Today we’d like to introduce you to Freddie Smith.
Hi Freddie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey started three weeks after graduating high school in 2006. I moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue my dream of becoming an actor! I was fortunate to have my dreams come true. I was able to work in the industry for about 15 years. My body of work was mostly in commercials and television. I’m best known for my role as Sonny Kiriakis on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives. After nearly ten years of working on the show, I decided to pivot from my acting career and start a new chapter with my wife here in Orlando, Florida. My wife, Alyssa, grew up in Florida and we wanted to be near family as we start our new venture and eventually a family of our own.
We now spend our days in the beautiful state of Florida where we create content for brands, host a podcast called “The Freddie & Alyssa Show” and build our Real Estate business in Central Florida. Our main goal and focus with our three businesses is to provide value to others whether that be entertainment, inspiration or education. Our podcast is a lifestyle broadcast where we interview celebrities, experts and local business owners as well as chat about our day to day and pop culture news. Alyssa is the face of our real estate business. Helping her clients buy and/or sell their homes here in Central Florida.
We have lived here now for over a year and it already feels like home. The weather is great, the people are wonderful and the opportunity is vast. We feel very fortunate to have found an amazing place to call home.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been quite the learning the experience. When I first moved to Los Angeles, the biggest lesson to learn was how to deal with rejection. I had gone on 500 auditions and was told no 485 times, but those 15 yes’s made my career. It was also the time in my life where I had to figure out who had my back and who I should distance myself from. That lesson comes into play throughout life and business.
The biggest challenge I faced was back in 2014 when my wife and I were in a nearly fatal car accident. She sustained the worst of it and ended up in the hospital for three months and had to relearn how to walk. The emotional stress and financial stress at the time was incredibly difficult. I feel moments of tragedy can make or break a relationship and fortunately that experience created a stronger bond between us.
Just as things were looking up and my wife, Alyssa only had one surgery left in her recovery, we found out that our business manager had been stealing money from us and committing tax fraud. She stole over 50K and also never filed 0ur taxes for three years. We ended up in over six figures of debt and moved back into a one-bedroom apartment to start the rebuilding process. During that hardship, we learned a lot about money. It was a difficult time, but it became a huge lesson.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The heartbeat of our entire business is creating content online. Over the past eight years, we focused on connecting to our community through social media. When you can provide valuable videos, pictures, and written words to the world, people will engage. With organic engagement comes opportunity for advertisers. It has been the catalysis for acquiring clients for my wife. Coming from the traditional entertainment business, I have experience in dealing with gatekeepers to get your art or message out to the world. With the power of social media, we can connect and produce anything we want and share it instantly on the internet with gatekeepers.
I love creating on Instagram and Tiktok, but my favorite is our podcast. The ability to have a long-form conversation to share ideas and thoughts with the world is incredible. We have built long-lasting relationships and friendship by focusing our podcast on three topics. Entertainment. Inspiration. Education.
When it comes to our Real Estate business. Content is King. I feel as humans, we are drawn to watching real estate deals, flips, investing, etc. hence the dozens of reality shows based on Real Estate. Being able to bring our audience on the journey of home buying and selling hits our three pillars of entertainment, inspiration and the biggest one education. The more informed someone is about the home buying or selling process, the better that individual can proceed when the time comes for them to buy or sell.
The world is evolving rapidly and producing content is a great asset for your business and brand.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
The weather, the people and the opportunity. Orlando instantly felt like home to me. The energy of Disney World and vacationers fills the air. I love we are so close to the beach and have endless outdoor activities. My favorite thing is being close to family. My wife and I lived 2500 miles from our family in a different time zone for 15 years. Having family close is wonderful.
To be honest, there isn’t anything I dislike.
Contact Info:
- Email: Fmsmith319@gmail.com
- Website: alyssatabit.allurerealty.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fmsmith319
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/freddieandalyssa
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/freddiemsmith
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/freddiealyssa
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/alyssa-tabit-smith-allure-realty-orlando
- Other: www.alysstabit.com
Image Credits
Alyssa Solo photo – Sarasota Photo Studio Wedding Pictures – Victoria Angela Photography
