Sep 9, 2025
BOSSes, Anne Ganguzza is joined by her lovely co-host, Danielle Famble, for the Boss Money Talk Series. The BOSSes tackle a fundamental challenge of a voiceover freelance career: managing inconsistent income. Drawing from her past job experiences, Danielle shares practical wisdom on how to budget, save, and build a financial cushion. This conversation redefines "budgeting" as a tool for empowerment and offers a strategic roadmap for every voice actor to take control of their finances, ensure stability, and thrive.
00:00 - Anne (Host)
Hey guys, are you ready to achieve those dreams? With MyLife
Transformation coaching services, I can help you reach your full
potential. Don't let fear and uncertainty hold you back. Take
control of your life today. Visit anneganguzza.com to get
started.
00:20 - Speaker 2 (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 VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne
Ganguzza.
00:39 - Anne (Host)
Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Boss Money
Talk Series. I'm Anne Ganguzza and I am here with my lovely
co-host, Danielle Famble.
00:49 - Danielle (Guest)
Hey Anne, hello Danielle, hey, hey, how you doing, how are you? I'm
good, I'm good, I'm good.
00:53 - Anne (Host)
Well, I am glad to have you back and I have a topic for discussion
today, because I've had, on more than one occasion, some students
recently talk to me about gosh. I'm just having a hard time finding
work and I don't know if I should continue to stay in this industry
because it's just getting too hard. I mean to sustain it, and so
what should I do? It would be a worthy topic of discussion to talk
about, like this particular industry and how we handle our
financial situation in times of inconsistency, because it's just a
known fact, guys, bosses out there, it is an inconsistent, it is
part of being an entrepreneur. Our, our income is inconsistent. So
what do we do and how do we budget for those times when maybe it's
slow or, you know, when it's not slow, and what do we do when we
have inconsistent income?
01:55 - Danielle (Guest)
That's such a good question. That's a big part of being a boss,
being an entrepreneur and being in this business, and it's good to
give the perspective one you know to your students that you're
coaching and to anyone listening. You're not alone. It doesn't mean
that you're a bad voice actor. It doesn't mean that you're bad at
this business. That is the nature of what it is, that we do, and so
it has nothing to do with you or your worth or the fact that you're
not good. Slow months happen all the time. It happens to the best
of us.
02:24 - Anne (Host)
And you know, I think it's really something a point worth
mentioning is I've been in this industry about 18 years and it's
always inconsistent, like there's not been a year where it hasn't
been inconsistent. So it is something that I think, if you plan
correctly and you're prepared for, it doesn't come as a surprise
and it's something that you can absolutely continue to grow and
build your business through oh, totally Inconsistent income. So, as
long as you plan and strategize, yeah, and you just know this is
normal.
02:56 - Danielle (Guest)
This has not got anything to do with you. This is a normal thing,
you know. It reminds me of I don't know if you know this, anne, but
I used to be a waitress for a long, long time. I was a waitress at
comedy clubs and the way that I made my money was on tips, and so I
got used to living on an inconsistent income and realizing that
there's going to be a couple of days or weeks or months where it's
going to be great and then it's going to be slow. Maybe you get cut
because it's so slow that they don't need you to be there. But you
know, the thing that didn't get cut was my fixed expenses, my rent,
my cell phone bill, all of those things.
03:35
So I would say to those are stable. Yeah, figure out what your
stable expenses are and make sure that you can keep that as your
base and plan for your base Anything on top of that. You know when
times are great and when you're making a lot more money, you can
use that to keep it to the side for a buffer, but really just know
what your base expenses are, which then goes back to our
longstanding conversation about knowing your numbers and the data
and everything else. If you're too afraid to look at what your
expenses are, you're not going to know what your base is that you
need to be able to maintain at all times. So really like have the
courage, look at what are your expenses that are fixed, that are
stable, and know what your base is, and you want to be able to hit
your base every single month.
