After graduating from James Madison University in 2004, James Strum knew he wanted a career that would allow him to help others. At first he didn’t know exactly what that was. He worked part time for the local schools here in the Richmond area helping with fundraising and he also worked part time in the "Kids Zone" at American Family Fitness. After a couple of years, James knew exactly what he wanted to do.

James’ father, Sherwood Strum, was a long time realtor himself here in the area, co-owning his own company in the 70's called Strum and Dunnington and then also working for many years thereafter with Porter Vaughan. Sherwood passed away in 1989 after a long battle with cancer, and surely left a legacy behind pertaining to Richmond real estate.

So in 2006, James had made up his mind. He would follow in his father’s footsteps, or as he refers to it, his father’s “Big Ole Boots" because of the tremendous impact his father left behind. James met with several firms before deciding on Long and Foster in July of 2006. There, he learned all about the residential real estate world from the ground up and in his very first full year in 2007 he was named "Rookie of the Year" for his branch. By 2012, James was the "Top Individual" agent with Long and Foster out of 1000+ agents in 18 offices throughout the region.

With continued success, James had to ensure that each client was getting exactly what he built his book of business on…providing the highest level of customer service through honesty, knowledge base, and making sure the clients best interest was his first priority. And in 2013 THE STRUM Group was born!! James knew that creating something that was bigger than him required a special team model in order to maintain the correct level of service for each client, every time.