Shontavia Johnson (00:00):

What’s up, y’all. Welcome to The Shontavia Show, where my goal is to help you start a business based on your life’s vision. This ain’t gonna be your daddy’s business advice. I’m laser focused on entrepreneurship in the 21st century, vision and breaking the traditional mold. If you can get with that, you can get with me, be sure to visit shontavia.com for more episodes, blog posts, and other content. Thank you for listening. The show starts now.

Shontavia Johnson (00:28):

Hey everybody. I’m Shontavia and this is another episode of The Shontavia Show. Well, I hope to inspire you to build a business based on the vision you have for your life. I am so excited y’all to have Sherrica Sims here with me today. Thank you so much for being here.

Sherrica Sims (00:43):

Thank you for having, me.

Shontavia Johnson (00:44):

I am so excited that Sherrica Sims is here. She is the dynamic creative force behind the Simply Sims brand. Sherrica is a lifestyle blogger, a parenting expert, a host, a speaker, a motivator. She’s got the most beautiful natural hair I’ve ever seen too, and Sherrica’s goal is to empower women to rediscover their purpose, their passions in life by sharing her family’s precious, yet hilarious moments. You may have seen Sherrica’s daughter, if you’re one of the 13 million people who saw their viral YouTube video in 2014 what was the title of it?

Sherrica Sims (01:28):

I think my daughter, Tiffany, she tells a story about how she stole a doughnut – something along those lines.

Shontavia Johnson (01:35):

So her three year old — it’s been five years or so, 2014, her three year old tried to get out of trouble cause she took a doughnut maybe when she wasn’t supposed to. They’ve got 13.2 million views. I will link to that video in the show notes for y’all, but Sherrica has agreed to come here today to talk about going viral, starting a business out of that unanticipated viral moment and all the stuff that goes into that.

Shontavia Johnson (02:05):

Because you don’t get a blueprint when you go viral. Nobody gets a blueprint when they go viral. So, so excited to have you here today.

Sherrica Sims (02:13):

Thank you again.

Shontavia Johnson (02:15):

So why don’t you tell the folks a little bit about yourself, about where you’re from, about who Sherrica is and how she came to be.

Sherrica Sims (02:24):

So you can tell I’m not really shy, but a little apprehensive. Sometimes to talk about myself, but let me just give it a try. Um, but I am from Liberty, South Carolina, a lot of people don’t know, but it’s between Greenville and Clemson and I grew up in one of the probably the most churchy homes that you’re ever gonna find literally. And so we were in church all the time. Um, so at this point I was like, you know what, I didn’t have to talk about church to get people to follow me or be interested in us. Just be yourself. So, and how old am I now? 37. Just kinda realizing, just let it go and just be yourself. And that’s what we are. And I think going viral was just literally us being us and me parenting the way I parent.

Shontavia Johnson (03:13):

Yeah, so talk about that video. How did it come about? What was Tiffany doing?

Sherrica Sims (03:18):

So basically back in 2014, the technology just isn’t what it is today. So you couldn’t send videos that were more than like 30 seconds via text message or anything or email. So I would upload little videos on YouTube for my husband and my mom and dad and my brothers to see. And that video just happened to be one of the ones that went viral. So she had just, it was like 7:30 in the morning. I’d just fixed them breakfast. She had just had breakfast. I was doing my normal thing of cleaning out what was, was leftover and a box of doughnuts had like three in there. I was going to throw them out, got distracted. I taken it from my hiding place cause all moms have a hiding place. Okay. I took it from the hiding place, put it on the counter cause I was going take it out with the trash because they were stale. Um, got distracted somewhere somehow. And saw her come out of the corner of my eye. She was munching on it and I was like, Tiffany, what do you have? And she was like nothing. And at that stage in her development, she had started to tell stories whenever I would catch her being, you know, a normal three-year-old. But my husband didn’t understand what those were like cause you know, she’s the golden child, a little girl. So that’s what that moment was, was me showing him proof of her storytelling when she gets in trouble. So it wasn’t like a plan. It literally was just a moment.

