Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

Executive producers are often successful precisely because they make complexity look effortless. There’s a lot of invisible labor—especially surrounding the constant compromise that goes into any video production project. Everything starts off hunky-dory. Then the changes start. Legal wants safety. Brand wants consistency. Stakeholders want speed… like yesterday. Budget wants restraint aaaannnnddd the work still has to feel like something.

I get it. The days can be a real slog. You wake, work out, eat, shower, coffee (more coffee) and then begin auditioning. Maybe you get booked. Good for you! It’s your lucky day!  And the next morning? Yeah, it starts all over again. That one booking didn’t change your life, did it. And before you know it, you’re living Groundhog Day. But you keep on trying, because that’s what you’re supposed to do. And maybe you’re content…or complacent.

I got a callback on an audio drama! Now, if you’ve never listened to one you are totally missing out! They started in the 1920’s, and really grew in popularity in the 30’s and 40’s. They reached an apex in the 1950’s and then were taken over by TV. My all time favorite is “Johnny Dollar” who is billed as “America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator.” There’s tension, gunplay, fight scenes, romance and plenty of humor.

Right now. Today. In this very moment, you can find peace & joy, wherever you are right now. Or so says my “You Are a Badass” calendar. It’s right. I’ll prove it. Here’s my day thus far… My dog, Friday, greeted the day by giving me (basically) mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for about three minutes before I could even turn the alarm off. I wanted to push her away, but instead, I let her little kisses cover my face.

You tend to find what you focus on.  Try it now. Scan the room and count how many blue things you see. Now, close your eyes and recall how many red things you saw. What you focus on becomes your reality. So if you want success, but keep thinking about failures or missed opportunities, do you really think that’s helping you reach your goals? A few months ago I decided to focus on the little moments of positivity that happen every day.

Some days I think it might be fun to be a casting director.Matching a client with the perfect voice for their brand. Having a front-row seat to the magic when it clicks. Watching the final spot air and thinking, Yeah… I had a hand in that. But I’m guessing it’s not all that rosy. Auditions can go off the rails in a bunch of different ways, and as a CD, you have to sort through hundreds of them!

Wouldn’t it be nice if achievement showed up wrapped in confidence? For me, it usually shows up stamped with a  question mark. Where will the next winning audition come from? Could this turn into a regular client? That thing that’s been tugging at you and you finally decided to try…will it work? We’re taught to wait until we feel ready. Until we feel confident. Until the fear goes away. But experience, and science tell us something different: fear doesn't disappear first.

This is for my friends who procrastinate, or just enjoy life on a wire. You've waited as long as you possibly can. It's time to get off your duff and make those 2026 plans! Every January, there’s pressure to reinvent everything. New goals. New systems. New promises to “do more.” But if you’ve been in this business any length of time, you know the truth: what actually works is consistency, clarity, and a plan you can live with.

Opportunities don’t always arrive the way we imagine they will. Most of us grow up with a tidy picture of how progress is supposed to work: you aim, you plan, you climb. You do this so you can get that. And sometimes, sure, it plays out exactly that way. But just as often? The better things slip in sideways. They show up when you’re doing work that wasn’t part of the grand plan. When you’re helping. Learning. Filling in.

Most of us came up with heroes. The voices that made us stop what we were doing. The reads we rewound just to hear again. Maybe it was Don LaFontaine and that unmistakable authority. Maybe it was Will Arnett’s effortless confidence and wink-to-the-audience delivery. Maybe it was someone else entirely, like Mel Blanc (Elmer Fudd anyone?) but chances are, there was a voice that made you think, I want to do that.

I should have known it might go sideways. Sometimes, there are little signs at the start of a session. Nothing alarming, just enough to make you take note. Most of the time, everything settles out and you do the work you were hired to do. Still, every now and then, the day turns into an exercise in flexibility and direction. This job was a series of spots for a healthcare provider. Honestly? My sweet spot. The kind of work I genuinely love.

Just be yourself. Only the hardest-thing-to-do—EVER—when you “try” to do it. But that’s exactly what voice actors do when they’re really in the zone. Lately I’ve been thinking the problem isn’t so much Imposter Syndrome as it is the sheer effort we put into being someone else all day long. We’re constantly adjusting, smoothing, editing ourselves to please others. A polite smile for the barista when you’re already having a rough morning. Swallowing a cheeky comment because

This weekend, I had kind of a chill Saturday, which is always nice. I cooked a fabulous pork roast in the slow cooker, did some organizing, and spent some time teaching Friday a new trick…all of which puts me in my happy place. Being an obsessive planner, I also found myself pondering the auditions I needed to do Sunday. Bob Ross was on the TV, painting masterpieces that came together at an astonishing pace. (Seriously. Start a video, about five minutes in, look away for abou

I get teased sometimes because I like outboard gear. Buttons and knobs. See, if my Mac dies, I hook up a new one and I’m off and running. Easy. I’m also a fan of wired connections. I run a cable from my modem/router, through a hole in the media closet floor, across the basement, up through a non-functional cold-air return, and to my Mac.I know it sounds like a lot, but really the hardest part was figuring out how long the cable needed to be! Why go through that?

Some days I look at the calendar and feel like time is slipping past me at full tilt. It’s 2025. Depending on how you count it, I have maybe ten solid working years left in my voiceover career, give or take. And there are still so many milestones I haven’t hit yet. Not because I’ve been sitting still. But because creative work unfolds in its own rhythm. Clients come and go. Budgets shift. Algorithms do whatever algorithms do.

Gratitude. This time of year, everywhere you turn there are lists. Ewey, gooey posts dripping with sentiment. People naming the projects they were proud to take part in. Or the fabulous opportunity that propelled them forward. The support of family. Yes, truly, all those things are amazing, wonderful, and to be cherished. But let's get real...overall 2025 has been…a challenge. I mean, be honest. Many of us have felt like we’re dragging a hundred pound weight with us everywhe

The year was 2017. I had only recently gone full-time with my voice over business. I was auditioning on Voice123 and Voices.com, working from my home studio, and doing my best to make this dream career a reality. Back then, I didn’t know about the Global Voice Acting Academy (GVAA) or Gravy for the Brain. I had no real guidance on how to quote voice over jobs or what standard voice over rates even looked like.

Somewhere along the line, most of us picked up the idea that our value lives out there. In someone else’s approval, in a job title, in likes and comments, in whether a client chooses us, or if we’re “in demand” this month. It’s subtle at first, but it creeps in, and suddenly we’re handing out calculators to everyone around us, letting them tally our value based on whatever criteria they find convenient. Here’s the truth: your self-worth never was an external measurement.

I first met Jen Sweeney back in, gosh, I want to say maybe 1995. She was the go-to talent for Wells Fargo through Walsh Media, where I worked at the time, was brought on to service the account’s telecom needs.Jen’s personality is positively infectious. She carries this joy with her that just lifts the whole room. She has the most wicked laugh, and she has no problem laughing at herself. I’m glad to say those good vibes rubbed off on me and we became fast friends.

I’ve been thinking a lot about pricing lately, probably because next weekend I’ll be running a booth at my dog training club's Obedience and Rally Trials for my mom, selling some of her quilting and embroidery. She’s poured hours into those pieces. Every stitch is deliberate, every pattern perfectly balanced. When she finishes one, it’s like holding a bit of her heart in your hands. So how do we price that? And it struck me: this is the exact same conversation that plays o