Last week, Alabama-based marketing and advertising agency Telegraph Creative announced that its CEO and majority owner, Cliff Sims, had sold his stake in the company to a group of Telegraph executives, led by new CEO Brian “BJ” Ellis. Sims will maintain an active role with the firm as its chairman.
For Telegraph, the sale was a milestone moment after rapid growth and expansion that started when Sims took control of the company in 2019.
For Sims, it was also a milestone moment after a whirlwind decade that included the founding and sale of Yellowhammer News, top jobs in the White House and the office that oversees the U.S. intelligence community, a New York Times bestselling memoir, and the explosive growth of Telegraph, whose revenue quadrupled in his four years at its helm.
This week, Yellowhammer News caught up with Sims for a Q&A on the latest news and what he plans to do next.
Yellowhammer: Why was now the time to make that move?
Sims: We’ve been planning this for over a year now, but it’s a mix of business and personal reasons. Business-wise, we had been approached with several different opportunities, ranging from private equity investments and mergers, to acquisitions and new partners. Ultimately, we chose to maintain continuity within the leadership team and to give them the opportunity to control the company’s destiny. Simultaneously, my strategic advisory business, which had always been complimentary to Telegraph, was exploding to a point that it made sense for BJ, who’s been my right-hand during my tenure as CEO of both Yellowhammer and Telegraph, to take over the CEO role and allow me to focus more on my consulting work.
My wife and I also adopted a little boy from Colombia and this move has freed me up to spend as much time as possible with him during these early years that we can’t ever get back. So it’s a win for everyone.
When we took over Telegraph, it was deeply in debt and frankly on the verge of bankruptcy. I put my own money into it to keep the company afloat and ensure we could save everyone’s job. Then we fought and clawed our way out, shifted the company’s business strategy, acted decisively and actually grew during the pandemic while everyone else was cutting back, got completely debt free, and basically quadrupled the company in the process. The leadership team that went through all of that with me is still in place, so I have a lot of confidence in their ability to continue growing.
Yellowhammer: What kind of work and clients does your strategic advisory firm focus on?
Sims: The way I usually describe it is, I try to leverage my experience from the Oval Office to the corner office, and from the Situation Room to the board room. I’ve seen crises and been involved in decision-making that had both PR stakes and national security stakes. So most of what I do now is at the intersection of risk and brand management, crisis communications, and national security. And the clients range from major corporations, to top government leaders, to prominent media figures.
Yellowhammer: Is President Trump one of those clients?
Sims: President Trump isn’t a client, but he’s definitely a friend and I’m supporting his re-election. I helped him and his team pull together his slate of endorsements in Alabama, which we were very happy included our entire Republican House delegation. We text fairly often and I’m in daily contact with his team, most of whom I know well going back to the 2016 campaign. And I’m still close with the family, especially Don Jr., who I talk to pretty much every day.
Yellowhammer: How would you assess the state of the 2024 presidential race, both the primary and looking ahead to the general?
Sims: Trump is so strong it’s really hard to envision anyone else being the Republican nominee. Part of that is based on the issues he champions which, in spite of his success, are still under-represented within the party – especially when it comes to trade and foreign policy. Part of it is also his unique personality and willingness to take on the media, the Democrats, establishment Republicans, the federal bureaucracy – anyone and everyone. And part of it is blowback to the Biden Administration’s unprecedented weaponization of the justice system against a political opponent.
No sane person wants the stakes of our elections to be “win or go to jail.” It’s so destructive for the country.
I’d give Trump the edge in a general election against Biden, with the primary variables being how things are going in the economy next fall, what’s going on with the war in Ukraine, and how these legal cases play themselves out from a timing perspective. There’s just so much we don’t know right now. Are they seriously going to try to interfere in the electoral process with trials and things like that?
Are the Democrats going to come up with a way to nudge Biden aside but not be stuck with Kamala Harris as the backup plan? Do the investigations into the Bidens’ shady international business dealings end up ensnaring the president and not just his family members? There are going to be a lot of plot twists and turns before next November.
Yellowhammer: In your job as Deputy Director of National Intelligence, you had what’s often called “above Top Secret” clearance, so you’ve presumably seen a lot of things that people would be very curious about. In recent months, there seems to have been an increased focus on UFOs, including the government releasing various reports, congressional testimony from members of the military and intelligence agencies, and speculation in the media. What can you tell us about UFOs, the prospect of alien life, and why this topic has re-emerged as a point of such fascination?
Sims: Well, there’s not a lot I can say about it all, but John Ratcliffe, who was director of National Intelligence and my direct boss, has noted that there are definitely some things out there that will make you raise your eyebrows.
Sightings by Navy and Air Force pilots, objects picked up by satellite imagery or other types of sensors, movements that are hard to replicate or explain given our current technological capabilities, or things that seem to defy the laws of physics, like exceeding the sound barrier without making a sonic boom.
Whatever the explanation, these things raise significant national security concerns that have to be addressed. That’s about all I can say about that.
Yellowhammer: What did he see or learn in your job helping to oversee the Intelligence Community that you’d most want people back home here in Alabama to know?
Sims: The main thing that comes to mind is that Chinese espionage is a massive threat to us here in numerous ways. There are biotech companies in Birmingham that are a target because China wants their intellectual property. There are aerospace companies in Huntsville that are a target because China wants their technology.
There are defense companies in the Wiregrass that are a target because China wants to understand our defense industrial base and military preparedness. Chinese companies that build giant crane systems for ports are becoming platforms for spying – and Alabama is home to a major port. The FBI has warned about Chinese nationals getting busted trying to get on to U.S. military bases, and of course Alabama is home to several. I could go on and on.
The head of counterintelligence while we were in office spent a disproportionate amount of his time trying to alert private sector companies to these threats. They aren’t just isolated to D.C., Silicon Valley, and places like that. Alabama companies need to take this stuff seriously, too.
Yellowhammer: There’s been a massive migration of people from states like California and New York to states like Texas and Florida. This has enormous political and economic implications. What does Alabama need to do to set itself up for success at a time of significant cultural change, political upheaval and economic uncertainty?
Sims: Everything rises and falls on leadership and there are definitely some people here who have a vision for the future and are helping move Alabama in the right direction.
State lawmakers deserve a lot of credit for their focus on developing Alabama’s innovation economy. We’re cranking out brilliant college graduates – many of them from here, and an increasing number who come here from all over the country.
Unfortunately a lot of them haven’t viewed Alabama as a place to put down roots, to build a company and start a family – but it really is. We’ve got to retain them and attract more. And we’ve got the assets to do it: a favorable business climate, low cost of living, and high quality of life, especially when it comes to outdoor recreation.
One thing I’ve always found interesting is how people’s view of Alabama changes so dramatically after visiting here.
You can go nearly anywhere on the planet and when someone finds out you’re from Alabama, they light up with either “Sweet Home” or “Roll Tide.”
I’ll never forget walking through the old city of Jerusalem and coming across a street vendor whose entire shop is dedicated to selling Alabama products.
They’re right down the street from the most historic sites on the planet and, even there, there’s still something magical about Alabama. We’ve got to preserve what’s great about this place and do a better job telling that story to the world.
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