Uncategorized

Always “Connected”?: Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Clubhouse, Instagram, texts, various messaging/communication apps…there’s no doubt we’re connected. But…are we really? We “like”, maybe comment, post pictures, write and share stories, share, answer texts and messages at dizzying speeds. Sometimes (I’m guilty too) it feels like we’re “liking” a post or comment just for the sole fact of liking it. It keeps us “busy” or perhaps it makes us “feel good”. But again…does it really?

Being Social: On the other hand, having a presence on social media for one’s business (I feel) is important. It is a place to learn, share ideas and opinions, get the word out about events, classes, etc. It’s a wonderful way to reach out to many people at once.

Being Human and Remembering Others are Human: Over the past 18+ months, social media, Zoom calls/meetings (and other similar platforms), and webinars have kept us connected, learning, and growing for which I am grateful. Like many, a personal touch (metaphorically and actual) for me is even more relevant now. Sure, I’ve posted on social (mostly on Linkedin) about voiceover- and business-related topics, and if interested, here’s a shameless plug, https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyfossumvoiceovers/detail/recent-activity/.

But a couple of months ago I took perhaps a more “uncommon” approach when I reached out to voiceover clients and to those I hadn’t contacted in a while. Rather than sending out a bulk email or even personalizing an email through a CRM, I typed and sent out individual, personal emails one by one. You see, clients (businesses) are at the core…people. They are people with lives, feelings, bills, and ups and downs in life. The overarching goal was simply to reconnect with those folks I do and have worked with. It was to say “hello”, to wish them well, and to maybe spark a smile (I included a picture of summer flowers from our garden).

Did it take extra time? Yes. Did people respond? A few of them did. Was it worth it? Yes.

I feel, now more than ever, it’s about letting people (businesses you work with) know that you are more than your business. And also acknowledging to them that you value them as a person, and more than just a “like” on their social media post. In essence, the value of acknowledging and honoring people and our humanness.

Looking Down: One of my favorite outdoor activities is kayaking. Not the kayaking on a river with class four rapids, but the type where you’re just relaxing and paddling to get around a lake or reservoir, to see the flora and fauna, and really just to enjoy and to soak in nature. I’m not new to kayaking but I’m far from a pro. My 10-foot kayak is one where you sit all on top, so your legs and feet are exposed.

 

In learning to kayak I recall always looking down at my feet and only occasionally glancing up to see where I was going. Getting the kayak to go in a straight line or to follow the shoreline, with my goal of getting around the body of water was haphazard. Sure I’d paddle and could “kind of” steer, but it wasn’t efficient and I would end up not really going where I wanted to go. I was always off course, and either a bit too far left or too far right. Still I kept paddling mostly looking down at my feet. I eventually got to where I wanted to go, but it wasn’t very elegant or efficient. Not that that really mattered as when I’m on my kayak I’m just having fun. Still it was a bit frustrating that my technique wasn’t at least improving. Why couldn’t I paddle in a straight line or follow the shoreline to reach my goal (for example, padding all the way around a reservoir)?

Voiceover Application: When setting goals, be it personal or voiceover (career) specific, I feel it’s important to know where you want to go rather than doing things haphazardly. One moves forward one step at a time. Business goals (at least in my experience) are obtained one step at a time too. Let’s say one of your goals is to connect with two new clients and get two new voiceover gigs/projects. Great! You have a specific goal. But if you just look down at your computer’s keyboard or at your phone (like looking down at my feel while paddling in my kayak) no forward movement occurs. Your eyes might be on your computer screen or phone, but if you’re just looking down at/scrolling through your social feed and looking at adorable baby animal pictures you’re not moving forward with your goals. It might “seem” like you’re getting something done, and the time certainly flies but, let’s be real and honest…nothing is really getting done to help move your business forward. There might be a little horizontal movement (a bit left and/or a bit right just like with the kayak analogy), but you’re really just standing still. That email or follow-up email isn’t going to write itself. That phone call or follow-up call isn’t going to make itself. In the case of voiceover, that audition isn’t going to record itself. You get the idea.

