Marisa Blake is a Latina Actor, Voiceover Artist and Musician. You can find her on screen in
Netflix’s Florida Man, DC’s Swamp Thing and Spectrums Original Long Slow Exhale.
She haswon multiple awards for her audiobook narrations, including a 2023 Audible’s Best of for Dykesto Watch out For, featuring Jane Lynch ,Carrie Brownstein, and Roberta Colindrez, an
AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of The Year 2020 for We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres
Sanchez and an Earphones Award for Arianna Davis’ What Would Frida Do. Marisa was
recently nominated for a 2023 Audie Award for her work in Across A Hundred Mountains by
Reyna Grande. She takes pride in, and has immense gratitude for the opportunity to voice
Latine Literature.
She is currently the Spanish Voice for Kohls in the US, and one of the regularSpanish voices for Sherwin Williams in the US and recently did a bilingual campaign for Frito-Lay. Marisa voices everything from promos to E-learning, commercials to IVR, and even somevideo games and animation! She voices the promos for her local new station and you can alsofind her performing with local bands behind the microphone, the cajon or the drum kit. She isa proud Mama to three of the coolest dudes on the planet.
To read the full transcriot of this episode and to listen to other episodes, head over to miklenzvopodcast.com, and please leave a rating and review wherever you listen to this podcast!
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Cris Dukehart is an Audie Nominee and Earphones Award Winner, and has recorded over 300 audiobooks across multiple genres.
On this episode we talk about Cris's journey into the VO and audiobook world, and her amazing journey from a little cottage in Pennsylvania to her mountaintop house in the Caribbean.
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Jamie Muffett is a voice actor, podcast producer, audio engineer and educator who divides his time between New York City and Philadelphia, PA.
He's worked with some of the worlds biggest companies, production studios, and games developers. He work primarily from his own studio in Bucks County, PA, and studios in NYC and Philly.
Past and current clients include: Google, Starbucks, Warner Brothers, Lucas Film, LEGO, Porsche, Mercedes, Ubisoft, Samsung, McDonald's, NBC, EA Sports, ESPN, Marriott Hotels, Amazon, Etihad Airways, FIFA, Disney, IKEA, National Geographic Channel...
Jamie has lectured on voiceover at Syracuse University, He's a Backstage Magazine 'Expert', he hosts the 'VO School Podcast' and he holds a monthly VO workshop at his studio in Philadelphia. He is also co-chair of VOcation Conference held in New York City every September.
Jamie's website is https://www.jamiemuffett.com/
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Chris Johnson is a professional Voice Actor, based in Los Angeles. He has voiced a wide range of projects over the years including commercials, corporate videos, eLearning modules, video games, audiobooks, narration and many more.
Chris has also been the lead singer and songwriter for many projects including the band Starch Monkey, Between the Sun and the upcoming project entitled Pharaoh's Kitchen. He is the recipient of the 2020 "Male Emerging Artist" award from ISSA (Independent Singer-
You can learn more about Chris and contact him through his website at: http://www.vocalcj.com
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On this episode I take a deep dive into the voiceover industry and the impact artificial intelligence (AI) is having on our industry, with VO veteran Tom Dheere.
As a New York-based voice actor with over 20 years of experience, Tom Dheere has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. Tom's experience as a corporate trainer as well as a voice talent makes him uniquely qualified to help both aspiring and veteran voice talents navigate the voiceover industry. He specializes in marketing and business consultations as well as diagnostics, strategy sessions, and mentorships.
As a classically trained theater actor, Tom received his Bachelor of Fine arts in Acting/Directing from Montclair State University. His training continued at the National Shakespeare Conservatory where I studied Shakespeare, Chekov, ballet, and more.
After NSC Tom was trained as a voice actor by Hope Noah, Dan Duckworth of Voiceovers Unlimited, and has taken numerous voiceover classes at many conferences.
Tom started coaching in 2011 with Edge Studio as the Business and Money 201 and Marketing 201 instructor. In 2012 he began private coaching as The VO Strategist. Since then Tom has worked with hundreds of students in both one-on-one sessions and public speaking engagements.
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Based in Richmond, Virginia, Paige Reisenfeld is a classically trained soprano and stage actor turned SAG-AFTRA audiobook narrator. Perhaps she should have paid attention to the signs, as she was voted “Best Reader” in kindergarten, a clear portent of things to come.
