VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #671 – Rochelle Barker
Voice coaches radio, everything voiceover. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa and I am joined today by somebody that just like, uh, you know, not to sound like an old geezer or anything, but like knocked my socks off, uh, when, uh, we had her demo session just about a week or so ago, and her name is Rochelle.
Do you go by Rochelle or do you go by Shell? I saw your email was like, shell, whatever. And I'm like, have I been said the wrong thing this whole time? No, I go by Rochelle. That's okay. That's an old, old email when a OL switched over to Yahoo. So it's telling my age, but no, I go by Rochelle. That's okay. I was using my Yahoo up until about, I don't know, about a month ago, and I was like, I have this Gmail.
I just don't like switching everything over. I. Because I've had it, like all my network connections are through that Yahoo, so I'm never gonna get rid of it, just in case. Uh, but I moved a lot of stuff over to my Gmail. I'm like, ah, I feel, I feel like I'm up with the times now. Uh, but um, so I just wanted to, I mean, first of all, congratulations on a fantastic demo session.
Thank you. Was it everything that you hoped and dreamed for? It was so much better. So, I mean, obviously because of where I am, I had to travel to go there a bit. So it was, uh, you know, having that anxiety drive. Yeah. You had like an hour drive or something? Is that what was going on? It was almost three hours.
Oh my goodness. I didn't even know that. Yeah. Which, which was fine because it gave me time to like. Just, I, I love driving, so it gave me time to just kind of zen out for a while. Yeah. Which was great. It helped me relax. Um, but I had the anxiety of, oh gosh, now I'm stuck in traffic. Am I gonna get late? But that said, um, when I got there, the producer was absolutely fantastic.
He was helping, you know, relax and getting me set up, and I got there in enough time to, to get in the head space and then to hear you through my head was like. So ridiculously helpful going, okay. Friendly voice. Friendly voice. And I'm sure not everybody has felt that way though. So thank you for like giving me a compliment today.
No, it was wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful. So yeah, so having that friendly voice and I'm like, okay. It really was just like having a Zoom chat with you other than. I could hear myself through the headphones more than I'm used to hearing my breath. Right. We talked about that 'cause of my editing background.
Mm-hmm. But that, that threw me off. But no, it was just, it was very relaxing and I loved it. It was a great experience. That's awesome. And yeah, I mean, anybody should know that. Here at Voice Coaches, it's like, yes, we are in upstate New York. We're, we're located in, in Albany at the Capitol here. But you know, we work with people all over the place and I have had instances had people like you, you gotta go ahead and you gotta, you know, drive three doors or, you know, you have to, um.
It, you know, crossed state lines and, uh, potential like time zones and those kind of things. And, you know, it's just wherever we got a studio that's close by for you. Um, but, uh, but yeah. So I know that you've got the editing background. Um, tell me a little bit about your interest. What led you to voiceover?
Like what had you been doing and what's got you to, to even think, you know what, I wanna get educated more. Yeah, so I work for corporate. I have a, a corporate job and part of what I do is designing and delivering training. And so in that realm, when I create training, whether it's an online course or a video, we do have the option to purchase voiceover talent to go through, you know, obviously the same channels that hopefully I'll be part of now.
Um, but I've always done my own. I've had enough to where. I do normally talk very fast, but when I'm doing recording for something, I can slow it down. And I've done it enough with enough different variation on it that most people don't know it's me. Even my peers, when they hear it, they're like, oh, where'd you go?
And I'm like, no, that's me. That's my own voice. And so it's fun to be able to kind of hide behind that, so to speak, where I have that extra layer. And I, I mean, literally I've done that for about 15 years and. I'm not gonna lie randomly, I was scrolling on Facebook one night right at the beginning of the year, you know, working on my January 1st goals and a voice coach's advertisement came across my feed.
I have never seen that come across my feed and I have had conversations about this would be a fun extra, something on the side, something to do beyond my, my day job. So I went ahead and, you know, clicked the link to sign up for a webinar and literally from there, that was just, you know, what, four months ago, five months ago.