Shontavia Johnson (04:44):

So how did it go viral? You sent it to your husband and family…

Sherrica Sims (04:47):

Yeah I shared it on Facebook, like the link on Facebook. Um, then, honestly just kind of give you the ins and outs. So a lot of people don’t go viral naturally, organically anymore. So we actually did sign with a company because I got contact with the company. But the video was at like 5,000 views and they were like, “Hey, we think this has potential to go pretty big. Would you mind signing this contract with us?” Well, at first they were just offering like $100 and you’ve relinquished your rights and then, or you could sign it, you know, option B, which was um, you get a percentage or they get a percentage, like 20% or 15%, whichever you feel more comfortable with, um, in the hopes that you would gain more money from it. And this was out of left field for me. I had no idea that this was actually an industry because I didn’t know about the viral nature of anything other than just, you know, I was happy with the 5,000 views because I was like, “Oh, people think she’s cute.” And I was like, cause she is cute, she’s my baby.”

Sherrica Sims (05:47):

But um, we signed this contract with them and that’s when it really took off. So they shared it with, through like a, like I said, aggregator through the news industry and that’s where it went on to like Good Morning America, those places. And that’s where we got more revenue from it.

Shontavia Johnson (06:07):

But so how does it, how do you make money off of the viral video? Could you talk a little about that?

Sherrica Sims (06:11):

Because there’s lots of ways…

Shontavia Johnson (06:13):

So you mentioned that when you got 5,000 views they reached out and said, “Hey, we can give you $100 or a percentage. So where does that money come from?”

Sherrica Sims (06:22):

So they have deals with, um, media companies to provide videos for talking points, like morning TV shows, um, websites. Um, that’s the whole industry that I think a lot of video creators or people who just post on social media don’t understand that’s even there. Um, I didn’t understand. Um, but I learned quickly and I said, okay, they want this, then this has value so I can now charge what I want for my content. And so I made sure that we retained ownership and that was just licensing, giving them permission to license the video…

Shontavia Johnson (07:01):

Smart. You know the intellectual property lawyer in me is excited that you went that route.

Sherrica Sims (07:07):

Cause I was like, okay, that’s not going to happen. And I made sure to add that before I signed in the contract, that stipulation. Um, and that was probably one of the best business decisions I ever made. And it also added something that said I could, um, cancel this contract at my discretion.

Shontavia Johnson (07:27):

Okay. So could you talk a little about, to the extent you’re comfortable, a little about the finances. What does that look like with a video with 13 million views.

Sherrica Sims (07:35):

So if you want to post anything on YouTube, you need to, well YouTube has changed their policy, but at the time you could just monetize your content without going into the partner program. So that meant it didn’t matter how many followers or subscribers you had or how many views you had, you could just literally upload anything and get advertising dollars from it. So that’s what I did. I kind of Googled it, said, how do I make money on YouTube and follow the step by step instructions, set up the account, um, an AdSense account. And that was really how I made more money than the deal I made with the people because I got the revenue from the viewership. ‘.

Shontavia Johnson (08:20):

I see – that makes sense. Brilliant.

Sherrica Sims (08:22):

So I got double- I double dipped.

Shontavia Johnson (08:24):

I see. That is brilliant. So you get a contract with this company, you realize, “hey, I could make content that has value. You decided to build an entire business empire and brand around this one viral video. So walk us through that decision. How did that happen?.

Sherrica Sims (08:44):

I just realized, you know, I didn’t want someone taking advantage of my child because it was, that’s, that’s the motivating factor is that I can’t be naive because I’m a parent, but I’m a mom protecting her image. And that’s online forever. So understanding, I was mapping out her future as well. Um, and then to make it easy and not to put so much pressure on her, I made sure that the whole family was involved. So we started to vlog our family because that’s what the audience wanted. That was the number one thing when they were giving me, I read the comments to see what the fans wanted to see and created that content and that’s what kept them engaged for a long time.

Shontavia Johnson (09:25):

Oh, that’s brilliant. So I’ve talked about on this show I talk about on my website a lot, finding your ideal customer, your ideal client. So you went and looked at their comments, you saw what they wanted, you went and created that. And how did that impact your family? How did they deal with the newfound attention and all of that?

