A women in voiceover love fest.

Yay women!

Because women are awesome.

This Sunday, 8 March, is International Women’s Day. And I figured, what better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than by celebrating a small crowd of women who work in the voiceover industry, who support me and each other, who inspire, encourage, entertain… all while working so darn hard to run their business, be their best selves and love their families.

I asked some super VO colleagues what they love about voiceover and being a businesswoman, and I got some fabulous answers. Settle in for a great read from 12 gorgeous women of VO. A Women in VO Love Fest, if you will. (I know you will.)

I’d love for you to support these wonderful women and their talented voice work.

Sarah Kennedy: https://www.sarahkennedyvoiceover.com/ – is one of the first Aussie voice artists I met online when I was starting out and I totally struck gold there, because Sarah is friendly, welcoming, and ALWAYS encouraging. Sarah’s been working in VO for nearly 20 years, doing wonderful commercial and corporate work; before that she was a professional theatre gal, and now she’s getting into game characters as well… so, basically, I want to be Sarah when I grow up. (Shhh, don’t tell her I’m such a dork…)

“There are two things I love about being a voice actor:”

“One; Being able to use so many of the skills I gathered as a professional theatre actress before giving it up to concentrate on my family and:” 

“Two; THE LIFESTYLE, BABY!!! I can earn a great income without having to work a true clock in/clock out 40-hour week, which also means I am able to enjoy a healthier lifestyle because I have time to exercise regularly and prepare healthy meals. This benefits the whole family! When I am working from my own studio at home, I enjoy so many incidental benefits – no time spent in traffic, no parking fees, no need to get all dressed up etc. I LOVE being AVAILABLE for my children, and I know they love it too.  I can go to their school assemblies, their sports days, and volunteer in their classrooms (and research shows that children whose parents are involved in their education do better at school than those whose parents aren’t.) I feel so lucky to be able to do this for a living. It’s true what the Voice Artists say. It’s the best job in the world.”

Deanna Cooney: https://www.facebook.com/deannacooneyvoiceovers/ https://www.instagram.com/deannacooney/  – contacted me one day about a voiceover podcast and we just. kept. talking.  Deanna is based in Perth, Australia, and has been a voiceover artist for over 20 years. She’s also recently started coaching, thank the universe – because she is a BRILLIANT coach. I recommend her to everyone, and now I’ve recommended her to YOU. YES, YOU.

“I love the creativity, the craft, the flexibility and the self-expression that’s inherent in voice over work. And it’s SUPER FUN! As a coach and teacher, I adore working with passionate people who are interested in growth and change.”

Aimee Smith: www.aimeesmithva.com – is an Australian voice actor, the Queen of Australian Video Game Voice Acting, if you ask me. Her game characters are so fun and, well, full of CHARACTER. She also teaches workshops on game voice acting and she’s an absolute business WHIZ – very wise and incredibly generous with her encouragement, advice and support of other voice artists.

This girl is almost as cool as Aimee.

“We’re told as we leave high school to think about what it means to be an adult and to ‘grow up.’ So inevitably, we play less than we used to. We take less risks to avoid seeming immature. We become self-conscious and selective about who gets to see the little kid inside us all. I love the freedom associated with voicing for video games and how it enables us to connect with our inner child, rather than keeping them quiet. Voice acting makes us PLAY again.”

Gina Tigue: https://ginasaysit.com/ – is an American voice actress with a fun voice and happy, approachable attitude. I love her fun demos. 🙂 Gina loves being a voice actor:

“… for a variety of reasons. The most important is that, as a woman, I can have and run my own business and still work it to have the freedom of devoting time to my family. Which as a mom, I find extremely important. I have the opportunity to work, train, travel and do life on my terms.”

Aleesha Bake: www.linkedin.com/in/aleesha-bake-244681195/ – is a fab voice actress and busy mother. And what a wonderful mother she is – she sounds to me like the queen of multi-tasking!

“Being a working mom, even a part time working mom- is tough stuff. Mom stuff is always full time (plus some). Yesterday I put in a 10 hour day…I had 5 projects to complete and a toddler to potty train, kids to feed, boo-boo’s to comfort, lullabies to sing, and a kitchen that had to be cleaned. What should have taken me 3 hours ended up taking 10…but what a blessing to be able to help provide for our little family (or *cough* not so little) and still be HERE. I have the flexibility to put down my headphones, and sing a lullaby, cook dinner, or listen to my teenager talk about his girlfriend, or tough day at school. I LOVE my job…BOTH of them!”

