Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

Away From the Mic

How to lose friends and irritate people

I was talking with a friend today. This friend Don has advanced degrees in multiple disciplines, yet he continues to attend grad school to earn more degrees. Barbara Sher, author of the life-changing book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, would say my friend is a scanner because he has varied interests and doesn’t settle on one thing for too long. I also would say that Don doesn’t want to commit to one thing. I’m convinced that he attends grad school so that he can postpone the inevitable time when he must finally make a choice of how he wants his life to proceed.

Today’s conversation got around to my voice-over business. As I talked about recent successes and my plans for the future, Don said, as he has said more than once over the years, “maybe I should look into doing voice-overs.” I tell anyone who asks me that they should explore any serious interest in voice-over work, sheep herding, Italian cooking or whatever. You don’t want to get to the end of your life and wonder “how would my life have been if I had done that?”.

As I have done in previous conversations, I recommended that Don start by reading books on my recommended list of voice-over books and taking some classes.

He asked how I would feel if he took a voice-over class and hit it big. Don is not someone in the incredible ** 81% ** of the Gen Y crowd (18-25 year-olds) who seems to expect fame and wealth as their birthright. Quite simply, Don is yet another person who thinks that making money in voice-over is an easy thing that can be done by anyone. Since he had a few spare hours in his schedule, Don was ready to sign up for the fortune and glory awaiting him as a voice-over actor.

I don’t think he will actually follow through with any action. After all, he is the same person who could never be bothered to even listen to my demos.

Our discussion today reminded me how Don acted when I created my first demo. When you decide to go after your goals, your friends and family will change their attitudes about you. In many cases, that change won’t be a positive one.

Before I made my first voice-over demo, I read books on voice-over, took voice-over classes covering interpretation and technique, and volunteered for 5 years to read for the blind. I ran eBay auctions to save money to have my demo professionally produced. Getting a finished demo in my hands was a monumental step toward my dream that required a lot of time and effort, and I was shocked and hurt by the reaction of several close friends when I asked them about listening to it. I wrote in my journal:

I appreciated Susie’s reaction in part because other people have hurt my feelings with their apparent lack of interest. Randy had seen the artwork and given me suggestions at my request [and did other things like talk to me about recording CDs]. However, Randy acted very bizarre when I asked him if he wanted to hear it. He suddenly remembered something he had to do at that very minute.

Don was no better. I have always been encouraging and supportive of his dreams. I read his novella recently and was the only person outside of his college instructors who understood it. I even made the same comments regarding character development that his instructor made. When I asked him if he would like to hear my long-awaited demo, he brushed me off and said he was too busy.

Even my best friend Erica disappointed me with her lack of reaction. I guess I expected more. If it were HER dream project, she wouldn’t be content with the sparse [comments] devoted to the subject.

Erica had been my best friend for 4-5 years. I felt like she was the sister I never had. We were in constant contact. Unfortunately, everything about our relationship changed in the moment that I created my first voice-over demo and started marketing it. Erica said she felt excluded, and she said I thought that my voice-over career was more important than her. Each time we talked, I felt that she didn’t want to hear about my marketing efforts, equipment purchases and gigs. She even told me that I was spending more time marketing my voice-over demo and playing my harp than I did with her. At one point, in anger that I again was working on marketing when she thought I should be spending time with her, Erica told me that she hoped my voice-over career would keep me company in my old age. Not surprisingly, our friendship disintegrated not too long after that comment.

I didn’t understand until a few years later the reason behind the tremendous negative reactions to my demo and new voice-over career. I always thought that my friends would be true, supportive of my efforts to improve my life and wishing to celebrate my success with me. Barbara Sher alluded to it in I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was. Everything she wrote about a family also holds true about one’s friends:

Almost any stranger would respect our dreams more easily than our family does. If you don’t believe me, try a comparison test. Next time you’re with a group of strangers, tell them the most offbeat idea you can think of. Tell them your dream is to raise dalmatians in the Himalayas, but you have no contacts in Tibet. Watch their interest pick up. They’ll even try to solve your problem.