04:22 - Anne (Host)
So then, budget around your worst month, not your best month. Yeah,
absolutely Right. And and that and the and the numbers on your
worst month can can actually like I. I mean, I could say what are
your expenses and your worst month would be you didn't make
anything. Budget around that. That's what I would say. Right,
that's your worst case scenario, and so you'll still need to be
able to function. And so what does that mean in terms of if I don't
make any income for an entire month, does that mean I should give
up my voiceover business, danielle?
04:54 - Danielle (Guest)
I don't think so, but I do think that you do need to have some way
of knowing that there is income coming in from another form. So
maybe it's not the income coming in from your voiceover business,
because you didn't make anything that month but you do have a nine
to five or you do have a babysitting job or you do have. You know,
you do Uber on the weekends or what have you. Just know that there
needs to be, that money needs to be coming in from somewhere else.
If it's not coming in from somewhere else, then we need to find how
can we get to our first dollar. Is it in voiceover? Is it in
another way of making money? But make sure that you know that there
is some income coming in so that, even if the income from your
voiceover business is at zero for the month, you know that there is
income coming in from somewhere else that's going to be able to
offset and still hit your baseline goal.
05:43 - Anne (Host)
And I think your budget right for those months you don't live on
that budget. I mean it should be a budget for a budget that is a
low-income month, not necessarily like I'm going to continue to go
to Starbucks every morning or I'm going to. Maybe that's a
necessity, maybe you feel like that's worked into your bare
necessities, but is that something that you're willing to give up
in a low-income month? Or is going out to dinner? I think that's
the biggest one. I think, like my husband and I are like okay, we
got to stop going out to dinner, right, because that's an
unnecessary expense. If we're trying to tighten our budget during a
low-income month, it's mostly like oh, and we're going to go out
and spend money doing this, or are we going to go out and spend
money doing that? A lot of times it's based around food. Why is
that?
06:25 - Danielle (Guest)
Yeah, I mean, that's mine as well. It's food, but then sometimes
it's you know, if you're going to be spending additional money on
things in your business, maybe it's that you forego coaching for
the next couple of months because you don't really have the money
for that, or maybe you need to forego some other things in your
business and subscriptions that maybe can be paused. It's not just
what you're doing in your life, it's also things that you can cut
back in your business too, so that you can make sure that you know.
You know, I know that my fixed expenses for the operations of me
are this these are the things that will you know, that are always
going to stay the same my housing, food, you know, basic
necessities, business expenses.
07:10 - Anne (Host)
Business expenses as well, I'm going to say rocket money. I had a
free trial and I used it. It's great for finding out those
recurring monthly expenses that you have that all of a sudden like
oh, that Sirius XM like subscription that I have for my car, which
I don't drive very often because I work from home, right, but now I
can play SiriusXM everywhere, but still that subscription costs,
and it used to only cost like $12.99. Now it's like $25 a month,
and so that can help you keep track of those subscriptions that
creep up on you that you may or may not be utilizing.
07:44 - Danielle (Guest)
And everything is a subscription nowadays, so really you have to.
It's so sneaky, but you can find a lot of unused subscriptions and
then you can recoup some of that money back just by saying no,
thank you to those subscriptions.
07:59 - Anne (Host)
Think about your Starbucks as a subscription. That's true, really,
if it's something you do every day, I mean really. I mean I know
there's a lot of people that that's a daily habit, and you know.
Think of that as a subscription. And one other thing I wanted to
mention, and I would not have even thought of this really until I
incorporated and became an S Corp but I am required to pay myself a
salary, right, and that's something that you know.
08:22
When you're trying to like skimp on your, your budget, or you're
trying to figure out your expenses, don't forget you need money to
live, you need money to buy the groceries, you need money to pay
the rent you need, and so I think it's always a good idea, even if
you're not an S-corp, to really kind of think about here's the
money coming in. A portion of that should be set aside for my
expenses, for me, right, that's my salary, and then pay yourself on
a set schedule. I think that helps you really get an idea as to
okay, here's the money I need to live on, here's the money that's
profiting in my business. I don't know. It's just one of those
things that maybe it's worth it to take a look at.
