Today – November 17th, 2015 – marks the one year anniversary of my becoming a Freelance Voice Over Artist, turning my passion and hobby into a career.
This might be surprising to some of my friends, since it feels like I’ve talked nothing but voice over for more than just a year; after all, my first blog post was October 4th, 2013. However, the truth is that I spent a good deal of time studying my craft and honing my skills. The unfortunate turning point was when I had to seek other employment from the one I had at the time: I had not even received my character demo when my employer cut my position to part-time, making finances a major concern. This caused me to falter on my path as I was no longer in the creative mind-set.
Even still, I managed to spend time setting up my home-studio (and searching for that mysterious hissing noise!), and working on several Independent projects and personal projects alike; anything to keep my dream alive. November 17th, 2014 was when I transitioned from Full-time to Part-time at one job and returned to my former employer part-time; the intention was to be able to spend more time starting my business, building my brand, and seeking voice over work.
By December, I had finished my first paying gig; narrating “Thumbelina” for a children’s audiobook series. In January 2015, I started my professional website and joined Voice123; the time March rolled around, I had recorded 3 commercials for a Lexus dealership, joined the Phantom City Studios roster, and gained Rona Burns as my agent. I continued to hone my craft by reading books and articles. At one point, I sought out Nita Penn for some business advice who introduced me to World Voices Organization, which I joined in July.
July also brought my second agent, TAG Talent. I became increasingly busy working on a large E-Training presentation and various smaller projects here & there. At the same time, I joined Voices From the Dark’s K’joor’s Adventures for my first paying character role – voicing Alice, Alianor and Neveliina. On August 7th, I quit my smaller part-time job due to time constraints and on August 11th I was cast as Bubbleisha, a new doll line from Shopkins.
I started my lessons with David Rosenthal in October 2015 and we are currently finalizing my character voices selection for my Animation demo. Once finished, I will re-focus my efforts from voice over to voice acting.
The time has both crawled and flown by; a part of me feels like I barely made any progress but I know that the prep and lessons I learn now will help me have a more successful career. I’m proud of what I have accomplished and I’m even more determined to make my dream come true than I was a year ago!