INTEREST IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF RESPECT.

You don’t love these strangers, and they don’t love you, but we are all captivated by each other’s visions. It’s in our nature as humans to be intrigued with any new idea — unless we have some personal reason for not doing so. Our families have plenty of personal reasons, but a stranger is a pure soul. It’s possible that one stranger in twenty will react negatively to you, for his own reasons, but you’ll find the other nineteen will say something like, “Interesting idea! My cousin raises dogs!”, or “My neighbor’s been to Nepal! Do you want to talk to her?”

Now, to complete the comparison test, go home and tell your family the same kind of fantasy….How did your family like that? Did they drop their forks before or after they scrambled to talk you out of your “folly”?

When I analyzed the reactions of Randy, Don and Erica, I realized that people have a vested interest in keeping you the same.

If you dare to create goals and attempt to reach them, you make other people think about what’s missing in their own lives. They will take out their frustration over their own lives by directing it at you. Like my former friend Erica, they express their irritation with you about your pro-active activities, when, in fact, they are irritated with themselves for sleepwalking through their lives.

Steven Pressfield illuminated the issue perfectly in his amazing book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (a book that should be on the must-read list for every creative person):

Resistance by definition is self-sabotage. But there’s a parallel peril that must also be guarded against: sabotage by others.

When a writer begins to overcome her Resistance — in other words, when she actually starts to write — she may find that those close to her begin acting strange. They may become moody or sullen, they may get sick; they may accuse the awakening writer of “changing,” of “not being the person she was.” The closer these people are to the awakening writer, the more bizarrely they will act and the more emotion they will put into their actions.

They are trying to sabotage her.

The reason is that they are struggling, consciously or unconsciously, against their own Resistance. The awakening writer’s success becomes a reproach to them. If she can beat these demons, why can’t they?

If you decide to pursue a voice-over career — or take up sheep herding, or Italian cooking, or whatever — I can guarantee you that your relationships with others WILL change. Some relationships will evolve, while others will disappear. You have to ask yourself who you’re living life FOR, and what the good opinion of someone else actually means to you.

Working on your goals fills your life with purpose and makes every moment meaningful. You have to decide whether you are going to live the life you were meant to lead or sit on the sidelines, watching it pass you by. Waiting to get the approval of friends and family about your plans for your dream life is a guaranteed way to ensure that your life will remain exactly as it is today.

Of course, if you can’t decide on a course of action, I have a friend who can recommend several grad schools that will keep you busy!

 

How many languages does a voice talent need?

A musical instrument can produce melodious notes in any key playable by the instrument and known by the musician. If my voice is my instrument, why should I limit myself only to the words available in one language?

The world view of an American is someone is only knows one language. Foreign languages are not required school subjects here, so many people do not choose to learn them. English has become the global language for business and computer systems.

In 1994, Drew and I took our first trip abroad. Our destination was Germany, with a weekend in Amsterdam on the end of the trip. I had studied German in high school and college, but I had forgotten much of it since I had not had an opportunity to practice it. Don’t worry about the language was the advice of a friend. Everyone in Europe speaks English.

We discovered that the German people spoke German, at least on our first day in Munich. While our remembrances of that day now make for funny stories, the language barrier caused one of the most frustrating days of our entire marriage.

As a side note, I believe that the fear of the language barrier is one reason many people don’t travel internationally. This post and several others have been inspired by some trips, but this blog is not about travel. However, I will point out that if you attempt to speak even a few words in the native tongue of the country where you’re standing, you have just made a huge step forward in making your trip an enjoyable one.

In Germany, I found that I started remembering more of my German as I continued to hear it. I could speak sentences half in German and half in English to people. After the first day, more people started speaking English, even ein bisschen (a little) to us. When they said they could speak ‘a little’ English, they usually were fluent.

Two trips abroad this past year brought me in contact with students at language schools.

In February, I went to Brazil for the fantastic Inner Game of Voice-Over Workshop taught by my voice-over coach Susan Berkley and her co-instructor Rich Jones, an award-winning voice talent from Canada who now lives in Brazil.

