THE NASA ENGINEER YOU HEAR IN THE VOICEOVER GALAXY

Eryn Andrews is a rocket scientist. Literally. The photo above with her flying in zero-gravity prompted you to click on this story. It’s a great example of how, to this day, we regard the status of the aerospace engineer at the top of the status list in society. Afterall, who do You know that works in space travel? Who do you know that knows anyone who works in space travel? Right! The occupation is rare. It requires substantial knowledge of physics, mathematics, propulsion, chemistry, and engineering.

In fact, in 2022, there were only 13,664 people who worked in aerospace engineering, and only 26.1 percent were women. Those are the latest figures for a very small professional community. And the barrier to entry is just as difficult. Not everyone who wants to work in the aerospace industry gets to. It’s a true badge of honor to get to be involved. “You have to have a sharp mind and work well under pressure,” Eryn comments.

Eryn with fellow astronauts.

So, it’s true. Eryn is, in fact, one of those women in aerospace engineering who currently works at NASA. So, with a mind like that, what prompted Eryn to become the person she envisioned? “It’s simple,” says Eryn, “Watching my first shuttle launch cemented the moment I wanted to become an astronaut.”

Raised in a military family, both Eryn’s father and mother were United States Air Force officers. She was born in the Philippines because her family was stationed there. And this is normal for career military personnel to be stationed all over the world. Eryn was brought up to be a superlative from day one. There was a lot of parental emphasis on excellence, and Eryn took her parents’ ideology to heart.

Eryn’s parents

 So, armed with a full scholarship under the ROTC program, Eryn attended Colorado State University in mechanical engineering. Academically, things went fine. However, as part of her obligation to the program, students are required to go through summer Field Training (think Boot Camp), which is highly physical. And that’s when adversity struck. “It was the first failure in my life,” says Eryn. “I washed out after three weeks.” Eryn’s talking about washing out of the program that summer because she could not overcome the physical demands expected of her. “It was traumatizing to fail,” says Eryn. Her father’s response was consoling. Still, to Eryn, she took it hard.

Her solution was to transfer to the University of Nevada and switch majors from mechanical engineering to environmental engineering. “I just didn’t feel mechanical engineering was where I belonged,” Eryn tells me. So, in 2008, Eryn went straight to NASA after graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno. During her developing career, Eryn pursued a long-distance master’s degree in space studies from the University of North Dakota. She graduated in 2018. “I took classes at night and on the weekends.”  With this graduation, Eryn’s college career was complete.

Inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Eryn’s job was to train astronauts how to use their spacesuits. The suit is complex and serves as the life support system. She found herself working alongside astronauts, preparing them for spacewalks onboard the International Space Station. She had arrived.

But there were problems at home with her college boyfriend, whom she had married years earlier. “Things started to go downhill in 2016, and we divorced in 2019,” says Eryn, “because divorce is a slow death; It withers and dies for years.” However, although now alone and a single mom, “I was instantly happier once divorced.”

Eryn with her ex-husband.

Professional life continued at NASA, but in 2022, “I was interested in finding something else to add to my life professionally that would earn me some extra money.”  Her solution? “I literally Googled “Side Hustles for Single moms.”  What caught her attention was voice acting. “And unlike so many people who hear their voice and don’t like it, I actually liked my voice and thought it sounded good,” says Eryn. “And none of this would have occurred had I not gotten divorced, so yeah, it was the divorce that led me to this industry.”

Eryn in the sound booth.

Eryn locked on to a voice coach and began training herself, watching YouTube videos. “And the first month using Fiver, I made a thousand bucks.”  And that was her first month. “I’m not an artistic person, but this voiceover world scratched an itch that made me feel good.”  For the following months, “I was averaging $1500 a month, as I worked full time at NASA.” And this story doesn’t always go so well for everybody. It takes longer, and it takes money going out and not coming in, “so I have no idea why things went so well because it’s exactly the opposite for so many.” That was followed by successful bookings on Voices 1,2,3.

