Frederick Smith

SUCCESS STORY

Featuring: Frederick Smith

GREETINGS FREDERICK

Frederick Smith is well known in the 321 for being a successful DJ and entrepreneur, but there’s a lot more to Frederick than just playing the tunes! He has a military and police officer background and has always been a ‘grinder’, finding ways to make money and capitalizing on opportunities. He has built up several successful businesses and continues to do so and this is his story…

Frederick was born in Atlanta, GA and moved to the 321 when he was 8 years old and has resided here ever since. He went to area schools and graduated from Eau Gallie High School.

Growing up in Atlanta as well as here, he became very associated with the ‘street life’. However, at a young age, he saw the streets for what they were, filled with drug dealers, violence and people who were going nowhere. He was determined early on in his life; he wanted something different.

After graduation, he wanted to get away and do something, he enlisted in the Army where he served for 4 years. When it was time to reenlist, he wasn’t interested in pursuing that route. He called the Police Department, and they were willing to sponsor him for the Police Academy. Upon completion of the Academy, he served the Melbourne PD for 4-1/2 years.

During his time in the military, he found his love for being a DJ. He would entertain the troops with his skills during their down time. As a police officer he would book gigs on the side. He quickly learned, he didn’t just have to stay behind the booth, but rather he could interact with guests and be active in the show. It was a niche he found he enjoyed doing and decided to capitalize on it. He resigned from the police force to pursue his dreams of being, not just a DJ, but an entertainer and Sophisticated Gents Entertainment came to life.

He became an entertainer for weddings, pool parties and corporate events where the guest lists could be upwards of 10,000. He also brought another aspect to his resume; he was an event planner. He was the one that could bring the entire party together from decorations, catering, entertainment and more. He could walk into an empty room, know what the needs of the client were, and through his creative visionary, he could produce top of the line events. He would attend event design conferences and trade shows as far as away as Las Vegas. He would think outside the box, look to see what they were doing that was different, and bring it back home. He wanted to offer his clients something unique!

Then, 09/11 happened. The corporate events declined drastically, and this was a turning point for him in his business. The person who ran the local bridal shows decided to step down and he stepped up. He and his wife, Jenna, took over the shows and did a very good job! Again, looking for something unique, they bounced ideas off each other and came up with themed bridal shows. These made it fun and enjoyable, not just for the brides to be, but also to plan and look forward to.

As always, Frederick always thought bigger. One of his goals was to be able to host a show at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando. After being denied 4 years in a row, the 5th year was the charm! They took it and ran with it… creating the largest show in Orlando, for four consecutive years.

With that success under their belt, they brought the shows back home with a newfound confidence. They broaden their events to Women’s Expos and Home Shows.

Then, the pandemic hit! And yet again, this was another turning point in the business world for him. After 32 years of DJ’ing and being in the entertainment industry, working practically 7 days a week, to be forced to sit at home, they quickly realized what weekends were as well as the fact money was going out, but nothing was coming in.

With hands tied as far as business opportunities, they found yet another niche to capitalize on…acrylic shields! They became a vendor of the shields you would see around cashiers and customer service areas. They sold to businesses nationwide including military recruitment centers. Safeguard My Biz brought them success for 9 months, and then they turned their heads to a completely new business idea and Space Coast Trimlight came to light!

Trimlight is a national company that offers permanent lighting solutions utilizing LED light and comes with a lifetime warranty. Think Christmas lights on steroids! You can leave them up all year round, as they have a clean look and can’t be seen during the daytime. You can light your house, patio, pool cages and businesses too! You can have lights for every major holiday without going through the hassle of stringing them up and taking them down. There’s a functionality app where you can program them. Live in an HOA, no problem! They can also be used as security lights highlighting areas.

Frederick and his team have been installing trimlight now for 2-1/2 years and the business is doing extremely well. But an entrepreneur doesn’t put all eggs in one basket, he and Jenna also started another company, Stack Moves!

Stack Moves is an environmentally friendly way to help you move! No cardboard boxes you must buy, bring home, put together, just to have them sit roadside after your move! You rent plastic containers from Stack Moves, they drop them off along with dollies to help the moving process and when all moved in, they come and pick them up! How simple is that?!

Now that you have learned about some of the successful businesses Frederick and Jenna have built from the ground up, below he gives good advice for entrepreneurs!

ENJOY FREDERICK’S RESPONSES

TOP 3 BUSINESS TIPS

Drive
Having a drive. Work hard, things just don’t come to you. You get what you put in, always with everything. I’ve always been a grinder and chasing the paper!

Niche
Find a niche, make yourself unique and capitalize on it. Be beneficial.

Passion
Don’t just like to do something, Love to do it! If you love to do it, it’ll make you want to do it. As an entertainer, I loved working with the lights, and now I’m able to still work with lights, guess I didn’t realize it was my passion. I enjoy seeing what a house looks like before our Trimlight work and then seeing it at night, I have the appreciation of feeling great on a project that was completed.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Delegation is something I find hard to do. When you have certain ways of doing things, your mind automatically goes to my standards, and you feel you just must do it yourself. Trimlight has taught me, I can’t do it all by myself. I’ve had to learn to delegate more. If my employees know my expectations, I must learn to let them do it.

Going through life we’ve learned we can’t grow if we just depend on ourselves. We used to try to do everything and asking for help was foreign to us. Now, we have more employees than we’ve ever had before, and we’ve learned we must ask for help!