Susan and Rich both speak fluent Portuguese. The workshop participants certainly were grateful for their translation assistance when we were shopping in the small countryside towns where English was not widely spoken! One of the most memorable uses of language was our studio session in Sao Paulo. Susan directed the talent in English and immediately gave production instructions to the engineer in Portuguese.

Rich also teaches English at the Millennium Language School in Sao Paulo. I was delighted in recent months when Rich asked me to voice some tracks for an instructional CD to be used at the school.

When I was in Brazil, the Brazilian students loved to talk to the Americans as it gave them ample opportunity to practice their English. I loved talking with the students as I was able to interact with people in another country on a more personal level than I normally do when I travel. The Brazilian students were all adults in a wide spectrum of ages.

When Drew and I recently visited Alexandria, Egypt, we saw a language school that was letting out for the day. The students ranged from small children to kids of high school age. They all appeared to be carrying books with English titles. We saw one boy carrying books labeled Chemistry and a SAT preparation guide. Those children and/or their parents see English as a necessary component to a bright future.

As an American, it would be easy (and somewhat arrogant) to think that I have no need to learn another language.

I have observed and read that more people around the world are learning my language. When I travel, I notice that more signs are in both the native language of the country and English. People usually switch to English when they learn I’m an American.

As a traveler, I have a goal to be multi-lingual. I declared this goal in my journal a few years ago when we were staying at a hotel on the tiny island of Bonaire near South America. One day, I watched the concierge fluidly and easily converse in 5 languages with the swarm of guests who approached her. I decided that day that I will speak German, French, Spanish and Italian. Being able to converse with someone in their own language emphasizes our similarities as people rather than our differences.

Most importantly, as a voice-over talent, I have a need to be multi-lingual.

Even without fluency in several languages, I at least need to be able to recognize, understand and correctly pronounce foreign words when they appear in literature so that I can perform audiobooks effortlessly. In addition, studying other languages always can improve one’s English since many of our words are derived from another language.

Even now, I can understand some German through hearing or reading it better than I can spontaneously speak it. I have recorded a voice mail system in German for a client who wanted continuity of voice-over for both English and German. I think that in most cases, though, my opportunities to perform scripts in a foreign language would be limited. If an organization wants to hire a voice talent who speaks a certain language, plenty of native voice actors exist who could execute the script flawlessly. I realize I would have the easiest time of first regaining my skills in German, but I have taken the challenge of learning French.

I am continuously adding foreign language programs to my reference library. I currently own language CDs in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese. These CD sets are usually packaged with pronunciation guides, lesson books and/or pocket dictionaries. I am in the process of loading all of my language CDs on my iPod so that it becomes an incredibly useful tool to my voice-over career. I can quickly find and listen to the speakers with authentic accents, which helps me prepare proper accents for character parts.

A terrific source of these programs at low-cost is Costco. I also have found college dictionaries for foreign languages there. My philosophy is: the time to buy it is when you see it! Costco and similar shopping warehouses are notorious for having limited quantities of a product and not restocking them.

Of course, in this information age, we have almost unlimited opportunities to become armchair travelers and listen to the dialects and accents of those from other countries. In addition to the abundance of travel shows on TV, you can download podcasts and radio broadcasts from the Internet. You can play your favorite movie with the soundtrack from another language. I’ve read that audiobook narrator Kate Reading (Anna Fields) would go to ethnic restaurants as part of her research for books. I also know voice talent who have contacted embassies for particularly tough pronunciation questions connected with audiobook research.

Perhaps the typical American only knows how to speak English. I hope that statistic is changing. However, this American voice talent wants to know how to speak fluently in 4 other languages. In the meantime, I’ll be happy if I can retain the flavor of the accent enough to sound convincing to listeners of my recordings.

 

Nine Tips About Buying Equipment on eBay

I joined eBay in 1997, and I have bought and sold countless things on this great system through hundreds of transactions. When other voice talent tell me that they don’t have money to get their voice-over demo produced, take a class with a premier teacher or invest in their studio equipment, I ask them if they have considered selling things on eBay to raise some fast cash. If you don’t need it, someone on eBay wants to buy it. By the same token, if you’re looking for something, someone on eBay is selling it.

In fact, whenever I am looking for something, especially equipment for my voice-over studio, I see if I can find it on eBay. I bought my Neumann TLM 103 microphone and DAT recorder from eBay sellers. My mic was brand new in the box, yet I purchased it on eBay at a price much lower than the retail rate quoted by several leading supply houses. However, many people are reluctant to shop on eBay, though, because they fear losing their money to unscrupulous dealers.

An article in yesterday’s Atlanta Business Chronicle fuels this kind of fear and was the propelling force behind this post today. With almost 10 years of eBay experience to my credit, I offer these tips for safe shopping on eBay:

1) Always look at the seller’s feedback rating and read the comments. You need to click on the feedback number and see if the seller is maintaining positive comments from buyers. A high number doesn’t necessarily mean that the seller is currently providing good service.

2) Be wary of sellers who do not provide a picture of the actual item. Some people will use pictures from other sellers’ listings or from vendors’ web sites. You want to see a picture of the actual item under consideration. If a seller can’t provide a picture of the actual item, I move on to another listing. With millions of things for sale on eBay at any given moment, I can wait until I can see the thing that I’m buying.

3) A strong, detailed description of the item indicates the seller’s knowledge. Whether I’m buying or selling, I want to see more than a single line of description on the item. As a sidebar to this tip, make note that if you decide to sell some items, you should be aware that a description that tells a story will make your buyers more attracted to your item. People love to be told a story, and you will get more money for your item if you can make that connection. I’m not saying “tell a story” as in “tell some lies”, but rather add adjectives and background material that make your item sound interesting to the reader.

For instance, when I have sold some of my Barry Manilow collection to pay for studio equipment, I wrote about hearing Barry sing a particular song at a concert and how that song is on a rare and valuable CD. When you can make the connection to your audience, you build trust.

4) Ask questions before you bid. Note how rapidly and thoroughly the seller responds to your questions.

5) Research prices in the closed listings before placing your bid. If you’re buying something common like equipment for your voice-over studio, chances are great that somebody has recently sold the same item. You can learn a lot by reviewing the closed listings to determine how many bidders were interested in an item and the prices paid. Obviously, if you are looking at something unusual like a piece of Dresden porcelain of a woman playing harp (yes, I’ve bought some of those on eBay!), you might not find any comparison listings.

Also compare the eBay prices to those at your favorite dealers. Many of them actually sell products on eBay. My Neumann mic was offered in this manner; an audio specialist with a brick and mortar building also posted items on eBay. Depending on the item, you may need to take service into consideration. For instance, I once bought a notebook computer from someone who only ran eBay listings. Given the nature of that item and the abundance of computers available, I think I would try to find one locally or direct from the manufacturer rather than shop for one on eBay.

6) Ask about the warranty. If you need warranty repair, your warranty coverage won’t be worth much to you if the warranty on your new studio equipment covers the European Union, and you live in the United States. When you see a significantly lower price on a piece of electronics, it may be a “gray market” item. You have to decide how much the warranty is worth to you or whether you’re willing to risk buying an item that may not have warranty coverage for your country.

7) Never, ever agree to pay someone by Western Union wire transfer. The buyers in the Atlanta Business Chronicle story were cheated by sellers who were paid by wire transfer. I learned in a transaction that had nothing to do with eBay that someone using wire transfer is preying on your emotions. If they insist on a wire transfer because they are in a hurry to do the deal, you need to run in the other direction!

They may say things like they are under a bankruptcy order and have a strict deadline, so that’s why they need the money so fast. You should know that once you transfer the money out of your account and into theirs, you can’t reverse the transfer unless they have enough money in their account. They will never have enough money in their account for a reversal!

PayPal is a safe form of payment. I will use it for immediate payment, but I still make the payment on my credit card so that money is not immediately transferred out of my checking account. I should have received the item by the time I receive my credit card bill. If I haven’t, I can always put the item in dispute with my credit card issuer.

