Take a few minutes to relax and unwind with this gentle guided meditation. I created this video as a part of the monthly VO challenges offered by coach Domingo Castillo, who asked for everyone’s readings of the lovely script by Elizabeth Winkler on Insight Timer.
I hope this helps you find a few moments of calm during your busy days and nights.
Happy International Women’s Day!
Today’s panel with Rachael Naylor, Liz Drury, Susie Valerio, Erikka J Veney, and Carin Gilfry left me feeling so inspired! These wonderful voiceover artists discussed their VO careers as well as the following topics:
Thank you so much to the panelists for sharing their time, stories, and wisdom!
Happy 2023!! Here’s wishing a very happy and healthy year to you and your family!
Before jumping into another year’s worth of…everything, I wanted to pause for a moment to think about 2022.
In some ways, the last year felt like it flew by at the speed of light, and in other ways it feels like time took forever to pass and that I’ve aged 10 years. Reflecting on my professional adventures in 2022, a few things stood out.
First off, thank you to my wonderful VO and writing/editing clients for another successful year! Working with you is a pleasure.
I had many opportunities to learn new things last year, and I’m thankful that I was able to attend several online conferences, including the Actors Summit, the Women in Voice Summit, eVOcation, and Voice 2022.
In addition to learning and networking online, I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to attend PsychCongress in New Orleans last year. I learned so much and explored a new city while covering this conference for Psycom Pro, where I attended sessions about psychiatric questionnaires, anxiety, suicide, and ADHD, to name a few.
Professional development comes in many forms, and I’m happy that I was able to continue and expand my voiceover training by taking improv, singing, and acting classes. I’ve also been adding to my YouTube channel. Last year I also found some great VO resources on Clubhouse to learn from the pros (see rooms by Marc Guss and Liz Atherton) and to connect with colleagues (looking at you, The Working Voice Actor!) Toward the end of 2022, I was delighted to join the National Association of Voice Actors, a nonprofit organization that offers healthcare plans in addition to many other benefits.
Last year I continued to study French (shout out to Chloe Dash Ines for being an amazing teacher) and it brings me much joy. Another area of interest was learning about conversational AI and how to design conversations for chat and voice assistants. Women in Voice is an amazing resource for those interested in voice and technology.
Wrapping up last year’s wrap-up, I wanted to say that I’m grateful for the relationships that are a part of my professional and personal life. I’d like to thank my clients, colleagues, and friends for being a part of my journey. (And if we haven’t met yet, thank you for reading.) I look forward to working with you, learning from you, and getting to know you better!
Let’s face the new year with a mindset of openness and courage – we can do it!
Update: thankfully my biopsy results were benign. What a relief! That’s the great news.
The not-so-great-news is that now that that’s over, I have to start taking care of my thyroid issues. It starts with a biopsy next week.
I recently had what I thought what would be a quick follow-up visit with my endocrinologist (this was just days after learning from the breast surgeon that I would need a biopsy) to check the status of the nodule that they discovered last year. It turns out that it’s gotten bigger, and I need to have surgery. I’m losing half of my thyroid, possibly the whole thing.
This was a shock because after worrying so much about it last year when I first learned that I had one, so many people reassured me, “don’t worry, nodules rarely have to come out.” So here, again, are the worries about what this means for my work as a voice actor, what it’s like taking thyroid medication, and ultimately, how I’m going to deal with these changes. That’s really what’s at work here, the fear of the unknown. And for the past month or so this situation and the breast biopsy have taken up a lot of mental space and energy. I’m trying to remain optimistic, and I thank everyone for their support!
I’d like to support you, too. If you have any questions about mammograms, biopsies, ultrasounds, MRIs, please feel free to ask me anything. If it helps you to talk about it, I’m happy to share my experiences. And again, I hope everyone is able to make their appointments to get checked and be healthy. Not just during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but all throughout the year. XOXO
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our yearly reminder to take care of ourselves and make sure we’re on top of our annual mammograms and screenings. This year, for me, it’s hitting a little closer to home because next week I have to get a biopsy.
I’m worried about what the results will be, but I feel hopeful about the outcome because I’ve been keeping up with my appointments and checks. If it turns out to be anything, it will be caught early.
