How does a child raised by a single-parent African American Mother go on to graduate in the "Top 10%" of his college class, walk-on and play college basketball, become President of his IBM sales training class, close sales of $1/2 million, $1 million, and $25 million in Paris, Brussels, and Hong Kong and self-publish a "Best Seller" book? Fueled by his Mom's mantra, "You can do anything if you put your mind to it," and other "seeds of knowledge" ingrained in him by her, Eric Otis Simmons went on to accomplish all of the above and more!
In "Not Far From The Tree," Simmons' Memoir, he shares his life story through a series of smaller stories that range from shocking to calamitous to sorrowful to triumphing. Eric takes you through how he stumbled across a court document revealing his Dad's surname was actually Bailey and how off guard that caught him. He jokes about the time his Grandmother caught him and his cousin peeing out of a window, and they both lived. Simmons also opens up about the tragic loss of his daughter and the frightening night his Mother was assaulted at gunpoint and his ensuing years-long anger. You'll walk down the hall with him through the secret tunnel underneath Alabama's State Capitol where he meets Governor George Corley Wallace for the first time. All he could think about was the Governor's infamous words, "Segregation now, segregation forever!" Eric's insight into his remarkable career in Sales/Sales Management with Fortune 500 titans IBM, AT&T, GE, and MCI, reveals his strive for excellence centered around opening doors for other minorities. Throughout his Memoir, Simmons masterfully ties together his Mother's teachings with how he utilized them to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve academic, athletic, and business success in Corporate America.
"If you love inspiration, heartfelt stories, and laughter, this book is right up your alley." - Michael McCree (Best Selling Author - "Mind of a Superior Hitter: The Art, Science and Philosophy")
"It's a must-read for young and old who were or are being raised by a single parent. I give it 5 stars and plan to purchase more for sharing." - Linda F. Cunningham, MD
"It's a quick look into an accomplished man's life that will leave you inspired to be bold and go after the things you want in life." - Andrea Humpherys
Eric Otis Simmons was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and moved to Montgomery, Alabama at the age of 13 with his Mother who raised him as a single parent. He went on to graduate from Auburn University where he finished in the Top 10% of his class (B.S. Business Administration, Marketing minor) and became a Varsity Basketball Letterman after walking onto the team. After College, Simmons spent a little over three decades in Corporate America in various Sales/Sales Management roles with Fortune 500 employers IBM, AT&T, GE, MCI and W.W. Grainger. At IBM, he was named "Class President" of the Company's then world-renowned Sales Training Program. His domestic business travels took him to 37 states, and his international business trips took him to Paris, Brussels and Hong Kong where he was successful in closing sales of $500,000, $1 million, and $25 million respectively. During his IBM tenure, Simmons appeared on a WSFA-TV live broadcast entitled, "Blacks in Corporate America." He has also been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine's "Powerplay" section in an article entitled, "The new deal on business entertaining." A Certified Wix Webmaster, Simmons recently started his own website development company, Eric Simmons Enterprises, Inc. (ESE, Inc.) which builds "Personal Brand" websites for High School Student-Athletes to help them get "noticed" (i.e., recruited) by College Coaches. ESE, Inc. utilizes Simmons' Copyrighted EC3 Continuum methodology to assist Student-Athletes and their Parents with the critical stages of Engaging Coaches (for Recruiting), Engaging Colleges (for Admission), and Engaging Companies (for Employment). After roughly 15 years of people urging Simmons to write a book about his life, in March 2017, he released his self-published Memoir, "Not Far From The Tree." The book is dedicated to his Mother and speaks to the invaluable "seeds of knowledge" she instilled in him that enabled him to accomplish some amazing things in life despite seemingly impossible odds.