8) If you have any uneasy feelings about the seller, you can request their contact information through eBay. You have to be involved in a transaction with someone before you can get their contact information. If you have paid for something and a seller becomes unresponsive, you can request their contact information from eBay.

9) If you decide to pay by check and don’t receive your merchandise, your Postmaster General may become your new best friend. Did you know that mail fraud is a federal crime? The definition of mail fraud from the United States Postal Service site is:

U.S. Postal Inspectors investigate any crime in which the U.S. Mail is used to further a scheme–whether it originated in the mail, by telephone, or on the Internet.

The use of the U.S. Mail is what makes it mail fraud.

Before you file the claim form on that site, you can advise the seller of your intention to start a mail fraud investigation. That action just might make them either cough up the goods or refund your money

I definitely don’t purchase everything on eBay. It’s just another source for me. After consulting with an audio engineer 3 weeks ago, I decided to change my studio components from a PC-based system with an Akai DPS DAW to an Apple MacBook Pro and a Digidesign Mbox2 Pro with ProTools LE. While I looked on eBay, I didn’t buy anything from there this time. I bought the computer directly from Apple since Drew gets a great company discount there, and I found a fantastic deal at Musicians Friend that includes a CAD GXL3000 condenser microphone and Fantom 120GB firewire hard drive. I haven’t tested the mic, but it looks well-made and might be a decent mic to take with me when I travel.

I have used eBay extensively in the furtherance of my voice-over career. I have bought equipment for my studio, and I have sold things in order to raise funds for my demos, training and equipment. I hope these nine tips about buying equipment on eBay give you the confidence to try it for yourself. Feel free to post your comments about how you have used eBay to further your voice-over career or other dreams or any other tips you want to share!

 

Changing your thoughts on Valentines Day

I had a doctor’s appointment today. I have been taking prescription drugs for several years to prevent migraine headaches, and I have decided that I don’t want to take daily medicine for the rest of my life. I want step down the dosage so that I’m off the drugs completely.

While the doctor is willing to accommodate my request, I noticed that she told me more than once that I would probably start noticing an increase in headaches and would need to go back on the medicine. Maybe, but I don’t think so.

The mind is an extraordinary thing. In order to make any positive change in your life, you have to change your thoughts.

I reach for the most powerful, positive thought possible, using techniques that I have learned from many people. For instance, I often hear from people who feel they can’t follow their dreams of voice-over careers or other things because they have full-time jobs. I use the words of Barbara Sher when I tell them to think of their full-time job as a subsidy to their art. I learned from Dr. Wayne Dyer that you must bless your job with love and realize that it is a stepping stone on your life’s pathway.

For the career changers, I learned from Louise Hay that you must start thinking in terms of being ready to release your current position with love to the next person who would be delighted to have it. Train your mind to think of the delicious possibilities that you desire. If you want a voice-over career, visualizing the outcome is the first step you should take on your journey. If you know where you’re going, you will be able to figure out the actions you need to take to get there.

Last year at this time, I was preparing to go to Brazil for a class titled The Inner Game of Voice-Over taught by my coach Susan Berkley and her co-instructor Rich Jones. Those two people are as warm and gracious as the Brazilian sun, and I was a like a flower on a spring day when taking direction from them. Our time together did much to help me analyze my thinking on various topics. They taught based on Dr. Norberto Keppe’s psychological work

I have talked about Susan previously in my blog, so you probably know that she’s the voice of AT&T and other big companies, and she runs a production company. Rich is an award-winning voice talent who now lives in Brazil. Rich has started a podcast titled Thinking With Somebody Else’s Head that challenges some of the popular beliefs held in the world. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’d like you to listen to his recent episode titled Some Truth About Love.

Rich reminds me on his podcasts that love and beauty are all around us. When I think of the world that way, I know that I don’t need to be so focused and driven on producing results in my voice-over career that I have to take drugs everyday to ward away migraines.

