Mar 12, 2024
The BOSSES discuss why adapting to an ever-evolving industry is crucial for standing out in a sea of talent. Anne discusses her own expansion into ventures like VO Boss, VO Peeps, and podcasting, illustrating how you can diversify your skillset and find fresh opportunities without losing your creative spark. Plus, the BOSSES spotlight the immense value of networking through conferences and workshops to elevate your voice-acting business to boss-level status. Join us, for an empowering session that promises to reignite your passion and strategic approach to your voice-acting venture.
00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level.
These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being
utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business
like a boss, a VEO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne
Gangusa.
00:19 - Anne (Host)
Hey everyone, welcome to the VEO Boss podcast and the Boss
Superpower series. I'm your host, Anne Gangusa, and I'm here with
the lovely, lovely Lau Lapides.
00:31 - Lau (Guest)
Hey Lau. Oh, amazing to see you, as always Amazing. Oh, thank you,
Lau.
00:36 - Anne (Host)
Wonderful to see you as well.
00:40 - Lau (Guest)
What are we talking about today? I can't wait.
00:42 - Anne (Host)
Okay, so I always have to open it up with a story. So lately I have
heard a lot this year because it's been an interesting year. I've
heard a lot from my students that they're frustrated. They have
been making investments and they've been doing auditions and
they're just not getting any work and they're just like frustrated
to the point where they just want to give up. And I'll tell you
what. I remember that feeling very well. I want to talk about voice
actors who give up too soon, because I really feel like there's
something to be said for sticking it out. I mean, building a
business is not something that happens overnight. I know we say
this all the time but, like my, overnight success took 10 years. I
mean truly Lau thoughts on that.
01:32 - Lau (Guest)
I'm right there with you and I think that that's a Listen, let's be
honest, shall we? It's a very Western philosophy to think I'm
opening a business, therefore I'm going to work and be successful
right away. I mean, eastern philosophy is like no, at 10 years
you're starting your business, right, yeah? So the idea of
investment of time and resources and capital and sacrifice has got
to be in our vocabulary and that's why we say in the first, three
to five years is a typical timeframe, that we're looking at the
metrics for what businesses are surviving and what businesses have
gone under. We'll give it the three to five years, because you
can't do it in a month. No, three to five years is the baseline.
Can't do it in a year, can't do it in two years.
02:15 - Anne (Host)
I'm constantly saying, oh, but I've spent so much money and I'm
like have you? Have you really Like, have you? And again, I think
we've spoken about this in many a podcast about the investment
aspect of this career I'm like, well, thank goodness you didn't
have to open a storefront or buy inventory. I mean honestly, your
investment is investing in yourself. Because I constantly, as a
coach and a demo producer, I hear this all the time because people
are like I just don't have the money. Or I've taken so many lessons
and I'm like have you? And I don't mean to be obnoxious here about
it, but really, if you think about it and again, I've said this
multiple times I always tell people look, we go to school for
years. How many years do you go to medical school? How many years,
if you want to become a vet, do you go to school? How many hours in
a day do you spend at your job? Eight hours a day, maybe.
03:05
And so all of a sudden I'll get people who are like, yeah, but I've
taken so many coaching sessions and I just I'm not getting the work
and I'm like how many coaching sessions have you taken? And this is
how many hours of your life have you actually spent studying the
craft of voice acting, and not just for coaching. But let's just
say, how many hours have you spent marketing? Like companies have
entire marketing departments. They hire multiple people like you
know, 20, 50, hundreds of people to generate leads. You are one
person, and so you want to know why you haven't gotten work yet.
You know what I mean. You're spending your time auditioning, you're
spending your time doing a bunch of stuff, but also you've got to
spend that time marketing, and so people, I think, are just giving
up too soon. Lau.
03:50 - Lau (Guest)
Yeah, they're also not paying attention to their environment.
They're thinking that I'm in my own private Idaho. I'm going to be
successful. This is what I want, and here it comes. You got to look
at the world, you got to look at global economics.
04:03
You got to look at the US we're now in a high inflation state right
now and how that affects other industries. That's going to make you
feel I mean, we don't want injury and suffering of all industry,
but you want to pay attention that if all industries are suffering,
then it stands to reason that yours will be suffering as well too.
And so there's misery. Does like a little bit of company, and so do
the work, do the homework. Look around, however, you do that just
so you can keep it in perspective, because otherwise we get so
isolated and we get out of the bubble times.