And just went down that path and I'm like, I'm excited about this. So yeah, so I have that background, but to the point about the demo, because I do my own voiceover for work, for corporate, um, I do my own editing as well, so I used to like, yeah, you've got a different ear. You know, like it's, it's like I've been told that, that I've got the ear of an audio file, so it's like as I'm interviewing somebody or whatever, I know.
Alright, I've got what I need for, for this bit that I'm gonna do, and like, I can easily just go ahead pre press stop, you know, and keep talking to 'em. But they have no idea. Uh, you know, and it's like, how do you do that? And it's like, well, I don't know. I got like different compartments in my brain working at the same time.
So, which, which was the funny part because I'm used to, because I do my own and I audacity, I, I love audacity and I can see like my breaths are when I pause, whatever. So that's what I kept hearing. And so Charlie, our, our producer finally had to say. I'll take care of that. Don't worry about it. Breathe.
It's okay. Right, right. 'cause that was throwing, that was throwing me from my own loop. But once we got past that, then I'm like, okay, to take that editor hat off and just be in the acting part. Mm-hmm. Oh, it was so much fun. Yeah. You know, I think that's, that's the thing. Like you're, anybody can come from any kind of background to, to, you know, join the program and do the thing and you know, but when you've got a, it's, it's.
It's using your experience that you have, but then being, uh, okay with the pivot, right? Like you've worked with doing things in a very similar manner, but like you've worn so many hats in the past. And honestly, it was like the voiceover almost was secondary, you know? And you've always had the, the editing hat on first, so.
You know, then you get in that booth and, and you got somebody that's gonna take care of all that. But it is hard to step away from, you know, all of all the experience that you have and, and allowing yourself that freedom. Um, and, and you know, that that ability to just kind of like, alright, let's just focus on this and only this, uh, but the moment you did that.
It was like night and day. All of a sudden everything was really coming together. And I mean, eh, she was a natural, uh, if you will. Uh, but um, it was different because the moment, yeah, you're right. And I, and I know, I think it was, I think my second clip that, that when I let that go and I'm like, oh, let me have fun.
And I was able to. Like you said, stepping outta corporate, I was able to do voices, which I don't usually do. Obviously for corporate. We keep it pretty professional and to be able, oh, you don't say, yeah, I know. So to be able to step out of that, to say, oh, now let me really have some fun with some characters, that, that's, to me, that's where everything pivoted and changed.
Yeah. So it, previously obviously you'd had the compliments on your voice. Did you have any, I mean, were you just kind of guiding yourself? Had you done any like online. Uh, you know, tutorials on, on voiceover prior. I mean, you were just kind of rolling with it, just rolling with it. Um, honestly, just I would laugh.
Um, in the back of my head, I would always hear the voices from when I was growing up, people telling me. Slow down, take a deep breath. Um, because they told me that naturally. 'cause I do talk fast. So I would hear that when I would do my own little voiceover for work, just slow down and take a deep breath.
But that was about it. Um, other than if I would release some training and I would see feedback in some of the comments on something, which I didn't see that often. But no, it was pretty much just me going with the flow. And I think naturally too, just because. Obviously I, I'm somebody who can speak rather quickly as well.
Maybe that's the New Yorker in me. I don't know. Uh, but I think, um, we're, we're naturally animated, you know, and, and, um, because of that, I think you come with a natural quality of engagement. And here's, here's something that I think not a lot of people understand that when you are starting e, even with those natural qualities and natural abilities.
Until you get comfortable, they don't really shine. Um, you know they're there, but they're not really there 'cause we're holding ourselves back always. Have you noticed that for yourself? Absolutely. So that's the other thing too, that threw me for a loop on the demo. Um, and not just the demo, just anytime doing the voiceover is that you're by yourself.
You know, you're in, you're in a booth, you've got the microphone. And I am very animated. I, I have something else I do in the evenings with, you know, teaching group fitness class, and I get super animated there because I. See my audience. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. That's a totally different animal, believe me. Yes. And so when you're doing your, when you're doing the demo or just doing any voice acting, you're by yourself.
So being able to, and you gave me those tips through, through the headphones to visualize to see somebody to be actually be talking to it. That makes a difference too. So that's when you kind of get in that head space and get animated. Because if you really are by yourself and you're not imagining that person you're talking to, it's, for me at least, it was dry.