09:03 - Danielle (Guest)
Absolutely. That should be a core staple that everyone should be
doing is you know we're doing this. We're in business to make a
profit, and so the idea is I need to get paid, and making sure that
you pay yourself first so that you are getting used to, and your
business is getting used to, that expense of making sure you're
paid. That's the study and that's actually how you can stay steady
is okay. I know that I'm going to be paying myself a certain amount
every single month. That is the expense of my business to pay me,
but that's also how I'm able to pay my bills, keeping that steady,
and it doesn't need to be that you wait until you are an S-Corp to
do that. I would say try to start doing that as quickly as
possible. Once you have established the fact that you're doing this
business, you're in business.
09:51 - Anne (Host)
I would not have realized that until you know I really started an
S-Corp and I should have actually. Again, I needed to take a look
at the numbers.
09:59 - Danielle (Guest)
Here's the deal when you do have those lean months, it doesn't come
as such a shock no-transcript Because if you wait, that is going to
be a surprise likely to you where you're not really expecting it.
And then you get into a really unfortunate situation where this
inconsistent income has caused an inconsistent pattern in how
you're paying yourself and how you're putting money to the side. So
make sure that when you're paying yourself you're also making sure
to take care of your tax liabilities.
11:01 - Anne (Host)
Yes, Excellent idea. And another thing, as I look at you here in
your brand new, shiny, sparkly studio, right and we've talked about
this so many times before is having that financial cushion, right,
Having that emergency fund. But I think honestly, like, if you can
have more than just that emergency fund, which doesn't get touched
under the extreme circumstances of an emergency, but consider
having another fund which is, you know, just a one to three cushion
fund, right, Right that you have to live in the event that you have
a slow month, right, and having that separate fund where you feel
secure and confident that you can take from that fund and you're
not dipping into that emergency fund. Because I always feel guilty
if I'm dipping into my emergency fund. Well, number one, because my
emergency fund is heavily invested in my high-yield savings
account, which doesn't mean that you can't have a one to
three-month cushion also sitting in a high-yield savings account,
and so I always feel like, oh, I don't want to touch that because I
want to keep earning interest on the greatest amount of money
possible Sure yeah.
12:06
And so that's my emergency fund, but also maybe having a separate
fund just for, oh, times are lean this month and you know, and I'm
going to say, maybe, in order to give me better mental health, I do
need a Starbucks today or I do need a pair of earrings today. But
I'm going to be a caution. I'm going to caution people to not
necessarily go out and shop your, your financial worries away,
because you know, that's me. I've definitely been in that trap
where, oh, I just need to feel better. Let me go out and buy some
new clothes, yeah, or a new lipstick, yeah.
12:41
I think try not to do that. But you know, I think that one to three
month other fund that you have will help you to pay the
bills.
12:47 - Danielle (Guest)
Absolutely. And so then you can use sort of a system where you're
making sure that when things are inconsistent and times are a
little bit leaner and you're not making as much money, you know
what your baseline, your core base expenses are. And then, when
things are going really well and you're making a lot more money and
you had a really great month, you put some of that money to the
side in that cushion fund that's not your emergency fund and when
things are low, you use that cushion fund to make sure that you're
staying afloat. I like that sort of cycle of making sure that you
are taking care of yourself. It's not necessarily feast or famine
when things are going really well.
13:28
You have already looked ahead and taken care of yourself, because
you know that this is a cyclical business, this is inconsistent.
It's an inconsistent income kind of business and you know that one
day you're going to need to use the money that you are currently
making. Don't just spend everything that you're making. Put it to
the side so that when it is inconsistent and when it is a slower
month, you're pulling from the times when you had a really great
month to keep yourself, you know, in balance. And that's, I think,
the way to do it is you should look at this month or any given
month, as am I taking care of me now, or am I taking care of me now
and me in the future? But always make sure that you are doing that
delicate balance.
14:16 - Anne (Host)
Speaking of, you know, setting aside money for taxes, and setting
aside, you know, that money. Don't forget about retirement guys.