Better Steering: Meanwhile back at the kayak and after several years of paddling, it didn’t occur to me until this kayaking season (2021) that when I started to look up and out/forward when I was paddling that I was going forward faster and more efficiently! Well, duh, that makes total sense. When you drive a car or ride a bike you don’t look “down” at your feet, you look up and out to continue in a forward direction. Forward is great, but some of the nice things about a kayak are there’s no motor (quiet) and it is relatively small so you can follow the shoreline, perhaps see some water fowl and other critters, and see some pretty cool rock formations and plants. In order to do this, you’ve got to be able to turn. The same premise applies for turning as when you’re paddling in a straight line. Look up and forward at your goal, not down at your feet, and paddle in the direction of your goal. It’s amazing how this stuff works! I have no clue why it took me so long to figure this out. Perhaps it’s because I don’t consider myself an athlete whatsoever, and my eye-hand coordination isn’t the best. No matter, as I did figure it out and it has made me a better, more confident kayaker.

Better Business/Career Steering: Now back to your career/personal goals. How’s that email coming along? Did you make that phone call yet?

Admittedly, no one may answer your call right away. No one may respond to your email on your first try. Believe me, I can relate. But…they might! It might not be right away, and it might take several follow-up calls and emails, but you won’t know unless you look up and forward (not down) and take action steps to steer you toward your goals.

Collaborative by Nature: Voiceovers are by nature collaborative. The audio/voice is but one piece of the mosaic of a creative project. The client, agent, producer, writer, director, audio engineer, content developer, project manager, editor, marketing agency, ad agency, and even accounting department are some of the folks who may work on any give project with the voice talent.

…But Still Working Alone…: Pandemic or not, working as a voice talent is quite solitary. Sure we work with all of the aforementioned people, but more often than not it is virtually, with the audio being recorded and edited by ourselves in our home recording studios. Auditions, project scripts, and specific directions generally come through via email (at least in my experience). Although there are times when a good ol’ fashioned phone call (I’m not talking Zoom either, but a call on an actual phone – albeit a cell phone) works a lot better to explain the project, directions, scope of the project, and at times word pronunciations.

When it comes to recording the audio, being alone works the best simply because it needs to be quiet. When the recording, editing, needed re-takes, and saving are complete, the tech highway that we know as the Internet comes into play. Audio is sent virtually via email, Dropbox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, and various other platforms. There are a handful of times I can count when the audio/voiceover project has been put on a CD or flash drive (and even one time a cassette tape!) and I actually get to physically hand the client their custom audio project in person. The vast majority of the time, however, I send the audio/voiceover over the computer, in my office/studio…alone.

All of the above steps are a part of the “whole” that includes many people and many moving parts. Yet it is rare that I ever see those I work with, let alone meet them in person.

…And Yet Together: Enter Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and a myriad of other platforms that have become ubiquitous as of late. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve gotten “zoomed out” at times. However, I’m grateful for it as it has allowed me to communicate, work, chat with (and “see”) people, attend classes and webinars, teach a voiceover class, conduct Rotary meetings for a local Rotary club I’m a member of, and…collaborate on voiceover projects.

This much-enjoyed collaboration, with the added benefit of motivating energy, has come to the forefront of my voiceover business over the past few months. Whether via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or over Source Connect or ipDTL, working together, asking questions, figuring out solutions, coming up with new options and ideas, learning, and listening are all such a blessing. Helping and working together on projects with others is a wonderful thing indeed. Celebrating collaboration!

We All Start Somewhere: One of the most common questions I get as a voice actor is, “How did you get into this?” For me it’s been a culmination of skill sets, classes, careers, opportunities, two bachelor degrees, continual learning, and people.

On person, in particular, definitely took a chance on me back in 1989. His name was Brian Fisher. I cannot begin to thank him enough. It’s possible I may have found my way into the voiceover industry via some other path, but in all honesty, probably not.