“I’ve never felt “normal,” always just different,” says Eryn. “just not elite or special.” Then, about a year ago, Eryn was diagnosed with ADHD and suddenly realized, “I was like “Ah, that explains a lot.”  Eryn says. “My ADHD gives me a super learning ability. I hyperfocus on something that I’m interested in, and I get really good at it, really fast.” https://www.risingstarvo.com

Eryn creating voiceovers in the studio.

Notable about all of Eryn’s voice work is promo imaging. This is the category where you hear the station’s voice announcing upcoming shows or station identification when you watch television. It’s one of the highest prestige rankings in voiceover. Motion picture movie trailers rank at the top. Video games rank highly as well.

Eryn’s unique young and vibrant sound has also been able to cross into other areas of voice acting. Here’s Eryn’s commercial voice demo.

And now Eryn has her eyes on animation. She hasn’t done any animation voice yet, but it’s on her horizon. And with a full home studio, Eryn is ready and equipped to enter practically any field of voiceover that she wants.

Eryn believes in a simple philosophy. “I read somewhere that it’s “better to be lucky than good,” says Eryn and “I like that.”

And true to form, Eryn’s life continues a full-throttle upward trajectory. Just like the great John Glenn is quoted, “Its mission first.”  Translation? Focus on your goals. Set aside all things that don’t matter and fly the spaceship as planned with mission control in support. Her immediate success in the voiceover business is not typical. But then, neither is rocket science. 

Connecting with YouTubers for Voiceover Work

By Nate Myers

Are you a voiceover artist looking to expand your client base and dive into the world of educational and explainer video narration on YouTube? Here are some fun and effective tips to help you connect with YouTubers and land your voiceover services:

Target the Right Channels:

Research and Identify Channels: Start by finding YouTubers in your niche. Whether it's science, history, language learning, or any other educational topic, use YouTube's search function with relevant keywords and filter the results by content type ("educational").

Engagement is Key: Focus on channels with a good subscriber base and consistent video output. Active channels are more likely to need your voice-acting services.

Search YouTube for topics and videos with a high volume of subscribers.

Craft a Compelling Introduction:

Don't just say "Hi." - personalize your message to stand out. Briefly mention a recent video you enjoyed from their channel and explain how your voice-over skills can enhance their content.

Highlight Your Expertise: Showcase your experience with educational content narration. Do you have a demo specifically tailored for explainer videos? Make sure to mention it!

Offer a Free Demo (Optional): Consider offering a short free demo using a script snippet from their channel. This approach allows YouTubers to hear your voice in the context of their content.

Utilize Multiple Contact Methods:

Direct Messages: Most channels have a "Contact" or "About" section with email addresses or social media links. Send a personalized message through those channels.

Comments (Strategically): Leave thoughtful comments on their videos, especially if you have insights or suggestions that showcase your knowledge in their niche.

Engage with the Community: Participate in discussions and answer questions in the comments section. This activity builds trust and establishes you as an expert in your field.

Stand Out from the Crowd:

Create a YouTube Channel (Optional): Having your own channel allows you to showcase your VO demos and testimonials, making it easier for YouTubers to see your work.

Network with Other Voice Actors: Collaborate with other voiceover artists to create joint resources or share leads, expanding your reach within the YouTube community.

Offer Competitive Rates and Packages: Research standard voiceover and voice acting rates and be flexible with pricing options. Consider offering packages for multiple videos to incentivize long-term collaborations.

Pro Tip #1: Be Persistent (But Professional): Follow-up emails are okay, but avoid spamming. Persistence pays off, but maintain a professional demeanor throughout your interactions. 

Pro Tip #2: Consider creating a short explainer video about the benefits of using a voiceover artist for educational content. This unique approach can grab a YouTuber's attention and creatively showcase your skills.

By following these tips and showcasing your talent and expertise, you'll increase your chances of connecting with YouTubers seeking high-quality voiceover services for their educational and explainer videos. Happy networking!

