EP 175 - Kasey Hott and Shar Albert

Troy Holden (00:01) Hey, hey, hey, and welcome back. is the VO life, the podcast all about living a VO life. And we're kicking off a bunch of interviews for the summer. And I'm really, really happy to start this one off because Casey hot, who I ⁓ sat with a couple of years ago at VO Atlanta, who was about to pull the trigger on jumping into all this full time and making a lot of changes in life ⁓ is here with us. And, and also Shar Albert is here with us who just recently was the winner of our mock audition that we did on Facebook. And congratulations. And I just wanna first welcome you both. Good to have you. You got your coffee cups ready or how are you guys this morning? Shar (00:36) Yikes. Got some water, being good. Got the big bottle of water. Troy Holden (00:47) Yep, yep. I've got the bottles here on my desk. I have learned the hard way that if I will set four bottles of water up here on this desk every morning, I will drink them. And if I use a cup and I have to go fill it up and I have to mess with it, I won't. And then I got my jumbo coffee cup and I put that in between. But yeah, it's just been ⁓ great that you guys were able to jump on and Shar (00:51) You you Troy Holden (01:17) Let me first start a little bit with you, Shar, and the mock audition. ⁓ Where did you draw your inspiration for your read? Did you base that on a character or a situation, or what did you do to hit your read like you did? Shar (01:33) I just let my imagination roll wild with, said, you know, think about the most outrageous infomercial that you could find. and yeah, just tried to picture that crazy person that you see on those QVC sales things like that. And, ⁓ Troy Holden (01:41) Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. we don't get to do those all the time, you know, so that's what I thought made this one different. And we'll come back and do a serious one later. I know the last one we did that was serious, we had over 70 people put in and this one, it was just, you know, around 12 or 15. I can't remember. It wasn't near as many and maybe it was a little bit too goofy for people, you know? Shar (01:58) No. No. Maybe people are afraid to... I love being funny. I love anything that's humorous. ⁓ And I thought that was a great opportunity to just, you know, be wacky. Over the top. No. Troy Holden (02:23) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I get excited when those type auditions come in. You don't see them that often. I always also look for the over the top sales things like the screaming, yelling car commercials and stuff. I love that stuff. You just don't see it very often. ⁓ With that, let me circle back on the mock audition just a little bit and just say that even though was a small amount that came in, there were a lot of good entries. Shar (02:44) You Troy Holden (02:58) ⁓ I can honestly say for one of the first times there was no bad audio in all of them. All the audio was very acceptable. Some was a little cleaner and little louder and a little sharper than others, but I would not have kicked anybody out for audio. But I will say two people mislabeled. They did not match the label. Folks, that is so important because most of your casting agents and other agents and wherever you're submitting, Shar (03:04) Nice. Troy Holden (03:28) They have their inbox set up to catch that and they are putting those into a folder based on you labeling correctly a lot of times. So be sure and do that. Cause you'll see in a lot of these castings, it'll say, don't change the spaces, don't add a dash, don't do anything, copy this and just put your name in it. They're trying to make it easy. And I did the same. put it in there where you could copy it if you needed to, but we did have two people that missed the boat on that. And you know, Shar (03:47) Yep, yep. Troy Holden (03:57) I didn't kick them out for that because we had so few, but pay attention to that. It's important. Every little thing matters. Casting agents are like they got those elephant memories. They won't forget that you did that. And so don't do that as we like say, don't do that. ⁓ So let me jump into get away from the mock for a while. And like I said, we'll take a listen here to the winner and a couple of other things. and I'll put those right here. All right, so let ⁓ me jump into history and let's talk to Casey first. Casey, when I last sat and talked to you via Atlanta last year, not this year, ⁓ you were nervously anticipating change, about to get married. You had so much going on and bless your heart. Here you are, you're doing it. Shar (04:45) you Kasey Hott (04:47) I am doing it. It was a crazy year. I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone because it was a little too wild. I quit my job that I've been doing for 15 years, was huge. I had been doing local news and journalism for a really long time. Troy Holden (05:02) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (05:03) things had just kinda changed a lot in that and yeah, I was getting ready to get married and we were getting ready to move and we bought a house and then I was getting ready to go full time. So it was like everything, I don't know if I was crazy or if it was a good way to do it just to kinda like rip off the band-aid and do it all at once. But I'm still here, so I'm still here. ⁓ Shar (05:11) ⁓ man. Troy Holden (05:13) Yeah. Shar (05:23) ⁓ man. Troy Holden (05:24) Yeah, yeah, you're definitely here. ⁓ I want to get into a little bit of, that's a heck of a transition because a lot of us, you know, had I started in any of this 20 years ago, I would have loved to have been a TV weatherman or I would have loved to have been any, you know, I love the news stuff, newscasting. I would have liked it. It would have been fun or any kind of personality like that. And then now that I've started doing this year, finally at this Kasey Hott (05:27) You Huh. You would have been a good one. Troy Holden (05:53) ripe old age of 61, I jump into on-camera stuff. And I had no idea there was such a ⁓ market for that for people my age. It's huge, especially for spokesperson content where I'm representing a supplement or I'm talking about a hearing aid or stuff like that. It's crazy. And ⁓ some of the pricing on it, it's like a lot of things. I'm like, no, there's no way I'll do it for that. ⁓ I had one the other day that said, They were gonna send me this big roll of plastic and you put it under your house, you know, it's like a vapor barrier. You you film it and you're under there putting it in and we'll pay you $300. I said, no, won't. No, you won't. I'm not doing it for that. And it's always, you know, it's always that stuff that runs you off. But that's a heck of a transition. So getting out of TV and going into VO, you're still using your talent, using your voice. Shar (06:28) No! Kasey Hott (06:31) No, no, no. Troy Holden (06:48) But that's a big change. Why make that change? Kasey Hott (06:51) It is a very big change and a lot of it is, it's kind of sad, but ⁓ local news has really, really changed a lot. And it's because I think a lot of us, we don't really get our news from watching the six o'clock or the 11 o'clock news anymore, right? It's just all on our phones and we're getting alerts and updates. And so that advertising, all the money that they used to make from advertising is really not, people aren't advertising there anymore because they know that they're gonna get more. Troy Holden (07:04) Right. Kasey Hott (07:17) on YouTube or digital or you know and so it's just changed a lot in that way and it's kind of sad to see I've had a lot of my friends who have been doing it for years who I was like this person will never get out of news like they're a news news junkie through and through but they they have left the business and so there is a big transition there and it'll be interesting I think to see what happens with local news over the next you know five ten years so that was a big part of it Troy Holden (07:19) right. Yeah. Kasey Hott (07:44) But another big part was just the whole, I was kind of forced, I think, into making that jump. And I was lucky because I'd been doing it, you know, part-time for maybe four years before I made that big transition into full-time. But I was kind of like... pushed into the pool because I was getting married and we had to move my husband, he's in the Space Force, which is kind of cool. And so he got, yeah. And so, yeah, they're called guardians in the Space Force. So it sounds fake, but it's real. Yeah, and so he had to move to like the DC area. And so I was like, okay, this is a good time as any, if I'm gonna make this jump, you know? And I think that if I would not have had that push, I honestly think I would have stayed. Shar (08:04) ⁓ that is cool! Troy Holden (08:04) ⁓ cool. Shar (08:10) