Last week I talked about some memories from middle and high school on how I always knew I was meant for acting. When I think about what I just wrote, it doesn't mean I was only meant for acting. Though it took me awhile to warm up to Pixar's Soul, I did like the message that we aren't really "meant" for anything, and can in fact choose and be good at multiple things. Or just because we're good at something doesn't mean it needs to be our all, our only thing in life. All I'm saying is, I'm proud and grateful that I'm good at other things too, so while my acting career is not as far along as I thought it would be by now, ten years in, I'm doing well in life and health, which is the more important thing.
That's not to say we're not going to focus on acting here though; we have to wrap up the series! As I've mentioned before, I was a musician. I planned on joining the London
Symphony Orchestra, mostly because I'd heard they were the most traveling orchestra in the world, and I wanted a reason to travel for work as well as play music. They came to Daytona Beach, Florida every other year until the main sponsor of that event died. But I was lucky enough through that to play in the AT&T Youth Ensemble, a group selected from kids who had made Florida's all-state band or orchestra, who got to do a side-by-side with the LSO. That led to me becoming a music major at Florida State.
However after various competitions and harsh judgment results in my juries as a performance major, I decided I was good, but not "that" good. This was not a giving up thing. This was a true evaluation of myself, one of the biggest of my life, where I decided I didn't want to practice six hours a day and feel cut off from the world. I liked playing music, but never that much to the point of wanting to be alone that much (though ironically a lot of voiceover is done alone). So I switched to a plain Bachelor of Arts in Music from performance major, and graduated in 2013.
I didn't place in either of the two English teaching abroad programs I'd applied to, and that left me at a real "what do I do now" moment. For the first time ever, there was no "next." Before this, each school grade had led into the other, and then into college, but now here I was with no set "next." It was like I had no identity. Being a good student had been my life for so long. The summer of 2013 was a real "rug pulled out from under me" time. I considered the US Army, since I'd be able to play music there, and was even talking with a recruiter for a few weeks, but I ultimately decided against it because they didn't repay student loans anymore (my main reason of consideration). I applied to "big person jobs" in orchestra offices but got nothing.
At some point, I had the "why not voiceover" thought. I don't recall the time or place, but it happened, and it led me to finding workout groups, teachers, books, and such online (of course going through some of the predatory ones like most beginners, unfortunately). I realized this was something I could really do, though back then I could not have truly known the work needed for a freelance career (no one can though, until you're in it).
I thank the GVAA, VO Atlanta, the VO Heaven workout group, and Edge Studio for my early learning. I moved from Orlando to Dallas, got to work for Funimation there (middle school me's dream come true), and then to Los Angeles. Many people talk about auditioning being the work and jobs being like fun perks; I believe it, and if this is the case, I can call myself a working actor, even if it means I have another job.
There are times when I feel guilty or bad for doing other things, such as other creative tasks like my sewing and leather work, or video gaming, instead of auditioning or marketing. I may not spend all of my waking hours devoted to voiceover, but I do live a fulfilling life because of that. I have friends and other hobbies that keep me enjoying life. From 2015-2020, I took so many acting and VO classes that I have quite a lot of debt from it, so I'm more selective now and trying to pay it down. While I feel like that holds me back, I must proceed with what I feel is right, and one day the debt will be paid through VO work. I never had a budget for this stuff, so if you get anything from my story, it's that you should be selective and not go into debt over a passion. Yes, people say "you have to spend money to make money," and I believed that, but there must be some balance to it.
Anyway, thank you for making it to the end of the series, and I'll see you next week with something else.
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