Clay St. Thomas Re-invents Himself As A Voiceover Artist At 60

This little whippersnapper never realized he’d someday break new ground in voiceover. In fact, having the life of Clay St. Thomas is so unheard of you’d think this story would be just all made up. But now at 61 years old with less than one full year in FULL TIME voiceover, listen to where Clay’s voice has landed.

He was born in 1962 into a farming family in the very small community of Lancer, Saskatchewan, a province of Canada.  One of seven kids, “I was not good at anything young males on a farm were supposed to be good at. Not athletic or mechanically inclined, not good with girls,” and Clay adds “I was academic, socially awkward, and creative. Which in that time and place, meant weird.”

And although I was very young, “I knew that my environment would not help me to be who I really was.”

So, at 17, Clay went to college and made the move to terrestrial radio at 18 on Q Country in Brandon, Manitoba.  “Radio made sense to me as an actual job that legitimized me.” But up until this point, Clay had led a life with a low self-image, but now he was “on the radio,” and it made him feel good about himself. He had become somebody.

From this very humble, small-time radio beginning, the stage was set for what became a phenomenon for Clay and the radio business at large. In Vancouver, Clay teamed up with Tamera Stanners, and they worked together on-air for two years. But then Clay teamed up with Karen Daniels to create “Clay and Karen in the morning.”  The show would last for 23 years.

This length of time with the same on-air partner is unheard of. Branded as JR COUNTRY, their popularity soured to a number one position with the audience in a market where country music is not king.

Karen (on the left) and Clay (on the right) jamming together.

Throughout the years working as a radio personality, Clay also started in 1995, acted in films. He amassed (70) credits, “but all small parts because I was full-time in radio.”  (IMDB-Clay St. Thomas)

Here are some scenes featuring Clay in some of his films.

And, of course, just like musicians want to act and actors want to sing, radio personalities want to be voice actors. Clay was no exception. And so, he did voiceover passively for years.  But upon going full time in voiceover, starting in July of 2023. www.saintvoices.com  So, here’s another animation credit of Clay’s. This kind of casting achievement takes most people years because animation is so competitive.

“What I wasn’t prepared for upon moving to the home studio world is how much my life was wrapped around the socialization of life inside a station,” Clay tells me. “My life was so intertwined with being around people all day long; being at home and working alone was an aspect of my daily life I just didn’t expect.”  Clay is talking about the positive effect he felt each day in station life, and how working in solitude as a voice actor was somewhat foreign to him. “You have to be disciplined, and you have to get used to what it’s like for your professional life, which was now only me.”  

Clay St. Thomas

And it’s true, going from corporate broadcasting to a quiet house that you sleep in to also be your place of work “took some getting used to because there is no one to talk to or be around when you’re having an off day,”  An “off day” in this sense would simply mean when you're not at your best, and there’s no one to talk to. “Suddenly, you are the master of your own destiny.” But Clay’s doing exceptional, as you’ll hear. www.saintvoices.com 

So, Clay St Thomas, former radio star and ongoing actor, is now completely full-time in voiceover.  And achieving a successful pivot in his early 60’s to such a high level is extraordinary. But the grown man you see today is light years away from the way he felt growing up in the plains of Canada. However, deep down inside, Clay St Thomas is still just a child at heart, and it still reaps a good harvest.

The Voiceover Artist On A Mission

She may look like a wild child, but voiceover artist Christy Harst never was. “I was raised in a very strict Catholic home,” says Christy. “I was not allowed to watch MTV.”  So, Christy’s upbringing was extremely controlled. “I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of programming, but on Sundays we did get to see PBS’s NATURE.” There were a very few others Christy was allowed to watch, but in general, growing up Christy was raised in an atmosphere which did not allow her to consume tv shows that her parents deemed unsuitable.

“It was in a small rural town in Norwalk, Ohio where everybody knows everybody,” Christy tells me. “And school did not come easy for me, but I wanted to be a broadcast journalist and become the next Barbara Walters.”  

Christy Harst, voice-over artist.

Christy had athletic talent. At 5’9, she played volleyball and “I had a very good vertical” so she was able to get a volleyball scholarship and graduated from Baldwin Wallace University, “but I never played volleyball to go pro.”