Sherrica Sims (09:43):

Well, okay. So my husband is the biggest stepping stone because he is, I tell him all the time, and this is not a surprise to you, Stanley, that if it had not been for me, he would have been living in a basement playing video games and working from home somewhere. Cause he just, he’s an IT guy. So he doesn’t, people are not like… He can “people,” but it’s not what he wants to do. So this was, um, he’s been the hardest person to get kind of on board with it, but he’ll do it. Um, so I’m changing the trajectory after five years of it being more just me and the kids because it’s easier, you know? And that’s really what I’m more comfortable with. Um, so I create content that reflects that, like something that’s relatable to the audience, which is motherhood and the obstacles, obstacles that you encounter.

Shontavia Johnson (10:33):

Oh, that’s brilliant. So your brand is motherhood, parenting and all those things. So you created a business and you decided you were going to be an entrepreneur and do this. And now I know that you have worked with huge brands like Nickelodeon and Kohl’s. How do you do that? How do you go from a viral video, a YouTube channel, you start a business, how do you end up with Koh’s and Nickelodeon and what do those relationships look like?

Sherrica Sims (10:58):

Okay. So yeah, it’s, it is, that’s the key word relationships. So I, formed a relationship with YouTube, so YouTube contacted us and at what point? Um, so I think it was like 2016, so we were two years into it before YouTube contacted us because I think they want to see sustainability on their platform, but they look at their analytics – it’s Google – so they can see who’s the top creator. And um, for a long time that was us. And um, they will put you into their network and YouTube has a network of advertisers and they’ll recommend people to those advertisers.

Shontavia Johnson (11:39):

Oh, I see. Okay.

Sherrica Sims (11:40):

And so that’s how we got some of those deals.

Shontavia Johnson (11:44):

Okay, cool. So what has that been like? So you were going about your normal life, this happens, you start a business and when I say start a business, did you like register LLC…

Sherrica Sims (11:54):

I did.

Shontavia Johnson (11:54):

A tax ID number and all of that. So you make the switch to running this company. And had you ever thought about being an entrepreneur before?

Sherrica Sims (12:05):

No. So I have a background in social work and sociology was my major, was a social worker, um, and decided to become a stay at home mom when I had our son. Miles is now 11, so I haven’t really worked for 11 years. Um, so Tiffany was three at this point and I just said, you know, when I had the money coming in, I said I need to protect this. And the best way to protect that is with the LLC because it is a business. Um, and that’s what I did. I put everything under the name of our company, which is Go Be Great Productions and funnel everything through that and make sure I do the taxes, you know, taxes accordingly. We pay our taxes just like everyone else. And I don’t keep any of that revenue. Most of that revenue went back into getting equipment, um, just, you know, setting it up basically. Um, and then I put it, I started a savings account for our daughter and our son.

Shontavia Johnson (13:00):

Oh, brilliant of course. So how does all this impact your family? So now your family is the brand your children and you and I see your husband on some of your stuff…

Sherrica Sims (13:13):

He shows his face – he does.

Shontavia Johnson (13:16):

So how does that impact you when your family is the brand and the business? But it also is your real life.

Sherrica Sims (13:21):

No that we did… Two years ago, I’m just going to be honest. It was extremely difficult to create content because our kids were becoming uncomfortable with people knowing them. Does that make sense?

Shontavia Johnson (13:34):

Were they getting recognized?

Sherrica Sims (13:36):

At school, kids… I didn’t realize it was a lot of the kids watching our content on their parents’ social media accounts on YouTube. So like I would look at analytics and it was like, Hey, you have a great, um, demographic in women ages eight, well it was like 25 to 35 and I was like, but it was really their kids watching their content on their account. I see. Does that make sense?

Shontavia Johnson (14:00):

Yeah yeah yeah.

Sherrica Sims (14:00):

But I’ve always kept it family friendly. I think you want to keep that in mind. What type of content do you want to create? If you’re going to make a business that recognizes, or, that relates to brands because you want to know what the brands are looking for. Does that make sense? And so you want to actually, it’s a fine line to create what the brand’s looking for and what your audience is looking for under your voice. So for me as a mom, my audience was great. The brands are great, but my first priority is my family. And so when these are just show signs of uncomfortableness or discomfort is a better word, discomfort. I said, well, you know, I’ll pull back. And it was a sacrifice because the audience is not happy because they want you and they become quite possessive. And that’s what I had to realize. You know what? I am in control of this. I don’t want this to be in control of me and my family or if it started to feel very tedious. Does that make sense? And the work is okay. But the emotional stress was not good for our kids. Cause they had no privacy at school cause their friends wanted them to perform like they did on YouTube, that kind of stuff. So I say, well let’s back off of YouTube for a little bit, even though that’s like some money, but also wanted to make sure I balanced it. Does that make sense?

