Shawnda Poortinga

Hi. My name is Shawnda Poortinga (Spoortin) and I want to thank you for taking just a moment to read my profile. I am in the early stages of, God willing, a long and wonderful voiceover career. During the 20+ years that I have been working in the customer service field, I have had numerous comments on how wonderful it is to hear my friendly voice. One of my business associates suggested I pursue a career as a voiceover talent. So, in the spring of 2005 I took a class and WOW! I had no idea that I could have so much fun with my voice. The RadioGarage studio put my demo on their website shortly after the class was over. In the fall of 2005 I did a SprintPCS commercial for the Sioux City area. Goodness that was a blast! I voiced one of three twenty-somethings, oohing and aaahing over the cute little cell phones Sprint offered. I am the one and only Auto-Attendant for Sentinel Development Solutions’ telephone system (psst…that’s my day job). Most of 2006 I spent my time in acting class and working on the weekends as a reader for the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service for the Blind and Print Handicapped –whew! Let’s just say IRIS. I read the Des Moines Sunday Register across a special radio station for the blind. I found this work very rewarding and a great source for learning and gaining valuable voiceover experience. Just recently, the business associate I spoke about earlier, called to offer me a job doing voice prompts for Radius Solutions credit card and checking telephone system. I was elated and handled myself very professionally. Ok, inside I was jumping up and down like a little schoolgirl playing double-dutch! All I kept thinking was he remembered MY voice after a two-year absence from doing business together. Now that’s leaving an impression. Our professional relationship has continued to this day. I complete several recordings each year for their automated dialer system. I have to give special thanks to the business associate that encouraged me to pursue a career as a voice over talent. Thank you, Don. I mentioned earlier that I took a voiceover class in 2005. This was at Radio Garage Productions in Des Moines. My instructor, Steve Matthews, is an amazing personality from whom I learned a great deal. Several years earlier I had taken an acting class at Copeland Creative Talent. Then my kids came along and they became my whole world. In 2006, I made the time to pursue acting again and began learning in Kimberly Busbee’s class at Ariesworks Entertainment. Kim is my kind of gal! I performed a monologue for the Acting Showcase in the fall. I also attended a one-time workshop by James Benedetti with SuchAVoice in February of 2007. This workshop was helpful in providing a second opinion on my voice talent, as well as lots of information on starting my own home studio. Interestingly, I found this class through the Des Moines Public Schools Community Education offerings. I have learned you need to be very resourceful if you want to get anywhere in the voice over industry....and in life. Snowball Blue Microphone Audacity Recording Software. My day job is a Customer Service Representative. I have spent several years on the phone and I am the residing receptionist at my office. Sentinel is a collection software development company. I have two small children and enjoy reading stories to them and if I don't do the characters' voices, I never hear the end of it..."Mommy, mommy do the voices...pleaseeee."