I'm a multi-hyphenate. What does that mean? Well, for me it means that I wear many hats and have a lot of varied experience in several areas. Having a working knowledge in many industries has given me the ability to understand and ground myself in all kinds of characters in film/tv, theatre, and voiceover work. My Masters Degree in Theatre Arts (Acting) has given me an appreciation for, and better understanding of teaching - since I was required to teach classes as part of that experience.
And now, I'm a dialect/accent coach. I co-own SouthwestVoices.com where I teach various voiceover classes. I'm a SAG-AFTRA actor with credits in several film/tv productions. And I'm a voice actor for commercials, e-learning, training videos, and many other VO projects. And finally - I'm also an audiobook narrator (voicing everything from non-fiction titles to fiction with over 40 characters in different accents!)
Blog Goals
My goal with this blog is to share with you my thoughts, insights, experiences, and lessons learned. These might be about voiceover / voice acting, accents & dialects, business, entrepreneurship, and more! To get things started, below are a few of my fundamental thoughts in a few areas.
Audiobooks
As a dad, I've had the absolute pleasure of reading books aloud to my 2 wonderful kids almost every day for the past 13 years. All that reading has stirred up in me a love of reading stories aloud to a small audience. I really enjoy taking the author's words and telling a story on their behalf. To be able to use all of my training in this exploding sector of the publishing industry is so rewarding and I absolutely love it!
Voiceover / Voice Acting
When you are interested in almost everything, have a background in vocal performance, and have figured out how to put it all together in a professional home studio - voiceover is amazing! I love that I've had opportunities to voice e-learning products for students who have learned English as a 2nd language. I've worked remotely with clients around the world. And I'm so grateful (especially these last few years, during the Corona virus pandemic) that I've been able to employ my acting skills in this specific online industry.
Accents & Dialects
What's the difference between an accent and a dialect? There's a lot of discussion out there by very intelligent people on this question, and sometimes it conflicts. Personally - I've learned this...
Dialects are the big picture (everything from the colloquialisms we use, how we form the sounds of speech, our environmental influences, our unique speech patterns, etc.) - while Accents are the brush strokes within that big picture (the specific sounds we make that identify a person as being from a specific area and/or belonging to a group of people).
I'm so glad I've spent years studying dialects & accents, because I've been able to use that to train others as well as using that knowledge for myself as an actor.
Business
I really wish I had learned all the business lessons I know now...when I was in high school. Growing up in the 80's & 90's, we didn't really have any education (at home or in school) on personal finances or other critical business lessons. The first business class even available to me was in college. And even that wasn't super helpful, as it focused primarily on bigger, loftier ideas relating to the massive corporate giants. Pretty much everything I know about business, I learned from actually participating in business. What would have been exceptionally helpful - heading into the 2000's - would have been more study in..... entrepreneurship!
Entrepreneurship
Having an idea that could help other people, figuring out a way to make that idea practical and have it create income for you... that's a really basic definition of entrepreneurship. And that's why I'm drawn to this concept.
I have always loved finding ways to help others (from my childhood years, helping my siblings with chores to learning about coaching in college, where I could use my knowledge and expertise to help others succeed).
I love problem solving. I am a natural trouble-shooter. Just ask my wife. Sometimes it's helpful, other times it creates new problems when I'm trying different ways to solve old problems.
And I LOVE being my own boss. Something I learned about myself is that I play really well with others. I take direction well, and I have a very high bar set for myself that I expect when I produce a product or service.
That said - I also am a firm believer that variety is indeed the spice of life. Going to the same building every day, repeating the same tasks, and feeling like I'm going nowhere....those are all the things I don't like about being an employee. YES - running my own business requires a TON of extra work vs. just punching the time clock for someone else. But I love it.
Check out my other Blog Posts!
If you found any of this post interesting, helpful, insightful or entertaining - please check out my other blog posts! Although I'm just starting the blog, I promise there will be more posts to come. I appreciate your feedback, as I'm always trying to improve everything I do and make it more valuable to you. So, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you'd like me to blog about next!