I quit a lucrative IT job in my 30s to become a Voice Actor. 6 years later & today I hit 150 games & animated series I've helped bring to life! That's not counting the hundreds of commercials & promos I've done, or movie & game trailers I've voiced! 7 games directed, recording for devs worldwide for 40-60 hours a week. This year I won an acting award with zero formal training, holding my own with great on-screen actors. And after helping everyone else make their games, I'm finally getting to make a game of my own! For being raised in a military family of stoics who secretly wanted an artist with no way of training one...I'm doing alright. I guess my point isn't to brag, it's to tell you: If I can, so can you. I started acting in my 30s, after multiple careers, older than the average age of a Voice Actor, before remote recording was as commonplace as it is now. If I can, you can too. If you've always wanted to make art, do it. Make your art, tell your story, it's never too late. Besides...leaving the storytelling to the men?! I don't think so...I don't think so. 😉🖤

🧵 VAs: There's no "order" to skills or milestones, no matter what anyone says. I have never been able to secure a local regional VO agency. My first VO agency was a bi-coastal LA agency. I still can't get a local agent. I was told you start regional & THEN go national. That's not a flex, that's just how it happened. Same with genres. I've been hearing lots of people talking about "graduating" from Anime reads to Grounded-style nuanced reads. As someone who books & works in almost every genre of VO - there's no genre that is BETTER than another, they're just different. Requiring different skills for different audiences that value different things. Stop trying to make hierarchies, that's not what art is about. It's open, shareable, evolving. That's what's beautiful about it. Don't tarnish it with ego or judgement. There's so much to learn from every genre. Commercial taught me subtlety & control, Promo taught me how to express energy & intensity, Animation taught me to let go, Audiobooks conditioned me for marathons, Political gives me an outlet for the shit-talking skills of my youth, Explainers trained me to stay in the moment, Medical constantly challenges my understanding of English, Game & Movie Trailers taught me to get out of the way & let the story speak, Games taught me to reach into myself & be a true collaborator. You get what you WANNA get out of art. It is as deep as YOU are. If all you're worried about is "the rules" you're gonna miss all the JOY, & everything you can learn. There's enough gatekeeping in what we do, don't continue it in your own mind. There's no order of operations, no "if this then that". The first thing I ask in coaching (that most students have trouble answering) is: why do you do this, and WHAT do you wanna do? If you know that, you'll stop caring about WHEN it happens, & start enjoying everything like a little art sponge. And you'll be happier for it, trust me. 🖤