Shontavia Johnson (15:24):

Yeah. No, it definitely does. And kudos to you for prioritizing your kids over the money. And I watch a lot of family blogs and family accounts on YouTube and that kind of thing. I don’t think everybody probably is doing that,

Sherrica Sims (15:38):

No, they don’t and nobody understands that either. So we have a lot of people behind the scenes that we’ve worked with who don’t, um, who don’t understand why just Sherrica, just do it, just do it. But I can’t just do it until, cause it’s not just me. It’s the family. So that’s been my thing. They’re my number one.

Shontavia Johnson (16:01):

So you mentioned – You mentioned the fans want things from you. The brands want things for you. What do they want? What do brands want from you? Once you go viral and you have this family brand, what do the fans want and how did you decide when it is the right thing and when it’s not? You mentioned your kids, but what are the other considerations? Even if they wanted to know, how do you decide?

Sherrica Sims (16:25):

All right, so brands typically will have requested an increased production value. Does that make sense? So like I’m usually with my camera or my, well my little vlogging camera, but it’s really just been moments just us being us, but they want a more, I guess scripted something that they can easily see themselves plugged into. Um, which is difficult too because I’ve seen the same brands work with other creators who have similar approaches. But I think the only difference is, is being a woman of color that they think you have to be perfect. You know what I’m saying? The standard desire. And I was uncomfortable with that because again, I think we have quality content. It just doesn’t look overly-produced cause if it’s overly-produced, you’re going to lose some of your fans. Does that make sense? So I’m of the mindset is you can have us as on-air talent. So if you want us to be highly produced and you pay for it and we’ll show up for your commercial – does that make sense?

Shontavia Johnson (17:27):

It does. It does.

Sherrica Sims (17:28):

So as, and I realized I was telling you earlier, um, as the talent, you get to say those things and if you have that value, um, you get to control the narrative.

Shontavia Johnson (17:39):

So how do you get there? Cause I would imagine most people, if they were in your shoes and they have like Nickelodeon saying, “Hey, we want you,” or Kohl’s saying, “Hey, we want you, or anybody, say, “Hey, we want you,” some folks would feel like, Oh well I should do whatever they want. How do you get to that point where you can make that choice? where you say, “I’m the talent, I get to decide.”

Sherrica Sims (18:03):

Because it was a lot of tears. Okay. Like in private cause you know, I want this, you know, this is like I’ve seen where this can go, I want this. But, um, I think as a mom, a wife, a mother, a woman, you sacrifice, unduly sometimes, but I had to realize that anything that’s going to be worth it, you have to go through that struggle time. Does that make sense? Yeah. So it’s been more of me realizing who I am in shaking off who other people have told me I had to be. Does that make sense? And so, um, the brands were doing the same thing I felt and the fans are doing the same thing. So I said, well, I don’t want to lose myself in people pleasing. And, I think a lot of creative people, creative types are highly sensitive to rejection or um, just the perception of others, period. So I had to realize I wanted to do something different. I have control and I had to get comfortable in my own skin and understand that rejection is going to be a part of it. And say, if a brand doesn’t like me as I’m presenting myself, then they just are not a brand I’m willing to work with no matter how much money may come.

Shontavia Johnson (19:18):

So could, could you speak a little to that concept of income? So you know, like you said when you went viral, the first thing you did is said you Googled like how do I make money on YouTube? So how do you, how do you make money as a content creator? What are the various streams that can come in?