Her voice has been described as deep, full, melodic, and sensual. She has been complimented on her “great tone and inflection”, as well as her ability to perform male and female voices and various accents. This allows her to switch between genres easily and she has narrated thrillers, romance, historical fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, and nonfiction.
On the rare occasion she is not in her soundbooth, she plays cooperative board games (competitive ones are not allowed in the house), gardens, lifts weights, and spends time with her three cats and partner, fueled by all things cheese and coffee.
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On this episode, I talk with award-winning author Landon Beach about his career, and about his recent book Narrator, which is narrated by the amazing Scott Brick.
Landon was born and raised in Michigan but now lives in the Sunshine State with his wife, two children, and their golden retriever. He previously served as a Naval Officer and was an educator for fifteen years before becoming a full-time writer. He is also the award-winning author of Huron Breeze, which was named Mystery of the Year for 2022 by bestthrillers.com.
Here's a brief synopsis of Narrator:
By the time playwright and actor Shawn Frost had won 2 Tony Awards by his late twenties, he was seen as a theater prodigy—a meteoric rise that the performing arts community had not witnessed in almost a hundred years. His work? Shakespearean in scope, character, and popularity—boundless and beautiful. His own character? Flawed.
And in a place like New York City, where failings get magnified, Shawn Frost finds that, even from the heights of artistic sublimity, no one is insulated from the demons that have caused the best of entertainers to fall from grace.
After surviving an accident that almost costs him his life, Shawn leaves NYC and the theater for the quiet, picturesque Pacific cliffs of Carmel-by-the-Sea and starts a new life as an audiobook narrator. As he rises through the ranks, narrating bestseller after bestseller, Shawn Frost once again flirts with artistic immortality.
But. As his limitless skills emerge in the exploding arena of voice arts, so do his flaws.
Then, he experiences every audiobook narrator’s worst fear: He is kidnapped by two obsessed fans, determined to make Shawn perform their novel…
Or was he?
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind psychological thriller from #1 Bestselling Author Landon Beach.
Mike Cooper is a British voice talent who swapped big city life in
London for log cabin life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North
Carolina.
Mike is recognisable from his many years on air with the BBC
World Service, and as the narrator of countless television
documentaries and a growing library of audiobooks.
A disruptive influence in school, Mike's first break in narration came at age six,
when his teacher realised he could tell the afternoon story better
than her (and she could get a nap by way of a bonus!)
When he's not in his home studio, you'll find him enjoying hobby
farm life and tending to some charming pet goats, three horses -
including a delightful mini horse called Annie - and a growing
hobby farm menagerie...
https://www.mikecoopervoiceover.com/
To check out other episodes, head over to mikelenzvopodcast.com!
With a home studio, Mandy Fisher has the ability to tell your story, your way.
Equipment includes:
Source Connect/ipDTL
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Rode NT1
Neumann U87
MacBook Pro
Whether it’s an explainer video, a narration, or a simple tagline, Mandy is your go-to voice. Not sure what you want? No problem. She can provide you with several quality options. Have a strong vision? Great! Mandy can take direction and bring your project to life.
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Brad Hyland was born on April 1 st , 2016.
Well, not really- but that’s what he’ll say is when he really started living!
That’s the day he started full-time as a voice actor… after quitting a first career that
spanned 35 years.
His first formal VO training actually started nearly thirty years ago...working hard on all
aspects of business with one-on-one coaching and master classes.
He spent two decades dabbling in standup comedy and movie extra work, as well as
honing his pipes as front man for a rock & blues band for eight years. That love of
performing is now satisfied daily as an actively booking voiceover talent, coach and
mentor.
Brad works from his home studio near Washington DC, serving customers all over the
world. He can tackle just about any assignment with his versatile voice and ability to
take direction. Some of his favorite work includes being the voice of Santa for the Elf on
the Shelf, Narrating films for Crazy Horse Monument and Craters Of The Moon national
parks, and booking multiple character voices for video games.
The core of his business however, is commercial, corporate & film narration, as well as
explainers and voice messaging of all kinds.
He is a multiple OneVoice award winner and a 2021 SOVAS nominee for Best Best TV
narration.
He loves keeping in touch with the voiceover community and has begun to share his
expertise by mentoring and coaching others in the industry with his tips for auditioning,
booking and connecting.
https://www.americanvoicepower.com/
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This episode is filled with resources for you to move your career forward. I provide an update on how 2021 was in my VO world, and discuss having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset as we move into 2022. I also talk about the importance of creating a team around yourself to help elevate you to the next level, understanding the system your operating in (voice-over, social media, casting sites, tech) and making the most of the people and courses that will help shorten your learning curve.
