Through 1960 and 1961, Reeves made ends meet working several jobs by day and worked as a singer in nighttime hours singing jazz and blues standards at some of Detroit's respected nightclubs. Singing at the 20 Grand, Reeves was spotted by Motown A&R director Mickey Stevenson, who recognized her talent, gave her his business card and invited her to audition. Reeves, who used the stage name Martha Lavaille showed up at Motown's Hitsville USA studios the next morning, not knowing that she was to call to schedule an audition. Stevenson asked her to answer phones while he took care of other business. Using the skills she had learned in commercial courses in high school, Reeves answered phones, took notes, administered payroll for Motown's famed Funk Brothers, and made herself invaluable. (Stevenson and Reeves give a different account of this in the 2019 documentary "Hitsville: The Making of Motown". Directly quoting Stevenson: “She came to audition a few times. I would find nice ways of saying, ‘Martha, you know, come back later.’” Reeves added, “And I must have looked like I was gonna cry or something, cos he said, ‘Answer this phone. I'll be right back.’ This "right back" was four hours.”