She also spent time in community broadcasting. “I worked in college radio, and this led to an internship at MTV.”  Isn’t that ironic? And while interning at music television, Christy got to see the environment of what it was like to work in network television. “I dealt with a female executive at MTV who was just a real mean person,” says Christy, “and this changed my desire to work in television.” 

What she’s referring to is the chaotic and sometimes hostile environment that she and many people perceived to be intense and repelling.  And “the low pay” for television was revolting. “Graduating in broadcast journalism, you’re expected to move to a very small market and work for very little money,” The guild orientation of pay and moving your way up into bigger cities Is true.  To be a television reporter, you typically start in a small town and pay your dues to earn your way into a larger market where the pay is much higher. And that’s when Christy’s professional direction changed paths.

Christy in the studio preparing to do a commercial voice over.

“So, I got into PR and marketing,” says Christy, “And while doing so, I’d hear the voices used in radio commercials and think, “I can do better so much better than what I’m hearing.”  Christy elaborates to say, “But I didn’t want to leave the security of a salary and benefits.”   However, with her inner voice telling her to move forward, even though she felt fear in doing so, Christy did make the successful leap into voiceover. And her work is outstanding.

However, Christy was experiencing resistance because of her gender determining her casting.  “I wanted to find a way for women to voice male centric brands and sports and no one was doing it.”   

And to create a discussion of how women could walk through a door that has been closed to women, Christy created “BUILDING DOORS”, a forum that discusses letting women become the voice for male brands.

Building Doors is Christy’s forum to get women into voicing male sports.

Not attempting to be confrontational, Christy speaks candidly about her goal and the reaction, “I’m pissing people off and I like it,” says Christy. “I thought to myself, is it not realized that women buy the swag at athletic events or influence male brand purchases?”

I wanted to create an environment where women would be of consideration. And being a former college athlete, Christy took a special interest in opening doors for women, especially in sports.  www.christyharst.com

Christy feels that women on the sideline working at an on-field athletic event “aren’t there just to appease men, but it’s definitely one of their purposes.” And research has proven that the football sideline commentator is frequently a woman and is there because that’s what men watching want to see.

But Christy’s years in the Catholic church still influence her thinking to this day. “We are all given a gift by God, and you figure out what your gift is and then you use that gift and then give it away.” 

So, no question Christy believes that women should be given a fair chance at voicing male-centric brands but acknowledges, “I reap what I sow,” and to Christy, raising the issue of women being allowed in sports is an important issue to her.

Nominated for a SOVA award in 2018, here’s the demo that earned her that recognition.

The result of her present-day life is now refreshing. “I’ve never been happier in my whole life. I am in complete control of my income and environment.”  And under that premise, Christy, the child who could not watch MTV, may be leading a movement, but she’s anything but a wild child.

The Animator and His Voiceover Destiny

This guy needs help. Well, at least he looks like he does. But animator Chris Woodworth needs no help at all. He’s completely sane. From Wigan, England, Chris is an animator - with the goal of becoming the voice actor for animated games and films that he has animated. And he’s got the credibility and talent to achieve it. Educated at Wrexham for three years with an animation degree, Chris went on to get a master’s in 3D animation at Bournemouth University. 

But there were telltale signs as a child that Chris would love to be a character in films. “When I was a child, I wanted to play these characters I saw on TV because they were so freakin’ cool.”

“Growing up, we were often told, “calm down,” “settle down,” “pipe down.” So, “The feeling of letting loose every once in a while, and at the same time telling a genuinely compelling story, is a pretty amazing feeling.”

“But from these TV shows, I knew, even though I was Very young, what I wanted to do”

and as Chris adds, “I saw the word animation, and I looked it up and studied it.” www.chriswoodworthvo.com

Immigrating from Africa to England at just two years old, young Christopher was always interested in things that stimulated his theatrical senses.