Sherrica Sims (19:37):

Okay. So you have to first, if you’re going to look at any platform, you have to learn their policies, their terms and conditions. You have to read those pages and pages of, um, things that we typically just say. Oh, I agree. But there’s a lot of information in that. Um, for YouTube in particular, um, I follow the blogs, their YouTube blog, and they, there is a wealth of information about their policies and how they implement them and how that affects creators. So I, that’s what I do. I follow that. I look at Instagram. Um, same thing with Tik Tok cause which is a new and upcoming thing to see how will that effect, um, what I’m trying to do and making money. So I think most people, if you’re going to go viral, you need to have something that you can fall back on too. So have a business idea or I have a business already that you can kind of promote on those channels. Does that make sense? While people are looking at you? So one, um, I saw a comedian who did that – he had a viral video with his son and he started his world tour, is what he’s calling it. Um, stuff like that. Yeah. I think, um, that I didn’t have access to when we started or I didn’t even know about. I’m learning from other people even now how they create other streams. So people do merchandise on their websites. Um, lots of different ways you can make money. We’re talking about being a speaker, lots of different avenues. Um, it’s just what you’re comfortable with and what do you have a talent for.

Shontavia Johnson (21:12):

So what do the brands you work with want you to do? Is it commercials? Is it, I, I think I saw on one of your Instagram channels, you visited a location. What do they want you to do? And could you talk about what you’ve done thus far?

Sherrica Sims (21:27):

So we’ve done a lot of commercials. We did one with Kohl’s that was their commercial, a social media campaign. Um, which was really fun. We went to New York and filmed it. We were there for a week. It was really awesome. We came back, um, this year, earlier this spring we went to the Nickelodeon resort in Punta Cana and we were a part of their social media video campaign as well. So, um, it’s all about, you know, again, finding brands that are relatable. So my kids love Nickelodeon. I don’t have a problem working with them. They’re respectful of the family, you know, that was something they wanted everybody to be involved with. Yeah. So I was like, good. And the team was amazing. Everybody was great. So I would love to work with them again. You know, that’s a relationship builder. But as the talent, I’m learning that you want to work with people who respect you and respect your boundaries. Um, so that’s really good for me. And so they will be good for me to work with again. Um, but that was just, and I think it helped me see, it helped me dream bigger for our vision, my vision for the family. Does that make sense? That now I’m kinda wanting to go more into the travel industry and maybe being, becoming travel influencers because especially in the Southeast, a lot of people don’t travel outside of the Southeast, um, on a regular basis. So I wanted to show them that it’s possible that there’s a whole world out there and I want to show my children that too. So yeah, that’s, that’s my, my goal, my vision as an entrepreneur for my, for our business moving forward.

Shontavia Johnson (23:02):

So if someone wants to become a content creator/influencer online, what do you tell them they need to do? Like what are the first three things you need to do? If you want to create an online platform where you are the talent, where you are the content creator.

Sherrica Sims (23:20):

Okay. The first thing you need to do if you want to become an online influencer or talent, whatever is know your voice because your voice is going to draw your audience. So I’m not just know your audience, but also like the way you engage with them. How much are you willing to share of yourself? You know, cause um, it can be very, it can be as invasive as you allow it to be, you know? Um, then there’s, um, like if you want to work with brands, you have to know what brands you wanna work with and then pair up your, your content to line up with that. Um, and then probably the third thing would be just do it. Just do it.

Shontavia Johnson (24:05):

So what do you mean by pairing your content with the brands? So do you mean like make it visually look like their stuff, or…?

Sherrica Sims (24:12):

Or something that they could see themselves plugged into? So if I wanted to work with Kohl’s again, I would probably look at what Kohl’s is doing on their social media, on all platforms. Um, Facebook, all the major platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, see what they are doing currently and then create that same or similar type of content. Meaning if this highly produced, maybe abstract or colorful, I would like to make sure that my stuff lines up with theirs. My content lines up with theirs. Does that make sense? You’re not mimicking them, but you’re being inspired by them because that’s someone that you want to work with.

Shontavia Johnson (24:47):

Got it. Cool. So who’s helped you? So you just gave amazing advice to people if they want to get into this space. Who has helped you go from, you know, a viral moment to creating a sustainable business?

Sherrica Sims (25:02):

So that’s been something, again, I think I told you earlier, it was just you have to open yourself up to it. So like I had to go back to realize what was holding me cause you creatives will have creative blockage, um, and they’ll have their hangups. So I had a hang up with, you know, it’s like I don’t really trust a lot of people so I don’t realize where did that come from? Kind of going back to growing up in Liberty and you know, kind of being the odd woman out all girl, you know, odd girl out. Um, and just saying that’s not me anymore. Letting that go and then reaching out to people who are, um, who are impactful in their own right, being inspired by them. One being you, Shontavia, who’s helped me out to see my value as well.