Don't forget about a retirement fund. Please don't forget about
retirement. One thing I want to say is that and I'm not a money
girl, right, or I never thought of myself as a money girl, but can
I just tell you, the software companies are making it easier and
easier. Like your credit cards are now categorizing your spending,
right, Because, of course, they want you to use the credit card
more. So they're going to categorize it and you can find out where
your expenses are going, and if you use the credit card, you can
get 3% back. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. They want to encourage
credit card spending, but also you can use that as a method for
really finding out where is all your money going.
14:57
Quickbooks like I never thought. Like my QuickBooks Online. Like
you can generate a report literally a report in a matter of
seconds, Whereas before it used to be really difficult, man, If you
were doing like spreadsheets. And I don't know, Danielle, I can't
remember what product you use, but I mean I need something simple,
something that does the work for me. Some people are really
hardcore and go right into the Excel spreadsheet and that's how
they track their budget. But, like for me, I just generate, I flip,
I generate a report really quickly in QuickBooks and it tells me,
oh my gosh, I spent so much money this month on my expenses going
out versus what was coming in, and so I can really then make an
educated and strategized decision based upon those
reports.
15:39
And I can do, I can generate those reports at the flick of a
button. And even if I hate finances right which I know a lot of
people don't like to look at their, their money yeah, it's again
one of those things. This is your business and it is something
that, if you're not looking at it, pay somebody else to do it, like
my accountant. Then talk with your accountant and say, hey, look,
where's all my money going. Or I found that I had a slow month. And
then have that weekly meeting or that monthly meeting that says
here, OK, they can break it down for you and say, look, you're,
they can generate the reports and they say, look, here's what
you're spending on lipstick and or here's what you're spending on
restaurants going out, and here's where you can maybe potentially
save money. Or think about taking this money that you have left
over and putting it into this type of an investment
account.
16:23 - Danielle (Guest)
This money that you have left over and putting it into this type of
an investment account and taking care of future you.
16:29
So you've got sort of the shorter term future you of this one to
three months cushion for when times are lean. You've got your
emergency fund, which usually I say you know, six to eight months I
say closer to for me, yeah, six to eight months, which is a pretty
big emergency fund, but that's because we're self-employed and so I
want to have a pretty good cushion, or the longer term fund being
your retirement. And there are ways, depending on how you have it
set up, where, if you're investing in your retirement account, that
helps you in tax time because it might lower the amount that you
are paying on your taxes.
17:05
So it is always forward looking. It's looking at what's happening
today and it's looking at what would be happening in the shorter
term future or longer term future. And how can you use the windfall
that you have or maybe are not experiencing now? How can you use
that to keep you afloat, you know, with your core base expenses.
But it really is again going back to do. You know what those core
base expenses are Right, and how can you stay, you know, level with
them. And if you need to dip into the bank of you, then you can do
that with no shame and no problem, knowing that you've already done
the work to take care of yourself.
17:44 - Anne (Host)
From a girl that's a little less of a money girl to a girl who is a
money girl. One thing that always sneaks up on me are those antics
annual fees or the recurring right subscriptions or that come up
once a year. Because I went from let's not do it every month, let's
save and let's do yearly subscriptions, but every once in a while,
if I'm not paying attention, that yearly subscription will come up
and it'll be taken out of my account and I'll be like whoa, how do
you do you prepare yourself? I do For those things. So talk about
how you prepare you know some of those things.
18:18 - Danielle (Guest)
you know we use the word like surprise expenses, when, like it's
kind of like these are super noble things, like yeah, I signed up
for that credit card that has that high annual fee.
18:27 - Speaker 2 (Announcement)
It was me.
18:28 - Danielle (Guest)
It wasn't like some, somebody impersonating me Right large expense,
that is, a knowable expense. I typically will put a calendar alert
in a month in advance so that I can remind myself that this is
coming. For example, my credit cards. I have the American Express
Platinum card, I have the American Express Gold card and they have
very high annual fees and for some reason I applied for them around
the same time of the year and different years. So they, the annual
fees, they come and they hit like roughly, like right, one after
the other and I always think to myself Danielle, what did you
do?
