Decisions Made at 50,000 feet

A few years ago, I was working with a client on a project, a video I believe, and it was patched. We had just finished up and we were chatting away, and he had a question that surprised me: what challenge did I want to conquer next.

That came out of the blue. It’s kind of a weird question to get from a client, no? I surprised myself with what came out of my mouth next.

I had been watching lots of interviews and reading about different coaches and their approach. I was hoping to find someone I might click with and I had sort of honed in on one: Mary Lynn Wissner. But my gosh, Mary Lynn? That felt like a reach. She’d worked with so many impressive talent. Her coaching me? I was afraid she’d be thinking, “this isn’t a preschool! This woman is wasting my time.”So, I confessed that there was a coach I’d like to work with, but I felt like she was out of my league. I was too scared to try.

And I’ll never forget what he said. “Do the thing that scares you.”At first my brain screamed “NO! My job is to keep you safe and going out on that limb is too risky!” But then I thought about it. Every new thing you try holds at least a little bit of danger. Trying that super spicy hot sauce, a bit less. Skydiving, definitely more.

In the end, I did call Mary Lynn. She was a delight! I coached with her several times, and do think I came away with solid tips. Bravery rewarded!

That served me well, so when people kept saying improv, improv, improv, I screwed up my courage and began looking into it. To be clear, I had no allusions. Barb + Improv = the sound of one hand clapping. 

A popular LA improv troupe had webinars you could take to explore it. I did not come away with a deep love of improv. In fact I look back at those 3-4 hours as a bit of torture. This was not my jam.

But everyone kept saying how vital it is to your VO career. So I took a deep breath and did more research. This time I found Rebecca Haugh and VO Improv. I figured this would be a better fit because it was specifically aimed at voice actors, not like the other webinar, where it felt like an SNL audition.

I was very pleasantly surprised when Rebecca’s course, while it covered a lot of the same ground, was presented in a much more attainable way. At least that’s how it felt. I was more comfortable at least. It was three weeks full of valuable info and fun experiences. I won’t say I now love improv, or even that I’m good at it. I’m still very self conscious. But I am glad I tried it!

Then I really wanted a new eLearnig demo, and I didn’t just want to make it myself. I really do think there’s value in having an outside ear. So I again looked at coaching options. A few rose to the top, but in the end my call with Anne Ganguzza left me with great confidence I’d be in good hands. If you look at her website…it’s overwhelming! How does she do it all? It was an investment for sure, but I wanted it badly and I needed to trust, so I threw caution to the wind and went for it.

I coached with Anne for about 6 months before we cut the demo. I call her “the toughest coach you’ll ever love” because she is! I know I wasn’t always the easiest student either. I spent most of the time thinking the woman probably marvels that anyone pays me for this. And to say the homework was challenging doesn’t even begin to cover it.

When we were selecting Demo segments, I remember the moment she asked if I’d mind having a pig snorting on my demo. OOOOHHH….memorable! I was totally in. At the end of the session Anne said to the producer, John, “I don’t know, but I think this sounds like SOVAS material.” I, of course, brushed it off because my brain refused to believe anyone would say something like that about me. The compliment was too big. They were just being nice or humoring me. I nearly  fell out of my chair when I got the email from Anne letting me know we did in fact, get a nomination. The scary thing paid off!

Now, this summer has been slow, which I find is a great time for business development. I took an intensive market course but that was only half of it. We’re always striving for the direction of the day, “Conversational” so it couldn't hurt to take more coaching. There are many that claim to coach for it. Some of them use words outside my vocabulary so that’s not a fit. But, for a while I’d been “stalking” Lili Wexu. I’d listen to her demos for inspiration and watch her videos. Then I found she offered a self paced video course that felt just right.

As I began the videos I thought, Uh, oh. “I’ve been doing this all wrong.” My answers weren’t matching hers. Cue Imposter Syndrome.Ok, it wasn’t really that bad, but I did realize that I was relying pretty heavily on my instincts and what I knew from being a “student of advertising.” (Your gut is your friend and usually a good guide.) The problem is that a lot of my studies occurred 30-40 years ago and time has marched on! And, instincts can lead you to gloss over details that can actually impact a script. The weirdest thing was that when I applied her (somewhat lengthy) process, a script that I otherwise would have scrambled to hit time on, was coming out just under. Huh? What is this sorcery!

So,when presented with the opportunity, I took a deep breath and scheduled a call with Lili to talk about coaching. Another big investment. In the end, I took a deep breath, and joined one of her weekly workout groups for the month of September. I’m terrified and again feel totally out of my depth. This isn’t even a smart move with how business has been so flat this summer. I-feel-like-a-moron. An unskilled moron.

But, I do know that there’s something about this program that pushes me to be better. I know that by the end of our consultation Zoom meeting, I felt like I could do anything and that this incredibly talented human saw potential in me filled my heart.

So off we go! Crank up the Tom Petty because I’m “free falling”! Wish me luck!