VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #679 – But, I’m Scared
Voice coaches radio, everything voiceover. Did you know that it is Easter weekend? Did you know that there's all sorts of candy that you could be eating right about now? Uh, I hope that you're on a sugar high as we are getting into a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa and, uh, I am not on a sugar high, but there's a couple things.
I, I'm in a good, I'm in good spirits and I, I'll say it's, um, there's. The pandemic did not treat me well. I've had many, many, many people tell me that this week. And, uh, it's reassuring that it's not just me. Like I'm not just over here like being a victim, but, uh, you know, between the, the vaccination and causing an injury from that.
And then the fact that I, I took that, uh, like hold over job. When the world was crazy and we couldn't get in studios because, oh, we've gotta, you know, go ahead and limit exposure. And COVID was just nuts. But, um, I, I was working at Lowe's briefly. I. And man, did I get hurt? Like I might, I got so hurt, I could have died.
Like it was just, it was bananas to say the least. Uh, and uh, basically like the short of it is I was working and a store reset. We were changing the whole store around. I went to move a grate in the lumber department, so it's one of those big steel grates that everything sits on. And somebody went to move one right above me at the same time without even thinking about it.
He dropped it, and that was about 50, 55 pounds from a distance that hit me right in the head. Um, it was not fun to say the least. So I have been having pain and I've just been trying to deal with it, and it got to the point where I'm like, I know exactly what this is. This is arthritis in my neck from holding that dang thing up.
And, and I, I did like the workers' comp. Situation initially, but it was literally like the two weeks, the week before I started with voice coaches and I'm like, I'm starting a new job. I don't, you want me to come and do like physical therapy and stuff like three, four times a week? Hi. I, I have to work. Uh, I don't know if you understand this.
Um, and I do have the capability of like sitting at a desk, like, you know, I'm not gonna be dizzy really doing that. Well, I was, but that's besides the point. Uh, so I, I did physical therapy for like a little bit and then I. It was just stuff I could do at home. So I just kept doing it from home and like really was busting my butt on the treadmill and all that kind of stuff.
And, and the, the symptoms, the, you know, post concussed stuff started to like dissipate and everything was good. So they ended up closing my, my workers' comp case and I had to go and reopen all that. It took like a month and a half to get somebody on the phone. It was stupid. Uh, but I did that. I got myself into a different, uh, you know, occupational doctor because the last one just was kind of mean and didn't treat me very well, and I got a woman who listened and, and took notes and heard my story and understood what was going on.
And while, yes, I have this issue with my eye from the vaccination, like I should probably, you know, see if that's also a little bit connected to this. She's like, wait a minute, nobody ever did any kind of x-rays or scans or MRI or anything for you. I was like, no. Uh, this was like mistreated right from the beginning.
So she ended up doing these like cervical spine scans, just like three of them right there in the office and. Within 20 minutes, she's like, yep, you've got, I can see muscle spasms happening and uh, you've got right here, it would be like this part of your neck, the L four and the L five, there's some degenerative whatever happening.
And I'm like, yeah, that's exactly where it starts to hurt. And uh, look at that. So now it's like, I can be on this road. She gave me some medicine, but like I can be on this road to, not necessarily recovery obviously, but getting to better. And seeing what that road is even gonna be. Um, but of course the orthopedist can't get me until August.
So that's a different story. That's the medical ways of the United States of America. I'm doing a salute from here. Uh, but I, I feel good. Like she gave me a muscle relaxer that allows me to get knocked out at night and I sleep, but sleep comfortably. I don't wake up in pain. I wake up a little groggy. Um, but I can take groggy, so it's better than pain.
Um, so. I hope that, uh, you know, if you've been having any issues in a similar way, that, that you're also, you know, on the up and up and feeling, feeling good here as we enter Easter weekends, uh, it's a weekend that's filled with Cadbury eggs and, and Reese's eggs, and probably not real eggs because they're.
Really expensive and, you know, we gotta co cost where we can. Uh, but, uh, you know, I, uh, wanted to get into, you know, obviously conversation about voiceover today in, in regards to something that has been coming up a lot lately. And it, it is like all the technicalities that go into your home studio and it just so happens that.
Me, myself, I have been revamping mine. I'm not getting anything additional. That's all that fancy, right? Like I've been using this home studio now since 2020 and. It's, you know, I've described it before for you, it's, it's, it's a nook in my basement. It used to be the three, it used to be the one car garage.
I was gonna say three car garage. I ain't that bougie. Um, but the one car garage and, uh, the, the fourth wall for me is just cardboard boxes. See, that's how lack of BGE I am. Um, but that is still the same. Like, that is a hundred percent still the situation, but. I just upgraded things. Like I got a different desk.