19:05
Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did what were you
doing in December that you really needed a new credit? Why did you
do that right in the same time. And that's, you know, my own
personal journey. But I know that it's coming, so I can prepare
either a little bit every single month to make sure I'm ready for
that, yeah, or because I've given myself that calendar alert saying
hey, danielle, just so you know this is coming up next month, I'm
already mentally and financially prepared that that hit is about to
happen. Most of those, you know, those subscriptions, those annual
subscriptions, those are things that are knowable expenses, albeit
big expenses. So your calendar is your very best friend. Give
yourself the heads up and know that it's coming.
19:49 - Anne (Host)
I agree I live by my calendar anyway for a day-to-day schedule of
things that I'm doing. And I think if you have a calendar, a
financial calendar, I mean my goodness. I mean you could make an
easy financial calendar. I use Google Calendar for everything and
they're color-coded when do I have coaching sessions? When do I
have monthly workouts coming up, when do I have all of these
things, holidays and that sort of thing, so you could have a
financial calendar that has all of your subscription renewals and
or your monthly costs, like those base costs that we talked about,
so that you're prepared.
20:25
This month I'm going to plan on spending this amount of money. And
also, again, it's one of those things that if you have an
accounting software that can be generated in an accounting software
easily, your monthly budget, absolutely, and you know it's
something that you need to like. And again, I'm talking from a
girl. I'm not a money girl, but I have to force myself to do that
and take a hard look at what's going out every month and how can I
cut? And I recently just said, ok, how can I trim the budget in my
company, because I had been like, oh, let me try this software. I'm
a big risk taker Danielle, and we talk about this thing, I hoard
software too.
21:04
Yeah, I buy software subscriptions, I try things out and then I
forget about them sometimes right.
21:10
I was like, oh, I haven't used it. I tried that out, I paid for the
subscription, I forgot about it. So every once in a while I have to
revisit what am I putting my money into, and has it given me a
return on my investment? And if not, I need to trim the fat. And so
I really I did that more recently so that I could have money to
invest in something different.
21:31
So again I had, and I invest in in people who who work for me, and
again I wanted to invest in some additional advertising, and so I
needed to get that money from somewhere Right. So I had to kind of
figure out where can I consolidate my expenses Right? Can I get,
now that you know I've evolved in my business so many years, maybe
I don't need this particular, I don't need as much social media,
maybe I don't need, you know, that monthly subscription to this
particular? You know, pay to play. Am I really using this pay to
play?
22:07
And again, you know, figure out what am I? Where's my money coming
in? Where am I making the most of my money? And do I want to
reinvest my money coming in into that, into getting more of that,
or do I want to reinvest my money coming in into that, into getting
more of that, or do I want to diversify and maybe explore another
genre of voiceover, or I want to get more voiceover work in this
particular genre? What's it going to take for me to get there? So I
think, really again taking a look at the money, and if you hate
looking at money, I suggest, even if you hate looking at money,
it's something that you got to do. Consider it an education in
running your own business.
22:40 - Danielle (Guest)
I would consider, if you hate looking at money, that you really
need to look at money.
22:46 - Anne (Host)
If you don't like it, then you really need to do it If you don't
like it, that's a flag.
22:50 - Danielle (Guest)
That's a flag, that's a flag. Run toward it, run toward
it.
22:55 - Anne (Host)
I love it.
22:55 - Danielle (Guest)
I was told by my financial advisor to have money dates with myself,
and I think what you're talking about would be a really great thing
to do twice a year of these sinking funds, these mini emergency
fund or emergency fund, so that you know where you need to divert
more of your money in the good months, in the months where you're
making so much more money than you planned for. That's really a
great thing to do and I would say once or twice a year to
reevaluate that, because maybe your one to three month or your
short term emergency fund, let's say, is about a couple thousand
dollars under. So you know. Ok, you know what. Why don't I put my
money and my focus on beefing that up so that when we have these
inconsistent months or when we have lower months, I know that I'm
good. You won't know until you take the time to really look at it.
