Full Time (Professional Voice Actor)
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“Are You a Professional?”

Being a professional is more than just possessing skill—it’s about delivering consistent, high-quality work every time. Whether you’re an artist, consultant, CEO, or entrepreneur, professionalism is the key to turning your passion into a thriving career. Let’s break down what it truly means to be a professional, work full-time, and balance multiple roles.

Professionalism: Beyond Skill, It’s a Lifestyle

Professionalism isn’t just about what you do; it’s about how you do it. It’s about treating your craft as a business. This means maintaining contracts, invoices, agents, managers, staff, meetings, reviews, advisors, mentors, and clear, reliable communication. A professional doesn’t just show up—they are prepared, delivering on deadlines with unwavering consistency. It’s about setting the bar high and meeting it every single time.

Key Traits of a Professional:

  • Consistent performance
  • Reliability in meeting deadlines
  • Visionary Thinking
  • Resilience
  • Risk Management
  • Financial Acumen
  • Customer Focus
  • Time Management

 What Does It Mean to Be Full-Time?

When discussing being “full-time,” this typically means that your various trades are your primary income streams. For professionals, it involves dedicating most of their working hours to related tasks—in-studio office, out-of-studio office, in-person, online, emails, auditing, networking, and marketing. Full-time professionals often have a steady stream of clients, jobs, and projects, allowing them to rely on their many skills as a career.

A full-time professional’s day might include:

    • Client meetings
    • Networking events
    • Continuous learning
    • Customer Focus
    • Leadership
    • Time Management
    • Health & Wellness

Balancing Multiple Roles: The Professional Juggler

Can you be a ‘professional VO’ while juggling other creative roles? Absolutely. In fact, many professionals are not just doing one thing—they’re directors, coaches, actors, authors, dancers, producers, editors, conference organizers, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, business owners, caregivers, homemakers, knitters, content creators, and more. Balancing these roles requires laser-focused time management and prioritization.

Tips for Balancing Multiple Roles:

  • Ensure each role complements your overall career
  • Diversify to add value to your work
  • Maintain high standards in all commitments

Diversifying your roles can enhance your career and provide additional skills, perspectives, and income streams. The key is ensuring each role enhances your professional standards rather than detracts from them.

The Power and Balance of Focus and Flexibility

To be successful full-time, you need focus. This means maintaining and improving your core skills consistently. But don’t mistake focus for rigidity. Flexibility is just as crucial—it allows you to explore other passions that might actually feed into and enhance your main work.

Cross-training in different roles isn’t just beneficial; it’s transformative. You can be ‘full-time’ in multiple areas- at the same time. Broadening your overall skillset, you gain a deeper understanding of related industries, making your work more robust and innovative. Stay flexible enough to pursue complementary passions. If you’re a sales director for a corporation, learn how to build a sales funnel for your other voiceover streams of income. If you’re a corporate narrator learn ways to do corporate narration for your favorite corporation. If you’re a nurse find copywriters who need medical narration. If you’re a homemaker find casting agents for commercial household and/or children’s products.

Professionalism is Your Pathway to Success

Remember, being a professional isn’t just about skill; it’s about consistency, reliability, and treating your craft with the seriousness it deserves. If you’re full-time and balancing multiple roles, the essence of professionalism remains the same—delivering high-quality work consistently. Focus on honing your skills and stay flexible to explore new opportunities. This balance will sustain your career and push it to new heights with multiple income streams while having fun and enjoying life.

By embodying these principles, you’ll succeed and thrive in whatever field you choose to pursue.

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Voice Direction for Voice Actors Voice Buyers Guide
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Say it like you mean: Guide for VO Buyers

Voice Buyers Guide to Describing the Sound you Want from Voice Actors perspective

Let’s face it – describing a voice is kinda like describing a dream. You know what you want, but when it’s time to say it out loud, all you’ve got is, “Uhh… something warm? But also confident? But also like, you know, not too confident?”

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

If you want to help voice actors knock it out of the park on the first take (or at least avoid sounding like Siri’s emotional cousin), level up how you describe tone. Don’t worry – I got you. Let me break it down.

1. I never knew WARM came in flavors. Well it does!

You say: “We want a warm tone.”

We hear: Hallmark TV – Finding the Love of your life (who doesn’t love a good hallmark movie)

But seriously, “warm” can mean a bunch of things:

  • Motherly Warm: Like your child just lost their first race at school and you are there with a hug waiting at the finish line.
  • Wholesome Warm: That warmth from grandma when you walk in the house and it smells like homemade goodness on the stove and she walks out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron with a big smile and says “well hello there stranger.”
  • Caring-But-Professional Warm: Like a pharmacist talking to a customer who always comes in and always needs a little extra help with understanding the instructions on their prescriptions.

Pro tip: Add context to your “warm.” What kind of hug are we giving here – cozy grandma or confident CEO with soft eyes? Or pep talk Momma warm – Confidence with a smile.

2. Did someone say “be direct”. Sounds like a tongue lashing in a nice way. But maybe not.

You say: “Make it direct.”

We hear: “Rip off the Band-Aid.”

Direct can be:

  • Annoyed Direct: A politician with a bone to pick but a race to win so you say it like you mean it. Gloves off. Eye to eye.
  • Edgy Direct: Like a tech CEO pitching in a black turtleneck and absolutely no time for fluff. Just the facts man – oooh if you know that reference you are more mature like me. It’s from Dragnet.
  • Motivational Direct: Like you are hyping up your team before a big sales event.
  • Presentational Direct: You get to do your Ted Talk but on the mic with just me. That’s the kind of presentation when you talk to the audience make eye contact and get your point across quickly and efficiently.

Help us help you. Tell us *who* we’re being direct to. Your team? Your customers? Your ex? (No judgment here.)

3. Soft – But soft how?

You say: “Soft and gentle.”

We hear: “Tiptoe around it like it’s a sleeping baby.”

Or…

  • Childlike Soft: Like reading a bedtime story with your favorite stuffy in hand.
  • Compassionate Soft: Like giving directions to your sweet grandma who can’t hear without a little more volume.
  • I’m-Trying-Not-to-Snap Soft: Like the HR rep who really wants to say “Are you kidding me?” but instead says, “Let’s try that again.”

Tone is in the details. Don’t be afraid to paint the mental picture.

4. A few more voice descriptions that can help you dial-in that sound you seek.

  • Game Show Host With A Mortgage: Energetic, punchy, but just grounded enough to remind you they’ve got bills too.
  • Yoga Instructor who used to be in Sales: Chill but can close a deal.
  • The Barista Philosopher: Casual but kinda smart in an unintrusive way. Listen carefully and you might walk away with a life lesson and a cold brew.
  • Southern Auntie who knows everybody’s business including yours: Warm, sassy, confident and full of tea. The gossipy kind.

Since we are talking Tea I might as well keep spilling it.

Voice actors are experts at channeling characters, emotions, and moods. The more vividly you describe the vibe, the faster we can match your energy. So next time you send that brief, don’t just say “conversational.” Say, “Like you’re giving your friend life advice over tacos.”

Trust me, your message will land better – and the voice talent will love you for it.

Need that sassy confident voice with just a little edge and a lot of tea? I just might know someone (spoiler: it’s me). Let me bring your script to life!

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