Next week, I’ll be traveling to Edge Studio in New York City to record my first professional demos.

I had my last demo prep with my coach, James Andrews, this morning, and after I took a moment to reflect on the journey so far.

Man, was I living in a world of delusion when I started this back in March 2019.

I thought I could learn everything I needed to through Google and YouTube University. I thought that I would be able to jump in with both feet and start earning money right away. I had a good voice, after all, and I knew about sales and marketing, so of course I would be instantly successful.

I was very obviously wrong. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And I was too concerned with the “destination” (doing voiceover full-time and paying the bills) rather than the “process” (learning new skills, getting better, having fun, telling stories).

At some point, in August I think, I finally got my head out of my ass and changed my perspective on things. I realized that this was going to take time. And I realized that I needed help.

I have gotten 100% happier since that realization, since I decided to be patient. I didn’t need my demos right now. I didn’t need to be full-time right now. There was no ship to sail away and miss; there would be plenty of VO work in 2020, in 2021, and so on.

Since then, I’ve been saving up a little each week from the side gig and the VO gigs, putting a little cash aside to pay for the coaching and demo production I needed. I’m essentially starting that process over again, as now I need to move on to getting my commercial demo produced. I also need to continue my coaching in narration, as there is always room for improvement.

There’s a podcast I started listening to last year produced my Mike Lenz, and he had a great analogy: Serena Williams is (arguably) the greatest tennis player in the world, and she has a coach.

Just goes to show that I’ll never be done learning, and that’s a good thing.

Some of the other big improvements have come in the form of my equipment. I didn’t need to break the bank, but I did need to find better options.

The original closet conversion. Note the improper sound treatment.

First major upgrade was the booth. I was recording at my desk using some cheap “sound proofing” foam I bought on Amazon. I quickly converted the closet in my office into the recording booth, and had my mic arm mounted in there along with a mount for my tablet and the aforementioned foam.

It was an improvement, but it’s such a tight space that there was no comfortable way to stand in there. I often would get done recording something and my back would be jacked up.

The current booth with improved sound treatment, mic mount, and lighting.

The sound was slightly better, but I didn’t have the right sound treatment in there, and I was still getting a lot of noise bleed from the street outside.

After taking a webinar through Edge Studio with Dan Friedman, I learned I had the wrong stuff in there, and I made some improvements.

I replaced the foam with rock wool. Sound quality immediately improved.
I replaced the tablet mount with a shelf so I could read off of a hard copy of scripts instead (reducing the risk that the tablet would run out of juice and prevent me from recording until it was charged).
I installed rechargeable LED light strips that were motion-sensitive so I wouldn’t leave them on by accident.
I installed a ceiling-mounted mic mount which freed up a ton of space and was a huge relief for my back; I no longer had to stand at a strange angle while recording.

I had replaced the mic I was using (Tonor condenser mic) with a much better one (the MXL 770) over the summer, and added the Steinberg UR12 audio interface (what connects the mic to the computer and powers the mic )and that was an immediate improvement as well. I still use the original mic for live streaming and quick audio at my desk, however, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

One other small equipment tweak was that I got a Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headset, replacing my gaming headset. Again, higher sound fidelity, and much more comfortable.

All those fun toys aside, the biggest change has been in my skill. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and my coach has really helped on that front. I look forward to continuing to work with him.

I’ve also booked a home studio evaluation to make sure that I’ producing broadcast-quality sound, and as soon as the current demo is ready, I’m booking a session with a VO marketing expert. Because, and I can’t emphasize this enough, I don’t know what I don’t know. Willful ignorance is unforgivable.

The journey is far from over. There will be future equipment upgrades. I have more coaching to get. I have more demos that need to be produced. And I’m looking forward to tackling each of these with patience.

The Story So Far...