So give yourself the money date of taking a real look at your money
and knowing your numbers about what is your core expenses, what can
you maybe trim or what can you press pause on, and then what can
you run toward when it's time and when you have the money for
it.
24:18
I love the idea of sinking funds. You have a fund specifically for
your education, for your just slower months, for things that you do
when you book that really big job and maybe you want to take
yourself on a nice you know nice dinner or something like that like
ways to celebrate. You can have multiple of these sinking funds.
That's what something like that, like ways to celebrate. You can
have multiple of these, these sinking funds. That's what I like
about some of these online accounts where you can have a bank
account that will give you an unlimited number of smaller, you
know, virtual accounts where you can just put that money to the
side I love that that's great.
24:52 - Anne (Host)
It's a really great hack that I use.
24:54
That's a new concept and and what I like.
24:57
What I like about how you're talking and you're phrasing this whole
conversation is you're talking about funds, right, you're talking
about fund accounts, yeah, versus when, when and I don't know if
this is just me and my age, but, like whenever I was talked about,
well, you need to set up a budget that had a negative connotation
and that meant that I wasn't making the money that I should have
been making, or I was. You know what I mean? I was somehow lacking
in whatever, mostly in money, right, I was lacking in money and the
ability to either manage my money or whatever it was, but it had a
negative connotation and I think that we need to reframe that whole
concept. Again, if we talk about, like, money blocks, right, it
could be a form of a money block and, in reality, the term budget,
you can rephrase it to say you know, your money funds or your fund
account it's giving you more of like a permission to celebrate it
because you are strategizing, you are creating a future with a
purpose, yes, and your purpose is focused, strategized and
smart.
26:03 - Danielle (Guest)
Absolutely, and it's purposeful. It's what you've decided that
you're going to do. So budgeting for me, when I think about it,
it's what am I deciding that I'm going to be spending my money on
and this money is allocated towards that thing that I already
decided. If you take away the concept that a budget is restricting
you, it's not restricting you. It's where you have already
pre-purposed and pre-determined where your money is going to go,
and then you just do as you set out. It gives you freedom and it
puts you in the driver's seat. You decided that you want to spend
your money on the Starbucks or your whatever, and isn't that what
we?
26:44 - Anne (Host)
yeah, Exactly, Isn't that what we decided? Bosses right, we are in
the driver's seat. We are the boss Totally, and you know you need
to be the boss of all aspects of this business. And I think, if you
really take a look at your budgets and or your funding accounts and
I love what you just said about the virtual accounts there,
Danielle that's a concept that I actually was not aware of, so now
I'm going to be researching that because I love that, I love being
able to it's like my content buckets for social media, right?
This?
27:15
is going to be my fund buckets for Ann's Lipstick, no, for my
business. Right For that Starbucks account. I've got money in it.
So I think that really gives us a much clearer strategy and purpose
when really looking at our business. And again, you always want to
go forward and move forward in your business and this is one way
that you guys can get there Totally.
27:38 - Danielle (Guest)
You are in the driver's seat. These are not things happening to
you. You can make the decision as to where you spend your money
when it comes, and if you need to dip into the bank of you so that
you future you is taken care of, because the you of today did the
work to make sure that they were taking care of future. You Love
that. That's. What I love about being an entrepreneur is that I'm
taking responsibility for myself and taking care of responsibility
of myself today and also future me, by putting money into the
spending buckets or to the sinking funds, to my retirement account,
to my emergency fund, and then I am making these financial
decisions with me in mind, because that's my job is to take care of
myself and also the people that are around me that I touch with my
business, with my life, with my purpose.
28:32 - Anne (Host)
And with that lovely words of wisdom, danielle, I'm going to thank
you so much. What a great conversation. Yeah, this is a great
conversation. Love it, love it, love it. Bosses, I'm going to give
a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You, too, can connect
and network like the money boss that Danielle is. I absolutely love
it. I love, love, loved our conversation. Thank you again, bosses.
Have an amazing week and we will see you next week. Bye.
28:58 - Speaker 2 (Announcement)
Bye. Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your
host, Anne Ganguzza, 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
coast connectivity via IPDTL.