“And TV influenced me from the very beginning,” he says. But Chris found an interest in all of the arts. He loved music, the art of magic, drawing, and theatrical studies. So, when it came time for Chris to harness those interests, he chose to learn to play the saxophone and the piano. And he took a very big interest in drawing, which foreshadowed his animator career to come. He also studied the art of magicians and how they do it.

But the theatre interested him the most, and so began a string of plays. And these theatre productions became the foundation of Chris’s interest in voice acting. But his animator skills were obvious, as seen here:

“People need a dose of escapism and positivity, as tough as life is.,” says Chris. And to Woodworth, “One of the purposes of actors and voice actors alike is to inspire people and raise spirits.” To Chris, that directed him to go even deeper into animation. “Even though he was silent, Charlie Chaplin has always been a huge influence on me,” and that’s because “his expressiveness and storytelling ability was so profound, it captured my imagination in an incredible way.”

Charlie Chaplin

Chris also points to the uncanny ability to display the truth through characters that Tom Hanks has. “Tom has always been a huge influence on me.”

Chris Woodworth in the voice-over studio.

So, Chris, in professional life, is an animator.

But along the way to his animation credits, Woodworth’s interest in voicework took shape in the form of voicing previously produced shows of which you can see Chris here.

Here’s another example of Chris’s creativity.

Voice acting appeared in Chris’s life because “it was an opportunity for me to explore a plethora of emotions and also learn more about myself and my triggers.” And in animation, “you have a chance to show your truth through fantasy scenarios.” Here’s Chris in a voice study session with another actor reenacting Disney’s Encanto.

And here’s Chris in another voice study with another colleague in the same type of two-voice scene.

My first animation job was as an animator for the video game GTA4. “And along the way I had a quirk where I liked doing voices for my own interests and to make people laugh.”

So, that was the beginning of Chris’s entry into voicing video games. “I wanted to go into video games; it was a journey into self-awareness; I guess acting is like therapy.”

So, here’s therapy at work with Chris and another artist doing “Nadine & The Drakes.”

Therapy for all of us comes in many forms. For Englishman Chris Woodworth, it comes in the form of living theatrically. But no, Chris himself is fine and is not losing his mind. And if there’s one thing Chris doesn’t need in the world of animation, it’s “help.”

The BiPolar Voiceover Artist That Overcame Her Terrifying Mania

Jenna Birmingham is an exceptional commercial-producing talent. One of the nation's most heard. But she manages a problem. "I'm bi-polar, and being bi-polar has challenges, and I'm trying to break that stigma," says Jenna, "but I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't have it." Says Jenna.

Jenna Birmingham in the studio

Jenna was adopted, and "I was very blessed as a child to have been adopted by a wonderful family, but "I loved to talk and got in trouble for talking so much." And she was a rare child. "Walking at 9/10 months old, I was talking in sentences at one year old and would spend all day trying to learn how to tie my shoelaces."

Certified in the third grade with an IQ of 159-160 (only 1 in 31,560 people have this intelligence quotient), she was placed in the gifted and talented program. This is when educators identify a highly intelligent child who would not benefit from the standard curriculum and give them advanced classes so they can learn at their unique IQ level.

Music became interesting to Jenna early on, so she learned to play the flute. "And I also sing, but at 14. I was diagnosed with bipolar," she tells me, "And it took a couple of years to accept my bipolar condition." Early on, Jenna learned when a manic mode would set in, "I'd talk to my doctor, get the medicine I needed to stabilize before things get out of hand.”

Jenna was prescribed 1500 milligrams of lithium, prescribed at 14 years old by a California psychiatrist. "That doctor didn't give a shit how I felt, so I self-medicated and took drugs to kill my meds. Pot didn't work, LSD didn't work, but METH really worked and made me feel like myself again." Jenna confides, "And on weekends, usually all three at the same time." And, as Jenna continues, "I carried different personas everywhere I went from school to church to family to the boyfriend. I learned to eat while on drugs, so I wouldn’t get caught and I could keep doing what I wanted.”