04:37
How many times have you heard Anneie, oh, great, I got my demo, I'm
ready to work. Okay, how do I work? And you're thinking, no, no,
no, this is only the very beginning, the very, very beginning.
Right, you're not in the middle, ready to work. No, this is the
beginning of like, how do I put a little bit of a footprint out
there? How do I get people to know I'm in the world? How do I do
that? That's on me, that's all on me to do that.
05:02 - Anne (Host)
And people will be very quick to blame people selling the dream,
okay. So yes, there are people that sell the dream, but there's
people that sell the dream for many an industry, right, and that's
part of how they have their business flourish. However, there's a
lot to be said for what you just said, and that is pay attention to
the world, pay attention to the global market, pay attention to
what is it that people are looking for? How is our voice profession
being viewed in the marketplace right now? What's in demand, right?
What is the going rate? What are people getting paid?
05:38
You cAnneot just say I've practiced, I've got a demo and now I'm
ready to work, because there's so many other factors at play. One
of the things is that you've got to evolve with the market and
you've got to give yourself enough time in the market so that you
can get hired. A lot of times, it's people who are established in
the market and can show that they're established in the market for
a very long time. Clients will tend to gravitate to them. I mean, I
know for myself, right? If I'm looking to work with a particular we
always use the dentist. It seems like I want a dentist who's got
experience?
06:14
I want a doctor who has experience. I needed a breast surgeon
right, obviously, for my breast cancer. I shopped for a breast
surgeon. Of course, how long they were in business and how many
surgeries did they perform it was a factor in who I hired to do
such a thing. I think most of the voice actors that get super
frustrated and say it's just not working. I put in all this money.
I ask you to step back and think about what you just said. Did you
really invest a lot of money? Maybe, yes, you thought that you
could maybe create a business out of a whole lot less. Maybe it's
because somebody sold you the dream. But also do not discount the
fact that maybe you didn't look or educate yourself on what this
industry is all about. And what investment do you need to make?
That's not just monetary investment, it's also-.
07:06 - Lau (Guest)
That's exactly right.
07:08 - Anne (Host)
What sort of time is invested? What sort of education is invested
for you?
07:13 - Lau (Guest)
I always think to myself, Anneie, when, even though you may be in
inflation, even though it may be hard to get clients at a
particular time, I always think, when I'm very low, meaning I'm not
getting enough action, I'm not getting enough energy, I always
think and again, this is the work ethic of our generation I always
think what am I doing wrong?
07:31 - Anne (Host)
Did I lay back.
07:32 - Lau (Guest)
Am I not working hard enough? Am I not working smart enough? Am I
not strategizing enough? I may not be doing anything wrong, but the
point is I always put it on myself. I don't look at the universe
and say why isn't it coming to me, why isn't it just there for me?
Why am I not busy and getting hired? I always think, well, am I
putting myself in front of enough people? Do I have the right
materials that are suiting the kind of job that they're looking
for? Am I missing something? And typically I find it's on
me.
08:03 - Anne (Host)
Typically, I do find that, yeah, I agree, it is something that you
really need to step back and take a look at. If you're not booking
number one and I have so many people are like people that are newer
to the industry that think, well, I've got a great commercial demo
and I think to myself, well, commercial is only a certain
percentage of the market. What about the other part of the market?
Right, and so maybe you're auditioning, but you're only auditioning
for your agents, who are typically commercial. Or maybe you're
doing a ton of auditioning on the pay to plays.
08:35
Well, what is the majority of the genre that you are auditioning
for? Is it commercial? Because, I guarantee you, there's a ton of
competition for the commercials, because that's what all the voice
actors tend to gravitate toward, that's what everybody thinks they
need to audition for. Well, you can audition for e-learning, you
can audition for corporate, you can audition for all different
types of jobs. And, ultimately, I think that you need to really
again step back and look at and maybe assess right down. Okay,
here's what I'm doing on a day to day basis. Right, I'm auditioning
for this type of job, I am auditioning for the majority of
commercials or e-learning, the majority of whatever corporate, and
so now really try to assess what's the demand out there globally
right for that product. And are you marketing yourselves, are you
writing that?
09:24 - Lau (Guest)
letter, especially if it's on a pay to play.
09:27 - Anne (Host)
Usually, you can respond with some sort of a hey, would love to be
your voice, and make sure to take a look at my additional demos
here on my website. Blah, blah, blah, whatever that is. Is that
note up to par? Are you writing a novel? Are you quick into the
point? Is your auditioning up to snuff? Is your acting skills? What
about your audio? Gosh, we've done enough audition demolitions and,
by the way, we've got to have another one coming up here soon. Yes,
a lot of times audio has something to do with it too. What's your
audio like? So there's lots of things that you can take a look at
to see where you might evolve, where you might improve.
10:03
And also again, those things don't happen overnight. Great sound,
although I will say great sound once you've got it kind of figured
out, you shouldn't have to revisit it too much after that, Unless
maybe you get new microphones or you move or there's more
landscaping going on. I'm not sure.
10:18 - Lau (Guest)
Yeah Well, it's inevitable to you and I on the coaching side of
things that we'll get so many emails of people that say I don't
understand how come I'm not booking what's happening. Could you
please do a session with me and give me some feedback? And you and
I will do the same thing. We'll give a session and just spend a
whole hour with feedback and it looks like a ball, hit them between
the eyes like, oh my goodness, I didn't even realize any of that. I
didn't think of half of that.
10:45
Thank you for that value, because that value didn't save me and
getting a job. That value helped me produce a career potential.
Sure, and that's what smart people would say. They wouldn't take
offense to it. They'd say, oh wow, this could help me build my
career, just knowing one of those things that I would not have
thought of. But I somehow feel like and I don't know what it is, I
don't know if it's a generational thing, I'm just not sure this
idea that, oh, I just know it. I got it all, I learned it all, I
trained, I coached with five coaches, I know it all. And I'm
thinking I don't think any of the great thinkers, philosophers or
religious leaders think they even closely know it all, so chances
are you don't know it.
11:26 - Anne (Host)
All Right. Isn't that the truth? How about that? Isn't that the
truth? I?
11:28 - Lau (Guest)
can't imagine someone like Gandhi saying I know it all. It's kind
of like the more you don't know.
11:33 - Anne (Host)
The more you don't know, right, the more you don't know. Yeah, what
was the saying? The more you know, the more you don't
know.
11:40 - Lau (Guest)
The more you realize you don't know right.
11:41 - Anne (Host)
Yeah exactly.
11:42 - Lau (Guest)
I think that that's true wisdom.
11:43 - Anne (Host)
Can we just stop and say that again? The more you know, the more
you realize that you don't know, right? Yes, that, I think, is key
to understanding and not giving up Because you can again. We had
another episode that we talked about. Well, people just they
thought they had it all and they're like well, yeah, no, I sound
great and in reality sometimes that is ignorance, is bliss right,
or I sound great but in reality do you Like I've invested a
lot.
12:11
Well, in reality, have you I market in reality. Do you Like you
think about what companies do they spend thousands of? And also, do
I spend money? They don't have money to spend on marketing. They
don't have money to spend on coaching? Think about the amount of
money that companies invest in their marketing departments. First
of all, they hire more than one person, most of them, right. They
hire a team of people and then that team of people work eight hours
a day, maybe more than that, right Trying to generate leads and
trying to close sales. And so are you doing that, really
so?
12:45 - Lau (Guest)
right and it's almost harder when that talent would come to me and
they're fabulous and their demo is spick and span and they've got
some great credits and they're just not booking the work and I
don't have the heart to tell them that I've got 50 people just like
that and it's kind of like not insulting. It's so sad for them,
it's so doleful for them to have the realization and recognition
that it is saturated and there are a lot of talented people and
prepared people and people who have spent the investment.
13:20
They're not the only ones, and I think that they might
intellectually know that, but put it in the back of their brain.
But it's important to know that you have a lot of competitors.
You're not so unique. You've got a lot of people.
13:33 - Anne (Host)
that are unique too. You bring up a really good point. I'm glad
that you said that because, yes, that's the other aspect of this.
Do I give up, right? Or should I just give up because now there's
just so much competition? Right, and yes, you nailed your demo, you
have the acting skills and now, all of a sudden, have you really
marketed? I always think, if you really are coming to that point
where you've got the demo, you've got the skills, have you truly
marketed it as much as you think you have? Or is it possible for
you to up that even more again? But you're right, it's a saturated
market. There's a lot of competition.
14:10
Now, if that's the case, have you thought about how you might
evolve into maybe a different genre, or evolve your business to
have another parallel set of skills that you're going to develop or
evolve? Now that, I think, Lau is something to keep your business
afloat. And I always talk about IBM. Ok, ibm has been around
forever, right, and IBM is considered a technology company, but
look at how they still are here. They're still relevant. They may
not be considered a cool company, but guess what? They're still in
business, right, and they've had to evolve their products, they've
had to evolve their thinking. They've had to evolve over time, and
take a look at any great company that has been around for a long
time. They have evolved their brand, they've evolved their
products, and so if the market is indeed saturated for, let's say,
the genre that you love so dearly, well then maybe you think about
how you can evolve into another genre or another aspect of the
business that will bring you some income.
15:15
And sometimes only doing voiceover, it's wonderful, yes, but
sometimes maybe you do something that's parallel to voiceover.
Maybe you do audio editing, maybe you do copywriting, maybe you do
virtual assisting right within the industry, maybe you do a
podcast. Again, there are so many divisions and, again, I have
always said to people that I have multiple divisions of my company,
mostly because I love to challenge myself, right. So I've got the
VO Boss. I've got this podcast, which I just wanted to learn how to
podcast. I've got the VO Peeps. I've always wanted to network. I
missed my teaching and then I'm demo producing, and so there's so
many different evolutions of my business. I even coach outside of
voiceover now, for wellness and healthcare. Why? Because I love it
and I'm developing, evolving different aspects of my business that
are going to serve me and bring me joy.
16:09 - Lau (Guest)
Yes, and, let's be honest, Anneie, those of us that consider
ourselves creatives, which most of us are, love doing different
things. Yes, absolutely why aren't we sitting at a desk doing the
same thing all day long, my God? Yes, exactly Because we're
creative minded people. So that idea of multitasking and bringing
out different qualities, and skill sets and loves and da-da, and
maybe this year I want to try this. Yes, I want to move into that.
It's not a cop out, it's not the side hustle that you shouldn't be
doing.
16:40
It's an added layer of frosting to the cake, so to speak, that you
really want to keep building over your lifetime, because not only
can it be a service that you could really offer and make some extra
cash, but also it could be really delightfully fun and inspiring
and give you new ideas and be very satisfying to you in a way that
the current daily situation is not or maybe it is, but it's not in
that particular way and also branching out what I always called the
divisions or the tendrils of my business.
17:12 - Anne (Host)
Branching out allows you to expand your potential client base for
voiceover here's an example, I'm going to be presenting at PodFest
at a podcasting conference.
17:23
Now, podcasting is not what I do full-time. I am a full-time voice
actor, coach, producer, that sort of thing but I certainly have
been doing the VioBoss podcast for seven years and it's definitely
a division of my business. Now I'm going to go and present and so
ultimately that's outside of the voiceover industry, but yet I'm
going to present to podcasters to talk to them about how they can
utilize their skills in voiceover and also how they can improve
their voice on their podcast, and so that is outside of right, and
I'm not ashamed to say that it doesn't mean that I'm not doing
voiceover anymore. No, it's another avenue that I find challenging
and I find intriguing, and I want to pursue that as an additional
piece of my business. There's nothing wrong with that.
18:12 - Lau (Guest)
There's nothing wrong with that?
18:13 - Anne (Host)
You don't have to be eight hours in your studio doing voiceover if
that's not where your entrepreneurial brain wants to be, I mean,
there's nothing wrong with that, and sometimes it's more healthy
for you to branch out into other arenas to function way and refresh
your brain and bring in new people, new ideas, new ideas,
understand the perspective from a multitude of different
perspectives. Right, yes, Really.
18:43
And that I think, is very healthy in terms of developing and
growing your business. So if you don't get that national campaign
this year, it's okay. I say a good entrepreneur will always evolve
and develop their skills in a multitude of places so that they can
have a successful business. And does it matter if you're not
booking a national commercial every day, because I don't know
anybody who is, to be quite honest. And so it really comes down to
what is it that brings you joy, that can pay the bills and that you
can do day in and day out?
19:18
Because most of the time, people get into this industry because
they're super unhappy with what they're doing in their lives. So I
always try to remember your why. Why did you get into the industry
or want to get into the industry in the first place and then keep
that why, especially when you're feeling like giving up, and
especially we started this whole conversation about why people give
up too soon. Well, I think you absolutely have to define your why
and revisit that why over and over again and evolve your why as you
grow.
19:48 - Lau (Guest)
Yes, I mean you're the princess of pivoting and that pivot that
change, that updating and upgrading we have to do it on our
computer systems, we have to do it on our bodies. Yeah, you have to
do it in our homes. Why wouldn't we have to do that in our
businesses? And so that sense of like I have to clean up shop and I
have to add something to this element that I don't have, because
why? It's going to change the whole space, it's going to change the
whole environment. That it's never just one thing, one effect. It
really is. It has a whole rolling effect on everything. So if you
learn to podcast or you become a producer or you learn how to write
copy, that could have a whole riveting effect on your business.
