Green Bay entrepreneur Otis Sims wants to 'inspire kids to make music instead of playing video games'

It might not seem like music and gun safety are connected, but Otis "Tee" Sims of Green Bay would disagree.

As the owner of Big Papa Boogie Production LLC and IET Ballistics and Firearms, he says that the underlying motivation for both is his concern and love for kids. He was already active in the music industry as a performer when he became worried about gun safety.

“We started to see all of these problems with mass shootings and firearms in schools right when I started to invest my time in music," he said. "That brought me back to a tragedy that occurred when I was in eighth grade when my little 6-year-old cousin was playing hide and go seek. Their dad had a firearm in the house that was unsecured, and my cousin was shot and killed by her sister.”

As those memories flooded back, Sims decided to shift some of his focus to gun safety. That led to obtaining a USCCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals Instructor Certification. He also received a federal firearms license, and from there, set up social media pages and a website to promote his concealed carry classes.

In addition to setting up a schedule of classes for people seeking a concealed carry permit, Sims also developed a gun case.

“I started thinking about my kids (he is the father of four) and so I created a gun case that looks similar to a tackle box,” he said. “I wanted to lock up any guns that were in the house because of what happened to my cousin. I bought a gun case, modified it, and called it, ‘The Couch.’ Some friends of mine who were avid hunters said they thought it was awesome.”

With that support, Sims began to market the case at gun shows. He thought about filing for a patent, but was warned that most patents can be easily copied by bigger companies who make small modifications. He decided to be content with the show sales and special orders.

He was still teaching classes, but felt like he could do more.

“The kids were all playing video games like Call of Duty (a first-person shooter game) and I wanted to get them off of that. I asked them if they would get off the video games if I built them a music studio where they could make music versus playing games all of the time,” he said.

He had already formed Big Papa Productions LLC and was focusing on that when he was faced with two challenges. The first of those hit him hard. He had been the lead singer for Big Papa Boogie, a group that plays soul, rhythm and blues, but was temporarily singing with another group when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2018.

“That gave me time to reflect and I realized there were so many things I wanted to do and tomorrow isn’t promised,” Sims said. “I left my job in 2019 and that was the icing on the cake to say that I could invest in myself and do something I always wanted to do.”

He had the skills to build his two businesses. Having spent decades working in recruiting, customer service, marketing, and management, he also had the confidence to go forward.

As he recovered from throat cancer and was ready to work on promoting the music business, the second challenge appeared with the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020. The venues where big Papa Boogie could perform were closed and that part of the business was put on hold.

Fortunately, with people sheltered at home, the IET Ballistics and Firearms business prospered.

“We couldn’t travel and I couldn’t make my gun cases, but the firearms business was online so that went crazy," he said. "It was a great opportunity to sit at home and focus on that and not the studio. It was putting the music business on pause.”

That changed as the pandemic lessened and venues reopened. Sims wanted to build Big Papa Boogie Production both as a performer and a show producer.

“I had moved to the Startup Hub where I could create a space for the kids, and have a space large enough for the band to perform. I am remarketing the production company as a studio for recording live music, doing voice-overs, audio reading, and podcasting,” he said.

The studio is currently being redesigned with what he says is a cool, slick atmosphere with 24-hour access. In describing it, he says that it is a recording and production studio for entertainment and commercial services.

A large part of that is event promotion and Sims is already seeing success. An event held a few weeks ago, Blues Live in the Bay, played to a full house. That’s just the start. He plans to bring in artists from around the Midwest in conjunction with Stage Ten Seventeen in Green Bay. Also in the works is a podcast featuring popular artists and other topics.

He continues to run both businesses and work full time at Heid Music as education accounts manager. His main concern now is being too busy to have time to do it all.

“I’ve created a successful firearms company; it does well and I’m proud of it, but my passion is music," he said. "For that business, I have to be at the trade shows and I don’t have time to give it 100% because of the time involved. My goal is to sell that company and put more work into and emphasis on the production company for the community and the kids.”

As he tries to simplify things, he is proud of what he has accomplished and credits people like Ron Franklin, director of entrepreneurship for the Greater Green Bay Chamber, for the assistance provided at the Startup Hub, and Dave Stauffacher, a business consultant with the Small Business Development Center at UW-Green Bay and a Green Bay SCORE volunteer.

“Don’t try to do everything yourself,” he added. “Seek help from groups like the Startup Hub, Chamber, and SBDC. You might think you have a good idea, but you need to talk to people you can trust.”

Although he doesn’t have a written business plan, he goes ahead on instinct. He says that both of his businesses were started in his basement and everything has fallen into place. The move to Startup Hub provided the extra guidance needed. There have been challenges, but he considers those to be lessons.

He said, “There is a lot of losing along the way. Sometimes, you think you have it figured out and then it falls apart. If you don’t want this kind of a roller coaster ride, you should stick with a nine to five job. It can be hard and it can take you places you didn’t expect. I didn’t think I’d have a firearms business, but I wanted to keep kids safe. Now I want to inspire kids to make music instead of playing video games. Music is the universal thing that makes people smile.”

For bookings, Sims can be reached at bigpapaboogie@gmail.com

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Green Bay entrepreneur Otis Sims wants to inspire kids to make music