It's a desk that literally can raise and lower on its own, like how futuristic, um, you know, it really does feel like 2025. And it was like cheap too. It was like a hundred bucks on Amazon. Um, what else did I get? I. Started taking some of the soundproofing down to, to go ahead and like repaint and just kind of reconfigure it a little bit, but also different color scheme because I kind of have like all of my, like Celtics basketball pop culture sort of stuff in here.
So there's, there is a color scheme that's involved, um, that's gonna take a little bit to get the sticky off the wall and those kind of things. But, uh, that's in the, the process and, and I bought a new rug. And this was a, this was a thing, right? And like, this is what I wanna tell you. You try to do it in, I don't wanna say that I'm doing it a hundred percent correctly, but I am doing it a hundred percent financially correctly.
I would say, Tim, I, you know, people wanna knock it and, and I was a little skeptical. There's been a couple instances where I bought things and I'm like, that's not a hundred percent what I thought it was gonna be. But that's all right. In this case. Oh, chef's kiss. Good. Um, you know, this was just. Perfect. It was exactly what I was hoping for.
So I went on to the Temu app. I found a rug, I read all of the reviews. I found one that had like a whole bunch, not just like 10, but like 2000, right? So, you know, it's probably more legit. Um, you can kind of weed out what's clearly a bot from. From not, and I ordered this rug. Well then it seemed to be have, be having a hiccup with the delivery process.
I'm like, this is the universe's way of saying, Hey Mar, don't, don't buy a rug on Timo. And then it showed up and it was in the smallest package. But then like, I opened it up and you know, it's unfolding and it's unfolding and it's, I'm like, whoa, this thing is. That's exactly what I wanted. And as it was like kind of opening up and like becoming itself again, it was nice and soft and I, I just, I laid it down earlier in here.
That's exactly what I wanted. And I think, I don't know, $55, 60 bucks, like it was not, it was not wildly expensive. So, you know, if you look at the upgrades I've done, I don't know, cost, like maybe like one, we'll say like maybe like 180 with the soundproofing, you know, like not, not wildly expensive considering like.
The last time I really bought anything for this studio was my, my new chair that I got last year for like 50, 60 bucks at Marshall's. Um, so I don't go like crazy, you know, once you've kind of got what you, you need, you're, you're kind of set. So that's why it's like, it's really good to, you know, invest in, in the things that you need, you know, and, and.
Startup cases, it's like, yeah, you need a mic. Yeah, you, you're probably gonna want a laptop or a computer of some sort that has some good ram or whatever you, you're gonna want a recording program. We've talked about that before. Audacity is free. There's a bunch of 'em that are free and all I use is Audacity and I don't know, it seems to be doing the thing that I needed to do.
Uh, so I'm sure it'll do the same thing for you. And, and really that's, that's kind of what you need to start, you know, it's just making sure that the quality is, is up to par. And, you know, it, it can be challenging 'cause like, you know, I've had students be like, well, I know I'm just, I'm scared or like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't know how to get started. And it's like, listen. You probably thought that about anything that you've ever done in the past that you, you cared about. Like, I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start. I, I really wanna do this, but ah, I just don't, what if I, what if I'm wrong about myself?
Um, you know, and then I've wasted X, Y, and Z and it's like, you're, you're like selling yourself short immediately. You're making it so you're like setting yourself up for failure. You know what I mean? That. That ain't the way to start any of this. Uh, you wanna go in and just let it all be fun and, and be open to learning.
The learning will never stop it. It shouldn't, like, you wanna be the best at what you're doing. It's constantly evolving, so you really do have to also be, be evolving and pivoting with it. You gotta be not scared to pivot. You gotta learn to pivot. That has been basically my motto since the pandemic. 'cause my life has been nothing but a pivot.
Even before then, you know, radio was all about pivoting because I was like all of a sudden, you know, budget cut here and then I had a. Go from pop music to country, which by the way, I knew nothing about country. And I'm like, sure, I'll take the job. Why not pivot? You know? And then I was in a horrible, toxic work environment, and I was a budget cut eventually there too.
And I was like, all right, pivot. But where am I gonna go next? You know, I gotta be open to opportunity. If a big one comes my way, I gotta say yes. Oh, there's Boston calling Pivot. Spend all your money, be rather poor, but love what you're doing. Alright, cool. And, and then, you know, it was the pandemic from there and it really has been as one gig gets here, you know, maybe I lose another or I gain two and I lose one, or vice versa.
