5 Things They Don’t Tell You About Finding Success in VO

We live in the golden age of voiceover training and information. To the extent that many sometimes view the abundance of choices and advice as confusing and occasionally almost too much. But as someone who began in an era when training for VO hardly existed outside of LA and NYC, (and even then not at all in abundance,) and adopted the DIY mentality at the inception of the first casting revolution, when we were all figuring it out on our own, I can tell you, the abundance of information is a blessing for new talent.

 

Once you find the paths and strategies that work for you, it’s up to you to implement them consistently and effectively. Do so, and if you have the performance skills, (and EVERYONE needs to be cold-eyed and frank with themselves about their ability level and position in the marketplace as it pertains to demand for their sound and their access to opportunities,) and the technical chops, chances are you’ll find some measure of success in the industry.

 

That said, there are things that come with achievement, regular business, financial gain, and recognition among your peers that aren’t discussed frequently enough. This post is meant to shed a little light on what you’re in for if and when things start to come together for you.

 

1.) Taxes and Financial Planning

 

Until you’re earning income similar to that from any other full time job your tax situation probably won’t take any dramatic turns, but voiceover success can come more quickly than some people expect. I’ve seen talent go from booking occasionally to a healthy six figure income in a matter of months if they are lucky enough to get a string of big wins in short succession.

 

This naturally feels like cause for celebration, and it is, but it’s also a time for caution on a couple of levels.

 

First off, if you just jumped from a modest five figure income to a healthy six figure one, and are self-employed, you’re about to get the hammer dropped on you come filing time. Around a third of your income will go to federal tax, as much as ten percent to state tax depending on where you live, and then there’s self-employment tax on top. Common advice is to set aside a third of what you make, but if you start stringing wins together quickly, you’d be better advised to put 50-60% of it to the side for safety sake. Chances are you’ll wind up with something left over if you do, whereas if you’re not careful you might be looking at a shiny new car in your driveway and a tax bill you suddenly can’t afford to pay.

 

This leads to point #2: Live Below Your Means

 

Now, if you’re one of my Facebook friends you might be going, “JMC, come on man, do you make a dollar you don’t spend?” We love travel and playing as hard as we work, and while we have a rule against posting “things,” we love sharing our experiences, (or if you hear certain messianic meatheads tell it, “flaunting wealth.”) But the truth is that for every dollar that puts a piece of lobster on a fork or an airplane seat under our butts, there are two that go in the bank. It’s how we‘ve lived since day one, and it’s why we’re now able to do many of the fun things we do as a family.

 

I had the awful experience of witnessing people dear to me light the world on fire in their careers and blow it all living like they earned twice as much as they did, only to wind up in their later years scratching out a meager existence on social security. Don’t be that person. If success starts to come your way, avoid the temptation to want to live as though your current income level is permanent and never-ending.

 

Which leads to point #3: That gold-plated gig that is making your year, (or years,) is going to go away.

 

Once you hit a certain level of access, you’re gonna land some whales. Jobs that are regular and outsized paydays. It’s not unusual to find one client accounting for 25-50% of your income if you hit a big one. Best advice: Pretend that job doesn’t exist at all.

 

When you are earning a substantial portion or a majority of your income from one voiceover client, it’s easy to think you’ve now graduated to a new income level. But the hard truth is that the job that is feathering your nest so beautifully right now is very likely going to go away sooner rather than later, no matter how well you’re performing or how iconic your role is.

 

Today’s VO and media marketplace moves faster than ever. Attention spans are shorter than ever. And what’s hot right now is very unlikely to stay that way for long. There can be exceptions of course, but if you have an outsized client who represents a large share of your earnings, your best bet is to base your lifestyle around the amount you earn without them, and treat what they contribute as a long-term security buffer. Don’t be the talent earning $250K today who loses one client and is down to $100K and struggling to pay a mortgage based on that larger number.

 

#4: Don’t buy in to your own bullshit.

 

We are all capable of running afoul of this one, and I’m no exception.

 

When things are going well and the stars seem to be aligning it’s easy to believe you’ve got things figured out and you can do no wrong professionally.

 

But the market will always check your reality. That big league agent you’ve been leaning on for years might move somewhere else and the new team may look at your skill set differently. The market itself may move away from your signature reads or demographic. The tricks and techniques you’ve been employing effectively for years might start to be less effective as more people adopt them and your strategy becomes saturated. Coach? Teach business? Produce demos? Eventually you won’t be the hot new thing anymore.

 

When things that have always worked stop working so well, do you have a plan to pivot? A plan B, and C, and D? If not, you may find that growth you were used to declining. And then maybe your business won’t be growing at all. Always have a “what’s next” in mind, and be ever attentive to trends and your brand itself. I’ve watched too many legitimate industry stars fade away because they just assumed the same old thing would always sustain them. The only constant is change.

 

#5: You’re gonna have haters

 

We celebrate the voiceover community as a special assemblage of kindhearted and unusually charitable people. And it is. I can’t imagine another industry where the vast majority of those involved genuinely care for and look out for each other the way we do in this business.

 

But success, especially if it’s visible, will always breed resentment in some. I’m a student of politics, but I’d probably make a shitty politician, because nothing wounds me more than knowing some people just plain don’t like me. That said, it’s something you need to prepare for if you choose to discuss your work publicly and/or begin to take part in industry events as a speaker, presenter, or expert once you’ve achieved whatever level of success you believe justifies stepping into a more public role.

 

I’m happy that I can count most of the people who hate my guts on one or two hands. I like to think that’s a product of an intentional effort to treat people the way I’d like to be treated, but it’s not a guarantee of immunity. Even a few folks I once sincerely counted as friends haven’t taken real well to one element or another of how I present myself, and I’ve lost relationships I genuinely cherished.

 

Most of the folks who express their dislike for me have reached that place after they’ve been removed from my life for repeated disruptive behavior or abuse of myself, my family, my events, or those I care about or employ. I have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior, especially when it threatens the well being of attendees of conferences and other events I’m involved in. It’s okay for you to set firm boundaries too.

 

Others aren’t pleased that I’ve cut ties, and in some cases pursued causes of action, after they’ve engaged in dishonorable or unethical conduct. Some just don’t like to see people loving life and having a good time, and are prone to resent those who do. And on occasion you get one who uses attacks on others in the business as a cynical means to create a following based on discontent and grievance, hating on anything that looks like a celebration of our community.

 

In all of their own minds, except perhaps the last type, these folks probably feel perfectly justified. As we’ve seen over the last decade, it’s easy to construct realities based in alternate facts, and those living in alternate realities would probably suggest the rest of us are doing the same.

 

In the end, this is the price of visibility, even in an industry as comparatively gentle as ours. There will always be politics and grievance. If you are in a place where you are thinking of stepping out to where the industry will take notice of you, be ready to reap your fair share of haters, no matter how hard you try to avoid doing so.

 

But never forget that the kindness and decency of this community is in fact the real deal. For every bad pineapple there’s a Carin Gilfry, a Marc Scott, a Dave Fennoy, and a Debra Wilson. We are only as good as the best of us, and the best of us….are pretty damn special.