How Residual Income Changed the Life of Freddie Braggs
Yesterday, I worked on a Southwest Airlines commercial here in Denver, Colorado ?? although I have taken a hiatus from auditioning for roles, I did tell my agent that I would accept any direct bookings. This was the case with this Southwest commercial, so I was happy to spend a day on a real commercial set with a crew from Los Angeles. You??ve probably seen a few of these Southwest Airlines commercials ?? you know, the ones with the baggage handlers yelling stuff like ??We LOVE bags!?
While on set I got to spend the day with one of the stars of these commercials and his story was very interesting. His name is Freddie Braggs, also known as ??Freddie Bags? by other Southwest crew members. The residual income from these commercials has changed Freddie??s life and his story is quite amazing.
Freddie Braggs worked on the ramp at the Southwest Airlines terminal in Houston, Texas for 13 years. While he loved his job, he still had the same troubles that most of us have making ends meet. This past March, while working on the ramp Freddie got notified that Southwest was holding auditions for their next round of commercials. Freddie asked if he could attend and although he was a little nervous, he nailed his first audition.
This audition led to booking his first SAG national commercial for Southwest. Freddie had no idea what he was in for next. A few weeks after his commercial, he went to his mailbox to find over $6,000 in residual checks the Southwest commercial. This was the day that changed Freddie??s life. Freddie now gets noticed by people wherever he goes and on his flight to Denver the flight attendant even announced ??Ladies and gentlemen, we have a star on board!? and she made Freddie stand up, while everyone clapped.
Since that first commercial Freddie Braggs has shot about 6 total commercials and earned well over $20,000 in residuals in just three months. Freddie told me that there are things that do change when you have this kind of money rolling in. ??When I used to go to the market, I would debate whether or not I should buy hamburgers ?? now I just buy the T-Bone steak and don??t even think about it? said Freddie, while they were wiring him for sound.
What is most amazing about Freddie is the fact that he has remained loyal to his ??regular? job as a baggage handler. That??s right; Freddie still works on the ramp in Houston taking care of Southwest bags! In fact, he was heading back to Houston and back to work after the commercial shoot.
Overall, I had a great day on set with Freddie and the other crew guys from Southwest. There were three other Southwest crew members that were all filming their first Southwest commercial. I could tell a few of them were a little nervous about shooting their first commercial, but they did a great job. We also got to shoot at Red Rocks Park just west of Denver ?? which you can see by the photos below is an amazing place!
Check out Freddie??s video story here: Freddie Braggs
Best regards,
Michael-John Wolfe
Me and Freddie "Bags" Braggs on Set
The Crew Sets up the Shot
Beautiful Red Rocks Park
Me and a Few Southwest Crew Members
5 Comments to “How Residual Income Changed the Life of Freddie Braggs”
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So far I haven’t dug that much, but it looks like you make money with a Limo company, photography, writing articles, online surveys & other websites. Pretty impressive.
Out of everything, what would you classify your top 5 best earners.
Hi Scott — thanks for stalking me! Haha, just kidding! I know there’s a lot ways that I make money – my top earner is my Limo business, this supports my family and pays 80% of the bills. I make about $6,000 to $7,000 a month with this business and I do not list it on my monthly earnings reports. Because it really isn’t a form or residual income nor is it a way that I make “side money” or supplemental income. (I try to focus my earnings reports on residual income, supplemental income and ways to make money online.) My second biggest earner was acting and I still get residuals from some of my past work, in fact – I recieved two checks for $179 each this month for a past episode of Criminal Minds that I did over two years ago. I also do not list my acting residuals on my earnings reports because most people in most towns and cities in America cannot actively find ways to earn residual income via acting. I like to list source that anyone can do, no matter where you live. After those two sources I would say photography is third – if you combine my earnings from my photos via Shutterstock, iStockphoto, etc. along with the earnings from my headshot customers – I probably make $300 to $500 a month.
My earnings reports are not meant to be a form of boasting and if you look at other bloggers in my niche like Pat Flynn and Chris Guthrie – you’ll see that they earn MUCH more than me. However these reports seem to be the most sought after posts on my blog. I think they really give people quality feedback about how well a particular source of income is doing. As far as writing goes – I just have not had the time to spend creating new articles, this blog was very focused on freelance writing and sadly I have gotten away from that. I hope to start writing again in the future – but, we shall see!
MJ
I’m doing a little article about surveys, and I’m pulling a portion of your Ezine article, your picture and back linking your blog. You’re awesome!
Survey Post
Michael,
It all sounds very cool and ‘Hollywood’. I’m glad Freddie nailed this gig–it’s inspiring to see someone like him (a working man) get a nice break from it all. And he still works at SA!
Hi Moon, yeah – Freddie was very cool and down to earth. You can actually see his audition tape in the video above!
MJ