INSPIRATION BEHIND THE JOURNEY

Family! As a man, I want to take care of my family. My ultimate goal was to be able to provide. I came from nothing; my parents just didn’t have it. I knew I wanted to work hard to take care of my wife and kids. I have never been too proud to work. We aren’t big spenders; we don’t blow money. We’ve learned to live during the busy seasons and the slow seasons, all within our means.

I have an amazing woman by my side and who’s been there for 26 years. Together we have built successful businesses. She pushes me to turn my dreams and visions into reality. She’s been my biggest cheerleader in the trenches. She understands what it means to work hard, even if that means working every weekend. She never questioned, she understood what it took to provide and why we work the way we do. I must give credit to her father, who worked long hours as an accountant. Growing up with this way of life, she understood what it took in some cases. We work well together. If you work every day with someone and live with someone, you better be best friends and that we are.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.

I grew up in the hood. Not all of us are destined to be NFL or NBA players and most of the time, it feels the only alternative is the streets. At a young age, I always had it my mind I didn’t want to be that guy. I wanted more than what the street was going to provide for me. You find a way to figure it out no matter what the obstacles are. One of my pet peeves is excuses – pick up and apply yourself. You have to create your own future; you can’t rely on anyone else to do it for you.

THANK YOU FREDERICK

Thank you, Frederick, for sharing your advice with my readers on how you continue to stay successful no matter what life throws at you.

To my readers, I hope you can learn from Frederick’s thoughts in no matter what trench you’re in, there’s always a light! In the darkness, find your inner DRIVE to strive for better and work hard for it. Find your uniqueness and create a NICHE where you become beneficial, and through it all, have PASSION! Passion can drive you to places you’ve never thought you could go! Once you have all three, you become your own LIGHT and when that light turns on…go show the world how BRIGHT you can SHINE!

Please visit Frederick’s business pages on social media and his websites! If you know anyone who is moving, Stack Moves is truly an awesome concept, even for college kids moving back and forth! Everyone loves the holidays…get your house ready with Space Coast Trimlight…no more family arguments on who’s going to string those lights and take them down! Keep them up all year round and become festive with EVERY holiday!

Thanks again Frederick and I hope you keep shining your LIGHT throughout the 321 for years to come!

TOP 10

Ways for Entrepreneurs to Power Through Tough Times

According to Forbes.com, these are ways to stay successful when times are tough:

1. Just Keep Going

2. Learn How to “Read the Room”

3. Finally, Focus on Your To-Do List

4. Build Team Morale to Help Weather Tough Times

5. Rethink How to Promote Yourself, but Don’t Stop Doing It

6. Rethink How Your Business Should Operate

7. Bring People Together

8. Learn How to Manage Your Stress

9. Connect With Your Peers and Share Advice

10. Decide What Impact You Want to Have on the World

ATHLETES

Find A Way

You don’t have to come from money to be the best. Some of today’s top athletes came from poverty…but they had a dream.

You may play for a club team with teammates who might have financial advantages, who can afford private training, the best of the best equipment, and to travel to play. This does not mean you can’t strive to be the best within your sport and come out on top.

Find a way to train yourself. Whether it be in your own backyard, on a porch, or going to the fields or courts. Put in the effort to become better. If you’re old enough to work, find a job you could possibly do to make extra money for some extra training. If you can’t get to practice, find a way to get to practice! Ask teammates for rides or ride a bike. Again, if there’s a will there’s a way.

Over my years in youth sports, I’ve seen too many think they can’t be great just because of their circumstances and that’s just simply not true! Learn not to be defeated and learn to succeed.

Work with what you do have! You have a mind to think how you can become better and to find ways to train. You have a heart to give you the passion and drive you need. You can’t be the best just sitting around, FIND A WAY!

PARENTS

Be The Light

We all have those dark days, including kids. Don’t be naïve enough to think your kids don’t have some down days too. Pay attention to their emotions and feelings. Know when they are happy and when they are sad. There is such a wave of mental health issues stemming from all ages, and if we can address them at young ages, it’ll help to make better adults.

When your kids show signs of being in off moods, talk to them. Don’t be afraid to ask what’s wrong, but if you ask, you better be ready to listen. Don’t ask and then dismiss them or not pay attention. It may even take a while for them to open up to you in some cases and that’s OK, as long as they open up.

Walk them through their emotions, why are they feeling the way they are and how can they overcome those feelings. If this is a recurring issue with the same triggers, talk to them about how to avoid the triggers and/or learn to deal with them from a different perspective.

As a parent, it’s important for your kids to know YOU are there for THEM! You are the person they should feel the most comfortable with in expressing whatever feelings they may have. Be those ears!

Whenever your child is experiencing a time of darkness, be their LIGHT!

LIFE

Keep the Light Shining

Ever feel like you don’t want to get up or you want to keep the curtains drawn, but then you do get up and you do open those curtains and then you can feel yourself lighten up?! Sometimes all you need is just a little light to get things moving in the right direction.

Get out in the sun! The sun is the best source of light to brighten any mood! Go watch a sunrise or even a sunset!

Let the sunlight into your home or office. Brighten everything up! Sunlight can easily turn a dull room into something more motivating.

At night, when you wish to settle down from the day, light a candle. The glimmering light from the candle makes for a peaceful setting. Trouble sleeping? Instead of staring at your phone, if you have a TV in your room, enjoy watching a crackling fire on YouTube, set your TV alarm to turn itself off.

Need ambience, contact Space Coast Trimlight and have colorful trimlight installed around your patio or pool area, to make for a relaxing area within your home to decompress.

I guess what I’m trying to convey is…if you’re feeling down and out, find a way to see the light and once you see it…Keep that Light Shining!! Imagine a world filled with Happy Shining People!