Jim Starling is a freelance content creator and presenter best known for his YouTube Channel “DefinitelyNotAGuru” which brings no-nonsense consumer-focused automotive advice and commentary to a highly engaged audience.

Growing up in North-Norfolk before relocating to the Bournemouth area at the age of 16, Jim always had a love of cars; especially the more mundane everyday vehicles that most of us actually get to drive.

Asked why he turned to creative content at the age of 43, Jim replied “I was stuck in a corporate world that just didn’t fit me, I was head of a large property Insurer in the City, and with each progressive step I made in my career I felt like a little piece of me was dying”, he added “It was time to do something less sensible; something I had a true passion for and after some traumatic life-changing events I decided to start the channel. I’ve always wanted to do something more worthwhile with my time, and although my content isn’t exactly saving the world I am very proud to have saved my audience hundreds of thousands of pounds and helped them avoid a multitude of scams and loopholes”; he added, “starting a new career, at the age I did, seemed like madness to many, including me, but it’s something I just HAD to do; luckily I had the support of my wife to do so and I haven’t really looked back”.

We asked how Jim went about finding his way as a car reviewer, he replied, “There are so many people out there doing car reviews these days, many trying to be the next Jeremy Clarkson or Mat Watson so I guess it’s tough to stand out. I do my best to make my content as conversational and ‘on the level’ as possible. I want my content to feel like a chat with a friend down the pub; a friend you can trust to tell you the truth”. And how did he come up with the channel name? “it was purely driven by the fact that anything good had already gone. I wanted something that made the content approachable and less dictatorial, I wanted to say ‘normal bloke‘ somehow and anything remotely catchy or clever was already taken so I sort of fell into it - I still don’t really like it”.

Jim’s portfolio also includes work for One Media PLC, producing and presenting a series of new car reviews for the Men & Motors YouTube Channel and video coverage of the 2023 L.A. Auto Show. He also co-hosts the monthly Charging Status EV Podcast (currently Finland’s number one automotive podcast at the time of writing - we have no idea how!!).

Jim is proud to be a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers.