If you want the truth, I've been practicing voiceover since I was two. My parents were very much in favor of us all reading aloud to one another, and they passed on to me the enjoyment of bringing a story and characters to life using my voice. Along with being a lifelong stage actor, I've read aloud all my life to anyone I could get to sit still long enough. I signed up for online communities and newsletters to learn about the voiceover community, and participated in amateur projects to gain experience. When I moved to Los Angeles, I contacted Pat Fraley, whose name I had from Susan Berkeley's newsletters, and he was kind enough to put me in touch with two of his students, who gave me recommendations of places and people with whom I should train. I've tried to follow through on as many of those as I can, taking multiple classes in commercial, promo, animation, and audiobook technique, and I continue to practice on my own daily and sign up for every teleseminar I can find.
What can I read for you?
I received a BA in Acting from Illinois Wesleyan University. Since then, I've studied Voice-Over for the Actor (levels 1 and 2), Animation, and Promos at Kalmenson & Kalmenson, Commercial Voice-Over (Intermediate) at The Voicecaster, Animation Voice-Over with Bob Bergen, and Audiobook Narration with Pat Fraley. I receive and read Susan Berkeley's two industry e-newsletters (The Voice Coach and Inside Voice Over) on a weekly basis, as well as e-newsletters from the Voice Acting Academy. I attend the weekly workout groups at the Voicecaster whenever I can, and I audition regularly there.
I've also trained much more in tradition acting, both on stage and on camera, and in singing (I'm a soprano). I perform with the Actors Repertory Theatre of Simi, most recently in Jesus Christ Superstar.
I spent four years with LM Consultants, Inc., as a receptionist and liaison with clients and subcontractors; before that, I worked about five summers with KaVo America as a backup receptionist.
To keep my reading-aloud skills sharp, I volunteer for Storytime at the Simi Valley Library twice a month, where I read several stories to a group of, on average, about thirty children and their parents.
I have a Snowball mic and a laptop, as well as Audacity, so I can record auditions from my home. I hope to have a full studio at some point; in the meantime, when I need a studio, I can easily go to the Voicecaster and take advantage of their 'VO and Go' program. I prefer that, because then I have the services of an engineer and director.
I'm a certified massage therapist, a cat and dog owner, and an avid organizer. I have a second-degree brown belt in karate and am trained in stage combat. I'm addicted to my iPhone. I'm also one of the biggest geeks I know, being a fan of almost anything in the fantasy and sci-fi genre as well as roleplaying games, anime and manga, and comics. I get along well with people. Also, I recently bought my first home! Now I'm in the process of making it livable...