As a working female voice over talent in commercial, promo, and narration, I want to share some of the powerful experiences I’ve had that have helped me along the way. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the greats in voice over, who I continually draw inspiration from. I’m starting this blog not only to pay homage to those who have helped me, but also to pay it forward – to try to inspire others, instill confidence in talent who are just starting out in this business, or who are trying to break into a new genre, and share the lessons I’ve learned that can help my fellow voice actors succeed.
The day that my voice over career changed forever
My journey in voice over hit a real turning point three years ago. I was at a very small voice over conference in Columbus, Ohio. Joe Cipriano was the keynote speaker. When I look back at it, it’s funny that I didn’t even know who he was at the time. I probably heard Joe’s voice eight times a day without even realizing it (and so do you). Joe Cipriano’s voice is heard every day on radio, television, and in movie theaters. He’s a huge guy in promo – one of the top.
What’s even funnier is that when I walked into his workshop, I didn’t even know what promo was. I was clueless as to what was about to happen. I didn’t realize the magnitude of what I was about to do, or how it was going to change my life. And frankly, it’s a good thing I didn’t know any of that, because I probably wouldn’t have done as well as I did.
Let me set the scene for you. Here we were, about nine of us in the room. There’s a big fat TV screen, and Joe Cipriano put up a video of promos that he’s done, with the audio produced by AJ McKay. Then he handed us all scripts. We each had to walk up to the mic, and we had to read – while watching the commercial or the promo playing right in front of us. And we had to time it perfectly.
I remember Joe saying, “This is what I do every day. If you want to work in promo, you have to do this. So who wants to go first?”
It took a few people going up first before I felt comfortable volunteering. But then I got up there, and I honestly don’t know what happened. Somehow, I nailed it. On my first take. Joe looked at me, and then he looked at AJ. He asked me if I’ve ever done this before, and I told him no, this was my first time.
After the workshop, AJ pulled me aside and told me to stay in touch because he thought I had a good voice. I appreciated that, but I also didn’t think anything could come of it. The impression that I got was that promo is a man’s world. And you have to live in New York or LA to participate. But because I had so much fun in that workshop – more fun than I’d had in a long time – I found myself thinking, “Wow, too bad I can’t get into this.”
The day I realized females can do promo voice over
Fast forward about three years. While I was at the VO Atlanta Voiceover Conference, I met Tina Zaremba, a successful commercial voice over actor. But when I went to her website, I saw that she had a promo demo. My first reaction was, “what are you doing with a promo demo? You’re a woman.” But then she told me she did a promo for PBS, and a promo for such and such…
I just couldn’t believe it. That moment truly opened my eyes. I realized then and there that if she can do it, I can do it too. I immediately e-mailed AJ and asked if Joe could produce my promo demo. I knew that Joe Cipriano is a very busy man, and he was only producing one demo per month…but to my surprise, he agreed!
Recording the promo demo with Joe Cipriano in New York was one of the best experiences – it was just so much fun! But the best part happened three days later, when Joe called me up and said he was so happy with the demo and so proud of it, that he wanted to submit it for a Voice Arts Award.
At that point, I basically had to go buy some Depends!
My experience at the SOVAS Voice Arts Awards
The Voice Arts Awards are a big deal for the voice over community. They’re presented by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (known as the SOVAS), and 2018 was their fifth year hosting this event. Voice actors are nominated in several different categories, including commercial, promo, narration, animation, podcasts, and more.
There were over a hundred submissions for the Outstanding Promo Demo Reel – Best Voiceover category, including mine. I don’t know how many females versus males had submitted, but in the end there were five people nominated: four men, and me. It turns out that I was the first female to be nominated in that category in four years – a fact that humbles me, and fills me with pride.
I didn’t end up winning the award. But even though I didn’t win, what I got from the whole experience made me feel like a winner.
AJ McKay was at the awards ceremony, and afterwards, I remember him saying to me, “You were in great company and here’s the bigger kicker, all of those guys you were up against have been working in the promo field for a while, so you were in great company indeed. Right out of the gate on your first demo, you are a finalist out of all of those submissions. You should be very proud of your work and accomplishment. I know I sure am.”
And then there was a moment during the ceremonies, after I had lost, when a wave of emotion came over me, and I almost teared up. I realized that I was in a room full of the most uber talented people in my industry, and I was fortunate and blessed enough to be in that same room.
And it made me want to be better. It made me want to be a better person. It made me want to be a better voice talent. And it made me want to appreciate – not only the experience of being nominated, going to LA, and being part of the awards ceremony – but what I learned from it, which was that I can be better, and I can do it. And you can do it too.
……
There was someone else I met that day at the Voice Arts Awards ceremony. Someone whose work throughout her voice over career may very well have opened the door for me to even be nominated…
In my next post, I’ll tell you who that amazing female voice talent is, and just how much she’s impacted my life and my career…
