George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Sourceconnect
(704) 293-7469
george@voevolution.com
  • Home
  • Demos
    • Commercial
    • e-Learning
    • Narration
    • Promo
    • Democratic Political
  • About
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Header Logo
  • Clients
  • Contact
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Logo

Readjusting

February 7, 2011 by George 8 Comments

LONG JUMPphoto © 2007 TOM MARUKO | more info (via: Wylio)The eVOlutionary steps have been silent ones since the wild days of the Ted Williams experience (that was all of one month ago…seems like forever). Silent, but not because I haven’t been doing anything. I’ve made some new contacts, gotten some new clients, and done some cool projects.

I also took a full time job.

A little backstory: I have been a working voice actor since 2003. But it was always on the side, as a supplement to the full time income I earned as an IT professional. In 2009, I was among the millions of people caught up in the financial disaster that was (and still is) the recession, and I lost my job of 11 years. I then floundered trying to figure out what to do, how to process the loss of a job, and dealing with how to define myself afterwards.

I won’t dissemble: I did a terrible job of all three, to the detriment of my family.  Be it hesitation out of cowardice, brain lock because of a loss of confidence or plain old stupidity, I struggled to get anything going. The only thing that seemed to move in what looked like a proper direction was the progress I made as a voice artist. I gained new clients and new representation, made some fantastic new contacts and friends. I actually built up the idea that I could make a real go at being a voice artist full time.

Maybe that was a bit of self deception at work: I knew that it would take much longer than that single year to be “making it,” if I ever did. So I made the decision to look for work in my prior field, information technology with an emphasis on desktop support.

Not surprisingly in this economy, work was difficult to come by. Interviews were hard to come by. But just as the holidays were ramping up, I was given an opportunity by a former peer of mine at my previous place of employment, except as a contractor instead of a full time employee. I took the opportunity, and then spent the next few weeks before starting the new position trying to wrap my head around the changes I would have to make to continue pursuing the voiceover career I want while doing the every day work that I currently need. It wasn’t going well, at least in my mind.

But a friend of mine, Heather Anne Henderson (a wonderful audiobook and commercial voiceover talent out of Oregon) gave me the quote of 2011, a French saying she read in a D.H. Lawrence book:

Reculer à mieux sauter.

“To recoil so as to leap further.”

This single quote is how I am looking at this next year: gathering myself before jumping ahead. Considering new clients and new niches (thank you, VOCareer). Working on getting my social networking and marketing efforts organized in a real, coherent manner.  And in a nutshell, getting my life together.

I thought long and hard about even posting this article. In the end, I look at this as an opportunity to share with others the reality of the business, especially in light of last month’s “miracle.” And I took my cue from the honesty that Pam Tierney brings to her blog posts.

I mentioned in the “How Do I Get Into This?” post that none of this business is easy. I know that from experience, and I don’t see it getting easier. But it is what I am committed to doing, so I can do what I know I CAN do.

Recoil, so as to leap further.

Filed Under: Career Development, Marketing, Sales and Contacts, Voiceover - Work Tagged With: readjusting, restarting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pamela Vanderway says

    February 7, 2011 at 11:01 am

    Transparency such as this helps everyone, George. Thank you for sharing your story!!!

    Reply
  2. Heather H. says

    February 7, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    George, I’m honored to be a part of this process. You have so much integrity and honesty. I am sharing this all over the place; I think it will be so inspiring to people.

    Reply
  3. Ray Saltrelli says

    February 8, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    Great story, George!

    There’s a term in Japanese philosphy, “metanoesis,” which is the process of self-reflection, -criticism, -deconstruction and -transformation. It’s very common after a traumatic experience like losing one’s job or spouse and usually starts out rather uncomfortably. But if you embrace it, it can be very rewarding and lead to new opportunities.

    Glad to hear you’re doing well.

    Reply
  4. David Sigmon says

    February 8, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    George,
    Well said. A book which I am finding to be helpful in dealing with some of the same issues I imagine you might be as well is, You Already Know How to Be Great by Alan Fine. Also, The Brand Called You by Peter Montoya. Good luck going forward.
    DS

    Reply
    • gwiii says

      February 9, 2011 at 10:51 am

      Thanks for all the positive feedback, folks. David, I will check those books out.

      Reply
  5. John Causby says

    February 8, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    You go George! Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing a great job. See you soon.

    Reply
  6. Peter K. O'Connell says

    February 14, 2011 at 6:15 am

    Focusing on your family – their needs, their aspirations – is the job of every Father.

    That’s what we do. Life is one big adjustment. Good for you for always putting family first.

    And note: your VO career is NOT over.

    Best always,
    – Peter

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Readjusting « eVOlutionary steps -- Topsy.com says:
    February 7, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jud Niven, GeorgeWashington III. GeorgeWashington III said: New eVOlutionary steps post – Readjusting: http://wp.me/p17Qnb-3q #vo #voiceover http://wp.me/p17Qnb-3q […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • When Your Voiceover Work Impacts You
  • Verizon Dropping ISDN in Some States
  • Sales Performance International – Knowledge is Not Power
  • D-Link Gaming Router
  • Joe Miller for US Senate

Archives

  • February 2023
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010

Categories

  • Agents
  • Audio
  • Audiobook
  • Career Development
  • Faffcon
  • Interview
  • Marketing, Sales and Contacts
  • Music
  • Narration
  • Networking
  • On-Camera
  • Pat on the Back
  • Power of Human Voice
  • Press Release
  • Random Thoughts
  • Samples
  • Social Media
  • Sound Resources
  • Tech Talk
  • Tip o' the Hat
  • Tools You Can Use
  • Training
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Video Testimonial
  • Voice Artists
  • Voiceover – Work

Contact

If you want a quote or a personalized demo, feel free to contact me today. I’ll be happy to review your project by phone or email.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

george@voevolution.com
(704) 293-7469
george.washington.iii
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Footer Sourceconnect
George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Wovo Logo

©2023 George Washington III // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites

George Washington III African-American Voice Actor Footer Logo
(704) 293-7469
george@voevolution.com
MENU
  • Home
  • Demos
    • Commercial
    • e-Learning
    • Narration
    • Promo
    • Democratic Political
  • Clients
  • Contact