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Voice Coaches Radio #582 – Wow, I Didn’t Think About That
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. It is time. A brand new episode is upon us of Voice Coaches Radio. I hope this is finding you well. Uh, God, what time of the year is it? I mean, it's spring, but some days have felt like summer around here. I'm not complaining. Uh, but, I will admit... At times, my deodorant's not just holding up to what it's gotta do, uh, I've been told that men's deodorant is like so much more powerful than, you know, a lady powder stick, if you will.
Um, so, yeah, I gotta, I think I gotta switch over. Also, like, men's products, have you noticed they're cheaper? They do that on purpose. Uh, I don't know why or what businesses have against the ladies, but hey, we don't have as much money either, okay? So, You know, cut us a break. But um, well listen, you know as we're getting into, you know, a brand new episode today something dawned on me You know, there's a little bit of misconception.
I think when it comes to the lifestyle of a voice actor You know, we got a lot of students in the program that Like first intention, like they come in and they're like, man, it sounds so appealing to be able to work from home, to be able to create your own schedule, to have that flexibility, to, you know, be able to say what kind of work I want to do, what kind of work I don't want to do.
And yeah, I mean, all of that is great. I will tell you right now, it's, it's pretty nice because that is my life. You know, a good five days of the week, um, you know, I get to make my own schedule. I get to do what I want to do. And. It is very, uh, relaxing, most of the time, most of the time. Um, you know, there are some challenges that come, come in with all of this.
You know, things that maybe you don't think of as you enter, we'll say, the, the realm of, um, self employment, you know, and being your own boss and, uh, creating that own schedule, your own schedule. And, uh, you know, for me, I'm a very busy human, you know, we were talking about this a couple weeks ago when Katie was on and you know, my my kind of checklist that I create for myself every week and that I follow daily and You know, that checklist is great.
That's the way that keeps me organized. It lets me know what kind of work that I need to do and when it needs to be done. And sometimes it changes. Um, you know, I've had it like this morning, you know, last minute, somebody had a stomach bug and it's like, Hey, could you fill in? And it's like, yeah, I'm not going to say no.
As long as I can make it happen, it will happen. Uh, and, and I did, uh, but here, here are some challenges. that you might not think of. You know, as you're creating your own schedule, that flexibility is great, but you better be ready to be on call because look at my morning. I mean, hey, I may have had other plans, right?
But if I want the money to be in, then, then I've got to go ahead and do the work. And, uh, you know, I went and what's funny is I did the work, but. You know, here I was, I went out of the house for like five minutes, and I get a text message, and it's like, Hey, yeah, um, we think we're gonna run this contest a little bit differently, and, uh, I might need you to, uh, you know, do a couple of the breaks over again, I'm thinking in the 11 o'clock hour.
Well, Here it was just after 10 and I was like, I mean, I can make that happen. I know what I'm going to be doing while I'm out. I'm going to be home before then. Um, and they were like, Oh crap. Um, you know, hold on. Let me see if I can just keep things the way they were. But you know, that's the thing is you kind of have to be.
available, you know, not always. Um, you can obviously have those instances where it's like, all right, I'm going on vacation. I know this. I just, you know, I'll let people know. But today, you know, it's like I, I did that job. That job is still going on until, you know, the shift is over basically. So if something happens and I need to try to tweak something, I need to be available.
Uh, you know, so that is one of those things that you have to take into consideration. It's like, maybe there is a deadline and you did an audiobook. You got it in before the deadline. They're in the process now of making sure that all the audio is up to par with what they want to do and what they want to release and then all of a sudden, you know, deadlines creeping up and they've realized that you doubled up a line or maybe you went and you said something wrong or they didn't like the inflection of something that you did.
They want that correction done. You got to be available. You got to make sure that you can do it. And while your schedule, yes, it is flexible, you also have to be flexible with the work at hand. Um, so always, always, always keep that in mind for yourself. And there's this. You are self employed, right? You are the one that you are your own business.
And while that can be very exciting, it can be very scary at the same time, because what if this is your full time thing, right? And all of a sudden, I don't know, there's a couple little less jobs than there was. that's less money coming in. If you have those days where you have no, no voice stuff to do, that's potentially no money coming in.
And you have to take that into consideration. You know, it's like, what do I do to make sure that I am financially Okay. Uh, and you know, I have those days too. I, oh man, I mean, because of all the voice work that I did, you all, you have to take this into consideration too. I mean, when it comes to money, that, you know, you in so many ways, you're a contract employee, at least for me, that's exactly what it's been.
