As A Working Mom Sometimes My Attentions are Divided
Often, I am mono-focused on my voice over business. As a full-time, professional talent, this laser focus is what has helped me to build my business and lay a strong foundation. I’ve missed lunches with friends and sat inside on weekends 
working while my family is outside enjoying a beautiful day together. I never feel like I am missing out because I have very specific goals and I am on a mission. Often having fun and reaching one’s goals are mutually exclusive. That brings me to my current conflict, I am a mom of twins, and my twins are rising seniors in high school. College visits are not only an essential part of the admissions process, but my twins have unique interests, so they are looking at entirely different schools. At the moment, all of my values as a parent and goals as a solopreneur are being put to the test: am I steady enough to juggle everything and be there for my kids while continuing to fuel my business? I have felt tremendous pressure, and been having a constant mental struggle, until our weekly Clubhouse today.
College Visits Taking Me Away From My Work Routine
First let me explain why the college visits are a challenge for me. It’s not that I am a helicopter parent and can’t let my kids go it alone. My husband is an attorney and runs his part of his practice. It is not easy for him to miss work either. If you have not dealt with college admissions recently, the kids now, in addition to grades and test scores, get something called a “demonstrated interest” score, so they basically have to visit schools they are applying to as part of this to show their interest to the admissions committee. As a voice talent, I have always marketed myself as having super fast turnarounds and being in the booth all the time. This week, and for a lot of this month, that is frankly not the case. My day to day routine of auditions, booked work, and marketing is different as we are doing these college visits. I am not good with change and this change in routine is freaking me out. While I am thankful to have this time with my twins, and while I am trying to enjoy seeing all of these amazing schools, I am stressed about this deviation from my routine. I worry that all that I have worked to build is being undermined. I have felt like this all summer.
Clutter Building Up
While we are traveling about, my house feels less tidy too. Like many, love HGTV. I have been noticing when I watch my beloved programs my own house is looking more and more cluttered. As my time is more divided than usual between work and the twins, my house is taking a back seat. It is terrible. I have also noticed when I zoom with my accountability partners, others seem to have their act more together. Whether they are other working moms or just busy voice actors and coaches, their desk does not look like it is under siege and looks like a space someone would actually enjoy working. So this week in addition to being stressed about my schedule, I was feeling rather down about my lack of organization as well.
The Hour That Changed Everything
On Thursday Diana Birdsall and I did the one hour Clubhouse with the creative genius Jonathan Tilley. Years ago, I think in 2015 or 2016 I took his fantastic marketing class for creatives called League of List Builders. This 
is an on-going course that you can still take! Since then, I have followed Jonathan and continued to learn from him regularly on social media. I went to school for Political Science and History, so there was a major gap in my marketing knowledge. I studied with Jonathan to fill said gap. Anyway, the Clubhouse is meant to help others in the community, but this one hour with Jonathan left me feeling so re-inspired. It reminded me of how far I’ve come and how much I have learned. It refocused my attention. I have built something amazing. It also made me feel filled with new goals that I am super excited to pursue. I guess our time with Jonathan was just what I needed to bring the joy back. I was left feeling like I have focus again and that if I just allow myself time to breathe and re-center, I will be back on track.
It is quite extraordinary how one hour with the right people can totally shift your perspective, turn everything on its axis. This is not just about the power of positivity, but that is part of it. In voiceover, it is really important to know who to take advice from. There are A LOT of people with microphones out there. That does not mean that everyone talking should be listened to. But when one hour can give you so much solid information and direction, those are the people you should be listening to! If you happened to miss our Clubhouse, stay tuned for my next blog on the beauty of VO Marketing that will summarize our chat with Jonathan.
If you’re a professional voice over actor like me, and like me you’ve been in the business a while, then you know it is not so often that we get to speak directly with the folks who run casting platforms. Or with agents. Typically candid conversations like this only happen at conferences. It just so happens that one of my VO besties, the amazing Liz Atherton, who for many years was the founder and owner of Texas based TAG Talent, is now the brains behind Cast Voices, the newest casting platform that is sure to bring great things to our industry (know wood). Liz has an amazing team, including Nick Krause, an on-camera talent who also does some VO, and Bobby and Elizabeth Alcott. They have all worked really hard to bring us something that us new and different. They are extremely transparent in all of their practices, and they want to create something that raises the bar. In this scenario, we have unique, inside access. 
f you didn’t know, Diana Birdsall and I run a weekly Clubhouse in our Club “Ask the VO Coaches.” Last week, Liz Atherton and Nick Krause came into our club to chat with us all about the awesome features of Cast Voices. What made the hour special was that many guests got to ask their questions directly to Liz and Nick, and there was a great back and forth exchange. I noticed several things. First, Liz comes from a place of grattitude. She is so profoundly appreciative of the support they have had thus far from the voice over community. She views the process as extremely collaborative and despite her many years as an agent, speaks to every single talent with respect and patience. Next, Liz and Nick care very much about being clear and transparent about all practices. For example, if a project manager on the platform posts a job for $500, the talent sees the job as $500. They are not chipping away at it or altering anything. I also noticed that they are willing to engage in community dialogue. When a bling talent commented about accessibility issues on the site, Nick was extremely responsive and will to hear all suggestions about how to improve the tech. This is a team determined to work hard for the voice over community.