 

Look forward on New Year’s Day

I know I promised another article that was inspired from my recent trip, but I had to pass on something I just read that will help you move forward in your voice-over career. It’s a new year, and many people have spent part of the day setting goals and reflecting on events of the past year. Every New Year’s Eve, I write in a special journal about my plans and hopes for the coming year. I have goals for all areas of my life, especially in my voice-over profession.

However, I have learned that I don’t want to spend too much time looking back over the past year. It’s easy to fall in the trap of forgetting my many accomplishments for the year. My mind instead wants to dwell on things that didn’t happen the way I envisioned or at all. I want to stay focused on my current plans and keep marching ahead!

I just read Wayne Dyer’s new book Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires. He makes a strong point in chapter six that made me realize yet again the detrimental effect one’s thoughts can have on one’s voice-over career.

Dyer and others have said You become what you think about all day long. He writes:

Thinking that the past is responsible for your continuing insufficiency is a major source of resistance. You’ve probably been taught that if you don’t pay attention to the mistakes of the past, you’re bound to repeat them. Here’s my take on that advice: Keeping your thoughts on the mistakes of the past guarantees that you’ll continue manifesting them in the present!…
Refuse to think about what’s failed to materialize unless you’re hoping for more of the same….
Be grateful for all that failed to show up. Then shift from resistance to the direction of manifesting your desires, and rebalance your thinking so that it matches up with those desires. 

Maybe you:

  • didn’t land an agent last year
  • didn’t book the amount of work you wanted to last year
  • didn’t get your web site on-line last year
  • didn’t connect with any new clients last year
  • didn’t attend any networking events last year
  • didn’t install or upgrade your studio last year
  • didn’t take any classes last year
  • didn’t send out any marketing materials last year
  • didn’t read any blogs last year (except this one!)
  • didn’t perform any auditions last year

Right. I could continue on with a long list of things that maybe you didn’t do, but that would be negative thinking. Why don’t you write down a list of everything — big and small — that you DID to move forward on your voice-over goals? When I look at my list, I feel fantastic! I see that I took advantage of unexpected opportunities, and I have momentum carrying me into the coming year.

I re-write my goals and plans on an on-going basis. Magical things happen when you write down your goals….but that’s another subject for another day.

I wanted to write today to encourage you to start your new year by looking forward in your voice-over career, not back. Looking back tends to crystallize your thinking and can cause you to get stuck. It’s a new year, so it’s time to move ahead! Decide what you want, and then decide that you have the power to attain it. Once you start thinking those types of thoughts, you will start taking the actions necessary to make your dreams a reality.

 

You can trust your gut instinct

Things happen for a reason. Every moment and decision has meaning — even if you don’t know it at the time.

As I sit in my beautiful soundproof recording studio with its Parisian decorating scheme, I still marvel at the newness of it. A little more than a year ago at this time, my house, my voice-over career and my life were severely disrupted because we were in the midst of building the addition on our house for the studio.

I didn’t even make the decision to build the studio until 6 January 2005. Prior to building the studio, I had been using an unventilated, small walk-in closet as my voice-over recording booth. While I could tolerate the many discomforts of the space, it was the surrounding noise that forced me to go to drastic lengths.

Even though we had decided to build a new soundproof room for my voice-over studio, I originally had no idea what the finished interior would look like. I should say I had no conscious idea, but I feel the whole project was guided by my intuition, and, perhaps, a higher power.

We had planned a trip to the Salzburg Festival in Austria in August, 2001 but canceled it when my dad was seriously ill at the end of July of that year. Sometime in 2004, we had decided we would vacation in Austria for my April, 2005 birthday.

In late 2004, I suddenly and without any reason decided that I would rather go to Paris.

In December, 2004, I bought tickets to see Barry Manilow for 5 concerts (!) in his new show in Las Vegas in mid-August, 2005. I was thrilled because I would have front-row and fourth-row seats.

February, 2005, found us replacing all of the original single-pane, double-hung windows on the house with fantastic triple-pane casement windows. In addition to their thickness, the new windows form an amazing seal to the house and really aid in soundproofing the house from the constant melee of exterior noise that confronts us everyday. I cherish peace and quiet even when I’m not recording. I saved a few of the smaller original windows, thinking I might use them somehow as future art projects. Drew thought they were just more things to take up space in the garage.

