a change. I resigned and decided I would work on some of my own business opportunities."
James then successfully built up his own real estate business in California. He also became a partner in Days Inns and built hotels across America. Soon afterward, he was introduced to network marketing, where his fortunes swayed back and forth. He built up a down-line of 40,000 in the volatile multi-level industry where he became fascinated with the product distribution possibilities.
Over the years, James worked with top MLM companies New Vision and Metabolife. However, his life changed dramatically when a new product and a new idea for a unique distribution channel he created came into play.
"I contacted Guthy-Renker, the huge direct response television infomercial giant who does Anthony Robbins and Winsor Pilates. In 1997, I started my new company, American Kiosk Management, to market a line of skin care products called ProActiv, which is hosted by Vanessa Williams and also includes Jessica Simpson and other celebrities in their infomercials. We took the product to a new level, selling it through a highly-trained team and distributing it via beautiful, high-end carts at shopping malls."
James chose Las Vegas as home for its top geographic location for business and selected the exclusive Turnberry Place Towers as his main residence. He also gives major credit to his executive vice president, Linda Johansen, for helping build his growing business.
For the young man who decided early on he would be all he could be, his American Kiosk Management company is currently moving toward blanketing the U. S. and Canadian markets with over 300 carts. With their extremely popular ProActive distribution system, they target to expand to the tune of $100 million-plus. Now that is some tall cotton for the humble farm boy from Tennessee.
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The daily work ethic was strongly ingrained laboring together with his dad on their Tennessee farm at an early age. Even stronger was the desire of the son, Max James, a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and current CEO of innovative retailer American Kiosk Management, to be all he could be.
"Working for Adnan was tall cotton for this farm boy. I started as a real estate analyst. We bought real estate, office buildings, banks, screenplays, stocks, and so on. The international travel was intense, in private planes and yachts, throughout the entire world — Acapulco, Beirut, Milan. It all came to a head though on Adnan’s yacht, the one they filmed one of the James Bond movies on. Anyway, I hadn’t seen my family for a long time. I needed a change. I resigned and decided I would work on some of my own business opportunities." 
