VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:40 am Post subject: Career Crisis!

We all enjoy puffing ourselves up and using selective memories to promote our careers, including me.

Earlier this morning I was reading an article about the King of the entire world etc Don La Fontaine and the impression he made on other people. For the record, I believe he was a very nice man, a very funny man and very good at his job.

Enter Joe Cipriano, who wrote about his fond memory of Don. The story was about Joe learning that in 2005 he had lost a major client the result being a 50% drop in income. Read voiceoverextra (Xtra?) to find out more. It is very encouraging, uplifting and above all, honest.

Got a career crisis story? Here's mine.

October 1999 I was summoned into the office of a commercial TV station by the head of presentation. For about 7 years I had work under contract or on an ad hoc freelance basis. I was told that in 3 months there would be no more work for me. Percentage drop in income, more than Joe's 50%.

"This isn't personal" said Sian, head of presentation. When I made comments about a better way to handle the situation, without avoiding the genuine business reason for no longer using me or my female counterpart, the legal type at the meeting, merely thumped the table and cited chapter and verse of my contract.

In reality, there was no one there for me so it was tough and financially took me to the verge of bankruptcy.

That experience has brought me this far .. What next? No idea, but this career, with or with the odd crisis, will always remain "not personal, only business".

Chuck Davis · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:50 am Post subject:

I had a similar "bump in the road" (read "crater") back in late 2007. Just as I was about to jump in full-time, for the first time, my largest client lost most of his clients. Bad? Yup - 60%+ drop in billing. Good? Yup too. That huge quake cause me to diversify, diversify, diversify! Never have too many eggs in one basket.
_________________
Wicked huge.....in India.
www.chuckdaviscreative.com

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 5:38 am Post subject:

I'll share mine, but it goes WAY back and is only vaguely v/o related:

I had been a video producer for BellSouth from 1979 - 1990. I was in a mid-level management position and making very good money with great benefits. In the summer of 1990, after 11 years there, and also after being remarried for only a year, I quit my job, sold my house, and along with my new wife, moved from Birmingham to Atlanta to go into business with a friend, doing video production. I took a 50% pay cut, with no benefits, to do this. We also rented a basement apartment for a while. (Also, 3 months after making this life-wrenching decision, we learned we were pregnant with the first of what would be 2 kids). One year later, I was unemployed with NO income. Why? Because our one BIG client, BASF, pulled most of its business from us and our business went belly-up.

Over the next 10 years or so I:
- tried selling real estate
- tried working for a floorcovering company
- tried selling cars
- freelanced as a video producer / staging roadie
- worked in customer service at a photo lab
- freelanced as a photographer monitoring strike situations (such as at a Caterpillar plant in Illinois)
- worked part time at nights for FedEx unloading trucks
- worked at several radio stations
- worked as a 'test patient' for a company that tests the skills of would-be foreign medical school grads wanting to practice in the U.S. (that was actually a lot of fun!)

... and around 2001 I began to test the waters of v/o.
And here I am today, making about 2X what I made when I left BellSouth (okay, so it's been 22 years, but my lifestyle has changed; and I currently own two homes).

I'm here due to an UNBELIEVABLY supportive wife, the grace of God, some hard work and a modicum of talent. And loving every minute of it.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

todd ellis · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:03 am Post subject:

it's a wake-up call we all get sooner or later, i think. mine came relatively recently.

in 2007 i had a client that supplied me with mid-5 figures, in 2008 high-5 figures, in 2009 low 6-figures, in january 2010 ... i got a call saying they were "going another direction". woah! they were polite & business like ... but no more cash cow for todd. after i stopped sweating, swearing and stomping around i got down to the business of replacing that money.

not to go off on a rant here - but all this "outcome based education" is a bunch of crap ... don't give the kids a failing grade - it'll hurt their feelings!

FEAR OF FAILURE IS A HELL OF A MOTIVATOR!

so is fear of starvation & liquidation.

i worked my ass off in business development for all of 2010 --- and scraped by - same for 2011. 2012 is looking much better so far.

lesson of the day --- keep filling the pipe - even if it's already full.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 981

I've posted about this before, but what the hell. Maybe I'll get a residual from the re-read.

It's about the journey, not the destination. The minute you are sitting pretty making a great living, that's when you work your ass off to continue the trend.

A few absolutes when it comes to show business:
1) There are no guarantees
2) There will always be bumps in the road during the entire journey
3) It never gets any easier, no matter where you are in your career
4) When it's good, there's nothing better. When it's bad, nothing worse
5) When one door closes, another will open
6) Everything happens for a reason
7) Learn from your mistakes
cool

Don't invest a moment dwelling, complaining, or anything on the negative side

Oh, there are a ton more, but I have a meeting to go to.

Look, over the past 22 years I've had to re-audition for Porky Pig 4 times. Most recently after doing the pilot for The Looney Tunes Show. AFTER doing the pilot!! The show is currently a huge hit and season 2 starts airing this fall. I was Emmy nominated for it last year. AND, I'm sure at some point I will have to re-audition yet again. Why? Well, because I don't own the character, and hey-that's show biz!

Treat your career always as if you are just starting out. Stay hungry. Know you can pay your bills with a day job if need be. Never do this for the money. Give back!!! Don't take yourself or this business too seriously. Everyone is replaceable. But keep going with a positive attitude. Invest and reinvest. Have fun! And when those down times come, and they will, THAT'S the time you will know if you are meant to do this for the long haul!

(and my number 8 comes out as a happy face.....fascinating!)

Member FDIC.

Jason Huggins · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:12 am Post subject:

I think I'm going to print that our and post it in my studio. That is really solid. Thanks for sharing again! (I missed it the first time) Smile

BruceG · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:32 am Post subject:

Kristin Lennox · Flight Attendant Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 858

I was the voice for Centex Homes for about four years, and though it wasn't a hugely significant portion of my income, it was a nice, steady gig...

Til it wasn't. Centex got bought out by Pulte Homes, and the whole account moved to another city. And, I assume, to another voice.

And now, even though presently I'm "the voice" for several companies/brands, etc... I never tell people that I am. Because even though I was last week... I might not be next week. And them's the breaks.

But back to Centex -- I really loved the commercials. They were well-written, funny... everything you want in a commercial spot. So after I got the boot, in remembrance of that sweet gig, I put together a demo of JUST Centex spots... Laugh

http://soundcloud.com/kristinl45/centex-demo
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Always look on the bright side of life.

Dee doo. Dee doot doot doo dee doo.

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Leslie Humble · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:47 pm Post subject:

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:52 am Post subject:

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:36 am Post subject:

Philip Banks · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:01 am Post subject:

Friday 17th - Not busy at all.

Near close of play 3 people contacted me.

1st - Ad agency regarding new national TV campaign for watches .. Well TICK ....TOCK!

2nd - Five mins later. TV production company making 4 programmes for BBC Worldwide.. Tuesday ok?

3rd - 4 hours later. Studio in US wanting to book me 2pm UK time for a coperate job.

In terms of financial NEED as opposed to greed or want I'm ok until May 2013 so the above 3 jobs take me well beyond that date.

Ever month I do the "Hmmmmmmm" numbers or to put it another way I pick a victim and ask "could I do without you in my life?" If the answer is no then the marketing goes up a notch and I add a parachute a pair of incontinence pant to my already robust financial protection measures.

My most recent, not client, but financial disaster was the latest fund report from the pople who mismanage my pension fund. In short, they've decided that I'm not going to retire. The number is so bad I at first assumed that there was an error in where the decimal point landed. The British government want everyone to provide for themselves in retirement. I have as long as my retirement lasts a maximum of 4 months.