What drew you to the world of voice-over work, and how did you get your start in the industry?

My. father was a professional host/ talking head for commercials and other TV networks in Australia and later set up his own voice over company in 1995. I remember doing my first voice over for McDonald's, a client of his at the time, when I was just 9 years old. The voice over was to advertise kids birthday parties at McDonald's.

When I was 16 years old, Domino's Pizza Australia approached him looking for a younger female voice over artist to redo their entire marketing and IVR prompts for their stores country-wide, I auditioned, and got the role. Since then, I worked with my dad for a number of years and throughout my studies in Global PR and Communications.

While I've worked in PR and marketing roles for international companies, I've always maintained voice overs on the side as I find it fun, creative and challenging to meet clients' voice over needs. After the birth of my first child in 2021, I decided to focus on voice overs full-time in order to give myself a better work/life balance, and to give more quality time to my family. Since then I haven't looked back and Fiverr has been a great platform to enable me to reach a wider, global client base. I've now been recording voice overs professionally for more than 20 years and am so thankful to have a freelance job that gives me freedom and flexibility.

To be completely honest, I've always been drawn to the voices I would hear at the Disney parks when visiting as a child and teenager. That booming voice that would echo off the buildings announcing a parade in 10 minutes, or the voice of a pirate reminding you to keep your hands inside the boat always caught my attention. I would find myself imitating those voices. Today, I still imitate those voices for clients who want that "Disney" sound, and hope to someday work for Disney. 

I got my actual start in the industry in early 2020 - just before the pandemic happened. I came across the YouTube channels of various voice actors and started following them. I realized that I had a closet sized room in my basement that would be perfect as a studio, so I bought some moving blankets to deaden the sound and a recording kit from Focusrite on Amazon which included a microphone, the interface, a boom, a pop shield, and a XLR cable. This was my first set up. Actually, it's still my set up, with some upgrades over time as I made more money as a voice actor. 

In retrospect, despite the challenges of starting during the pandemic, it was actually a golden opportunity. I found myself with more free time to actually explore voice over, get on Fiverr, do more research into the industry, listen to podcasts about voice over, read business books, etc. I'm not sure I would have had the same energy and drive if I didn't have the extra time the pandemic afforded me. It was a challenging time to be sure, and I wouldn't want to repeat those early months of uncertainty and loss for so many, but as they say, things tend to work out for a reason, and that was definitely the case with me.

Since I was a child, I was always selected as the "narrator" in the school play, and I love to read for fun and to read aloud. For years, my voice has been considered commanding and soothing.

During the pandemic, I decided it was a great time to learn VO. I watched a ton of YouTube videos, worked on improving my technique and getting coaching. I set small measurable financial goals, but over time I came to really enjoy this work. It's a lot of fun, and I am operating in my gift. 

Also, it helps my mental health to give voice to others' words. I really enjoy voiceover work, and I feel that I get to put on my headphones, get into my booth and broadcast to the world.

As a young kid I was an introvert but fascinated by broadcasting and would practice reading the news at a little school desk in my room - even hand scribbled an ABC News logo on a piece of paper and taped it and would practice speaking and staring at an invisible camera  Later on I would DJ in my room while spinning my vinyl records with my make believe radio station WHUD (a take off on my last name).

After high school I didn't know what I wanted to do but my stepdad (who was also an Army recruiter) knew I had an interest in radio/tv production. He told me the US Army had a broadcast/journalism school. I sent off an audition tape and got accepted, joined the Army, went to basic training and then to the school as my military occupational specialty.

That was the start of my 40 year professional career in the voice over industry! I have worked for the US Government, in the corporate world and the commercial world doing VO work in every imaginable genre.

In 2012 I started my own full time voice over business and plan to keep doing it for as long as I enjoy it!

I don’t have an active voice-over gig, but I got into it through my studio work for clients here in the Czech Republic. It kinda just came naturally while working on other audio projects, and now I handle voice-overs as part of what I do. It’s fun, creative, and fits right into the mix of everything else!

My career in radio was a natural launching point for my voice over career. I voiced commercials all the time for the stations I worked for and I figured, "why let THEM have all the money?" LOL.  On a serious note, it's something I've always wanted to do. 

I was drawn to voice-over work through my father, who is also a top-rated voice actor on the platform. Many people say he sounds like Morgan Freeman. Seeing the success he achieved and how it positively impacted his finances initially attracted me to the field. I soon realized I had a significant advantage on the platform because of my marketing background. Once I learned what it takes to be successful on Fiverr, I applied those strategies and haven't looked back since. I now love voice acting; it feels like second nature to me.

My father was a full time voice actor in the 80s when most all broadcast was union.  I would travel with him from studio to studio in NYC and ATL for sessions and auditions.  Back then all audio was recorded to tape and they edited with razor blades!  I've been in the Vo business my entire life and took in a full time career in VO about 23 years ago.