Real HumanAnd the Winner is…
Wow.
My head is still spinning from the amazing weekend at the One Voice conference and Awards Ceremony. I was absolutely shocked to hear my name called as the winner for Best Political Demo! That room was full of the best of the best of this industry. As I said in my speech…just to be able to consider myself a colleague amongst these giants is so amazing. To be honored with an award is a complete dream come true.
Acceptance Speech
Everyone kept their speeches short and sweet–which was much appreciated as we had a ton of awards to get through! As you’ll hear in my own acceptance speech (which you can watch below), they played the first portion of my Democratic Political Demo as I walked up on stage. I am so happy that they did. This spot (written and produced by J. Michael Collins) represents my belief systems in a nutshell and I believe that you can hear that in my delivery. I am so proud to have had that spot in particular represent me as I took the stage. It’s wonderful timing to win an award for this particular genre…as we are obviously in an intense election year and Political advertising is exploding! I have already had the honor to voice Political commercials promoting women’s right to choose. My hope is that I can do so much more to promote abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, gun control advocacy, and other policies and politicians that promote love and acceptance while protecting body autonomy and promoting equal rights.
One Voice
The One Voice Awards are the only voice-over awards that don’t charge an entry fee for submissions; as a result, they receive thousands of entries. We were told that for 2024, they received around 5000 entries that a group of 19 judges voted on (blindly to keep them objective). Categories included best TV commercial, best radio commercial, best corporate narration, automotive spot, TV promo, animation, best voiceover demos in many of the genres, voice-over artists of the year, and more. The talent in that room was mind-blowing. These were artists at the very top of their game with careers that cover every genre and every high-profile voice-over gig one could possibly think of. It was so uplifting and inspiring to be surrounded and uplifted by this voiceover community. The skill and talent in the room was only surpassed by the support and goodwill of the community. It was the such an incredibly lovely and positive atmosphere.
The One Voice Conference
But of course the weekend was not only about the awards themselves. There was a plethora of VO industry panels, workshops, and other learning opportunities. I had the pleasure of attending small-group workshops hosted by Sumeet Iyengar of Cope Management and Arielle Negrin of Atlas Talent on commercial voiceover, movie trailer voiceovers, and promo vo. Both workshops were wonderful and filled with valuable nuggets of wisdom from VO industry pros. We all had a chance to step up to the mic multiple times, receive feedback, and improve our reads. Having attended similar workshops online and in person…I highly recommend attending in-person learning opportunities. While I learn from both formats, there is something about being in the same room that simply cannot be beat.
The Takeaway
It’s hard to sum up all of my feelings about this incredible honor and weekend in general. I will say this: it has not been easy forcing myself out of the comfort of my cozy recording booth and putting myself “out there”. But it has been oh so very worth it. Each conference and in-person networking event I have attended has fueled my knowledge and motivation in countless ways. The VO community is warm and joyful and I feel incredibly proud to belong to this amazing group of people. This award is the cherry on top of the this gift of a career that is beyond my wildest dreams.
