ENGLISH, FRENCH AND ARMENIAN PERFORMER

You have a great voice! Yay!

But that great voice alone won’t make you a great voice actor. What makes you stand out to agents and clients are mostly soft skills: communication, flexibility, problem solving and teamwork. And the biggest one, being directable (without pushing back!).

Communication → Answer emails as soon as you can, submit your auditions before the deadline, let agents/clients know if your availability changes and let clients know if you’re running late to a session, or if you need more time to prepare their files!

Flexibility → Be open to script changes that will likely happen on the fly. Don’t be too attached to the take you submitted for your audition and be open to play.

Problem Solving → Always offer solutions and if you don’t know, find someone and ask! If you’re having home studio issues with connectivity or equipment, a client will appreciate solutions instead of panic. If everything in your home studio is going sideways, call a local studio or reschedule.

Teamwork → Most of the time you’ll be working with a team that has to present the final audio to the end client. It’s your job to work in tandem with the production team to make sure the session is seamless and give them everything they need. If you’re engineering your own session, don’t be afraid to take charge and lead the session. Some clients have never been on a recording session before and it’s your job to make them feel comfortable so they can help direct you.

Directability → This is the most important quality you can have as a performer. At the end of the day, you’ve been hired to bring someone else’s vision to life. Being directable means listening closely, adjusting quickly and staying flexible in your performance. There may be moments where a director invites you to play or explore different choices. If so, take that gift and don’t hold back!  But first and foremost, your job is to deliver what’s being asked of you. Nail the brief, give them the take they need and then you can offer options or variations.

Strong performers don’t just bring their voice to a project, they know how to listen and when to play. Being easy to direct not only makes sessions smoother, it makes clients want to bring you back again and again. Making you unforgettable!

But it didn’t start that way.

After graduating theatre school, the world was my oyster. I wanted to perform at Stratford and then make my way to Broadway! (Still high on the bucket list) I knew the path would be difficult and that it would be littered with rejection, but I didn’t think it would be so… gatekeep-y. A few months into the auditioning hustle, I felt a bit defeated but wasn’t opposed to trying something new. A teacher had mentioned voiceover as an option for me, mostly because I’m multilingual, and that it would be an interesting (and potentially lucrative) avenue to explore. I signed up for an “Intro to VO” class taught by Caroly Larson in Toronto and that was the day my life changed.

In the class we learned about commercial copy and took turns reading scripts in the booth. Hearing the sound of my own voice was, at first, panic-inducing, but the teacher and my fellow classmates were so kind and encouraging, that the nerves melted away. By the end of the class I was hungry for more. I immediately picked up more shifts at the catering company to help pay for the next set of classes. The more classes I took, the more welcomed I felt among this new voiceover community that I had come across. After a decent amount of coaching, I recorded a commercial demo with the brilliant Kim Hurdon. She reassured me that I would get signed immediately because I could work in English and French VO. After sending out my demos to union agencies in Toronto, I got lots of “sorry you’re not ready for an agent” emails or they just ghosted me. At the time, I was also performing in plays and working on various student films to bulk up my resume…and still, nothing. Frustrated and confused, I reached out to Kim and she recommended I apply to non-union voiceover agencies. As an aspiring theatre/film actor, this was very new to me. I wanted to do theatre, film and voice! Not just voice. But, what did I know? I was 24 and all I wanted to do was make a living as a performer (and not disappoint my parents).

I set-up a meeting with Tanya at Ta-Da Voiceworks (who I love and I’m still signed with today!). She was so kind and very real during our conversation. “Don’t quit your day job. I’ll send you auditions and you can also work on getting your own clients too.” My own clients? What does she mean by that? Guess I’ll find out!

I signed with her the next day and jumped into the voiceover world with both feet. I immersed myself in the voiceover community: attended VO Atlanta, went to meetups, took classes, joined a bunch of Facebook community groups. You name it, I was there. The non-union VO community is pretty small in North America and no matter the event or gathering, I always felt welcomed. It also always amazed me how generous everyone was with their knowledge and time. That generosity and kindness is one of the big reasons I pivoted my career from film/theatre to mainly voiceover (and some theatre/puppetry sprinkled in for good measure).

Remember when my agent told me I could get my own clients? Yeah, that was another big reason I went the VO route. I always found it frustrating that you had to rely on an agent or manager to get you work as an actor. But. being a non-union talent, there’s a lot more freedom when it comes to creating your own income and opportunities. I learned to negotiate, create contracts, find my own clients, engineer sessions and edit/process audio. Basically, I became a small business owner selling voiceover services. I run my business like any 9-5 and it creates structure in a profession that can be very unpredictable. I love my agents and would not be where I am today without them! But having the option to also be an entrepreneur is extremely freeing and, honestly, pushes me to be more creative!

So yes, I didn’t always talk for a living, but after 10 years in the industry, becoming a small business owner and creating a solid artistic foundation, I’d say that was the right choice!