And, you know, the money keeps coming in and the opportunities keep coming. And I just have to kind of look at it and be kind of like, what I would say to a student when you're starting and you send emails out and you're trying to introduce and, you know, build some relationships if nobody replies, all right, whatever.
Just kinda like, all right, I'll lose a gig. All right, whatever. I'll get another one. All right. Nobody replies. Cool. I'll send another email. Somebody's gonna reply at some point. You just have to be willing to kind of go through it all. And, uh, and like along the way, as you're putting all of these pieces together, it is kind like a puzzle, right?
Don't be scared to ask for help. Uh, you know, you, you are in that learning process and you might not know. The ins and outs of everywhere that you can look to be educated. YouTube, I've said it before, it's a great resource. I mean, even when I was talking to that doctor the other day, that helped me with my neck.
She's like, YouTube, like neck exercises. Here's some pages. But to see how they're actually done, go to YouTube. It's such an amazing tool and it's right there at our fingertips. Don't waste it, like utilize it. Um, you know, you need to learn how to use, uh, the recording program. YouTube, you're not quite sure how to change the quality of your audio to sound more studio like and you know, get rid of an echo or whatever.
YouTube, like people are on there. They're your resource and free to use. It's amazing how cost efficient it can be. Um, so don't be scared. Don't hold yourself back. Don't let yourself be a failure before you even start. Okay? And, uh, it, it does not have to be incredibly challenging. It's just, you know, we, we can make it challenging if we kind of get frustrated and stay frustrated or, you know, whatever.
But, uh, you can do this. Anybody can do this. If I could go from being the shyest kid on the planet. So knowing how to use a lot of this equipment like the back of my hand and being able to stand in front of a, a crowd of 50,000 and, and have fun and, you know, be the life of the party, then, then yeah, then you can do this.
Okay. Because it, that is shocking to even me. Um, you know, we all have a lot more capability than we give ourselves credit for. So, go ahead. One step at a time. Don't be scared. Rip it like a bandaid. You got this. Uh, but we'll have a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio coming at you next week. I wanna let you know too that the, the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright, who we have talked about here on the pod, she's launching her own video podcast about the Simpsons.
That'll be coming soon. So, you know, guess what? Probably on YouTube. Um, so you can go ahead and check it out. Uh, but yeah, enjoy your Easter weekend. Uh, another is another issue, another episode of Voice Coaches Radio is coming at you next week, and you can always email me [email protected]. Stay safe, everybody.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
I, I'm in a good, I'm in good spirits and I, I'll say it's, um, there's. The pandemic did not treat me well. I've had many, many, many people tell me that this week. And, uh, it's reassuring that it's not just me. Like I'm not just over here like being a victim, but, uh, you know, between the, the vaccination and causing an injury from that.
And then the fact that I, I took that, uh, like hold over job. When the world was crazy and we couldn't get in studios because, oh, we've gotta, you know, go ahead and limit exposure. And COVID was just nuts. But, um, I, I was working at Lowe's briefly. I. And man, did I get hurt? Like I might, I got so hurt, I could have died.
Like it was just, it was bananas to say the least. Uh, and uh, basically like the short of it is I was working and a store reset. We were changing the whole store around. I went to move a grate in the lumber department, so it's one of those big steel grates that everything sits on. And somebody went to move one right above me at the same time without even thinking about it.
He dropped it, and that was about 50, 55 pounds from a distance that hit me right in the head. Um, it was not fun to say the least. So I have been having pain and I've just been trying to deal with it, and it got to the point where I'm like, I know exactly what this is. This is arthritis in my neck from holding that dang thing up.
And, and I, I did like the workers' comp. Situation initially, but it was literally like the two weeks, the week before I started with voice coaches and I'm like, I'm starting a new job. I don't, you want me to come and do like physical therapy and stuff like three, four times a week? Hi. I, I have to work. Uh, I don't know if you understand this.
Um, and I do have the capability of like sitting at a desk, like, you know, I'm not gonna be dizzy really doing that. Well, I was, but that's besides the point. Uh, so I, I did physical therapy for like a little bit and then I. It was just stuff I could do at home. So I just kept doing it from home and like really was busting my butt on the treadmill and all that kind of stuff.
And, and the, the symptoms, the, you know, post concussed stuff started to like dissipate and everything was good. So they ended up closing my, my workers' comp case and I had to go and reopen all that. It took like a month and a half to get somebody on the phone. It was stupid. Uh, but I did that. I got myself into a different, uh, you know, occupational doctor because the last one just was kind of mean and didn't treat me very well, and I got a woman who listened and, and took notes and heard my story and understood what was going on.
