Scheduling Rest While Hustling
Day jobs, side hustles, family life, social life, self-care, and the list goes on. There are so many things that we need to take care of daily. And if we do it wrong, burnout is waiting for us right around …
Confidence with No (or Little) Experience – Paul Schmidt
One of the most common concerns for a new voice actor as they begin their voice-over journey is, “I don’t have any (or very few) credits to my name. I haven’t worked with anyone (or very many) clients yet. How …
Planning Your Next Year
Every year around the first of December, I start jotting down any goals or accomplishments – anything I’d like to achieve or do – in the following year. This tends to be random and informal, except for writing them down. …
Finding Your Niche: A Venn Diagram
At the end of my final coaching session with students, we have a chat about finding one’s niche in voice-over, especially as you begin the process of looking for work. Initially, for most new voice actors, corporate work is often …
Make Room for Romance
It’s not news to say that the audiobook industry is booming. Even before COVID-19, audiobooks experienced steady and predictable growth. In fact, “…the market size of the Audiobook Publishing industry in the US has grown 10.6% per year on average …
I’m Not Booking – Does that Mean I Suck?
So you are not booking many voice-over jobs, and possibly questioning your talents. Before you throw in the towel and decide you suck, consider the amount of time and training you’ve put in and if you need more. Most importantly …
But I HATE Commercials!
If you are anything like me, you have spent most of your life avoiding commercials: turning down the volume, fast forwarding, leaving the room, or simply using your mental powers to block them out entirely. Welp, studying voice-over sure changed …
Why You Shouldn’t Do It Alone
Some of us are lone wolves. It’s true, but it’s rare. Most of us thrive and do our best creative work collaboratively, in some sort of community. The world of voice-over is isolating enough these days, each of us in …
The Union Animation Session
While it’s important to have specific goals as a voice actor, it’s just as important to be ready for the opportunity when you finally reach the goal. And I say ready, because you can’t prepare for something as unpredictable as …
A Moving Target: Pursuing Diversity in a Creative Career
As artists, creative humans, and business owners, we’re always threading the needle of things that are both fulfilling and financially profitable. In my opinion, embarking upon a creative career at all is an immense act of faith. Faith that humanity …
Evolving Your VO Team Over Time
If you’re relatively new to a voice-over career, you are probably like everyone else who started out: Doing everything yourself. Are you dreaming about when you have your VO team and all the support so you can focus on your …
Outsource it! Finding the People You Need to Grow
In my opinion, the only real reason to have a business is to help others. There are countless ways of doing this, of course, but no matter what business you’re in, on some level you’re striving to help someone else. …