Rocky Mountain Academy Rehabilitation Center in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

But trouble hit when she got addicted to METH, and that's when Jenna was sent to a place that could help her escape the vortex of addiction. It was Rocky Mountain Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. This was one of the schools in the CEDU program known as part of the Troubled Teen Industry. A CEDU is an acronym for Charles E. Dederich University, which lives by the credo, "See yourself as you are and do something about it." Jenna adds, "I had hit rock bottom, but I said to my parents, "So, you're sending me to the fucking potato state?”

But here's a significant statement. "I am 99 percent sure that had I not gone there, I would have never lived to see 18."

Through all of this, Jenna turned 18 in February of 1994, and "I wound up meeting a guy, and we got married in March." She called her mother and said, "Mom, I got married last night." That marriage turned into a pregnancy in October, "even though I was on the pill, I got pregnant anyway." And that meant "money was hard as a young Mom." So, Jenna's husband (at the time) joined the Navy, "and I had my son in Italy, and while there, doing voiceover simmered in my head."  

In 2007, while stationed in Hawaii, Jenna was hired by a five-station radio group, Visionary Related Entertainment. "It was definitely an aha moment." Her first voice sweeper was for McDonald's. This experience led to voices.com for about a year, and "that's when I started getting bookings as a voiceover artist and I produced liners. “I fell in love with production while working at Visionary Related Entertainment. I started for free in the Promotions department, and they eventually hired me as a freelance voice and producer. When they let me go, I said I was willing to do it for free; they said I was too good to do it for free. I was paid $10 an hour.”

“Before the day was out, I was hired to work for Ron Jacobs for his online radio station, where I gained more confidence in my production skills. He also wouldn’t let me quit when I was getting ready to move back to California. I had to write a letter of resignation. He was not happy.”

"To do this, you have to have thick skin." But that made no difference to Jenna. She began her education with voice classes and became a premier female voice talent known for exceptional voice acting in many sectors, especially commercials. “But Dad passed and left me some money. My first thoughts were to travel and invest in classes because you should never stop training."  

The result? Automotive, commercials, imaging, promo…you name it—all under one roof. Go to www.jennabirmingham.com to hear Jenna at her very best.

Winner of an enormous number of awards, here's the Best Automotive Performance Female award.

Here's her nomination for best commercial female performance.

And here are some examples, just a few, of Jenna's award-winning production work.

Besides being a voice actor, Jenna works as a voice talent for Audacy. "I cut about (20) commercials a day, and at my hub, I can voice for (11) U.S. markets and (250) + stations across the country as well as streaming channels." Voicing about 1000 commercials a year, Jenna Is, in truth, a voice to be reckoned with. "I've voiced over 550 commercials already this year." So, what is Jenna's definition of being who she sees herself to be? "I live up to the title of BadAss, which to me means, "Owning who you are with things you do well. I don’t see myself as a badass. I realize that I act like one according to other people, but I’m just me doing my thing. I’m not trying to be a badass per se.”

So, it's been a long time since the little girl on the trike in the creek has had life so simple.

Having just been hired as the new imaging voice for New Country Music Radio, Jenna is literally heard around the country by millions of people daily. She continues to manage her bipolar condition "because episodes can be SCARY."

But look where the adopted child with bipolar has landed. She is undoubtedly one of the country's leading female voice talents.

And even though there is a mental condition to manage, two children to Mother, and scads of commercials to voice, deep down inside, she's still the little girl who wanted to get her shoes tied when she was a child.

And as offbeat as she may appear, what you're reading about is one of the country's most successful female voice artists. Inside, she's still that little girl. But let's face it: by constantly studying through classes and continuously learning the little girl…has grown up.

The Voiceover Nerd You've Heard…

He was born as an outcast. “The biggest nerd you’ve ever met,” says Jerry Beharry. Born to a Hindu Father and a Muslim mother.  “I was so different, I resented my roots and always wanted to be anybody but me.”

“I was treated so cruelly by the kids at school…and It’s not easy to be different.”

