Season 2: Episode 7--Why Not You and Why Not Now? On starting a new adventure...(short solo)

Hello, and welcome to the Storied Human. This is Lynne Thompson, I'm doing a solo episode today, a shorter one, I just wanted to let everybody know who hasn't heard that I just finished sort of a small lifelong dream of mine, I completed a course, about being a voice actor, I'm going to try to get jobs part time doing voice acting, doing voiceovers for anybody who will have me. It's a very big field now, at first looked into it about 12 years ago. And I had actually attended a short webinar, it was really informative, but it kind of emphasized building a home studio and working from home. And I had kids, you know, that were in middle school. And I just felt like I couldn't do it. I was working full time I had kids. And I also think the quality of mics and the availability of material, you know, there just weren't that many people doing home studios. So I felt like it was a little beyond me. And I also felt mistakenly, it turns out that it was mostly for younger people that I had sort of missed my window. But I was wrong. In the ensuing decades, since I first went to that webinar, voiceover has kind of exploded, just like we like a diversity of platforms and streaming and music, we like to put together our own stuff. So too, we like to hear voices that are representative of every different kind of person that are personal. If you if you think of for a moment, if you've ever, most people don't listen to much radio, but if you do hear ads on on radio stations, that's the best example of the kind of voiceover that commercials like now, especially on radio, they have conversational ads, like one woman is talking to another woman about this sale at the grocery store, or another guy is talking about a car or you know, it's much more personal, the voices are quirky, they're more real. And they're all different ages. So all of a sudden, it like opened up. There's also many different kinds of voiceover possibilities. They need voice everywhere they need it for anime, they need it for gaming. Anytime you hear voices in a movie that aren't said by a character, like a voice over, you know, maybe it's in an airport, and they need a voice to be over a microphone, announcing something in an airport, something like that. Audio books have exploded, they always need character actors to do voices for audiobooks. There's a whole area of corporate and technical training, that they always need people to do, you know, the voices for training and to narrate training in a knowledgeable way. So also, if you speak another language, well, there's tons of opportunities for that. So if you can think of it, it's being done. And it's pretty exciting. So I signed up for a voice. Over course, that took several months. And I did a combination of one on ones with my coach. And then in between the weeks in between, I would do workbook, and I would work on the workbook, and then they had practice scripts, and I would start practicing. And I worked pretty hard. The course culminated in a demo, where I got to drive up to Albany and I wanted to be in a real Studio, you can also do your demo from home. But like I said, I don't really have that professional sound yet at home. So also, there's just something about a studio, I got to stand in a room in front of a real mic, you know, expensive mic and, and I got directed through my, you know, headphones by my teacher. Luckily, I had the same teacher do my demo. And it was just so comfy and so little scary and so fun. So this is just the culmination and the heartstart. The hard stuff starts now where I have to take this demo file, which I should receive soon, and I have to send it out. It'll be my resume, my voiceover resume. They do like a production, they put music, they crunch it down to just a small amount of time because people are in a hurry and don't want to listen to 10 minutes of somebody rambling. I think they crunch it down the best snippets down to like a minute and a half. So it's been a wonderful journey. It's it's more about having fun and finding maybe a part time income for someday when I retire. So that's super, super great. So it's, it's really based on the idea that I couldn't picture not working, but I wanted to do something fun. So I started doing this and I Don't think I would have done this, except I had done the podcasting class, which lasted a lot longer. And I learned a whole lot about mindset and how to go forward with a business, not just the technical stuff about podcasting. So once I got over that hump, and met these wonderful people that have stayed with me, and continue to motivate me, I did start the podcast, I learned how to edit audio, I learned how to pull it all together and load it up to the website and how to interview people. I've been having so much fun with that. And I feel like that opened up this creative space in my brain, and gave me the confidence to do this next thing, which is voiceover, which I've always wanted to try. So what's the point? The point is, I'm 64 years old. And I've started two part time careers, that bring me a lot of joy. And the reason I'm sharing this is to let you know that you can do it to wherever you are in your life, however old you are, whatever you're thinking of doing. I mean, let's be real, I can't be a ballerina, I can't be a pro