Some people refer to it as their shakedown … flimflam … bunco … con …
but those words have a negative connotation to them.
Others call it their grind … workout … or just their job.
To me your hustle means working hard and working smart; being open to new and different ideas; being focused; taking risks; having the courage to put yourself out there. Being a voice actor is a difficult job and it’s getting tougher every day!
Change is inevitable in every industry, but change is constant in voice over.
When I started you HAD to have at least one agent and you had to travel, 99% of the time, to other studios to record a session. Nowadays, a lot of talent don’t have an agent representing them, and everyone has a home studio where they do 99% of their work. My point is that having the ability to pivot in order to stay relevant is a key skill we need to learn as voice actors.
You can’t be all hustle and no game.
Developing your performance skills is vital!
Just as you need to be focused this podcast is focused too, we’re focused on your hustle. If I were to lay out the path someone should follow, it would look like this:
• Find a coach/mentor
• Study voice over
• Prepare your recording space
• Research and buy your equipment
• Prepare a marketing plan(s)
• Have a professional demo produced
• Work your hustle as if your career depends on it — because it does.
You may disagree with the order I laid out as a path to success but consider this: the goal of voice actors is to be hired by your clients to voice scripts.
Your job is to practice, audition, and market. That’s the job. If you do your job well you’ll get hired by clients to voice their scripts.
This podcast is really about one thing — what it takes to get work.
(BTW, you’re not finished with your job until you get paid! That’s a whole another conversation.)
We’ll discover new things together from people far smarter than me. I ask questions that I want to know the answers to, I’ve been surprised by the solutions they’ve offered. Our guests will be industry pros, and pros outside of voice over, because again — we want to learn NEW things.
Welcome to The Voice Over Hustle.
Now get to it!
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