Experiencing high expectations from his parents, Jerry chose pre-med in college, “because I’m a people pleaser,” and Jerry found school to be easy and was an academic all-star. “My parents did not pressure me, but I felt their influence to do very well in school.” says Jerry. “So, in high school, they called me “Doc,” which added to the pressure that everyone expected.”

“I wanted to become a pilot,” says Jerry, “and then 911 happened. And because I look like one of those that high jackers of the planes, I thought, there is no way that passengers would ever trust me to be in the cockpit because of what I look like.”

So armed with two bachelor’s degrees, Jerry entered tech. It provided a salary and benefits, “and it was easy for me, but I never felt like I belonged in that world,” says Jerry, “and then suddenly Jerry got laid off on April 10th of 2023, “and that prompted a search for a new life.”

Jerry in his voice-over studio.

“I’d dabbled around with VO before acting on-camera, but never thought about VO as a professional career,” says Jerry, “But, my first call for my first film changed all of that.” It was Marvel Studios “Guardians of the Galaxy-volume 3.”  He filmed in January of 2022. And that one film led to being cast in “A Family Affair,” “The Family Plan” for Apple TV,” The Electric State”  for Netflix and is currently filming at this writing for Hulu “Reasonable Doubt.”  And Jerry’s next film to be shot is slated for next month. The film is “Superman” and is slated for release by director James Gunn in 2025.

But voiceover was the preamble to his interest in filming movies. He began classes and studying extensively. But he handled his entry into voiceover very differently. “I spent (18) months just preparing for the career.” Jerry hired the well-known demo producer Chuck Duran to produce the audio demo and Remy Cashman did his video demo and “It was the best demo $2,800 dollars money could buy.”

“That demo portrayed me in the very best possible light and showed everyone what I sounded like and what I was capable of,” he says. “And I always felt that people didn’t need to just hear me, they needed to FEEL me.”  And this led to being cast as the voice of Academy Sports and Outdoor four times. www.TheDulcetOneVO.com

Jerry’s voice over work ranges from video games to pizza commercials and beyond.

Jerry is a rare voiceover artist in terms of how many jobs he books, because of his dulcet voice. “I book 7 out of 100 auditions,” he tells me. And for the record, the successful VO actor will book typically about two percent of what they audition for.  That is two percent, not seven percent. “I do everything in my power to come in first place in everything I do, because I Hate to lose.”  And as Jerry explains, “I was always told what I couldn’t do.”  This negative perception led all the way back to being nine years old when he was told he could not play baseball, “So, when I got up to bat, I knocked the ball out of the park.”

Jerry’s reinvention from a “burned out tech guy” to owning a medical transport business, which didn’t work out, was part of his journey to voiceover and shaped his foundation. So, when this athlete/tech guy discovered voiceover, it gave him solace. “All along, I was not on an incorrect path.”  His skillsets in voiceover are commercials, e-learning, animation and video games. And oddly, Jerry is The Voice of God for the videogame “Predecessor,” “of which his son watches.

And now to irony. Jerry’s son, Jayan who is interested in flight and engineering is filling the space in aviation that Jerry did not pursue because of the way he looks. Bound for Auburn, Jayan was accepted out of 55,000 applications for only 4,500 open slots in aerospace engineering at Auburn University.  So, in a very unusual way, Jayan is on his way to becoming what Jerry himself saw fascination involving aviation.

Jerry’s son Jayan.

Jerry’s marketing skills to promote his voice are unparalleled. “I have 100,000 followers on Instagram,” and although Jerry sees himself as a Type B personality, “I learned you have to put yourself out there, and the moment you stop learning, you're dead.” www.instagram.com/thedulcetonevo

Jerry also believes in using professionals to help his career. He has (7) agents and on (25) rosters around the world.

And so, the nerd you have heard has finally discovered himself.  And all his voiceover accomplishments occurred with him starting in July of 2023. You read that right. Jerry Beharry, the nerd, the person who worked in tech, has only been on voiceover full time for that short about of time. And now unlike any time in his 47 years he’s lived, Jerry Beharry now knows, it pays to be an outcast.

