Mary Nix

Country, airhead, Spanish, Chinese knock-off, Mrs. Swan, Jewish mother, lady with a cold, a little French (Eiffel the French Poodle puppet on our school's morning news).

Back in 1984, my roommate asked me to voice over a commercial that she was creating for a journalism class. The experience of going into the recording studio gave me the realization that I could pursue voice over work in the real world. Gee, that was over 20 years ago! It wasn't until 2003 that I began to play the part of a back-woods character named Petunia in the Forsyth County School System, who has a very "redneck" accent. There have been a few unpaid opportunities to voice a narration, including a PSA for Keep Forsyth County Beautiful, currently shown on Comcast channel 4 in Cumming, GA, in Petunia's character voice. Meanwhile, the Spanish voice has helped with substitute teaching in Spanish class and singing for Cinco de Mayo. The "Mrs. Swan" voice has just been a big joke...but it's marketable! I have recorded a CD of original music in my Petunia voice and perform live for schools and civic groups. I have absolutely no training whatsoever in the voice over field. All that I have done has been through the school of hard knocks. However, I did take piano lessons for a year and voice lessons for about 10 months. Does that count? My recording engineer is Namaste Studios in Cumming, GA. Here I have recorded the CD that I referenced, and they have high-quality recording equipment that they will use any time I make the appointment to record. Fortunately, he knows a heck of a lot more about engineering than I do! I have been a "performer" since I was 16 years old. Whether it was playing Mae Petersen from "Bye Bye Birdie", or a more serious role in a church drama, the years of performing have brought me to the point of utilizing these skills in a voice over industry, for one thing. Between singing, making environmental education presentations in my character of Petunia, emceeing talent shows, serving as DJ for parties and dances, or attempting a French accent with the French poodle puppet for the school's morning news, my speaking voice has become very important, and I would love the opportunity to provide voice work for folks as a result.