I had to see somebody. Yeah, very much so. I, I mean, you know, that was like, you get so much education, you know, throughout the program on, on what to do and how to do it and why you're doing it, and then you're able to implement and it's like a lot of like very intricate things, but. You know, when, when I was starting, I, I've, I tell students every single time, uh, you know, it's like I went to a broadcast school, I went, you know, for radio, it was very hands-on.
It was more equipment based, and here's how you press the buttons and, you know, here's what a microphone is. But it, like, when it came to being conversational, it was just like, yeah, that's what you're supposed to do. And it's like, okay, how do I do it then? You know? And all they would say is like, you're, you.
You're talking to your best friend. You know, at one point they wanted us to like tape up a picture of somebody, you know, and that was the way to kind of, you know, get you in the right mindset. And it sounds so silly, but you know, for some people that might, it might not, it still might not make it that easy.
But for me, that's all I did. Like I just took that, I ran with it and. I still do that today. Like, you know, sometimes when I'm just like in that, because not every day I walk into my studio, I'm like, I am raring to go, let's, let's do this. You know? Sometimes I have to just go ahead and it's like, alright, Marissa, you're talking to your best friend from high school.
Jess is right here. She's not. I can see her location. I know she's not really here with me right now, but she's gonna be, and uh, you know, sometimes that's all I need. Uh, but sometimes that's also too much. 'cause we can be ridiculous together. So, uh, but Okay. I, I can underst I can see that, but yes. But yeah, that, that imagination, um, would've, I didn't think about putting a picture of someone, but that probably would've helped too on a few of them.
Yeah. But. We got through the mentally part. So it, of course, it just makes a difference. It, you know, every little thing that you do, every time you do it, it's like it gets easier for the next time. So, uh, but I'm glad that experience was so good for you and Yeah, I mean, that demo, once you get it, you're, you're gonna be like, oh my God, I can't believe it.
Like, that is me and I sound so much better than all the other stuff I've done before. I can't wait to, you know, implement it in the work you already do and still do. And then, you know, uh, all the, I'm sure auditions that you're gonna be doing and, uh, jobs you'll be getting and all that kind of stuff. So.
What is the overall goal, do you think, for you? Like, I, I mean, well I guess let's, let's, let's take a step back from that, even in this moment. What kind of steps are you in the midst of taking to like start maybe putting feelers down or any of that kind of stuff? Yeah, so I am the different websites we've talked about where you can, you get the auditions and go for, um, applying for, you know, whether audio for me, probably more audiobook.
That's what I'm looking forward to. Mm-hmm. I'm getting my account set up. I'm getting everything ready. Um, because we just did the demo. It's not on my website yet, so we're waiting on that. But I'm at least getting, you know, marking some jobs, the kind of things that I'm looking for. Yeah. So, yeah, so I'm, I'm getting those, those baby steps for right now.
But I figured I've got a couple weeks to not be overwhelmed. 'cause the first time I pulled up the sites I was like, wow. There's a lot, but yeah, the, the more I go into it, the more I get familiar. So I'm taking some baby steps because, like I said, this, this is something on the side, so it's not like I have to dive in with everything.
Like, I've gotta pay bills. Well, I, I have that taken care of. I can, I can enjoy this part. Yeah. And, and that's, that's what a lot of people have to kind of, you know, wrap their head around and, and understand, you know, it's like, take it little by little. You, you can't. Think that you're gonna have a full-time job and then immediately switch and this is going to be your full-time job.
Um, you know, because, I mean, it was a lot of work for me to even get to the point of where I am right now. And, and I'm still not a hundred percent where I wanna be. You know? It's like, like I. I mean, there was a point where I didn't even think I'd be able to do what I'm doing now, uh, just because of the way the world was.
But having a work back up from the ground up. I mean, I was full-time with voice coaches and little by little it's like, yeah, I can do that. Sure, I can do that. And then like, it's like one, one job after the other. And uh, then it just became a little overwhelming. So then it was like, okay, that's the time.
