Sims was born in Germany, where her father was stationed as an officer in the United States Army.
[2][1] She is also the fourth-great-granddaughter of Calvin Leary, a Louisiana planter, and a woman named Mariah, who was enslaved on his estate, Sunnsyside Plantation.
[3] Sims is a 10th-great-granddaughter of the Irish Quaker colonist Valentine Hollingsworth, who was one of the signatories of William Penn's Great Charter.
[5][6] In November 2023, she gave a presentation on her work at her exhibit, titled Ancestry Through Art: Discoveries Revealed in Story Quilts Inspired by Family and Faith at Pope–Leighey House on Woodlawn Plantation in Alexandria, Virginia.
[9] She also works as a legal secretary in Washington, D.C.[3] Sims joined the Nelly Custis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2022.