We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samuel Sirmons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Samuel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The risk of not chasing your purpose, your passion, your dream is too large to ignore. I couldn’t, even when I wanted to. I knew that radio was what I wanted to do with my life during my time at Ball State. I couldn’t find a station to land at in the Indianapolis area. Thankfully, I had extended family offer me the connection to intern for a station in Atlanta for the summer. Once I got that opportunity, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to make it in the biggest urban market in the country. It didn’t matter what I had to do, I was going to do it. I was a substitute teacher, web designer, and working at Foot Locker to finance the purpose, the passion, & the dream. The 18 hour work days, the earliest mornings, sleeping on lunch breaks, competing for limited spots, I knew all those moments where the odds were stacked for me to lose or worse, make me give up. The opportunity was either going to slip away or I was going to keep betting on me. End up picking up moving back home to Indiana or write my own story in Georgia. I knew that coming down to an unfamiliar city with just $300 and all my things was a risk, but I damn sure wasn’t going to lose. I been betting on myself for 33 years. I ain’t crapped out once.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I fell into radio after doing in-game commentary for intermural basketball games. Someone said I should try the campus radio station and apparently I had enough common sense to listen to them. After having my first show on February 25th, 2010 on WCRD in Muncie, Indiana for 60 minutes, I knew its where I wanted to be. I knew I found my lane. I changed majors from Business Administration to Telecommunications. I started building out my show, got a great group of people to help me build the brand out, and we became one of the most popular show in the city. Becoming obsessed with the craft and wanting to be a legit broadcaster that can be mentioned like Ryan Cameron, Rickey Smiley, or Steve Harvey just to name a few. Being an elite producer for over 10 years in market #7 has prepared me for my time to step out as my own personality. And also being able to understand you can expand your brand to more than just radio. The podcast that I started out with turned into conversations with real people has turned into an internationally heard audio experience shared with different walks of life. Building and expanding the reach of who I reach, where I reach them, and how I leave my impact is what I’m becoming proud of each and every day.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I really would say I was myself on social media and people pick up on that. The content that I create has to be real, authentic, and consistent. The reality is that the “overnight success” never happened after one post going viral. It’s the 400th one where you finally posted at the right time, perfect caption, and tagged the right person that got on the discover page. And all the stars don’t have to align every single time. You have to just keep it true to you.

Another cheat code is to collaborate with people that work adjacent to you. If you have a lifestyle brand, find a way to partner with another brand that is in an area you aren’t in. The audience you reach with the audience they reach is a win-win. And true partnerships shouldn’t feel like someone is getting more out of the deal.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best way that society as a whole can support artists, creatives, & a creative ecosystem is to BUY, STREAM, & SHARE art in all forms. The independent artist needs you to make their living. The radio personality needs your listenership to make their name known. The local art gallery needs your attendance. And if you aren’t able to financially support, sharing them to people you know is how they reach more people. The art can’t just be shared by one person. The world deserves variety. Make sure you do your partner to celebrate all the diversity that we get in all art forms.

Contact Info:

• Website: samuelsirmons.com
• Instagram: @therealsix5
• Facebook: facebook.com/therealsix5
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/stsirmons/
• Twitter: @therealsix5
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCyeP9_JK_PQsijyjhPsGnBg

Image Credits
@artbyphanny