Like do the math and make sure that you can, but pull back a little bit. And, uh, you know, it's like that, that. Will probably happen again at some point. Um, you know, and it's like you just, it can be scary. Uh, you know, those moments can be a little scary 'cause, you know, it's like you're, you're taking a step into maybe un unknown territory, you know, it's new territory.
But, and, and you're kind of betting on yourself, but that's the thing, you know, we don't wanna let ourselves down. So the moment that we get into that unfamiliar spot and, uh, the only one that can really make sure that we're doing the right thing is us. I mean, I, I, I have to hope that we're gonna do the right thing, you know?
And that, that's, that's what I keep doing. Um, at, at least I think so. Um, so, so audio books are, are what you wanna dive into. I'm sure that, uh, is it a CX that you've been. Yes. Venturing with, yeah, that, that site can be a lot of fun. 'cause that works directly with Audible and, you know, I've gotten some stuff through that.
Even the, the free stuff is like, gets you experienced. So it's like, as long as you don't mind, uh, you know, just pick something that's not too big. My first one was like 13 hours. I was like, oopsie. Um, but, but, but still, like, I hadn't done that long. Kind of read before. Um, I've always done commercials, I've always done radio.
I've always done podcasts and, you know, anything like that. But, uh, that, that, that first go with the longer stuff, um, at least for me was, it was very, um, eye-opening. It was very fun. It was different. It was. It was me setting myself up for a challenge a little bit, you know? And, and it got me to be like, yeah, okay, I did that and now like I wanna only do the paid stuff.
But, um, but yeah, that website can be really great. And, and don't be scared to think outside the box a little bit, you know, because I mean that, not that you wanna go back to that studio that was three hours away from you, but they might cast for different stuff. Like that's, a lot of people don't like, think it that way.
You know what, what around you? Might be able to utilize you for some of the stuff that you wanna do, right? Could be a college that, you know, college campus, um, you just never know. Um, but, but I'm looking forward to, to seeing where all these steps take you. So, uh, it's been how long since your demo? A week.
A week? Yeah. It literally was just last week, last Tuesday. So, yeah, a little over a week. All right. So you should be getting that to you soon. And, uh, I can't, I can't wait for the reaction. I, I like the moment that you get it. I wanna know. I like, I just, I wanna know everything, so I'll tell you. Yeah. So you better email me.
Um, but, um, okay, so say, we'll, we'll leave on this. Say you start getting some work and you get the audio books, what would be, what would be the biggest goal that you think you could have? You know, what is one of those projects where it's like, alright, that's the ultimate. I don't know if I thought about an ultimate project, I know ultimate goal would be in supplementing income enough that I can do the retirement from corporate, you know, with, and I have a timeframe for that.
So to be able to say, okay, this is going to, you know, be what I need to supplement. Um, I don't know. But you know, actually you mentioned like a long audio book. That would be cool. That's right now it's an overwhelming for me. Yeah. I think I'm definitely in that shorter time span, but to be able to do that, oh.
Yeah. And I, I'm thinking of authors that I love, which granted they'd narrate their own books, but some of those, you know, um, no, not necessarily personal development authors necessarily. If they're, if they're looking for someone that's to do one of theirs, I'm, I'm thinking of some authors. I would love to do one of those personal development books that I've listened to all my life.
Yeah. For them to say, okay, we'd rather have you for the, for the narration. Oh, I'd be all over it. Yeah, I mean, I'm over here. Before I hopped on with you, I was listening to, uh, one of the audio books by, uh, Freda McFadden. Uh, just a little suspense, you know, and, uh, you know, all of these are the, the ones that I've listened to.
Everybody's different, you know, so it's not like. Same person for every one of these, but she is like, you know, she's a big deal. So, uh, shout out to, it's read by Leslie Howard, um, and she's doing a fantastic job. Um, so maybe you will be the next Leslie Howard. Uh, but I wish you all the best. Anything that I can help with, you know, just, just hit me up.
Okay. 'cause you know, any questions you've. You're not sure how to answer questions or you know how to price yourself out or what, whatever, like I can at least try to help, or at least voice coaches can try to guide you as well. All right. Absolutely. Thank you so much. You guys have been great the whole way, so thank you.