So I guess what I’m saying is that it’s nice to have the peace of mind that I’ve done all I can do, and if I can encourage anyone else to make their appointments to have that same peace of mind, then here is my PSA.
Be healthy, be well, XOXO.
Hello and Happy New Year! I hope 2022 is treating you well so far.
This is my first blog post, and I wanted to reflect on 2021 and share some highlights from my voiceover journey that were helpful and inspiring to me. Sort of a recap of 2021’s greatest VO hits.
Nothing beats working out with trusted workout buddies and friends, and I’m thankful to have many of these wonderful people in my life who help me practice and improve my craft.
One workout group/class that I’m happy to be a part of is led by Domingo Castillo. His VO Workshops are limited to small groups and it’s a very supportive environment. I’ve learned a lot and made some good friends!
Domingo offers an optional monthly project to anyone who has taken a workshop with him, and I have completed several of these challenges. I had never used Headliner to create a video before taking on the first monthly project assignment, and learning this new skill felt great.
These short projects offer a sample of my voice and style, and they are available on my YouTube channel – another new thing for me in 2021! (Don’t forget to like and subscribe 😊!)
This past summer, I attended my first voiceover conference: eVOcation. This was a great opportunity to learn a lot about the business of VO. Some panels featured topics like how to market yourself, questions about rates and negotiation, and tax issues.
In the fall, I attended the That’s Voiceover Career Expo 2021, a conference full of VO greats who shared their advice and stories of success. Anime casting, audio description, diversity in casting, demo trends, and performance techniques of different VO genres were just some of the topics covered during this 3-day event. Some big moments were when Mahershala Ali presented the Backstage Vanguard Award to Denise Woods, as well as seeing a live competition of 6 finalists in the CBS Audition Spotlight. Watching the finalists perform and respond to the judges’ direction was such a valuable learning experience.
This past year, I have found several resources that have been extremely helpful in my VO journey. These are not only wonderful opportunities to learn, they are free! The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences offers free biweekly webinars called The State of VO (which take place on Zoom). These Q&As feature a variety of industry heavy hitters interviewed by hosts Joan Baker and Marc Guss. Be sure to stay for the dance party at the end!
Over on Clubhouse, Marc Guss hosts interviews with VO industry leaders on his weekly Marc Guss Voiceover Club. Also happening on Clubhouse, CastVoices founder Liz Atherton shares interviews and audience Q&A.
I’ve written about a lot of these events on LinkedIn, and going forward I will also post them here on my blog.
2021 presented a few opportunities for me to put myself out there and participate in some events that were new to me. Speaking of the CBS Audition Spotlight that was featured in the That’s Voiceover conference, I was proud to be selected as one of the Top 40 Callbacks (out of 800+ submissions!) Although I didn’t move on to the third and final round, I had a blast performing for the judges and being a part of it! What a fantastic experience!
I also submitted auditions to the Get Mic’d Ultimate VO Survivor Take 2 contest, where creativity and out-of-the-box experimentation was encouraged. It was a lot of fun watching the finalists compete live in November.
And what 2021 wrap-up would be complete without a Squid Game reference? I participated in the Voiceover Squid Game hosted by Marc Guss on Clubhouse and survived several rounds of elimination!
Apart from VO, I wrote for both Psycom Pro and Practical Pain Management in 2021 as a freelancer. I didn’t end up pursuing psychology beyond my bachelor’s degree, so it’s nice to contribute to the conversation about mental health because it’s important to me.
On a personal note, I’ve been studying French this past year, trying to remember what I learned in high school and college. It’s so true that if you don’t use it, you lose it! I studied a little Japanese back in college too, which I am also trying to study again (definitely lost all that I previously learned!). I have really loved the language-learning rooms that I’ve discovered on Clubhouse – what an inspiration to keep going with it! (And shout-out to Chloe Dash Ines for being THE MOST encouraging/patient/fun French teacher!)
I had a lot of fun and enriching experiences in 2021, made a lot of connections, and learned so much about the art and science of voiceover. Here’s to keeping that momentum going in 2022!
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