According to Joni Hubred-Golden of the Farmington Voice, you get better at blogging after you do it for a while. Geez, I hope so!
Anyway, this is just a bit more info on me than my About Me page can show. I won’t give you the whole life history – unless you’re an insomniac – hmm….maybe I need to create an insomniacs blog….eh, nevermind!
I’m a lifelong resident of Michigan. My grandfathers on both sides came to Michigan from Tennessee to work at GM. In fact, my paternal grandfather was one of the original sit down strikers in the 30’s. So you could say the auto industry has been in my blood from birth.
Fast forward to the end of college. I have a newly minted Computer Science degree and by an odd twist of fate, I end up working at Ford Motor Company for 30 years. Rather than being horrified that I was working for the competition, my dad decided my discount on tractors was pretty cool and used it several times. Mr. GM buys a Ford – it was definitely a grin!
Why Voice Over?
The question I get asked most often is why I decided to pursue voice over as a new career. Every voice talent has their own path and very few are similar although a beginning in radio or TV or acting comes up a lot. Well, none of that here!
When I was a kid, I remember hearing the announcers on the radio and thinking I could do that. I don’t mean the news people or the DJs. I mean the people reading the public service announcements. Add to that my tendency to memorize and perform (most were musical way back then) commercials.
My performing came out in other way. I played trombone and bass trumpet through school. I sang from a young age and have been in a number of adult choirs over the years. My natural ‘ham-i-ness’ was documented in home movies that did not have sound, for which I will ever be grateful!
Fast forward to a point in my career when IT work was getting shipped overseas a lot and the dull, grunt work stayed here. Something different was needed so I could stay engaged and productive. There was a local ‘Introduction Voice Over’ class available and I tried it, liked it and thought this might be a good thing for me. My husband wasn’t so sure and talked me out of it in favor of getting another Masters degree, this time in Instructional Design. I got to do some voice work for the courses I developed during that degree chase. Hmm….that was fun….
I eventually got moved to a Instructional Design position at Ford Credit. It was there I got to voice other courses and decided maybe I should take some training on voice over work. It didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to pursue it as a career post-Ford.
So – Ta Da!
And that, as they say, is that! I kept studying, got equipment, etc. and here I am! Do I wish I had pursued it long ago? Yes and no. Yes, because I enjoy it and it helps scratch my performer’s itch. No, because I probably wouldn’t be as diverse in my delivery and understanding of business if I hadn’t had all that background and, um, life experience.
As I’ve said for years, this is me and what you see is what you get.
