Stories Behind the Voice

The listing was for corporate and financial copy. Clean, professional, straightforward. Main Male American VO, it said. Deep and confident. The voice of reason. Emotive but strong. I read the script first, before I let that stop me. Deep. Confident. Strong. The voice of reason. None of those words mean male. They just get read that way by default, often enough that a casting call can list them right next to "male" like they're the same requirement, restating itself for emphas

I used to think 20-hour days in the booth meant I was serious about my business. Then I stopped to ask myself an honest question: when have I ever not worked like this? As a Foreign Service Officer, I was on duty in a way that doesn't clock out — living overseas means the job doesn't stay at the office; it comes home with you, because you are always representing the U.S. in that country whether you're technically working or not. Later, as a watch officer in D.C., I was in a r

Over the past two months, I attended more social media webinars than I care to admit. They were for audiobook narrators. For voice actors. For small business owners. Different audiences, different presenters, different platforms — but the same essential message, delivered with the same breathless urgency: Post every day. Post multiple times a day. Post on multiple platforms. Do video. Comment on other people's posts. Engage. Engage! ENGAGE!! I sat through all of it feeling qu

I recently watched a news clip about casting in The Odyssey, and the person on camera mispronounced "Odysseus." I winced. Not because mistakes never happen. They do. Live television, recorded narration, public speaking, interviews — any work built around words comes with pressure. But it reminded me how quickly a listener can be pulled out of the message when one word lands wrong. And it made me think about how much preparation goes into it before anyone presses record. So th

I have always been a writer. That probably surprises people who think of me primarily as a voice actor. But writing has been a core professional skill for most of my adult life. Foreign Service Officers write constantly: diplomatic cables, policy reports, talking points, speeches, briefing memos, and more. The Foreign Service has a writing culture, and if you want to survive in it, you learn to write clearly, precisely, and persuasively. There was also graduate school. More w

June is Audiobook Month, which feels like the right time to admit something: while I especially enjoy narrating nonfiction and children’s stories, romance has long been one of my favorite genres to read—and listen to. My first romance novel was probably a Sweet Valley High book. I do not remember which one, which may be because I assume I read them all. Then, in eighth-grade English, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. And that was it. I was hooked. I still return

When people learn that I spent more than two decades as a U.S. diplomat before becoming a voice actor, they often assume I've made a dramatic career change. In some ways, they're right. My days no longer involve embassy meetings, diplomatic cables, or international negotiations. Instead, they revolve around microphones, manuscripts, editing software, and recording booths. But recently, while updating my website and thinking about my professional brand, I realized something su

June is Audiobook Appreciation Month — and as an audiobook narrator, I should probably have a tidy origin story about how I always loved the spoken word. The truth is a little more complicated than that. I still have the boxes. Boxes of books. Real ones — paperbacks with cracked spines, hardcovers with dog-eared pages, some with Post-it notes still tucked inside from decades ago. They're not going anywhere. Some of them are older than my now-adult kids. They live in my storag

I recently completed a Voice of God (VOG) project for an organization whose mission I genuinely believe in. For those outside the voiceover world, “Voice of God” refers to the announcer voice often heard at live events, award shows, conferences, ceremonies, and productions — the voice that welcomes the audience, introduces speakers, and helps guide the experience from behind the scenes. While I was working on the project, an unexpected memory came back to me. When I was in ju

When most people think about audiobook narration, they probably picture someone sitting in front of a microphone reading a book aloud. What they don’t see is everything that happens before and after the recording itself. At one point in April, I had six audiobooks in various stages of production at once. Since then, one has been published, and another is about to be. I expect to finish recording and editing another one this week. The remaining projects are scheduled through m

I recently had the chance to take a couple of improv classes, and honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. What I discovered was how much fun it could be, even while being completely outside my comfort zone. One concept that came up repeatedly was “yes, and…” In improv, it means accepting what’s in front of you and building on it, rather than resisting it or trying to redirect the scene. What stayed with me even more was a related idea: resisting the urge to plan your r

Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot—more than I expected, in many ways. One of the biggest surprises has been just how much goes into producing clean, professional audio. From the outside, voiceover can seem straightforward: step into a booth, record, and deliver. But what you hear in the final product is only part of the story. In many ways, the industry has shifted in recent years. With more projects now recorded from home studios, the expectation isn’t just a strong per

After years of living and working around the world as a diplomat, I’ve learned that how something is said often matters just as much as what is being said. Clarity, tone, and connection can shape how a message is received—and whether it resonates at all. That understanding is what led me to voiceover work. Today, through LGBS Voice Studio, I provide voiceover for commercial, narration, and audiobook projects. My focus is simple: deliver clear, engaging audio that helps client