And while, yes, I have this issue with my eye from the vaccination, like I should probably, you know, see if that's also a little bit connected to this. She's like, wait a minute, nobody ever did any kind of x-rays or scans or MRI or anything for you. I was like, no. Uh, this was like mistreated right from the beginning.
So she ended up doing these like cervical spine scans, just like three of them right there in the office and. Within 20 minutes, she's like, yep, you've got, I can see muscle spasms happening and uh, you've got right here, it would be like this part of your neck, the L four and the L five, there's some degenerative whatever happening.
And I'm like, yeah, that's exactly where it starts to hurt. And uh, look at that. So now it's like, I can be on this road. She gave me some medicine, but like I can be on this road to, not necessarily recovery obviously, but getting to better. And seeing what that road is even gonna be. Um, but of course the orthopedist can't get me until August.
So that's a different story. That's the medical ways of the United States of America. I'm doing a salute from here. Uh, but I, I feel good. Like she gave me a muscle relaxer that allows me to get knocked out at night and I sleep, but sleep comfortably. I don't wake up in pain. I wake up a little groggy. Um, but I can take groggy, so it's better than pain.
Um, so. I hope that, uh, you know, if you've been having any issues in a similar way, that, that you're also, you know, on the up and up and feeling, feeling good here as we enter Easter weekends, uh, it's a weekend that's filled with Cadbury eggs and, and Reese's eggs, and probably not real eggs because they're.
Really expensive and, you know, we gotta co cost where we can. Uh, but, uh, you know, I, uh, wanted to get into, you know, obviously conversation about voiceover today in, in regards to something that has been coming up a lot lately. And it, it is like all the technicalities that go into your home studio and it just so happens that.
Me, myself, I have been revamping mine. I'm not getting anything additional. That's all that fancy, right? Like I've been using this home studio now since 2020 and. It's, you know, I've described it before for you, it's, it's, it's a nook in my basement. It used to be the three, it used to be the one car garage.
I was gonna say three car garage. I ain't that bougie. Um, but the one car garage and, uh, the, the fourth wall for me is just cardboard boxes. See, that's how lack of BGE I am. Um, but that is still the same. Like, that is a hundred percent still the situation, but. I just upgraded things. Like I got a different desk.
It's a desk that literally can raise and lower on its own, like how futuristic, um, you know, it really does feel like 2025. And it was like cheap too. It was like a hundred bucks on Amazon. Um, what else did I get? I. Started taking some of the soundproofing down to, to go ahead and like repaint and just kind of reconfigure it a little bit, but also different color scheme because I kind of have like all of my, like Celtics basketball pop culture sort of stuff in here.
So there's, there is a color scheme that's involved, um, that's gonna take a little bit to get the sticky off the wall and those kind of things. But, uh, that's in the, the process and, and I bought a new rug. And this was a, this was a thing, right? And like, this is what I wanna tell you. You try to do it in, I don't wanna say that I'm doing it a hundred percent correctly, but I am doing it a hundred percent financially correctly.
I would say, Tim, I, you know, people wanna knock it and, and I was a little skeptical. There's been a couple instances where I bought things and I'm like, that's not a hundred percent what I thought it was gonna be. But that's all right. In this case. Oh, chef's kiss. Good. Um, you know, this was just. Perfect. It was exactly what I was hoping for.
So I went on to the Temu app. I found a rug, I read all of the reviews. I found one that had like a whole bunch, not just like 10, but like 2000, right? So, you know, it's probably more legit. Um, you can kind of weed out what's clearly a bot from. From not, and I ordered this rug. Well then it seemed to be have, be having a hiccup with the delivery process.
I'm like, this is the universe's way of saying, Hey Mar, don't, don't buy a rug on Timo. And then it showed up and it was in the smallest package. But then like, I opened it up and you know, it's unfolding and it's unfolding and it's, I'm like, whoa, this thing is. That's exactly what I wanted. And as it was like kind of opening up and like becoming itself again, it was nice and soft and I, I just, I laid it down earlier in here.
That's exactly what I wanted. And I think, I don't know, $55, 60 bucks, like it was not, it was not wildly expensive. So, you know, if you look at the upgrades I've done, I don't know, cost, like maybe like one, we'll say like maybe like 180 with the soundproofing, you know, like not, not wildly expensive considering like.
The last time I really bought anything for this studio was my, my new chair that I got last year for like 50, 60 bucks at Marshall's. Um, so I don't go like crazy, you know, once you've kind of got what you, you need, you're, you're kind of set. So that's why it's like, it's really good to, you know, invest in, in the things that you need, you know, and, and.