Shontavia Johnson (25:49):

So Sherrica was a client of mine for a while. We worked together 4-5 times.

Sherrica Sims (25:54):

For the brand and understanding that you can give yourself permission to evolve your brand. It doesn’t have to stay stagnant. Um, so someone like yourself, um, we’ve signed with another agency, out in LA cause I realized I can’t do it all by myself and that says self sufficient. Yeah, there’s self sufficiency that we kind of have to go through in life sometimes. And so being there for everybody else made me a people pleaser. Like I said earlier in stopping doing that. And just really focusing on, like I said, the goals I want to have for our family that I do have for our family and going for it. Um, that’s been like the main helpers is seeing, just saying you can’t do it by yourself. And that’s okay. That doesn’t make you a failure. Yeah. Help is, you know, that is courageous. That is strength. That is most entrepreneurs that you see who are on it, that are blowing our minds now with the things that they’re creating and doing and how they’re managing their businesses. They have a whole team, a whole team of people, and you can’t do it all by yourself. So that’s been really helpful for us. Is just to realize it well for me as I lead the family in this avenue, so let it go and just trust other people to do what they do well for me.

Shontavia Johnson (27:06):

Yeah. Oh man, that is such, such, such good advice, Sherrica. I so appreciate that in particular. So what’s your vision? Last question. What is your vision for the Simply Sims brand, your brand, your family’s brand? What is your vision?

Sherrica Sims (27:25):

The sky is the limit. That is my, my, um, my vision. The sky is the limit in wherever we, wherever we want to go. We can do it as long as we’re together and we’re doing what brings us joy. Cause I feel like if it brings me joy it’ll bring others joy. And that’s my vision for, for Simply Sims as a brand.

Shontavia Johnson (27:48):

So, so where can people find ya’ll online?

Sherrica Sims (27:51):

Let me plug. Um, no, they can find us on YouTube at Simply Sims. Um, on all platforms, we’re either @SimplySimsFamily or @simplysimsfam because it would be too long. So yeah, they could find us literally on every platform. Twitter, Facebook, um, Instagram even Tik Tok. Okay. That’s the new and up and coming one girl, we have to talk about that later.

Shontavia Johnson (28:13):

Oh hey, I have Tik Tok on my phone. I think I’m too old to really get it,

Sherrica Sims (28:20):

That’s the thing, we all feel like we’re too old, but it is not, there are women, men, grandparents on that platform killing it.

Shontavia Johnson (28:26):

Oh, I, I believe it. I am confused by VSCO girls, but I’m learning. I am learning. Tik Tok and we will be on Tik Tok together pretty soon. How about we do something together?

Sherrica Sims (28:37):

I got you, girl.

Shontavia Johnson (28:37):

All right, cool. So everybody, I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. Sherrica thank you so much, you are so wonderful. I love you and your family and what you’re creating, you know that already.

Sherrica Sims (28:51):

Good people, Shontavia is good people as my grandma would say.

Shontavia Johnson (28:54):

Thank you. So if you guys have questions about creating content about what happens when you go viral, if you already have an online business and you’ve experienced some of these same things, come over to shawntavia.com to this particular post.

Shontavia Johnson (29:10):

Drop a comment. Let us know what you are experiencing and how you know how maybe we could be helpful to you when you’re working in your platforms. Thanks.

Shontavia Johnson (29:20):

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Shontavia Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like, subscribe and leave a comment wherever you’re listening. You can find me on social media everywhere, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and wherever else @ShontaviaJEsq. You can also visit me at shontavia.com to find a transcript of this episode along with other show notes. While you’re there, please be sure to subscribe to my email newsletter. The information shared in this podcast and through my other platforms is designed to educate you about business and entrepreneurship and I love to do this work. While I am a lawyer, though, the information I provide is not legal advice and does not create or constitute an attorney client relationship. The Shontavia Show is a LVRG Incorporated original. The show is recorded on site in South Carolina and produced at Sit N Spin Studio in Greenville, South Carolina. Original music and sound design is by Matt Morgan and Daniel Gregory. Mixing and mastering is by Daniel Gregory and the video is by GVL Media.