The Production Assistant Who Became a Voice-Over Artist

In 1992, home studios weren't on the horizon, so I took a job as a production assistant at ESPN, cutting highlights for SportsCenter. When my son decided to play hockey, I needed more income and started a "side hustle" in voice-over. By 2014, when I really began ramping up the business, the barrier to entry for a home studio had dropped low enough to let me pursue the dream while weaving it around my day job and my family.

Getting my name into the marketplace is like being a recovering addict. You're always on the journey, but you never "get there." Fitting this dream around a day job and family takes real discipline and time management, and learning the administrative side of running a business, from social media to client data tracking, is something I'm still working to get better at.

That the Almighty Algorithm needs to be fed, and fed properly. And that you send emails to people during working hours, not at night or on weekends, because otherwise the recipient simply deletes your email with all the other junk in their inbox the next morning.

I spent many Saturday mornings in his basement, practicing. In the fourteen months I spent with him, I never once asked if I was "ready" to get out there. Eventually, he introduced me to the client who has given me most of my audiobook business.

I'd started a thoroughbred racing podcast, "In The Gate," on ESPN.com to market myself as a voice artist in lieu of professional demos. That year, a horse named I'll Have Another had a shot at the Triple Crown, and I was sent to interview his owner at Belmont Park. We dual-recorded the audio, into the camera for TV and into my computer for the podcast, but the levels in my computer were far too low. After twenty years at ESPN, I hadn't realized radio and podcast audio peaks at -3db while TV audio peaks at -20db. Whenever I recorded scratch tracks for TV pieces, I always asked the content editor how I sounded, and the answer was always "great." Sure it was, for TV. Once I fixed that setting, I landed the very next gig I auditioned for. You're never too old or experienced to learn an important lesson.

Everyone on my team is looking at me for validation, so even when I disagree with a decision, I still need to validate the needs and feelings of those looking to me.

Great leaders don't need to prove they're the smartest person in the room. They might say only 6 words in a meeting. They spend most of their time listening, but when they do speak, they share just the right words, the right number of them, at the right time.

I'm also watching how AI is being incorporated, both positively and negatively, into the voice-over industry.

Closing costs are not a big deal, and the investment will be worth it.

ESPN cancelled my thoroughbred podcast, "In The Gate," after 2020, so in 2021 I created an offshoot called "The Far Turn." My son has asked me repeatedly why I spend time on a show that brings in no money. I tell him I'm playing the long game, that you never know where this kind of project will lead. I do it mainly to show different muscles used in voice-over, but I also care about independent commentary on thoroughbred racing, which is sorely lacking.

That first coach I mentioned was 85 years old when I sat with him, and he was still beating the bushes, making calls and sending emails to casting directors. He was smart enough and hungry enough, even at his advanced age, not to sit on his laurels and rely on his name and past accomplishments. I didn't need that kind of inspiration, but he certainly provided plenty.

If we take care of those, the rest takes care of itself. If we contribute something positive to our worlds, that's the definition of success.

When it cracks open even a hair, you need to be ready to break it down.