Another amazing multi-tasker is Sakshi Sharma: www.sakshisvoice.com/ – she works 2 full time jobs, one of which is her voiceover business, while raising two toddlers. Definite gold medal for you, Sakshi!

“I am an Indian woman, in my 30s, living in UK.  And getting behind mic or handling my VO business, is something that I look forward to, after a hard day’s work. Doing VO is not only fun, it also gives me space to be myself, be as creative or as dramatic as I would like to be.”

“Running my own business, while following my creative calling is something which I think sets a positive example for my kids as well. It shows them that no matter what, if you have a burning desire then you find the will and means to follow it through.”

“And you can have a lot of fun, while doing all of that 😀
It is exhilarating, empowering, positive learning and a journey of self-discovery…”

Lillian Warkentin: www.lillianrachel.com/ – is a British-born, US-based voice actress with loads of experience in audiobooks and corporate narration. She has a beautifully reassuring British voice.

I haven’t been to a women’s voiceover conference yet, but I bet it’s just like this. Especially the lighting.

“I love that I’ve finally found a job and a creative outlet that energizes me instead of drains me! Of course, there are those times when the way seems unclear and I drag, but thankfully voiceover is full of some of the best people I’ve ever known. The struggles become opportunities to learn. We may work solitarily but the support available in this industry is amazing!”

Okay, you can tell this next chick is awesome just by her URL – www.vosuperhero.com – right? Bonnie Marie Williams is an American voice artist with some super amazing character voices under her VO Superhero cape. Check out those character demos on her site! So good!

I can neither confirm nor deny that these are Bonnie’s socks.

“Being a voice actor is a dream come true, because it allows me the use of my voice and 20+ years as an actor to emotionally connect my clients to their audiences… and have fun while doing it! Being a creative entrepreneur has been the greatest and most rewarding challenge, and I acknowledge the hard work of all the women who paved the way for us, so we can do it our way, today.”

Sandra Murphy: www.voicemama.com – is an audiobook narrator who – from the story in her bio of the, um, adventurous way she began performing, to the love of character acting and the theatre production experience – reminds me of me. If I were a sophisticated American mom. Or wife.

“The best thing about being an audiobook narrator is that I get to play ALL the parts. Mexican drug lords, Polish immigrants, old cantankerous grandmas…roles I would never be cast in on stage or on camera. To me, as an actor, it’s the ultimate challenge and reward to voice 30-40 characters per audiobook. I’m also a Mom and a wife to an entrepreneur so being able to run my business from my home studio is a true blessing and fits the needs of my family.”

Molly MacDonald Foster: http://www.mollymacdonaldfoster.com – has a very cool name (in case you don’t know, my cat’s name is Molly; you can meet her regularly on my Instagram…) AND a very cool VO career which is informed by her previous adventures as a Flight Attendant. How fab is that?

Flexible schedules are where it’s at, baby.
Also, headphones with sparkly gold ears. Yep.

“I love voiceover be a it allows me to be very creative, sometimes silly, sometimes serious, be an entrepreneur, meet people from all over the world, learn new things that I never even knew where “things”, and have a flexible schedule for me and my family. Yes, I know that’s a lot for one sentence but it’s all true!”

Ana Clements: http://www.anaclements.co.uk – is a UK-based voice actor who always catches me attention on Instagram with the fascinating things she’s up to. Ana has Spanish heritage and is bilingual. I think that’s awesome, but even awesome-er is Ana’s consistent professionalism and wonderful voice performances.

“I have been humbled by the willingness to share and the comfort of other women’s wisdom. I changed career mid-life into this warm and welcoming world of VO and, despite working from home and being alone in my studio I feel the embrace and support of the VO women I now call friends.”

Dani George: www.thequirkyvoice.com – is a US voice actor with a quirky voice (I mean, it says so right in her website URL) and the ability to speak Bulgarian as well as English. You definitely don’t come across that every day. Unless you’re Dani’s family. Then I guess you do. Dani does fabulous commercial and promo voiceover.

“I have been voice acting for a few years now and have been narrating audiobooks and voicing commercials (which are two very different breeds of voice acting). The best part is being able to act and, quite literally, be as many characters as possible; sometimes without having to leave the house! The second-best part is getting to set my own schedule, which gives me a lot more freedom to be a better person to my loved ones.”

I hope you have been inspired by the fabulousness of all these Voiceover Women, and I hope they remind you of all the wonderful women in your life, too. Just remember – women are awesome.

Happy International Women’s Day!