Here at Such A Voice, we bring together some pretty incredible professionals from all different parts of the world to provide our students with a top voice-over education. Our staff members have such a wide variety of backgrounds and unique personalities. From working VO actors starring in movies, video games, and national TV commercial campaigns, to producers spending their days working on voice-over demos as well as broadcast voice-over work, to copywriters, casting directors and many other industry skills in between! We genuinely love bringing our expertise and our experiences together to create the best programs for our students.
For this week’s staff spotlight, we’d like to introduce you to our Marketing Associate, Lauren Mazzoleni.
SAV: Thank you Lauren for chatting with us today! You’ve only been with us since July, but have already had such an awesome impact on the Such A Voice family. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do here?
Mazzoleni: It’s great to be a part of the Such A Voice family! I’m the Marketing Associate for Such A Voice. My main responsibilities include managing the Such A Voice blog and booking our voice-over workshops through Adult and Continuing Education programs all around the country. The blog is a great resource for current and prospective students who are interested in the voice-over industry. I enjoy seeing the comments from all of the readers about how helpful the article was to them. It’s amazing working with the Such A Voice staff for that reason. We are all here to inform people about the voice-over industry and help them find their place in it.
SAV: What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
Mazzoleni: I have a bachelor’s from St. Michael’s College in Media Studies and Digital Arts. In this field, there were a lot of different avenues to explore. It was awesome to be able to learn about so many different options within this major and figure out what felt comfortable and right. I managed some social media pages, wrote content for blogs and magazines, and planned events for minor league baseball games and the St. Michael’s College community. These jobs fell under the umbrella of marketing even though they were all different. I like thinking of ways in which you can bring people together and make them feel connected. What better way to do that than with words? People are inspired to buy a product or invest their time and money into a company sometimes just from reading a post on social media or an excerpt on the company website. To be the voice behind that and to see people be happy means a lot to me.
SAV: What is one of your favorite creative accomplishments?
Mazzoleni: At the beginning of my sophomore year, my friend Alex asked me if I wanted to start up a Her Campus chapter with her. My immediate thought was, “What is Her Campus?” She explained that Her Campus was an online magazine targeted at the female college student demographic. Having a chapter meant that our school would have its own online magazine hosted through the Her Campus website. Before saying yes, I looked more into the website and the background of the company. I was really impressed that three Harvard graduates put together a platform where college women could connect over similar issues and introduce each other to different situations. Alex and I put together our business plan, our resumes, and our writing samples and then sent everything off to Her Campus. Shortly after, we got the approval and SMCVT Her Campus was created!
SAV: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Mazzoleni: Oooh, anywhere in the world. So many possibilities! I went out to the west coast for my first time this year for work. I went to the Ryan Deiss marketing conference in Los Angeles, California. Before that trip, the farthest west that I’d traveled had been Minnesota to see some of my family. Mostly, I’ve been in my east coast bubble of New Hampshire (where I grew up and lived the majority of my life) and Vermont (where I went to school for undergrad and currently live). I want to branch out and explore more of the United States. I would love to see what Colorado is all about. I’ve heard there are a lot of similarities between Vermont and Colorado. I’m a sucker for scenery and I enjoy the outdoors! Give me a mountain to hike and a lake to see, and I’m one happy person 🙂
SAV: With the holiday season upon us and in the spirit of giving, let me ask, is there a non-profit that’s important to you?
Mazzoleni: I really resonate with the Special Olympics organization because they exemplify a positive relationship between sports and connection. As a former three-sport athlete, I’ve always valued how sports have a way of bringing people together. The Special Olympics provides awesome opportunities for people with disabilities to play sports, build connections, and have fun all at the same time!
SAV: Speaking of the holidays, what is your favorite holiday?
Mazzoleni: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I’ve become quite the chef lately! I really enjoy introducing new flavors and foods to other people, so Thanksgiving is the perfect time to hang out with family and exchange recipes.
SAV: How would your friends describe you?
Mazzoleni: I asked four of my closest friends how they would describe me. Here’s a breakdown of what each of them said:
Dennis: very loyal, able to see the good in the bad of any type of situation
Emily: down to earth, personable, and charismatic
Krystal: great listener, caring, and good at problem solving
Lauren (I’m friends with four other Laurens): adventurous, loyal
SAV: What do you do outside of work?
Mazzoleni: As my friend Lauren best puts it, I’m adventurous. I’m always looking for new things to do and new things to see. Recently, I’ve been writing and performing poetry in Burlington. I’m also terrified of public speaking, so doing this puts me in a place that challenges yet excites me. I enjoy cooking a lot. Nutrition and exercise are incredibly important to me. I play tennis, soccer, and basketball and go hiking when I can. I choose walking over driving whenever I have the chance.
SAV: Who is your favorite voice-over actor?
Mazzoleni: I used to be a big fan of the show Gossip Girl. I loved how almost every episode ended with, “You know you love me, xoxo, Gossip Girl.” I didn’t look too much into who was the voice of the show at the time. A couple years later, the movie Frozen came out. I loved the main character’s voice. You could just tell by the sound of the voice that the character was genuine. I decided to look into who voiced Anna and to my surprise, it was Kristen Bell. Looking at her credentials on IMDB, I noticed that that she was also the voice of Gossip Girl! It was really cool to see how her Gossip Girl voice later transitioned to an animated Disney character.
SAV: If you could share an inspirational quote, what’s your favorite one?
Mazzoleni: I remember reading Randy Pausch’s, The Last Lecture, the summer before college. I’ll never forget this quote in the book, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” It just shows that life has some unexpected twists and turns, but at the end of the day, you can only control so much of what happens. It’s all about figuring out how to be happy with what you have and remain present in the moment.
Stay tuned for next week as we will be putting the spotlight on another one of our staff members!