Yeah, you're very welcome. And, uh, next week a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. Stay safe, everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
Do you go by Rochelle or do you go by Shell? I saw your email was like, shell, whatever. And I'm like, have I been said the wrong thing this whole time? No, I go by Rochelle. That's okay. That's an old, old email when a OL switched over to Yahoo. So it's telling my age, but no, I go by Rochelle. That's okay. I was using my Yahoo up until about, I don't know, about a month ago, and I was like, I have this Gmail.
I just don't like switching everything over. I. Because I've had it, like all my network connections are through that Yahoo, so I'm never gonna get rid of it, just in case. Uh, but I moved a lot of stuff over to my Gmail. I'm like, ah, I feel, I feel like I'm up with the times now. Uh, but um, so I just wanted to, I mean, first of all, congratulations on a fantastic demo session.
Thank you. Was it everything that you hoped and dreamed for? It was so much better. So, I mean, obviously because of where I am, I had to travel to go there a bit. So it was, uh, you know, having that anxiety drive. Yeah. You had like an hour drive or something? Is that what was going on? It was almost three hours.
Oh my goodness. I didn't even know that. Yeah. Which, which was fine because it gave me time to like. Just, I, I love driving, so it gave me time to just kind of zen out for a while. Yeah. Which was great. It helped me relax. Um, but I had the anxiety of, oh gosh, now I'm stuck in traffic. Am I gonna get late? But that said, um, when I got there, the producer was absolutely fantastic.
He was helping, you know, relax and getting me set up, and I got there in enough time to, to get in the head space and then to hear you through my head was like. So ridiculously helpful going, okay. Friendly voice. Friendly voice. And I'm sure not everybody has felt that way though. So thank you for like giving me a compliment today.
No, it was wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful. So yeah, so having that friendly voice and I'm like, okay. It really was just like having a Zoom chat with you other than. I could hear myself through the headphones more than I'm used to hearing my breath. Right. We talked about that 'cause of my editing background.
Mm-hmm. But that, that threw me off. But no, it was just, it was very relaxing and I loved it. It was a great experience. That's awesome. And yeah, I mean, anybody should know that. Here at Voice Coaches, it's like, yes, we are in upstate New York. We're, we're located in, in Albany at the Capitol here. But you know, we work with people all over the place and I have had instances had people like you, you gotta go ahead and you gotta, you know, drive three doors or, you know, you have to, um.
It, you know, crossed state lines and, uh, potential like time zones and those kind of things. And, you know, it's just wherever we got a studio that's close by for you. Um, but, uh, but yeah. So I know that you've got the editing background. Um, tell me a little bit about your interest. What led you to voiceover?
Like what had you been doing and what's got you to, to even think, you know what, I wanna get educated more. Yeah, so I work for corporate. I have a, a corporate job and part of what I do is designing and delivering training. And so in that realm, when I create training, whether it's an online course or a video, we do have the option to purchase voiceover talent to go through, you know, obviously the same channels that hopefully I'll be part of now.
Um, but I've always done my own. I've had enough to where. I do normally talk very fast, but when I'm doing recording for something, I can slow it down. And I've done it enough with enough different variation on it that most people don't know it's me. Even my peers, when they hear it, they're like, oh, where'd you go?
And I'm like, no, that's me. That's my own voice. And so it's fun to be able to kind of hide behind that, so to speak, where I have that extra layer. And I, I mean, literally I've done that for about 15 years and. I'm not gonna lie randomly, I was scrolling on Facebook one night right at the beginning of the year, you know, working on my January 1st goals and a voice coach's advertisement came across my feed.
I have never seen that come across my feed and I have had conversations about this would be a fun extra, something on the side, something to do beyond my, my day job. So I went ahead and, you know, clicked the link to sign up for a webinar and literally from there, that was just, you know, what, four months ago, five months ago.
And just went down that path and I'm like, I'm excited about this. So yeah, so I have that background, but to the point about the demo, because I do my own voiceover for work, for corporate, um, I do my own editing as well, so I used to like, yeah, you've got a different ear. You know, like it's, it's like I've been told that, that I've got the ear of an audio file, so it's like as I'm interviewing somebody or whatever, I know.