Startup cases, it's like, yeah, you need a mic. Yeah, you, you're probably gonna want a laptop or a computer of some sort that has some good ram or whatever you, you're gonna want a recording program. We've talked about that before. Audacity is free. There's a bunch of 'em that are free and all I use is Audacity and I don't know, it seems to be doing the thing that I needed to do.
Uh, so I'm sure it'll do the same thing for you. And, and really that's, that's kind of what you need to start, you know, it's just making sure that the quality is, is up to par. And, you know, it, it can be challenging 'cause like, you know, I've had students be like, well, I know I'm just, I'm scared or like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't know how to get started. And it's like, listen. You probably thought that about anything that you've ever done in the past that you, you cared about. Like, I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start. I, I really wanna do this, but ah, I just don't, what if I, what if I'm wrong about myself?
Um, you know, and then I've wasted X, Y, and Z and it's like, you're, you're like selling yourself short immediately. You're making it so you're like setting yourself up for failure. You know what I mean? That. That ain't the way to start any of this. Uh, you wanna go in and just let it all be fun and, and be open to learning.
The learning will never stop it. It shouldn't, like, you wanna be the best at what you're doing. It's constantly evolving, so you really do have to also be, be evolving and pivoting with it. You gotta be not scared to pivot. You gotta learn to pivot. That has been basically my motto since the pandemic. 'cause my life has been nothing but a pivot.
Even before then, you know, radio was all about pivoting because I was like all of a sudden, you know, budget cut here and then I had a. Go from pop music to country, which by the way, I knew nothing about country. And I'm like, sure, I'll take the job. Why not pivot? You know? And then I was in a horrible, toxic work environment, and I was a budget cut eventually there too.
And I was like, all right, pivot. But where am I gonna go next? You know, I gotta be open to opportunity. If a big one comes my way, I gotta say yes. Oh, there's Boston calling Pivot. Spend all your money, be rather poor, but love what you're doing. Alright, cool. And, and then, you know, it was the pandemic from there and it really has been as one gig gets here, you know, maybe I lose another or I gain two and I lose one, or vice versa.
And, you know, the money keeps coming in and the opportunities keep coming. And I just have to kind of look at it and be kind of like, what I would say to a student when you're starting and you send emails out and you're trying to introduce and, you know, build some relationships if nobody replies, all right, whatever.
Just kinda like, all right, I'll lose a gig. All right, whatever. I'll get another one. All right. Nobody replies. Cool. I'll send another email. Somebody's gonna reply at some point. You just have to be willing to kind of go through it all. And, uh, and like along the way, as you're putting all of these pieces together, it is kind like a puzzle, right?
Don't be scared to ask for help. Uh, you know, you, you are in that learning process and you might not know. The ins and outs of everywhere that you can look to be educated. YouTube, I've said it before, it's a great resource. I mean, even when I was talking to that doctor the other day, that helped me with my neck.
She's like, YouTube, like neck exercises. Here's some pages. But to see how they're actually done, go to YouTube. It's such an amazing tool and it's right there at our fingertips. Don't waste it, like utilize it. Um, you know, you need to learn how to use, uh, the recording program. YouTube, you're not quite sure how to change the quality of your audio to sound more studio like and you know, get rid of an echo or whatever.
YouTube, like people are on there. They're your resource and free to use. It's amazing how cost efficient it can be. Um, so don't be scared. Don't hold yourself back. Don't let yourself be a failure before you even start. Okay? And, uh, it, it does not have to be incredibly challenging. It's just, you know, we, we can make it challenging if we kind of get frustrated and stay frustrated or, you know, whatever.
But, uh, you can do this. Anybody can do this. If I could go from being the shyest kid on the planet. So knowing how to use a lot of this equipment like the back of my hand and being able to stand in front of a, a crowd of 50,000 and, and have fun and, you know, be the life of the party, then, then yeah, then you can do this.
Okay. Because it, that is shocking to even me. Um, you know, we all have a lot more capability than we give ourselves credit for. So, go ahead. One step at a time. Don't be scared. Rip it like a bandaid. You got this. Uh, but we'll have a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio coming at you next week. I wanna let you know too that the, the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright, who we have talked about here on the pod, she's launching her own video podcast about the Simpsons.
That'll be coming soon. So, you know, guess what? Probably on YouTube. Um, so you can go ahead and check it out. Uh, but yeah, enjoy your Easter weekend. Uh, another is another issue, another episode of Voice Coaches Radio is coming at you next week, and you can always email me [email protected]. Stay safe, everybody.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa discusses the challenges that are to come when attempting to start your recording from home. How do I get started? I’m too old to keep learning all these new things (no, you’re not!) And so on and so forth…lets chat on the simplicities of what it takes to get your home studio up and running.