So if you asked me when I got into voice over what I dreamt of doing, I would have told you that “I want to be a Disney princess,”or “I hope to book a target commercial.” Never did I utter the words, “I want to do radio imaging.” Why? Because I had no idea that this genre of voice over even existed, or what it meant to be a female radio imaging voice for a station. I actually attended a GVAA webinar that J. Michael Collins did on radio imaging and a light bulb went off in my head. All of this energy, enthusiasm, and passion that I was constantly having to tone down for my conversational commercial voice over reads was what made me perfect for radio imaging! That enthusiasm was the essential ingredient for station liners, stingers, promos… anything necessary in imaging! 
The team at OneVoice put together an all-star panel for Radio Imaging. I am elated to be on stage with these folks. In addition to me, the others include Randy Thomas, Joe Cipriano, AJ McKay, Paul Cartwright, and Brent Williams. I have to say, to be up there with Randy blows my mind a little. When J. Michael and AJ did my first multi-format imaging demo back in 2017, and I asked how to get started in radio imaging, JMC connected me with Randy. She suggested that I fly out to LA for her VO Mastery conference, which turned out to be amazing. Since then, she has been a mentor to me. While there, I took a master class with Joe Cipriano in promos. It was incredible. I had been a working pro for quite some time at that point, but was new to radio imaging. To be on a stage with them means so much. If you don’t know, in addition to voicing countless radio stations around the country, Randy has announced the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and the Tonys! Joe Cipriano is a man who typically needs no introduction, but just in case you’ve been locked in a broom closet, he has been the voice of Fox and CBS for over 25 years.
When I first looked at this line up, I was ecstatic, then I got nervous. Then I realized the very reason I was nervous is why I need to be on the panel. You see, unlike people like Randy and AJ, I did not work into radio imaging because of a background in radio or work as a DJ. I know lots of brilliant talents… Issa Lopez, Chad Ericson, Josh Goodman, Jeff Berlin… who all started as DJs and got into imaging. I am different. I came to voice over in my mid-thirties. I have always booked a lot of commercials. I love doing commercials. I have a ton of energy, and I needed to find what else was in that category. I love working with my radio stations for imaging. From CHR, to Christian, to Oldies to Adult Hits, I am happy in many formats. But you can’t just record a demo and hope that the universe sends you work. Having work in imaging requires consistent, daily follow up. It takes commitment and hard work. It takes determination. Talent and the ability to voice the liners is only a small part of booking imaging work, especially for those of us not from Radio. So I am on this panel to talk about how a determined, hardworking, focused, ambitious voice actor built a solid radio imaging business all on her own.
landmark case in the US Supreme Court: Mahanoy Area Schools Vs. B. L. In the case, as in all of his work, my dad represented the school district. My father has been a school law layer in the state of Pennsylvania since 1975, so whatever the issue, my dad is always counsel to the school, never to those suing the school. While over the years some of my dad’s cases have gotten publicity, like the Grade Gate scandal in Harrisburg sometime in the 1990s, and his more recent transgendered bathroom case where he won in the third circuit, protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community. This case, though, got international publicity. The fascinating thing was that the decisions was so complex that when it came out, I myself thought that my father lost. Instead, my father and his team of expert attorney’s were elated. Why? Put simply, the headlines were misleading, many in the media understood the issues being appealed, and the headlines that seemed clear did not paint an accurate picture of the implications of the ruling.
So, how on earth does this relate to my professional 
If you’re in voice over, and you’re on Facebook, then you know how many groups there are for voice actors. There are so many. Why do I think voice actors spend time posting, commenting, and chatting on Facebook? Well, when you work alone in a padded foam booth, it’s really nice to have people. There is a really amazing, close knit voiceover industry, and even during covid, we all stayed close by continuing to chat on places like Facebook. In the past two weeks, I had to Facebook anniversary reminders of 
friendiversaries with close friends. Seeing these video reels flash in my feed brought me profound joy. It reminded me of how much I have built. If you have the privilege of working in voiceover, and you are successful, you know that it takes a lot more that years of long days of hard work. Success in voice over also takes the support of awesome industry friends who are there to support you on good days and bad.
If I had to go back to the very beginning, and try to unravel this thread, I’m not really sure how my multitude of VO friendships and connections started. It may have begun with Anne Ganguzza and VO Peeps. I certainly “met” other voice talents that way. It may have begun with taking zoom classes through GVAA and keeping in touch with my classmates. It may also have begun with attending Uncle Roy’s famous BBQ. As a newbie, all of these made me feel part of a community and helped me see where I fit in. When you are just starting out, it is sometimes hard to push yourself to go. You might worry that no one will talk to you. It is so, so important to go and meet people face to face.
Conferences are an AMAZING place to bond. It literally does not matter which conference you pick, they are incredible. Yes, there is lots of learning and sharing of knowledge. But, in truth, as we all learned from doing everything remotely this year, the educational aspect alone is not what gets us to leave our families and hope on a plane. It is for sure the social aspect of the conferences that is worth more than gold. It feeds your soul and builds you up. The interactions are genuine and you will make friendships that endure. The women that I speak to daily I “knew” before I met them in person, but seeing them at WoVo Con and seeing them at VO Atlanta was our time to connect and really get to know each other. We lift each other up in every way possible.
week I co-host a panel with one of my VO besties and fellow VO Coach Diana Birdsall. Our club is called “Ask the VO Coaches” and recent panelists have including Dave Scott from All Systems Go AV, Randy Thomas, George-the-Tech Whittam, Dan Leonard, Shelley Avellino, Bev Standing and more! Lot’s of voice actors come into the room and we chat about topics that matter to us. Clubhouse has given us a space to support each other and have an active and on going dialogue that raises the level of performance of the industry. 