You have to take into consideration tax time. You have to take into consideration for tax time, not just. your own state in, uh, if the work is coming out of, you know, your state, but also the other states, the work might be coming out of like, I ended up having, I don't know, like six or seven different states that I had to get taxes through.
Um, and that cost. a little bit per state for my, my tax lady to go ahead and do. And then when I owed, because I didn't have taxes taken out, I, like I looked at my bank account a second ago, I was like, uh oh. And it's really just because I have all these bills paid out of one. With a lot of money going into another, uh, to save, and it's like, okay, I gotta switch some things around here real quick because, uh, otherwise it's gonna be a little bit of a struggle as the new month hits to go ahead and pay some of this stuff based on what's in there this moment.
But yeah, I mean, when you're not working, you're not paid. Uh, you know, and you have to keep that in mind too. So you want to make sure that yeah, the flexibility is nice Those days off or the downtime's great But you you need the money to come in so you can see you still keep living and comfortably The other things to keep in mind.
It's just like your own vocal health um, you know the Unexpected things that can pop up when working from home, you know, I got dogs that'll be barking at sometimes I got people that show up unexpectedly. I got them my parents that live down the street You never know what they're gonna be doing, you know, so it's just Doctor appointments all of it.
Like you've got to keep everything into consideration and you know, it's kind of flying by the seat of your pants in a lot of ways and that can be a whole mind adjustment. Um, you know, you gotta be able to work as things come in. You gotta be, you gotta work with what's given to you. Um, and, and try not to stress out too much.
You know, I'm, I'm thankful that I am a person that I have kind of trained myself to kind of, uh, I will say be an in the, more in the moment kind of person rather than thinking too far ahead or thinking too far back. Like I try to live for right now and. Jumpy turtle as it comes. I mean, that is the best way to stay sane, honestly.
Um, so, it's just, sometimes we go into this and we see all the positives and, man, I want that lifestyle and the grass is always greener, but you want to keep in mind a lot of these balls that you gotta juggle and, and the negatives that do come into play. Um, and, yeah, sometimes it can be hard. Sometimes it can be absolutely amazing.
I will tell you that right now as, uh, I'm about to go out and enjoy my day. It's beautiful. It's sunny here. So, time for some farmer tan lines. Let's go. Uh, but brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio is coming at you next week. Stay safe, everybody. Enjoy the beautiful weather. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news.
Um, so, yeah, I gotta, I think I gotta switch over. Also, like, men's products, have you noticed they're cheaper? They do that on purpose. Uh, I don't know why or what businesses have against the ladies, but hey, we don't have as much money either, okay? So, You know, cut us a break. But um, well listen, you know as we're getting into, you know, a brand new episode today something dawned on me You know, there's a little bit of misconception.
I think when it comes to the lifestyle of a voice actor You know, we got a lot of students in the program that Like first intention, like they come in and they're like, man, it sounds so appealing to be able to work from home, to be able to create your own schedule, to have that flexibility, to, you know, be able to say what kind of work I want to do, what kind of work I don't want to do.
And yeah, I mean, all of that is great. I will tell you right now, it's, it's pretty nice because that is my life. You know, a good five days of the week, um, you know, I get to make my own schedule. I get to do what I want to do. And. It is very, uh, relaxing, most of the time, most of the time. Um, you know, there are some challenges that come, come in with all of this.
You know, things that maybe you don't think of as you enter, we'll say, the, the realm of, um, self employment, you know, and being your own boss and, uh, creating that own schedule, your own schedule. And, uh, you know, for me, I'm a very busy human, you know, we were talking about this a couple weeks ago when Katie was on and you know, my my kind of checklist that I create for myself every week and that I follow daily and You know, that checklist is great.
That's the way that keeps me organized. It lets me know what kind of work that I need to do and when it needs to be done. And sometimes it changes. Um, you know, I've had it like this morning, you know, last minute, somebody had a stomach bug and it's like, Hey, could you fill in? And it's like, yeah, I'm not going to say no.
As long as I can make it happen, it will happen. Uh, and, and I did, uh, but here, here are some challenges. that you might not think of. You know, as you're creating your own schedule, that flexibility is great, but you better be ready to be on call because look at my morning. I mean, hey, I may have had other plans, right?
