It was early 2017, and I was teaching theatre at a Fine Arts Magnet School. By all accounts, I should have been happy. I had a decent paying job, with benefits and a wife that made more money than me so we were doing okay financially.

We still lived paycheck to paycheck, but we had a roof over our heads and two amazing children. So, again, I should have been happy. 

However, I was not happy.

Most of my life had been dedicated to acting, teaching, and directing to this point. However, I was not doing any acting, which is what I set out to do when I started college 20+ years ago. So, I still felt something was missing from my life.

The reality was, I wanted to get back into performing for myself, instead of just directing others.

One day, towards the end of March, I was thinking about a way to start performing again and make money, but still, have my home and family life. It is no secret that actors have to be flexible and able to travel in order to make the big bucks, plus over 90% of actors work 2 – 3 jobs just to keep the lights on.

So, as fate would have it, I was listening to an audiobook on self-development, and I thought to myself, “I could do that”.

Two weeks later, many YouTube videos, packing blankets, PVC pipe, pantyhose pop filter, and a $40 USB microphone, my VO’s Journey began. 

Starting out, my goal was to produce audiobooks as a voice-over artist and rake in the money with residual income.

My schedule consisted of working from 6 am to 5 pm every day (sometimes later and on weekends). I would come home and cook dinner with my wife, spend time with the kids, put them to bed, and then spend time with my wife until she went to bed around 10 pm.

At this point, I would go outside to my little storage shack that was attached to our house, pull out the big duffle bag with my “Hobo Fort” portable recording booth and assemble it so I could record for 4-5 hours. And at the end of every night, I would take it back down and put it away. I did this for 2 years straight, day in and day out.

As my business grew, I was able to eventually quit my full-time job and go full-time as a voice actor. 

And I can say with absolute confidence, that besides the birth of my children and marrying the love of my life, building this voice over business has been my greatest accomplishment.

And if there is one thing that I love to do just as much as voice over, it’s helping others experience their voice over dream.

Thank you for stopping by A VO’s Journey and if you want to learn more about my story and the “Price of Success”, check out the blog post here.