Providing Opportunities/Taking Chances:

Brian Fisher was the general manager for 1340 KPOK radio station in Bowman, North Dakota. He hired many “part-timers” as DJs! And from 1989 to 1993 I had the wonderful, fun-filled opportunity to work there. What a blessing! I loved it from the start. Eight-tracks, 33 1/3 records/vinyl, cassette tapes, and reel-to-reels were tools of the trade in radio back them. Music, syndicated music programming, and spots/commercials were on all of these formats. All of us part-timers learned to use all of this analogue equipment. We also read state news, the weather, sports, community announcements/PSAs, and announced songs and artists. We learned to “sign on” and “sign off”. It was an unbelievable experience, was tons of fun, and let’s just say that I was hooked!

I couldn’t begin to guess how many part timers Brian Fisher hired over the years. He took a chance on us for sure. It’s very possible that had I grown up in a larger town that I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. I’m grateful to be sure, as I know so many others are to have had this chance, this opportunity, and the wonderful experience he gave us of being able to work at the station.

Moving On: High school graduation came, college was on my horizon and I pursued a degree in mass communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism. I thought I wanted to “read the TV news”. I worked on our Campus News show for four years and auditioned to be one of the anchors, but it wasn’t in the cards. My two internships didn’t have anything to do with TV either. They were in radio. One with the Moorhead, Minnesota, affiliate of Minnesota Public Radio and the other at KFGO 790AM in Fargo, North Dakota.

Fast forward to the spring of 1997, I was hired on at…wait for it…two radio stations. At the one station I was the norming news anchor and at the other station I was a news reporter/anchor. In the newsroom I worked with some of the best (award winning). It though wasn’t meant to be (I was let go from both stations). Looking back, they took a chance on me too, and in being honest, I was probably too young for the position. It though was a super experience.

Continual Learning: After being fired, I decided to go back to school. This time, I pursued a degree in meteorology and moved to Colorado for school. This three-year process included three different internships. One in research, one at a TV station in Denver, CO, and one at a private forecasting company in Cheyenne, WY.

Through the internships I continued to discover what I enjoyed and had the skill sets to pursue. Although very fascinating, I found that research wasn’t something that I wanted to pursue. Learning how to put a forecast together and to work with a “green screen”, or chroma-key, was what I learned about at the TV station in Denver. I worked with an excellent meteorologist…but once again TV was just not my thing.

Back to Radio: My other internship with the private forecasting company included you guessed it…radio! The internship was more about forecasting than anything, buy also included some forecast writing (for newspapers), weather page layouts, and recording a local forecast into the phone.

Upon graduation with my meteorology degree, the private forecasting company had a full-time position open. Newspaper weather forecasts were still a part of my job, but so were custom weather forecasts for radio stations throughout the Rocky Mountain region and high desert and high plains regions. I guess radio (and audio in general) was in my blood. Thank you again, Brian Fisher, for introducing me to this wonderful world so many years before.

Combining Skill Sets and Interests: It was during my nearly 12 years at DayWeather Inc. where I learned about recording software. DAW, as we call it, stands for digital audio workstation. Each day at DayWeather Inc. literally hundreds of custom forecasts were/are recorded, so it was great training to become proficient in using the software.

Learning to record and to be able to use my voice was/is something I loved/love. Who knew back in high school that one day I would be able to make a comfortable living doing just that.

Voiceover Business: Fast forward about 12 years from when I started at DayWeather Inc., and I opened up Judy Fossum VoiceOvers LLC. Yes, I’m a voice actor doing what I love to do, but really I’m a business owner, an entrepreneur. Curious as to what I do? Have a look/listen at: https://www.judyfossumvoiceovers.com/. Who knew 30 plus years ago that I would be doing what I’m doing now. Who knew I would be working with great people and helping people and businesses where I live and around the world. All because someone, in my case Brian Fisher, took a chance on me. Thank you, Brian, RIP.

Change as Opportunity: Unprecedented, change, pivot, etc. We’ve heard and have seen these words time and time again during the global pandemic. But hold on, let’s think about this change. In my opinion, it is a constant. However you perceive and deal with change, it’s around that’s for sure, and I like to try to see it as an opportunity.