But if I want the money to be in, then, then I've got to go ahead and do the work. And, uh, you know, I went and what's funny is I did the work, but. You know, here I was, I went out of the house for like five minutes, and I get a text message, and it's like, Hey, yeah, um, we think we're gonna run this contest a little bit differently, and, uh, I might need you to, uh, you know, do a couple of the breaks over again, I'm thinking in the 11 o'clock hour.
Well, Here it was just after 10 and I was like, I mean, I can make that happen. I know what I'm going to be doing while I'm out. I'm going to be home before then. Um, and they were like, Oh crap. Um, you know, hold on. Let me see if I can just keep things the way they were. But you know, that's the thing is you kind of have to be.
available, you know, not always. Um, you can obviously have those instances where it's like, all right, I'm going on vacation. I know this. I just, you know, I'll let people know. But today, you know, it's like I, I did that job. That job is still going on until, you know, the shift is over basically. So if something happens and I need to try to tweak something, I need to be available.
Uh, you know, so that is one of those things that you have to take into consideration. It's like, maybe there is a deadline and you did an audiobook. You got it in before the deadline. They're in the process now of making sure that all the audio is up to par with what they want to do and what they want to release and then all of a sudden, you know, deadlines creeping up and they've realized that you doubled up a line or maybe you went and you said something wrong or they didn't like the inflection of something that you did.
They want that correction done. You got to be available. You got to make sure that you can do it. And while your schedule, yes, it is flexible, you also have to be flexible with the work at hand. Um, so always, always, always keep that in mind for yourself. And there's this. You are self employed, right? You are the one that you are your own business.
And while that can be very exciting, it can be very scary at the same time, because what if this is your full time thing, right? And all of a sudden, I don't know, there's a couple little less jobs than there was. that's less money coming in. If you have those days where you have no, no voice stuff to do, that's potentially no money coming in.
And you have to take that into consideration. You know, it's like, what do I do to make sure that I am financially Okay. Uh, and you know, I have those days too. I, oh man, I mean, because of all the voice work that I did, you all, you have to take this into consideration too. I mean, when it comes to money, that, you know, you in so many ways, you're a contract employee, at least for me, that's exactly what it's been.
You have to take into consideration tax time. You have to take into consideration for tax time, not just. your own state in, uh, if the work is coming out of, you know, your state, but also the other states, the work might be coming out of like, I ended up having, I don't know, like six or seven different states that I had to get taxes through.
Um, and that cost. a little bit per state for my, my tax lady to go ahead and do. And then when I owed, because I didn't have taxes taken out, I, like I looked at my bank account a second ago, I was like, uh oh. And it's really just because I have all these bills paid out of one. With a lot of money going into another, uh, to save, and it's like, okay, I gotta switch some things around here real quick because, uh, otherwise it's gonna be a little bit of a struggle as the new month hits to go ahead and pay some of this stuff based on what's in there this moment.
But yeah, I mean, when you're not working, you're not paid. Uh, you know, and you have to keep that in mind too. So you want to make sure that yeah, the flexibility is nice Those days off or the downtime's great But you you need the money to come in so you can see you still keep living and comfortably The other things to keep in mind.
It's just like your own vocal health um, you know the Unexpected things that can pop up when working from home, you know, I got dogs that'll be barking at sometimes I got people that show up unexpectedly. I got them my parents that live down the street You never know what they're gonna be doing, you know, so it's just Doctor appointments all of it.
Like you've got to keep everything into consideration and you know, it's kind of flying by the seat of your pants in a lot of ways and that can be a whole mind adjustment. Um, you know, you gotta be able to work as things come in. You gotta be, you gotta work with what's given to you. Um, and, and try not to stress out too much.
You know, I'm, I'm thankful that I am a person that I have kind of trained myself to kind of, uh, I will say be an in the, more in the moment kind of person rather than thinking too far ahead or thinking too far back. Like I try to live for right now and. Jumpy turtle as it comes. I mean, that is the best way to stay sane, honestly.
Um, so, it's just, sometimes we go into this and we see all the positives and, man, I want that lifestyle and the grass is always greener, but you want to keep in mind a lot of these balls that you gotta juggle and, and the negatives that do come into play. Um, and, yeah, sometimes it can be hard. Sometimes it can be absolutely amazing.
I will tell you that right now as, uh, I'm about to go out and enjoy my day. It's beautiful. It's sunny here. So, time for some farmer tan lines. Let's go. Uh, but brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio is coming at you next week. Stay safe, everybody. Enjoy the beautiful weather. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa dives into the stuff that you maybe haven’t thought about with working for yourself as an independent Voice Actor.