Links:
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Living and traveling in a converted school bus with her husband and three wild monkeys, this versatile and colorful voice talent enjoys the flexibility her sweet gypsy lifestyle gives her to work anytime, day or night. Whether she’s winding up a mountain in her tiny home on wheels, rambling through the desert, or parked at her North Carolina farm, Sweet Gypsy VO is always ready to go.
Growing up on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee in a large extended family, Roy Worley learned the art of storytelling from his grandpa, Paw Neely who instilled a strong sense of family, hard work, and a love for Christ. As an extrovert, Roy loves being around people, talking and laughing over a strong cup of coffee. These days Roy and his wife Rebecca call the Chicago area home.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, Roy felt God’s calling upon him to commit full time to preaching and teaching the Word of God and entered Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary in his hometown of Memphis where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. Over the years he has served as both a pastor and foreign missionary. He and his wife were privileged to live in Chile for six years where they shared the Lord’s message in Spanish (yep, he’s fluent), helping Chilean Christians learn how to study the Bible for themselves and how to share their faith with whomever was interested.
Now, when not working as a full time voice actor, Roy is the Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church where he has the privilege of teaching the Bible, supporting his fellowship with love and kindness, and ministering to those who are hurting.
His warm, clear, baritone voice can be heard narrating videos, directing people in phone messages and narrating audiobooks (non-fiction, fiction, western novels and kids books).
Roy is honored to call companies and organizations like Tiffany & Co, Firestone, Pizza Hut and Wounded Warriors his voice over clients and publishers like HarperCollins and Macmillan have tapped into his deep baritone well for audiobook narration as well!
When not recording, Roy enjoys lifting weights, expanding his creativity by spending time outside in his large backyard planning his spring vegetable garden and creating beautiful landscapes of vibrant flowers, shrubs and trees. He also loves to imagine he’s on his own DIY home improvement show, refinishing and repurposing old furniture and remodeling his own home, embarking on what he calls his “fifty year remodeling plan”, which his wife promptly gifts him with a loving roll of her eyes.
While Roy has travelled widely and lived in several different countries, his warm southern charm and ubiquitous sense of humor are still his faithful companions.
Founder and CEO of the 501(c)(3) Nonprofit "Imagination Videobooks," Richard is known as "The Storybook Wizard." He is a top Audible narrator who helps authors give their books a voice. His team has produced hundreds of audiobooks, including Richard's own award-winning book, "The Author's Guide to Audiobook Creation."
Children's Accessible Videobooks Creator - samples at https://imaginationvideobooks.org
- Benjamin Franklin National Gold Medal Award in Audiobook Nonfiction for producing, directing, and co-narrating "Football Flyboy" by Lisa Reinicke. Independent Book Publishers Association.
- Five-time EVVY Gold Award Winning Audiobook Narrator and Producer at Audiobook Revolution, http://audiobookrevolution.com/
- Author of Global eBook Gold Medal Award in Writing/Publishing for "The Author's Guide to Audiobook Creation" http://bit.ly/audiobookcreation
- Produced best-sellers including "Auschwitz #34207" and "Shot Down"
- Audible Approved Narrator (Top 10%)
Veteran Network, New York, Chicago and Washington DC Radio News Anchor and Correspondent
Recording voice-over projects daily since 2006, Natasha Marchewkahas grown her business exponentially through referrals from happy clients throughout North America and around the globe. From Electrolux to ZipRecruiter to Adventures By Disney, clients continue to return to her product and service worthy of their most important business projects.
Katherine Tole is a voice actor specializing in video games, narration, commercials, eLearning and animation. Katherine has been an avid video gamer since she was a kid and understands what gamers are looking for in their characters. From grunting to spell casting, she has decades of experience listening to the characters that came before her.
Natasha and Katherine have created a fantastic course on how to maximize your Voice 123 profile. I've taken their course and it's worked amazingly well for me! Here's the link to their course:
https://v123.katherinetole.com/
You’ve heard Jessica Taylor on television, on the web and on the radio for projects large and small. She has a range from youthful cool to polished sophistication. A touch of vocal texture adds depth and realness to her vocal imprint. She shines when it comes to taking direction, and has a sixth sense for understanding what it is people want. Her keen intuition and gut instincts fuel her creative process, and she's ready to take risks to get the read right.
