We were lucky to catch up with Freddy B recently and have shared our conversation below.

Freddy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I’ve been blessed to earn a full-time living from my creative work for the past 14 years, but it definitely wasn’t like that from day one. It’s been a long journey of growth, learning, and persistence.

It really started back in high school. Once it stopped being cool to hang out at skating rinks, I found myself drawn to the energy of teen nightclubs. The environment, the music, and especially the DJs. When I got to college in late 2003, I made friends who happened to work security at a local nightclub. It was a 21-and-up venue, and I wasn’t 21 yet, but they let me in under two conditions: I had to stay in the DJ booth and not cause any trouble. That booth became my classroom. I got to learn directly from three DJs who worked there regularly, and I applied the musical knowledge I already had from years of band, choir, drumline, and music theory. Playing the DJ’s restroom breaks and keeping their crowds excited with my microphone work and personality was the new love of my life. A special shoutout goes to my parents for having an exceptionally wide-range taste in music that I grew up with.

During my college years, I was hustling hard. Working a combination of four part-time jobs during the day and early evening’s at a gas station/auto shop, popular clothing store at the mall, and two local high-end restaurants, all while emceeing and DJing at several nightclubs with this crew of DJs, who were now best friends.

I began host/emceeing more live events, radio shows, concerts, and contests. I really fell in love with the energy of being the ring-leader. I wanted a career like Ryan Seacrest and had decided to pursue on-air hosting. DJing wasn’t yet the full-time focus, but little did I know it would be the career.

Between 2006 and 2007, I began traveling to Los Angeles CA. from Massillon OH. to take on-air hosting classes, where I learned how to use a teleprompter, work with a green screen, and build camera presence. In 2008, I moved from Massillon OH. to Las Vegas NV., landing a job hosting an online-based nightlife show. The Las Vegas DJ scene was growing fast at this time and DJ’s were being thrust into the spotlight world-wide. Through that show’s production, I made connections city-wide that helped me start booking solo DJ gigs in Vegas.

In 2011, I decided to go all in. The show’s production had just ended, and I wanted to focus on DJing full-time. I’ve never looked back, growing my career year over year. Just this past October, I had 43 bookings, the busiest month of my career. I still host/emcee events in Las Vegas and even do Voice Overs, but my love and career are in DJing. I am grateful to be performing in some of the top nightclubs for people from all around the world, and to be trusted by Fortune 500 companies to provide music for their keynotes and conventions.

Looking back, I’m not sure I could have sped up the process. I’ve always had tenacious energy and work ethic, but I truly believe everything happens for a reason. God has a plan. Every step — from working multiple jobs to learning from those early mentors gave me the tools, experience, and resilience I needed to build and sustain a unique professional creative career.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a positive, energetic personality who really enjoys celebrations, hospitality, and fine food & drink. I got into my industry sort of by accident. It started as a social part time job and hobby. I was drawn to the allure that I could have a career that didn’t feel like work, and could be weaved together with my passion for music. I now provide professional DJ services and solutions to some of the worlds top nightclubs, day clubs and Fortune 500 companies. My background in host/emceeing live events allows me to integrate flawless microphone work into my DJ sets when necessary. From introducing CEO’s to telling crowds to “put their hands up in the air!” My professionalism, punctuality and creativity definitly set me apart. Many event production professionals have full-plates, I pride myself in making sure they know their DJ and musical needs are two things they don’t need to worry about. I am extremely proud of my career and how it provides me an interesting and exciting lifestyle, that is unique and allows me to be me. I want clients and fans to know that I am extremely grateful for them. For trusting me with their brands and nights out, for giving my career a platform to stand on, and for all the experiences over the years. I look forward to the future!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being recognized for your unique abilities, talents or processes you possess, and being asked to showcase them full-time for people as a living. The opportunities, memories and experiences attached to a career uniquely doing what you love, is truly a blessing.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I would expand on this question a bit beyond NFT’s, and look at investing in general. It is extremely important for people in self-employed creative careers to invest during their career for their future. I believe that unique and creative careers can be fragile and more risky than a traditional employment career with a large company. Creative careers can end or slow at a moments notice, don’t always come with pensions or company funded retirements, and can have inconsistent income. I invest in a Roth IRA, Self-Employed 401(k), CD’s, and Cryptocurrency. I think it is important to be well-rounded in your investments, with that said, I do indeed own NFTs, in the form of digital real estate on a popular online ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.freddyb.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ferdburd
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedjfreddyb
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddyb/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DJ_FREDDYB
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ferdburd

Image Credits

Images by AJ Canaria, Amit Dadlaney, BullHorn Media, Edy Takelly, Henri Sagalow.