CHARLOTTE — Larry “No Limit Larry” Mims has spent nearly three decades on the air in Charlotte, becoming one of the city’s most recognizable radio personalities and a tireless advocate for his community. From his start as an intern at Johnson C. Smith University to hosting the morning drive on Power 98, Mims has built a legacy that stretches far beyond the microphone, pouring his heart into the city he has always called home.
[ ALSO READ: No limit to compassion for less fortunate ]
“I get people come up to me, ‘Hey man, I remember you came to my school when I was in the sixth grade, and now I’m 28,’” Mims told Channel 9’s Jonothan Lowe.
That’s almost as long as Mims has been on Power 98 in Charlotte.
“I just consider myself a blessed individual,” Mims said. “Somebody who gets to work in their city doing something they love every day. But I guess I am a part of Charlotte history, because I’ve been on my job 27 years.”
The Charlotte native was recruited to be an intern while he was still at JCSU by the man who would become his mentor: The late, great Nate Quick who was a major radio personality in Charlotte in the 1990s.
The larger-than-life personality you see and hear today started from the bottom and worked his way up.
“It took almost two-and-a-half years for me to actually get a job as a radio personality, started out part time, then from part time I got my own show at night,” he said.
He moved to The Morning Drive in 2004.
Lowe asked Mims how he has navigated being a mentor and a radio personality to so many people.
“I think it comes from the love of the people, like, I love people,” Mims said. “I love people no matter whether you got a million dollars, or you got one dollar. I just love people.”
That’s apparent in how he developed into a true philanthropist.
In late 2019, Mims began supporting the nonprofit, Block Love CLT and its executive director Deb Phillips.
The organization serves those experiencing homelessness.
“As you’ve seen, he comes in. He has a connection with our neighbors. He’s been in the mud with us, when we were out during COVID. Larry was out rain, sleet, or snow,” Phillips said.
Mims recalled his inspiration to help others.
“I remember growing up, and my mom told me this before she passed,” he said. “We were homeless at one time, when I was three years old, and I think that’s where my passion comes from.”
He’s also worked to reduce crime in Charlotte, hitting the streets with the city’s Alternatives to Violence program, which works in the Beatties Ford Road Corridor.
“I was once one of those kids. I didn’t get involved too much in the crime, but I come from those situations,” Mims said.
It’s a service Phillips said makes Mims more than Black history. He’s part of Charlotte’s history.
“We need to celebrate him more, because he truly puts his heart into his city,” Phillips said.
No Limit Larry got his name in the early 2000s.
Mims said he helped fix some studio equipment and a co-worker told him, “There really is no limit to what you can do.”
VIDEO: Popular radio personality’s father-daughter dance returns
This browser does not support the video element.