Jessica books projects that ask for vocal qualities and deliveries similar to the sounds of celebrities like Kristen Bell, Rashida Jones, Tina Fey, Anna Kendrick, Scarlett Johansson, Emma Stone, and Jennifer Lawrence.
Jessica lives a mostly joyful life with her husband, three sons and five hens in Boulder, Colorado. She's a Mom, wife, sister, daughter, an avid cook, knitter, hiker, reader, traveler, homeopathy nerd and consumer of art in any form.
JULIE WILSON is Senior Manager of Digital Production Platforms and an award-winning executive producer at Penguin Random House Audio. She started her career at Random House in 2007 and has produced over a thousand audiobooks for adults and kids, including several graphic novel adaptations. Her recent production credits include working with Alicia Keys, Ben Folds, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ruth Reichl, Willie Nelson, and The Tiny Chef. She is also the co-creator of AhabTalent.com, a global online casting platform for voiceover. She is a native New Yorker and an avid urban gardener, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from Colby College.
A multiple Audie Award winner, Odyssey Award winner, multiple Earphones Award winner, and multiple Voice Arts Award winner, P.J. Ochlan's work behind the microphone began in 1987 as a young voice actor with many commercials and promos. Since then he has lent his diverse talents to virtually every voiceover genre. Most notably, he is a widely acclaimed and record-setting audiobook narrator with hundreds of fiction and non-fiction titles to his credit.
P.J.'s voice work is enhanced by his mastery of accents, distinctive characters and versatility, as well as his proficiency with English, French, Italian, German and Mandarin. He is also the founder of Dr. Dialect and co-founder of the Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry.
SEAN PRATT HAS been a working professional actor in theatre, film, TV and voice-overs for over 30 years. He holds a BFA in Acting from Santa Fe University, NM. He has narrated over 1,000+ audiobooks….and counting!
He has been an audiobook narrator for 22 years (aka – Lloyd James), recording over 1000+ Audio Books in almost every genre.
He narrates for such companies as Blackstone Audiobooks, Tantor Media, Gildan Audio, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, and Christian Audio.
On this episode I chat with Laya Hoffman!
Laya's voice is genuine yet unique, culturally flexible and confidently warm - a fun, fresh female voice that makes an impact for your project and cuts through to your audience! Delivering broadcast quality sound with ease, on budget and under deadline for 20 years.
As a full time voice-over actress, Laya helps companies grow revenue, deepen brand awareness and cultivate identity by connecting with customers through the power of Voice. Her passion is bringing your story to life, and making it sound like you heard it in your head - easily and efficiently.
Laya presents a warm, relatable tone in a wide variety of styles, that is as versatile as it is timeless for a range of voice-over services. Specializing in commercials, promos, corporate narration, explainers, e-learning, animation, IVR, telephony, live announce and more.
Clients such as Google, Honda, AAA, Four Seasons, Accenture, Coca-Cola, HP and hundreds more have selected Laya's voice for its national sound and culturally flexible tones. Yet, they keep coming back for her holistic, full-service approach, direct-ability, attention to detail and synergistic studio style.
With a unique professional resume that includes club DJ, on-air radio host and senior marketing executive among its titles, Laya brings an instinctive ear, for cadence, tone and tempo as well as a true understanding of business outcomes, acumen, client relations, deadlines and current trends to her voice work.
Charlie Lovett was born in Winston-Salem, NC in 1962 and grew up as the child of a book-collecting English professor. He spent his summers in the rural North Carolina mountains and felt an early affinity for the countryside. He was educated at Summit School, Woodberry Forest School (Virginia), and Davidson College (NC) and in 1984 went into the antiquarian book business with his first wife, Stephanie. About the same time he began to seriously collect books and other materials relating to Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Lovett now has a large collection of Carrollian rare books and artifacts, including Carroll’s 1888 typewriter and one of six privately owned copies of the first edition of Alice in Wonderland. Lovett has written or edited nine books about Lewis Carroll, including Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith, the first full length study of Carroll’s religious life (UVA Press, 2021). He has served as the president of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, as editor of the London based Lewis Carroll Review, and has lectured on Carroll in the US and Europe at the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, UCLA, Oxford University, and elsewhere.
