Steve Sims didn’t know where he would fit in, but he knew where he wouldn’t.
So before he became another permanent resident of the land of broken dreams, he set off in search of a life outside of East London. With the unbridled enthusiasm of youth and a certainty that there was more to life than laying bricks, Steve embarked down his own unique path to fulfillment.
Steve cut a path from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, getting hired or sometimes fired, and using every drop of his raw personality as an asset. Today he’s the not-so-best-kept secret behind the jaw-dropping cocktail stories told by his uber-rich clients.
Steve Sims’s book, Bluefishing, is exploding across this country faster than the common cold in a Kindergarten class.
It’s now also a top-seller in China, and for good reason; Bluefishing is the stuff fairy tales are made of. Its brilliant simplicity, masterful execution, and no-frills explanation of how anyone can rise to or even beyond the ranks of the rich and famous speaks to the soul of every person who still holds on to hope for bigger things out of life.
“Luxury concierge service” may be how Bluefishing is often defined, but in reality, it’s more than that. It’s mining his clients’ minds and hearts until they uncover their truest passion, which Steve then converts into an experience they will never forget.
Steve Sims is like Willy-Wonka for adults.
Instead of candy, Steve crafts moments that unfold into even bigger moments – experiences his clients most often never even imagined for themselves. For instance, one of his clients told Steve it was his dream to meet the band Journey. “That sounded kind of boring,” says Steve. He dug deeper. His client had been performing Journey cover songs for years. The dream he didn’t even dare to dream, Steve realized, was more than meeting the band.
With some creativity and due diligence, Steve’s client found himself on stage with his dream band, performing four songs as the lead singer. “I got him everything he never imagined,” beams Steve. The smile on his face and the sheer joy in his voice as he tells this story is as if it was his own dream coming true.
“Everyone wants adventure, excitement, contentment, and fulfillment. – Steve Sims”
That’s one of the truth bombs dropped in his book. It’s simple, but totally on point. Yet far too many of us deny ourselves one or all of those four cornerstones of the highest quality life. We accept “No” as an answer and begin to believe it when we are told certain things are beyond our grasp. We stop trying to overcome our obstacles and begin believing they are not meant to be overcome.
To Steve Sims, neither of those behaviors is acceptable.
He’s the guy who dropped out of high school, stared down the barrel of life’s shotgun and dared it to pull the trigger when he walked away. He’s the guy who would rather learn from a string of misfires than never perfect his aim. He’s the guy who turned Doctor Seuss’s words into a password for Hong Kong parties.
“One fish, two fish, red fish, ___” It started more as a lark than anything. It amused the bejesus out of Steve to hear people whisper gibberish into a bouncer’s ear, just to gain entry into a party he created. It cracked him up when “Bluefish” began being used as a verb. He’s still laughing about it as he recalls being told how this person or that “Bluefished” a concert by getting themselves backstage. Before he knew it, he was “the guy,” period – and he never said no.
It didn’t matter if he had no idea where Monaco was. The answer was “YES!” He could make some magic happen there. One event after another, Steve reached out to someone who knew someone who knew another someone and made things happen for people who began paying him to do it.
It was his wife Clare who ultimately awakened Steve to the fact that he’d created something special. Every day, she said, he gets up, takes his earrings off and puts a suit on, and applies for another job. Then he comes home, puts his black t-shirt on, throws a kick-ass party, and makes five thousand dollars. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to pay more attention to what he’s actually making money at and enjoying, than anything else?
“I married my best friend,” he says through another enormous smile. “Yeah, she’s my Girl…. The fact I actually have her here next to me to just kick me in the bum… it’s good to have that partner and best friend all wrapped into one hot lady!”
It’s that unending awareness of what he values most in life that spills through in everything he says. He may be revered as royalty in the Cool Clubs of the elite, but to his family, he’s still just a husband and a father. His kids think it’s hysterical when he is recognized in public, and his idea of a special date is a picnic with his wife.
It’s important to him to remain grounded in his own life. It’s also important to him to align himself with similarly grounded people at work. Can’t pass the Chug test? You’re out!
The Chug Test is just that – if he’d rather duck and hide than cross the street to grab you and chug a beverage, there’s pretty much no chance you’ll do business with him.
Making the impossible possible for his clients is only part of the beauty of Bluefishing. Yes, it’s pretty cool to get clients down to see the Titanic, or close down an entire museum for a dinner party of six at the base of a famous statue, with one of the world’s greatest singers offering a private serenade. But what makes his work even cooler is the relationships he builds and the ripple effect of dreams coming true.
That client who got to sing with Journey? It was more than a concert. Steve turned it into a fundraiser for Autism Speaks, a non-profit that is near and dear to the band. Child sex-trafficking, AIDS, special needs education, and animal rescues are other areas Steve has thrown the firepower of his Bluefish company behind. Once its own non-profit, BlueCause now serves as a conduit between existing non-profits and the resources Steve points and fires at them.
Talking about the red tape of an official 501(c)3 is the only thing that demolishes Steve’s smile with an actual grimace. Ask a 5-year-old to eat a lima bean, and that’s pretty much the same face. So rather than stomach that detestable item, Steve goes straight for dessert by selecting and supporting a cause, with all proceeds going directly to that cause. His own organization doesn’t even have a bank account.
Steve Sims does things his own way.
He still enjoys a fine whiskey, but it’s on a lounge chair on his deck, smiling as his kids come home in time to hear him close a half million dollar deal in Taiwan. He parties with heads of state and even spoke at the Pentagon, which he still sounds like he can’t believe really happened.
Steve Sim’s success in business is a testament to his tenacity and his success in life is a testament to his own compass, as well as the people he surrounds himself with. His compass always points to passion, and he never deviates from that course. Now he’s doing his part to help others do the same.
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