I had a wonderfully unique opportunity the other day that goes to show, you never know how you’re going to come about a contact. A friend and colleague of mine, with whom I used to work at Kimpton, and who now works for a brand new hotel in New York called the Quin, called me to see if I wouldn’t mind recording their outgoing greeting since she knew I had a flair for voiceover work. Indeed this has been something of a hobby for mine, and it remains one, so it was no bother whatsoever. In fact, it was a bit more of an honor. I didn’t realize that a few days later this could lead to even more.
My friend got a call from one of her vendors not too long after my recording and inquired, “Who’s the pipes on your recording?” This fateful call led to my convening with the CEO of a major corporate gifts company. I would have a stellar sit down appointment with him within a week and before I knew it, I was the voice of his company’s outgoing greeting. In addition, he and I are now in conversations where I will gladly refer my event planners who need such gifts and he will gladly refer his event planners who require site selection services. What a fortuitous appointment for both of us, and it all began with the sound of my voice.
I’ve been told many times that I should be doing voiceover work and it seems the only reason I’m not doing this more steadily is because I haven’t really pursued it further. I’ve always contended that if a voice agent ever came about my voice and wanted to offer me work, I’d gladly accept that opportunity. The only extent to which I’d pursued this side career to any measurable degree was about five years ago when the WMATA was auditioning folks to be the “Voice of the Metro”. I thought this was an incredible opportunity to have one of the most famous voices in our nation and yet be completely anonymous in that fame. If I were the voice behind “Doors Closing”, every Washington area commuter would know my voice but I could sit down next to them on the Metro without them ever knowing beside whom they sat. Alas, they went with a female voice that time, but I stand ready for the next audition!