In 1997 Lovett received an MFA in Writing from Vermont College (now Vermont College of Fine Arts). During his work on this degree he researched and wrote Love, Ruth, a book about his mother, Ruth Candler Lovett, who died when he was two years old. Maya Angelou called the book “tender, sensitive, and true.”
After completing his MFA, Lovett lived with his wife Janice and daughter Jordan in England for six months, becoming closely connected to the village of Kingham, Oxfordshire. Ten years later, he and his wife purchased the cottage they had rented in 1997 and renovated it. They now spend about 6–8 week a year in Kingham, and have traveled extensively throughout the UK. His experiences in England are the basis for several of his novels.
For eleven years, beginning in 2001, Lovett served as Writer-in-Residence at Summit School in Winston-Salem, NC. He wrote plays for elementary and middle school students, nineteen of which have been published, including, Twinderella, which was chosen from over 750 entries as winner of the Shubert Fendrich Playwriting Award. His plays have been seen in over 5000 productions in all fifty states and more than 20 foreign countries. Lovett often makes author visits to schools to see productions, talk with students, and hold master classes.
Lovett’s break-through as a fiction writer came when he combined two of his passions—rare books and the English countryside—to write the Shakespearean mystery The Bookman’s Tale (Viking/Penguin, 2013), a New York Times bestseller and Barnes and Noble Recommends selection which has been translated into several foreign languages. Parade Magazine called the book “[A] delightful tale of love and bibliophilia.” His next novel, First Impressions (Viking/Penguin, 2014) was another literary adventure, this one starring Jane Austen. People Magazine called it “a delightful novel that weaves together a modern love story and a literary mystery involving Jane Austen.”
In 2015 Lovett curated a major exhibition called Alice Live! at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and wrote the introduction to the new Penguin Books edition of Alice in Wonderland. 2015 also saw the publication of his Christmas book, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge (Viking/Penguin) which USA Today called “[a] clever, merry, and, yes, convincingly Dickensian reimagining of this Victorian tale.”
Lovett’s novel The Lost Book of the Grail (Viking/Penguin, 2017) is set in an English cathedral library, reaches through centuries of English history, and tells the story of bibliophile and Holy Grail enthusiast Arthur Prescott as he works to uncover a secret about the cathedral’s history. Bustle called it “The one book every bibliophile needs to read.”
Lovett’s most recent novel, Escaping Dreamland (Blackstone, 2020), is a book about four authors in New York City. Much of the book is set in the early 20th century, and explores not just historic New York, but the lives of three young people writing series books for children (think The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew). The book is an homage to the books of our childhood, to New York City, and above all to love and friendship.
Lovett’s middle grade adventure, The Book of the Seven Spells (Month 9, 2021), about four children who discover a magical library, will come out in the spring and he is currently working on the second volume in that series.
When not visiting his cottage in Kingham, Charlie Lovett lives in Winston-Salem with his wife Janice. They have two grown children, Jordan and Jimmy.
On this episode I share some thoughts on Systems Thinking and hiow the VO industry is really a Complex System (and what that means for you!)
I also talk about my VO course available over at vosuccess.com and some of the changes that are coming in the New Year.
I also touch on the importance of creating authentic relationships and growing your network and the importance that my faith has played in my journey.
Lots of great stuff this episode!!
Val Kelly is a bilingual, French/English Voice Actress. Val started her voice-over career in 1999 after being told her whole life how "cute" her voice is and that she should do something with it... and so she did....!!
Val has been actively booking Voice-over work for years now and had her commercial demo produced by Emmy award winning sound designer, recording engineer and producer "Uncle Roy" Yokelson. Val is currently working on her animation & animal sounds demos. Val's specialty is in voicing characters for cartoons, talking toys, apps, videogames, children's e-learning, radio & tv commercials and short films. Her clients include "Hasbro toys", "Hungry Howie's Pizza Place", "Essence Cartoons", "Roam and Wander", "Mymoonah", "The Foreign Candy Company", "Theory Films", independent YouTube videos and many more. Val is the hostess of her own podcast called "Live with Squacky". It's a unique and lively, interview style show that dives into the worlds of voice acting and entertainment.
In addition to being a Voice actress, Val is the Owner/President/CEO/Executive Producer of Mid-Atlantic Voiceover, LLC. Val is in charge of running all aspects of the company and is the Executive Producer for the Mid-Atlantic Voiceover "Get Inspired" Conference as well as the Mini MAVO online conference that take place in November. The Mini MAVO2020 Conference will take place on November 6-8, 2020 online.