“Internal” Change: Sometimes change seems to come from the “outside”. For example, a major summer storm comes through and the hail from the storm dents your car so badly that your insurance company totals your car. When your car is in the shop, you may be without wheels for a few days, so you stay home. Sometimes, however, change is “internal” and low and behold you bring it on yourself!

Needed Change: Earlier this year I was working on a postcard project. My handwriting isn’t the prettiest, but nonetheless I powered ahead and hand wrote 100s (I’m not sure on the exact count, but I believe it was around 400 or so) of postcards and placed two smiley-face stickers on each one. I would write, put stickers and stamps on, and address dozens of postcards a day. I would try to mix things up by writing the message in different patterns, write in cursive, print, etc. Anything to break up the monotony of the important project was welcome.

Then one day, I was just “done” or I felt “done” in that I knew I needed to move forward and finish the project but my motivation was waning. So…I figured I needed to make a change. The change for me to get me motivated to continue with my postcards was a different venue…in my home! The weather was warm and it wasn’t too windy (a big deal in Wyoming) so I gathered my pen, stickers, postcards, and stamps and headed outdoors to write postcards. And what do you know…it worked! Our dog Teaka, and our cat Kimchi joined me on the patio and I went to work. Now the distance from my office to the patio isn’t far, but just the difference from being inside to outside was enough of a change of venue to propel me forward.

Eventually, as the wind picked up (a common occurrence in Wyoming) I moved back indoors, but not back to my office. Instead I set up shop in our downstairs family room and continued to write. Again, I wasn’t in my office but I was in a different space/venue, but that was enough of a change to keep me on task and was the catalyst I needed to keep going. All in all, I believe I wrote about 50 postcards that day!

Little Changes: The postcard project was a larger project, but it was the little, simple changes I made along the way that allowed me to complete it with success.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. I’m a believer in self-responsibility. Responsibility both personally and professionally.

Challenges Arise:

I won’t lie, the past several months (March through mid-November 2020) have been a challenge. Let me first preface that in the grand scheme of things, and in looking at the big picture things are fine, I have my health and can pay my bills. There though have been various challenges on the business front.

I’m so grateful to be able to work from home. I didn’t even need to pivot in that regard when covid 19 made its entrance, as I’ve been recording voiceovers and working from my home recording studio since March 2014. So yes, I have been able to work, but admittedly for the volume of work in voiceovers (for me) has gone down. It stems from many factors. Some factors are “outside” of my business and some factors are “within”.

Have Business Paperwork and Equipment Up-to-date and Accessible:

Going back to being responsible, I have control over the things “within” my business. I need to continually analyze and see what’s working and what’s not, and then fix what’s not; get feedback from clients and colleagues; take classes to hone my craft and learn about new genres; make sure all equipment is up-to-date and working properly; and confirm my demos are as good as they can be and are a current reflection of the work I do and where I am as a voice talent. So far so good in going through the aforementioned list. When a new client or a prospective client asks for rates, demos, studio information, and auditions I can send the needed information and audio to them promptly.

And Have Types of Paperwork You Didn’t Think You Needed Up-to-date:

This is all great except…it turns out I was missing something, and that being an updated CV or resume. This important summary of experience, education, objectives, etc. is of course commonplace when applying for most positions. In voiceover, CVs or resumes aren’t asked for too often, but it does come up from time to time. And there was a recent time when applying for a prospective voiceover job on LinkedIn that a resume was needed. So I rolled up my sleeves, got to work, and said to myself, “I can do this”. I had a resume on file, but it needed to be updated and added to. It needed to be sharp and ready to go. There was some specific information the potential client needed, so adhering to this, and going through my records and paperwork it took me around three hours to update my resume. Whew! It needed to be updated long ago, so this was a good thing.

Ready for More Opportunities:

As of writing this, I have gotten word that the voiceover/narrator position that I sent the updated resume to was filled by another applicant. Because of this, however, I’m sharper and have even more of my paperwork ready and up-to-date to be able to take advantage of new opportunities as they present themselves. Sure I’ll continually need to update my CV, other paperwork, rate sheet, and demos, but at least now I’m sharp and ready to move forward.