The unexpected rise from little girl to successful voiceover artist

A beautiful child is enchanting. They possess the promise of the future. They embody the beauty of humanity. They let us know in a moment's notice that for them, all things are possible. For Jessica Holtan, the power of her beautiful, natural-sounding voice became her reality. But she wasn't thinking about a life in voiceover, even though the use of the voice was how her father provided for the family.

Born to the parents of radio station property owners, Jessica was around the broadcasting business from childhood, yet "that was my parents' thing - not mine, but it did help me develop my personality and work ethic." Jessica tells me. "So, radio is not my background." Jessica was interested in acting. The world of stage performing. Musical theatre.

Jessica acting on stage.

And as you'll read, she did become an actor, but part of her creative professional journey is acting with her voice.

"Dad's career pushed me into performance by finding theatre as a way to meet people, but I was never in radio."

Radio station ownership is the crème de la crème of the terrestrial radio business. We all know about the disc jockey; we hear the advertising; we recognize the music the station is known for. We know where to find them on the dial. But we otherwise know very little about who owns the station. And that the FCC station signal owner is the elite individual in the industry. It's not who you're hearing that controls anything. It's the ownership and the culture that the ownership stands for. But nowadays, few privately owned radio stations exist, like Jessica's parents Bob and Colleen Holtan. "I did do some imaging for KDEC-FM In Decorah, Iowa, just a few commercials in the beginning, yet I still wasn't thinking radio."

www.jessicaholtan.com

And that might have been a good thought process versus her upbringing. Why? Because of radio deregulation, which allowed a corporation to own more than two stations in a market. An example would be iHeart radio and Clear Channel radio. They bought up all the independent stations around the country, and now what you hear is corporately owned property.

There are other conglomerates as well, but upon the deregulation of radio, big money could buy many stations, hundreds in fact, and that changed the dynamic of what radio life inside the station would be like forever. But when Jessica was growing up, radio was owned by real people, not big companies. This allowed the owners to play what they wanted on the air.

Nowadays, the station you hear on the radio is controlled by people who not only do not live in your city but hold the power to put a new song on the air. So iHeart radio, for example, has (868) stations. Yet, it's generally just a few select people who can green-light a song to be heard. So, a new artist who completely deserves radio airplay may never be heard.

When Jessica was growing up, it was the golden era of radio, and she never considered using just her voice. "But as I got older, I wanted to continue to perform but also find a way to operate out of our home in Nashville." Enter voiceover. It showed up in her life because "all voiceover IS acting," she says. Nowadays, she works for herself. She voices from her home studio. And Jessica has the autonomy to voice or not voice any project she wants. She is not controlled by a corporation because Jessica IS the corporation.

So, just like her parents, Jessica runs her business as she sees fit and has taken the principles her parents once embodied and lives them every day. But "it has nothing to do with broadcasting; it has to do with my voice."

Jessica had it in her DNA to perform and work in the arts in various ways, and she continues. At ten years old, she did "Annie," the musical, so theatre provided the fundamental that singing and acting were not the only forms of acting available. And that was when a good friend of Jessica's showed her how voiceover operates. So, with extensive study and being porous to the world of voiceover, here's the result of a well-trained theatre actor.

Her friendly voice found its way into audiobook narration.

Jessica is very versatile. Here's corporate narration.

And recently, Jessica received The Reeds Award for political campaign voiceover. She embodies a philosophy of her subtext when she approaches any acting situation. "People communicate on "a frequency" and to relate to them, you must connect to their frequency." And that's not "word salad," she speaks. It is true that when you connect to someone, you must do so by relating to them on the frequency they are vibrating to connect to them.

These days, Jessica is a mother of three, in a loving relationship with a musician, living in Tennessee, and raising her children, and her life looks just like the happy family that she was raised in.

But it all started with her parents and the example they set. Meanwhile, Bob and Colleen will celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary in June. The world of professional voice acting fits Jessica's lifestyle perfectly. She can still be an actor on many fronts and live in a fantastic world of creativity. It was all she ever dreamed of.