The truth is, when you really break it down, there's a very simple formula for this business. And if you learn to recognize which step you're on, you can figure out what your next step is much faster.
Read MoreFour Steps to VO Success
acting
Scare Yourself
THAT is the life I want.
Not the version where I play it small and scared.
But the version where I take the chance, and I realize that the bigger world out there is a more exciting and more amazing place than I’ve allowed myself to experience up until this point.
Read MoreResults May Vary: 6 Tips for Getting Better Results in Your Voiceover Business
There is no one right way to do this. As my acting teacher would say “There’s no right choice. But there are better choices.”
Read MoreAre You Ready to Get Your Hands Dirty?
Marketing is kinda like searching for diamonds in a manure-filled pigsty.
Read MoreWhat Do Swing Dancing and Voiceover Have in Common?
Knowing how to read the words in a pleasant voice without stumbling on them is like knowing the basic six step swing. You’ve got the steps down, but that doesn’t make you a brilliant dancer.
Read MoreFour Tips For Facing Your Voiceover Fears
Conquer your fear of clowns, karaoke, and cold calling with the same four tips!
Read MoreThe Best Kept Secret in Entertainment
No…it’s not how to attract the attention of top agents…
Or that short actors are put in platform shoes or on apple boxes to make them look taller…
Nor is it how celebrities can manage to adopt eight children, travel the world, stay in shape, head their own charity, run a multi-million dollar company that sells luxury goods, film multiple projects a year while doing press for all of them…and still manage to look well-rested.
For the past two weeks, I was volunteering for an organization more secretive than the Masons.**
**Okay, I might be exaggerating a little bit there…
An organization that is over 100 years old…
An organization devoted to helping actors and anyone else in the entertainment industry—lawyers, burlesque performers, ushers, photographers, opera singers, costumers, grips, producers, stage managers, circus clowns...
Yes, even you, skeptical clown man!
Everyone that I have told about it has never heard of it, and I only heard about it after becoming active on LinkedIn during the early days of the pandemic.
It’s not a union.
It’s not exclusive.
And it’s not limited to New York or Los Angeles.
Do you know what it is?
Are you stumped yet?
The organization is The Actors Fund.
Originally founded in 1882 in response to the anti-actor sentiment after Lincoln’s assassination, The Actors Fund was created to help actors and other performers, who were often discriminated against, get a proper burial after death.
Since then, The Actors Fund has become a national non-profit organization that offers all kinds of services to anyone in the entertainment industry.
Some of the many initiatives the fund has supported throughout the years have included:
Senior care
Affordable housing
Retirement planning
Access to healthcare
Emergency financial assistance
Education and career counseling
Support for those with HIV/AIDS through Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
And much more…
While some services are still restricted to the cities where the fund has offices (NYC, LA and CHI), the internet has made other services accessible to all.
You, too, can attend a class in New York from your rooftop in Seattle! Or Minneapolis! Or Phoenix! Or…Keokuk, Iowa.
Just some of the interesting workshops coming up on the Career Center’s calendar this month:
Managing Cash Flow
Mindfulness Meditation
Budgeting Nuts & Bolts
Good Grief: Grief Support Group
How to Job Search During a Pandemic
Asian American & Pacific Islander Entertainment Professionals Gathering
Mind, Body, Spirit: A Group for Black Women Working in the Entertainment Industry
Did I mention these services are all FREE?
Your money is no good here!
Back in May, I took the LinkedIn Suite for Entertainment, which is a trio of workshops on how to use LinkedIn effectively, and I participated in the 15-day LinkedIn Challenge that followed.
About a month after the challenge, I learned about LinkedIn’s Social Sales Index, and discovered that I was in the top 1% in my industry and in my network (translation: I’m working LinkedIn’s algorithm better than 99% of people in the industry), and I have The Actors Fund to thank for that!
After the challenge, I have been telling everyone about the fund, and promoting their services to all of my performer friends.
When the September challenge happened, I signed up to volunteer as an ambassador, helping to support others doing the challenge.
If you want to sign up for any of these upcoming workshops through the career center, you must first take the Career Center Orientation, which is offered every Monday except on legal holidays.
The LinkedIn Suite for Entertainment and LinkedIn Challenge will ONLY be offered one more time this year, in November.
Next year, they plan to offer it, but fewer times overall, so if you want to up your LinkedIn game, sign up for November’s workshops!
Click here to sign up for the orientation and see all of the other resources and workshops at The Actors Fund’s website.
And please—don’t keep this a secret!
5 Reasons to Stop Complaining Right Now
Every bad behavior you have, you repeat because it gives you SOMETHING.
Read MoreFive Ways to Make Sure You Don’t Get Screwed as a VO Talent
TL;DR
When we want something really badly, we are vulnerable.
Enjoy your voiceover journey without regrets—do your research.
Read MoreLearning to Love Your Plateaus
Growth is not linear. It is not a steady process.
Read MoreWhat Cats Can Teach You About Social Media Engagement
Those of us who are cat people appreciate that we have to EARN a cat’s attention. And it’s the same as earning attention on social media.
Read MoreDo You Need to Fill the Well?
Artists pull from a well. But the well isn’t filled by art, and you can’t fill it directly either.
Read MoreWhat Your Judgement of Others Can Teach You About Yourself
What you judge in others…might be holding you back.
Read More
“See, kid…you’ll never work in this town again!” I’m kidding! Please stop crying. I know, my impression was terrible.
"I’m Never Going to Work Again!" - Five Ways to Cope With a Work Drought
Dry spells can seriously feel like the end of the line for your career. You were cruising along, everything was going well, and then you come to a screeching halt.
Read MoreIf Life is a Cabaret--Social Media is a Party
The rules for owning a party and owning social media are the sameThere’s no point in coming to the party unless you’re ready to get in there, dance, play some games, mingle and chat some people up!What's Your Favorite Flavor of Shit Sandwich?
How do I know this is the right path for me?
Because to me, MOST of these things don’t register even slightly on the stink-o-meter.
Read MoreThree Tips for a Great Year in 2021 (no matter what happens)
It might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the best way to start something is NOT to go all-in.
Often, jumping in headfirst is a sure way to scare yourself right back to doing nothing.
Read More
Where we started…
2020 Is Hindsight
This year was a blur of books, audiobooks, streaming TV, Zoom calls, and getting outside in any way possible. Mostly, it felt like one VERY long day that never ended.
But that doesn’t mean it was cancelled. I did PLENTY.
Read MoreAre You Strategic or Are You Stuck?
While job postings make finding the jobs easy, the ease with which they’re found means these jobs tend to be oversaturated with applicants. Sometimes, by the time you see them, they’re already filled.
Strategy means seeing that there are a million different moves you can make to get to your goal.
Read MoreShoutout Atlanta Feature
I was featured in Shoutout Atlanta this past week… Click on the photo below to check it out!
