After her time learning the industry ropes working with Wells, James-Holler started at
Scepter Records in 1970, as an assistant in promotion and sales. She served a liaison between the label and the trades and was responsible for promoting Scepter releases to radio stations across the country. She was promoted to National Director of
R & B in March 1974, the first Black woman at any label to hold this position. James-Holler worked with R&B artists
The Independents and singer
Dionne Warwick, among many others while at Scepter. In 1976, James-Holler left took a position at a new record label called Desert Moon as Vice President in charge of national promotion. By 1977 she had left Desert Moon to work as Vice President of Promotions at Roadshow Records based in New York City. James was the first Black woman to hold this position in the music industry. She also promoted the 12-inch extended Brazilian disco mix of the Broadway play
Saravá. In August 1978 she shared her expertise at Billboard's International Radio Programming Forum on a panel on "Black Radio--The Exciting Evolution" with
WBLS program director Hal Jackson. At the panel, James-Holler discussed the splintering of Black radio audiences and the changing media landscape: "Wherever go I find the same problems at black stations," she said, "AM can't compete with FM." In 1979 she left Roadshow, forming her own independent promotion company, Nouveau Monde Promotions, Ltd., which had offices on Broadway in Manhattan. James-Holler served as Nouveau Monde's president and began with
Chic,
Chanson,
Linda Evans and
Ullanda McCoullough on its roster. James-Holler was Ullanda's manager during the time of her 1981 Atlantic Records label debut,
Ullanda McCoullough. Nouveau Monde also worked with the promotions company Record Logic to publicize R & B artists; their CEO Tom Cossie called James "the best in the business." In the 1980s, James-Holler also worked as Assistant Program Director and Music Director at
WBLS for five years. James-Holler managed the programming staff and brought new artists to the airwaves. In 1986, James-Holler moved to AMI Management. At that time, AMI had
New Edition on its roster as well as
the System,
Colonel Abrams, and
Ready For The World. After her time at AMI, James-Holler took a position at the all-in-one production/marketing/promotion company Palm Tree Enterprises to head the promotions division, called Mayvan Marketing, which marketed records nationally to radio stations in Black and urban markets. Independent record label
SBK brought James-Holler in as the General Manager of its R & B/Urban Music division in 1989, with the mission to set up regional promotions staff and "to leave a mark on the industry". In her first year at SBK, James-Holler was instrumental in breaking the House hit
Technotronic, with their debut hit "
Pump Up the Jam," which entered the Billboard charts at number 75. "Pump Up the Jam" has been called the first
Eurodance hit in the United States. In 2006, the UK soul label released the first ever compilation of
Tom Moulton's disco hits,
A Tom Moulton Mix, which featured James-Holler on the cover alongside Grace Jones in a 1977 photo taken at a party for
West End Records' first anniversary. == Awards ==