Alright, I've got what I need for, for this bit that I'm gonna do, and like, I can easily just go ahead pre press stop, you know, and keep talking to 'em. But they have no idea. Uh, you know, and it's like, how do you do that? And it's like, well, I don't know. I got like different compartments in my brain working at the same time.
So, which, which was the funny part because I'm used to, because I do my own and I audacity, I, I love audacity and I can see like my breaths are when I pause, whatever. So that's what I kept hearing. And so Charlie, our, our producer finally had to say. I'll take care of that. Don't worry about it. Breathe.
It's okay. Right, right. 'cause that was throwing, that was throwing me from my own loop. But once we got past that, then I'm like, okay, to take that editor hat off and just be in the acting part. Mm-hmm. Oh, it was so much fun. Yeah. You know, I think that's, that's the thing. Like you're, anybody can come from any kind of background to, to, you know, join the program and do the thing and you know, but when you've got a, it's, it's.
It's using your experience that you have, but then being, uh, okay with the pivot, right? Like you've worked with doing things in a very similar manner, but like you've worn so many hats in the past. And honestly, it was like the voiceover almost was secondary, you know? And you've always had the, the editing hat on first, so.
You know, then you get in that booth and, and you got somebody that's gonna take care of all that. But it is hard to step away from, you know, all of all the experience that you have and, and allowing yourself that freedom. Um, and, and you know, that that ability to just kind of like, alright, let's just focus on this and only this, uh, but the moment you did that.
It was like night and day. All of a sudden everything was really coming together. And I mean, eh, she was a natural, uh, if you will. Uh, but um, it was different because the moment, yeah, you're right. And I, and I know, I think it was, I think my second clip that, that when I let that go and I'm like, oh, let me have fun.
And I was able to. Like you said, stepping outta corporate, I was able to do voices, which I don't usually do. Obviously for corporate. We keep it pretty professional and to be able, oh, you don't say, yeah, I know. So to be able to step out of that, to say, oh, now let me really have some fun with some characters, that, that's, to me, that's where everything pivoted and changed.
Yeah. So it, previously obviously you'd had the compliments on your voice. Did you have any, I mean, were you just kind of guiding yourself? Had you done any like online. Uh, you know, tutorials on, on voiceover prior. I mean, you were just kind of rolling with it, just rolling with it. Um, honestly, just I would laugh.
Um, in the back of my head, I would always hear the voices from when I was growing up, people telling me. Slow down, take a deep breath. Um, because they told me that naturally. 'cause I do talk fast. So I would hear that when I would do my own little voiceover for work, just slow down and take a deep breath.
But that was about it. Um, other than if I would release some training and I would see feedback in some of the comments on something, which I didn't see that often. But no, it was pretty much just me going with the flow. And I think naturally too, just because. Obviously I, I'm somebody who can speak rather quickly as well.
Maybe that's the New Yorker in me. I don't know. Uh, but I think, um, we're, we're naturally animated, you know, and, and, um, because of that, I think you come with a natural quality of engagement. And here's, here's something that I think not a lot of people understand that when you are starting e, even with those natural qualities and natural abilities.
Until you get comfortable, they don't really shine. Um, you know they're there, but they're not really there 'cause we're holding ourselves back always. Have you noticed that for yourself? Absolutely. So that's the other thing too, that threw me for a loop on the demo. Um, and not just the demo, just anytime doing the voiceover is that you're by yourself.
You know, you're in, you're in a booth, you've got the microphone. And I am very animated. I, I have something else I do in the evenings with, you know, teaching group fitness class, and I get super animated there because I. See my audience. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. That's a totally different animal, believe me. Yes. And so when you're doing your, when you're doing the demo or just doing any voice acting, you're by yourself.
So being able to, and you gave me those tips through, through the headphones to visualize to see somebody to be actually be talking to it. That makes a difference too. So that's when you kind of get in that head space and get animated. Because if you really are by yourself and you're not imagining that person you're talking to, it's, for me at least, it was dry.