athlete. But I definitely can be a voiceover artist. There are lots of us in our 50s and 60s and beyond that are doing this. And podcasting is any age, right, just sort of like training and teaching is any age coaching is any age. There's all kinds of things that we can do at any age. So if there's something that you always wanted to try, and even if it's ballerina, I mean, you won't be a professional ballerina, but you could take dance lessons, and you could really enjoy them. So it's not about making a career, it's really about exploring your creativity. Like for me, this is very creative for me, the podcasting and the, and the voiceover and I really enjoy it. So it's a creative outlet for me, that may or may not make a little money. And that's great. But that's not the point, the money is not the point. The point is to express yourself and to stretch yourself and to be creative and to have fun. So if you're doing something, and you're not having fun, ask yourself, what would help because I did all this while working full time. And I'm not saying it's easy, but I noticed how much I loved it because I could work all day and have a tough day. And at five o'clock, I was ready to do the podcast, I still enjoyed it, I would put it together or I would edit an interview I needed to edit. And the same thing with the voiceover, I would sit and practice my scripts. So if you're still up for something after eight hours of work, that means that something is your joy place, it's your place of joy. It's your outlet, it's your thing. And you know, everybody has all kinds of talent that maybe they forgot about, I kind of put this aside this voiceover stuff. And yet, it comes to me so naturally, and I enjoy it so much, I have a lot more to learn. But I'm willing to learn. And that's, that's really good for your head, too, at any age is to learn something new. Don't be afraid to take a class, or try a webinar, or just sit with yourself. You know, if you want to learn how to edit audio, you could download a free version of Audacity, you can record your voice saying something or singing and you could edit it or you could do a little mock interview, see if you would like podcasting. It's not that hard. Like, that's what's so cool about now, we live in a technological time, when there's all kinds of tools, it's not super easy to get set up. But if you have support from someone, you know, it's easier for some people than others. But it's definitely doable, and it's definitely out there. And who says you can't? That's sort of where I'm at today, who says you can't. If you're thinking that you're past the time when you could like I kind of thought, or you're thinking you don't really have time because you're working full time. Or if you're thinking anything other than I'm going to give that a try. I think you should change your thinking. I think you should take a deep breath and say why not? Why not me? I mean, who even cares where this goes, I'm having the time of my life. I was kind of bored. You know, the kids had grown up. I had my career. I was still enjoying it. But there was something missing. And it was this creative outlet. I started writing more. I write on medium that led me to try podcasting because I just wanted to express myself and get people's stories out there. I think people's stories are wonderful and enriching and fascinating. And they don't even realize they have such a great story. Everyone has one and so I'm always on the lookout for those. So please feel free to contact me if you have a story you want to share. Even if you want to be anonymous if there's something that you wish to be out there. I'll definitely respect your wishes. And we can get the story out there. There's a lot of really A good healing that happens when people hear your story. If it's something, they've gone through something they've worried about something they didn't know how to handle, and they hear that you did it that you are on the other side. That's very powerful. So please don't hesitate to contact me, my email will be in the show notes. And until next time, I just wanted to share my latest adventure. And let you know that I'll be back with a fascinating interview, I can promise I have creed Revere, I'm going to be talking to her on Monday. creed has an amazingly popular podcast that's doing amazing work. It's called the estranged heart. And it deals with the difficult issues that are facing the strange children and parents. And she deals with both sides and she brings people together and she just serves a need that's been unserved. It's very powerful. And she has a lot to share with us about her own life that I just find fascinating. She's so educational and inspiring. Every time I talked to her even briefly, I get inspired. So I can't wait to share Cree probably share that with you next week. She has an amazing life story. And it's continuing. And she's very inspiring. Which, you know, I've been so lucky because I feel like so many people talk to me and ended up inspiring us so much, and we learned so much. So I humbly submit this episode dedicated to you and your endeavor, whatever it may be. I'm your cheerleader. Please do it. Don't wait till you're 64 if you can help it, but really any time is right to try something new. And it's very good for your head. So that's my solo episode for this week, signing off the story human. Thank you