We had visited Paris for 5 hours in 2003 as part of a cruise stop, but last year, we were there for one glorious week. I loved everything about the city. On my birthday, we had the most incredible and memorable dinner of my life in the Eiffel Tower overlooking the Seine River at sunset. The Eiffel Tower is now my favorite thing in the world. 🙂 I loved to glimpse it as often as possible as we toured Paris, and I took every opportunity to watch it twinkle at night.

While we were in Paris, we bought 3 paintings. I had no idea where I would put them in my house since the walls are already covered in art. I also sketched a building on the artist plaza behind Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, never intending to do anything with it.

When we visited Versailles, we walked through the magnificent gardens, which are filled with ornate statues. It started to rain, so we decided to head back toward the Chateau. We passed a statue we had not seen on our entrance to the gardens, and I stopped in my tracks.

I told Drew that for some reason, I felt that statue was important, and I asked him to take a picture of it.

After we returned from our vacation, we selected the contractor for the studio construction. Work began in late May and dragged on until October. The details about the construction project are another story for another time! However, if you want to learn from my experience, you can download my free PDF Karen’s Crash Course in Avoiding Ca$h-Poor Contractors.

I was aware of making only minimal interior decorating decisions at the outset of the project. I chose the color of the walls and carpet. I also said I wanted track lighting because I knew that I would hang some sort of artwork in the studio, given that we have art through the rest of the house.

During the construction, I first decided I could hang the 3 new paintings from Paris in the studio since a new room meant 4 new bare walls. Since we built the studio without windows to improve the soundproofing of the room, I began to wonder how a faux window would look on the wall. After all, I had saved real windows from the house. I asked Drew whether my favorite picture from Paris could be enlarged to the size of the window and if it somehow could be lit from behind so that it would look realistic. Drew immediately saw the possibility of this idea and began working the implementation.

Drew worked with a local Alphagraphics to enlarge the picture and mount it on Plexiglas. Drew and his dad built a box to house the lights, and Drew painted it to match the walls.

Now, my studio has a window that doesn’t let in sound!

When I look out my window, my enchanting view is that of a brightly-lit tour boat motoring down the Seine at 9:10pm in front of the Museum D’Orsay, with the dazzling light show of the Eiffel Tower in progress off to the right.

In June, I was given a book which showed all of the artwork of my favorite artist, Fanch Ledan. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw a print that featured the same building that I had sketched! I started to acquire several of his older, uncommon prints featuring the Eiffel Tower, and I asked a dealer to search for that one long-out-of-print piece of art. The Parisian decorating theme by this time was swirling in my brain.

By August, I was so distraught over the cost, problems and delays with the studio construction that I almost cancelled my long-awaited trip to see Barry Manilow. Drew told me to go, relax and have fun; he would stay and deal with the contractor. A friend told me that I should definitely go on the trip, saying that maybe I’d find something unique for my studio.

I not only had a blast at Barry’s concerts, as I would expect, but yes, I DID find something for my studio.

I was staying at a hotel off the strip and had to take a shuttle to the Bellagio. Barry was playing at the Hilton, at the other end of the strip. Since the temperature was a sweltering 110 degrees (‘yes, but it’s a dry heat’, everyone always tells me when I go to Vegas, as if sticking my head in an oven would somehow make me feel terrific), I was walking outside as little as possible.

After leaving the shuttle, my normal route took me through the Bellagio, across the bridge to Bally’s and through Bally’s to the sumptuous Paris Las Vegas Hotel or the Monorail. Naturally, with my fondness for Paris, I liked to hang out at the Paris hotel, which has a lobby chandeliers and mirrors to resemble Versailles. I browsed in the lovely gift shop and found the perfect wall sconces for my silk flowers. The velvety purple color is unbelievably just a shade off from the color of my walls.