I had to see somebody. Yeah, very much so. I, I mean, you know, that was like, you get so much education, you know, throughout the program on, on what to do and how to do it and why you're doing it, and then you're able to implement and it's like a lot of like very intricate things, but. You know, when, when I was starting, I, I've, I tell students every single time, uh, you know, it's like I went to a broadcast school, I went, you know, for radio, it was very hands-on.
It was more equipment based, and here's how you press the buttons and, you know, here's what a microphone is. But it, like, when it came to being conversational, it was just like, yeah, that's what you're supposed to do. And it's like, okay, how do I do it then? You know? And all they would say is like, you're, you.
You're talking to your best friend. You know, at one point they wanted us to like tape up a picture of somebody, you know, and that was the way to kind of, you know, get you in the right mindset. And it sounds so silly, but you know, for some people that might, it might not, it still might not make it that easy.
But for me, that's all I did. Like I just took that, I ran with it and. I still do that today. Like, you know, sometimes when I'm just like in that, because not every day I walk into my studio, I'm like, I am raring to go, let's, let's do this. You know? Sometimes I have to just go ahead and it's like, alright, Marissa, you're talking to your best friend from high school.
Jess is right here. She's not. I can see her location. I know she's not really here with me right now, but she's gonna be, and uh, you know, sometimes that's all I need. Uh, but sometimes that's also too much. 'cause we can be ridiculous together. So, uh, but Okay. I, I can underst I can see that, but yes. But yeah, that, that imagination, um, would've, I didn't think about putting a picture of someone, but that probably would've helped too on a few of them.
Yeah. But. We got through the mentally part. So it, of course, it just makes a difference. It, you know, every little thing that you do, every time you do it, it's like it gets easier for the next time. So, uh, but I'm glad that experience was so good for you and Yeah, I mean, that demo, once you get it, you're, you're gonna be like, oh my God, I can't believe it.
Like, that is me and I sound so much better than all the other stuff I've done before. I can't wait to, you know, implement it in the work you already do and still do. And then, you know, uh, all the, I'm sure auditions that you're gonna be doing and, uh, jobs you'll be getting and all that kind of stuff. So.
What is the overall goal, do you think, for you? Like, I, I mean, well I guess let's, let's, let's take a step back from that, even in this moment. What kind of steps are you in the midst of taking to like start maybe putting feelers down or any of that kind of stuff? Yeah, so I am the different websites we've talked about where you can, you get the auditions and go for, um, applying for, you know, whether audio for me, probably more audiobook.
That's what I'm looking forward to. Mm-hmm. I'm getting my account set up. I'm getting everything ready. Um, because we just did the demo. It's not on my website yet, so we're waiting on that. But I'm at least getting, you know, marking some jobs, the kind of things that I'm looking for. Yeah. So, yeah, so I'm, I'm getting those, those baby steps for right now.
But I figured I've got a couple weeks to not be overwhelmed. 'cause the first time I pulled up the sites I was like, wow. There's a lot, but yeah, the, the more I go into it, the more I get familiar. So I'm taking some baby steps because, like I said, this, this is something on the side, so it's not like I have to dive in with everything.
Like, I've gotta pay bills. Well, I, I have that taken care of. I can, I can enjoy this part. Yeah. And, and that's, that's what a lot of people have to kind of, you know, wrap their head around and, and understand, you know, it's like, take it little by little. You, you can't. Think that you're gonna have a full-time job and then immediately switch and this is going to be your full-time job.
Um, you know, because, I mean, it was a lot of work for me to even get to the point of where I am right now. And, and I'm still not a hundred percent where I wanna be. You know? It's like, like I. I mean, there was a point where I didn't even think I'd be able to do what I'm doing now, uh, just because of the way the world was.
But having a work back up from the ground up. I mean, I was full-time with voice coaches and little by little it's like, yeah, I can do that. Sure, I can do that. And then like, it's like one, one job after the other. And uh, then it just became a little overwhelming. So then it was like, okay, that's the time.
Like do the math and make sure that you can, but pull back a little bit. And, uh, you know, it's like that, that. Will probably happen again at some point. Um, you know, and it's like you just, it can be scary. Uh, you know, those moments can be a little scary 'cause, you know, it's like you're, you're taking a step into maybe un unknown territory, you know, it's new territory.
