When I first decided to become a voice actor in 2015, I had no idea where I would be 7 years from now. I think a part of me at the moment had a hopeful thought of “Well, maybe I'll be somewhat famous by then, and making all this insane money that I'd have no idea how to spend” right?
Along the journey of learning this new skill and going through this new venture, I met people who told me the harsh truths of the voice-over industry. Not to say that it was their goal to discourage me, but it was more along the lines of putting my views at a realistic and healthy standpoint.
“Most voice actors don't make a living from doing VO for a good 10 years, and that's with consistent hard work.”
Which, in a way, would make perfect sense. Unless you're some sort of protege, you're not gonna come out hitting home runs right away. Even then, it's more of 'who-you-know' rather than 'what-you-know'. The point is... You're going to have to work at it.
That 'it' can be so many things as well. For a terrible metaphor, I was like “a chicken with it's head cut off that decided to dive into the pool”. Just absolutely no direction. No coaching, no prior experience, nothing. Just some guy who “wanted to learn to make money from home”. For me, the 'it' at the moment was literally everything, but for priority purposes, I needed to get my performance down.
Getting my performance locked in meant searching for reputable VO coaches and taking acting classes. Taking 2 years of acting classes, while working to slowly build a client base, was the most beneficial thing I could do for myself and my business.
What is your 'it' at the moment?
C.J. Merritt
https://www.CJMerritt.com/
CJ@CJMerritt.com
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