Absolutely, absolutely.
20:36 - Anne (Host)
I love that, oh man. So let's talk about voice actors right now who
are frustrated and want to give up. What is your best advice Lau?
What can they do right now?
20:45 - Lau (Guest)
I hear it every day. I'm going to throw out a quote. I love a good
quote. Eleanor Roosevelt, the great Eleanor Roosevelt.
20:50
Okay, never, never, never give up. Don't mistake that. That does
not mean don't give up on voiceover. It means don't give up on
yourself and your potential within the business. That may morph
into something else, absolutely. It may become something else, but
don't throw that baby out with the bathwater and just give up on
everything, because then what you're really saying is I'm not worth
my time, my patience, my effort, my investment in really
investigating my true potential, yeah, yeah.
21:24 - Anne (Host)
And giving up is that, oh gosh, you don't feel worthy. And how many
episodes have we already dedicated to? You must understand you're
worth, you're worth it, you're worth it, you are worth it. And
again, there's a reason why you got involved in this industry in
the first place, and I think that maybe you're thinking the dream,
or somebody sold you the dream, but I think, ultimately, you are
responsible for educating yourself about this dream and educating
yourself about how to navigate this dream, to turn it into a
reality, to turn it into a success, understanding that this does
not happen overnight.
22:00
There are constantly changes in the industry and there's a lot of
changes. I mean, gosh, ai has thrown a wrench into a lot of this.
Then there was a strike and then, every time I turn around, there
are things that are throwing wrenches into the industry that you
need to know about and you need to then say, all right, how can I
evolve, how can I grow with this, if I'm not getting work right
now? What can I do to maybe get work? Or can I create a new path
for myself?
22:30
or create an alternate an additional path. Not just another, but an
additional path.
22:35
It can be done, I mean gosh knows that I have created multiple,
multiple divisions of my business just because it's a cool
challenge, right, and it always forces me to grow. And I will tell
every single boss out there right now that you don't think that I
am scared every single day when I decide I'm going to do this and
you don't think that scares the bejesus out of me. It still does.
It still does, but I try to work through that. I've just been
challenging myself constantly and I'm constantly afraid and I just
try to work through it. Maybe it gets a little bit easier. I kind
of doubt it. I still get just as scared sometimes when I say oh
gosh now.
23:13
What do I do, Right?
23:14 - Lau (Guest)
What am I going to do now?
23:16 - Anne (Host)
Or I know what I want to do. How do I get there? How do I make that
happen? Because now it's been what? 16, 17 years I didn't come this
far to go work for somebody again. Right, this is my business or I
am in charge of my own business. I will not go back. I cAnneot go
back.
23:33 - Lau (Guest)
Yes, absolutely, and I didn't even know when my dad always taught
me you know, if you want to go in business for yourself, just know
you're never going to sleep well again. Just know that that's so
true, Like in as long as you understand that, you'll understand
that you know you're going to set a very high bar. A lot of us that
are perfectionists make the mistake of making the bar so high. It's
unattainable, and then you're always disappointed. You're always
letting yourself down. Really, no one's keeping score.
23:58
It's really about setting the bar at a place that is sensible, you
can reach it. You can have small increments of success. Yes, right,
yeah, I'll leave you on this quote. One of my favorite quotes is
failure is the opportunity to start again more
intelligently.
24:16 - Anne (Host)
Yeah, love that, love that Love, that Is that good.
24:19 - Lau (Guest)
Yeah, I don't believe in failure, really, but I don't either Use
whatever word you want to use that I'm not achieving, I'm not
attaining, I'm not getting. Allow you to grow. Allow you to grow.
Take a step back and learn from it, you know start again Good stuff
and don't give up, bosses.
24:34 - Anne (Host)
Never, ever, ever give up, don't give up. All right, no Bosses,
take a moment. Imagine a world full of passionate, empowered people
who are giving back to their communities intentionally to create a
world that they want to see. You can find out more at
100voiceswhocareorg. Also, big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl.
You, too, can network like bosses with awesome technology. Go to
IPDTLcom to find out more. Guys, have an amazing week. Don't give
up. We're here for you. All right, we'll see you next week. Bye.
See you then. Bye.
25:10 - Intro (Anneouncement)
Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host and
Gangusa, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our
mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry
revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your
business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to
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