But, and, and you're kind of betting on yourself, but that's the thing, you know, we don't wanna let ourselves down. So the moment that we get into that unfamiliar spot and, uh, the only one that can really make sure that we're doing the right thing is us. I mean, I, I, I have to hope that we're gonna do the right thing, you know?
And that, that's, that's what I keep doing. Um, at, at least I think so. Um, so, so audio books are, are what you wanna dive into. I'm sure that, uh, is it a CX that you've been. Yes. Venturing with, yeah, that, that site can be a lot of fun. 'cause that works directly with Audible and, you know, I've gotten some stuff through that.
Even the, the free stuff is like, gets you experienced. So it's like, as long as you don't mind, uh, you know, just pick something that's not too big. My first one was like 13 hours. I was like, oopsie. Um, but, but, but still, like, I hadn't done that long. Kind of read before. Um, I've always done commercials, I've always done radio.
I've always done podcasts and, you know, anything like that. But, uh, that, that, that first go with the longer stuff, um, at least for me was, it was very, um, eye-opening. It was very fun. It was different. It was. It was me setting myself up for a challenge a little bit, you know? And, and it got me to be like, yeah, okay, I did that and now like I wanna only do the paid stuff.
But, um, but yeah, that website can be really great. And, and don't be scared to think outside the box a little bit, you know, because I mean that, not that you wanna go back to that studio that was three hours away from you, but they might cast for different stuff. Like that's, a lot of people don't like, think it that way.
You know what, what around you? Might be able to utilize you for some of the stuff that you wanna do, right? Could be a college that, you know, college campus, um, you just never know. Um, but, but I'm looking forward to, to seeing where all these steps take you. So, uh, it's been how long since your demo? A week.
A week? Yeah. It literally was just last week, last Tuesday. So, yeah, a little over a week. All right. So you should be getting that to you soon. And, uh, I can't, I can't wait for the reaction. I, I like the moment that you get it. I wanna know. I like, I just, I wanna know everything, so I'll tell you. Yeah. So you better email me.
Um, but, um, okay, so say, we'll, we'll leave on this. Say you start getting some work and you get the audio books, what would be, what would be the biggest goal that you think you could have? You know, what is one of those projects where it's like, alright, that's the ultimate. I don't know if I thought about an ultimate project, I know ultimate goal would be in supplementing income enough that I can do the retirement from corporate, you know, with, and I have a timeframe for that.
So to be able to say, okay, this is going to, you know, be what I need to supplement. Um, I don't know. But you know, actually you mentioned like a long audio book. That would be cool. That's right now it's an overwhelming for me. Yeah. I think I'm definitely in that shorter time span, but to be able to do that, oh.
Yeah. And I, I'm thinking of authors that I love, which granted they'd narrate their own books, but some of those, you know, um, no, not necessarily personal development authors necessarily. If they're, if they're looking for someone that's to do one of theirs, I'm, I'm thinking of some authors. I would love to do one of those personal development books that I've listened to all my life.
Yeah. For them to say, okay, we'd rather have you for the, for the narration. Oh, I'd be all over it. Yeah, I mean, I'm over here. Before I hopped on with you, I was listening to, uh, one of the audio books by, uh, Freda McFadden. Uh, just a little suspense, you know, and, uh, you know, all of these are the, the ones that I've listened to.
Everybody's different, you know, so it's not like. Same person for every one of these, but she is like, you know, she's a big deal. So, uh, shout out to, it's read by Leslie Howard, um, and she's doing a fantastic job. Um, so maybe you will be the next Leslie Howard. Uh, but I wish you all the best. Anything that I can help with, you know, just, just hit me up.
Okay. 'cause you know, any questions you've. You're not sure how to answer questions or you know how to price yourself out or what, whatever, like I can at least try to help, or at least voice coaches can try to guide you as well. All right. Absolutely. Thank you so much. You guys have been great the whole way, so thank you.
Yeah, you're very welcome. And, uh, next week a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. Stay safe, everybody. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa chats with former student, Rochelle who just had her demo experience! We’ll chat about her background, what got her interested in voice over and what she’s looking forward to once she gets her demo officially!