However, the piece de resistance came when I walked in the Shops at Bally’s. If I hadn’t walked through Bally’s every time I went anywhere in Vegas, I might not have visited their shops, and horrors! I might have missed this treasure. There, in the window of one luxury shop, was an impossibly huge, etched, crystal Eiffel Tower. It sparkled and shimmered as the light caught all of its hundreds of facets. I went in the store to admire it, but its impossibly huge price to match its overwhelming size made it seem like something I should ignore.

The store owner saw my interest (can you say drooling?) and led me to the counter, where a 13′ version of the crystal Tower proudly stood. The dealer told me that I could get a rotating mirrored base that has colored lights under the mirror and was sold separately. I guess it must have been a slow day and/or the guy really liked me because I negotiated a completely wonderful deal on this mesmerizing piece of crystal and got the mirrored base for free! One of the Las Vegas sconces is shown in this picture on the wall to left of the crystal.

Sometime in the summer, I started visualizing an overstuffed love seat with sleigh arms and carved legs.

Due to the placement of the interior door, I don’t have room for full sofa. I found some love seats on-line that I liked, but they would require custom work at custom prices. One was actually in Paris, so I quickly ruled it out. One hot Saturday, Drew and I went to a half dozen nearby furniture stores. We saw nothing that looked French, carved or anything that even halfway compared to the type of love seat that I envisioned. Oh, and did I mention that I wanted a green love seat?

Exhausted by a day of fruitless searching, we made one last stop into Haverty’s. We almost didn’t go there because no one else had anything, and we had no expectation that Haverty’s would be different. We should have gone there first. My dream love seat was waiting for me there.

Once construction was complete last fall, I started thinking that I would like a tapestry to cover the electrical box that is behind the door that leads in from the kitchen. We were looking for the fabric to match the love seat to use as drapery fabric for the faux window. We didn’t find the fabric, but we saw some tapestries hanging on a rack. After inspection, none were suitable for my studio.

On the way out of the store, though, we discovered that we could send our picture to a company which would create a custom tapestry from our picture! We knew immediately which picture to use: a striking shot of crimson tulips swaying in the foreground with a Parisian subway train rounding the bend front of typical blue-roofed apartment buildings in the background. Drew shot the picture while we were walking from the train station to the Eiffel Tower on the way to my birthday celebration. The company that makes the tapestry even supplied a rod with fleur-de-lis endpoints.

My studio decorating theme may seem like a happy accident until I look back and realize it couldn’t have been any other way.

It’s the voice-over recording studio of my dreams…and then some.

If you have stayed with me this far, you may be wondering why I have told you the detailed story behind my studio decoration.

So often, I think our intuition gives us amazing guidance, but we ignore it.

If we analyze the decisions in this story that I made by intuition, we see that I:

  • Went to Paris for vacation instead of Austria
  • Saved the window from the house
  • Took the picture of the statue at Versailles
  • Decided to hang the Paris paintings in the studio, even if by default
  • Shopped in Las Vegas for studio furnishings and found the amazing crystal statue
  • Went to Haverty’s to look at furniture after almost giving up
  • Went to a store for drapery material and instead found way to order a custom tapestry

In fact, this entire blog entry was guided by my intuition. When I started writing, I had in mind another lesson that I wished to relate. However, my fingers typed this one, as if taking dictation. Perhaps someone needs to know that they can trust their intuition in making important decisions about their voice-over career. Your intuition will tell you whether a class is a scam or a life-changing opportunity. Your intuition will urge you to make a particular phone call to a certain client. Your intuition will guide you to make choices and take action toward building your career that you may not totally understand at the time but will make brilliant sense in retrospect.

I realized I didn’t show you the picture of the statue at Versailles or tell you what I did with it. Every artist needs a star on her door, and I’m no exception. As I walk in my WhisperRoom each day, I see that splendid statue from Versailles, a lovely marble lady who looks like she was once holding a microphone in her hand. I even found a frame that matches the decorating scheme perfectly!

By the way, I still haven’t made it to Austria. I know that there’s a reason for the delay. My intuition tells me that, like my studio decoration, that trip will be better than I dreamed possible when it finally happens.

How has your intuition helped you in advancing your career? You read my story; I would love to read yours!