Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurice Sims
Hi Maurice, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2003 I was in the management training program (probably week 10 or so) with Uhaul after leaving a 16 year management career with FootLocker. For the first time in my life, I disliked my job, i questioned my career choice and I was unhappy. So around Christmas time, i decided to drive to my hometown of Selma Alabama to see friends and family and hang out at a nightclub to get my mind off of my uncertainty. I was in the Elks Lodge (basically the only nightlife venue in Selma at the time) I clearly wasn’t enjoying myself and decided to pray while trying to enjoy nightlife activities (dancing, networking and social drinking) I open eye prayed for a few seconds/minutes and tried to enjoy the rest of my evening before I went back to my Hotel room to rest. I prayed, asked good why was I chasing my tail and unhappy occupation wise and please reveal to me, what is it that I am supposed to be doing in life. I went to my room, rested and upon waking up the very next morning (Christmas Eve) God revealed to me through my either intuition/idea (I’m not 100% certain) that I should become at stand up comedy promoter. It literally happened over night and my prayers were answered instantly! The work took another 3-5 years but the idea was given to me almost instantly. Once the idea was give to me, i basically went to every comedy show in Atlanta for 2-3 years just to watch, network and learn what to do and not to do.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had tons of struggles, set backs, challenges and obstacles over the years. Unfortunately there isn’t a school that teaches you how to do this and nor did I have a comedy show promoter mentor to guide me and help me avoid the numerous set backs I had during the first 10 years of my stand up production comedy career. Some of the options I had was, finding funding, lack of sponsorship, dealing with the egos of artistic folks, negotiating with venues, dealing with venue owners, not knowing what to ask for from venue owners, funding my OTR shows with my own credit cards and not having the money to pay off the show at the end of the night because I was expecting a sold out show and those funds would pay all of the expenses associated with the event.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started out in retail management with Foot locker and Uhaul. After being burned out from the long hours, lack of work/life balance of retail management, I unknowingly pivoted after a year being off and transitioned into mass transit and transportation industry. I was lucky enough to get my first 9-5 running the contracted mass transit account at Georgia Tech for a few years. Basically, I ran the campus Marta system for GT and RWWL (the AUC center) I worked for a company called Groome Transportation and they won the contract for GT and RWWL (Robert Woodruff Library) which is Spelman/Morehouse campus transportation account. Between retail and these positions, taught me how to deal with people and all of the different perspectives/personalities, cultures, age range, how to play office politics and deal with being a young manager of older employees who felt they were more deserving of your position. FYI, I was the GM/Operations Manager but did everything except drive (I don’t have a CDL. I also learned to not share your entrepreneurial ambitions while at a job. My goal was never to soley do one thing, I actually liked having a job/career/stability while also chasing my dreams. I was directed by GT management in over thr Auxiliary services department to either drop this or they would let me go (I was told this on day 2 of my employment there) they also said they wanted this position to be my only priority/obligation. I told him I would do so (I lied to keep my job) and I never discussed this dream/goal of mine at GT ever again. As for the things I am being proud of, I am proud that was able to get a job at a school as prestigious as GT, not having a degree. Trust me, it was extremely intimidating jumping from retail to a educated office setting with out a degree and learning how to deal with some of the smartest people/students on the planet. I somewhat doubted myself because I went to college for 3 years but quit because I was tired of being a broke, self sufficient, college student and slightly depressed from a college sweetheart break up (this is in 1996) she moved back home after college btw. I’m proud I was able to navigate through life and able to grow/learn and eventually elevate on to bigger and better things over the years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I definitely was lucky and blessed to meet people who saw things in me that i didn’t see in myself and that they had experienced in and willing to share the knowledge with me to help get to the next steps of building a business. For example, Steve White was my Internet/online peer, he helped me build my online presence, showed me how to collect data online, buy domain names and gifted me my first website back in 2005. Promoter Rob Martin came to one of my shows at Kats Cafe about 15 years ago, He hired me on the spot to produce his comedy shows at NYE in the ATL (this is a annual New Years Eve party in Atlanta) and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Erika Solomon showed me the business side of this game. She got me legal with my paperwork and accounting as well as the importance of business line of credit. Graphic Designer Justin Huff, designed my logo, gave me a sponsorship template that he wrote and charges $10K for, gave it to me for FREE because he saw my passion for stand up comedy, my drive and dedication over the years. He also showed me the importance of having A1 marketing materials (he designs all of One Music Fest artwork as well as designed album covers for Big Boi from OutKast and Migos.) I was lucky, honored and it was a privilege to have these three individuals and others who were willing to share their areas of expertise/knowledge in with me to help me build my following/brand and reputation as being the premier comedy show producer in the city of Atlanta.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://atlcomedyshows.com
- Instagram: @laughatlanta
- Youtube: @atlcomedyjam
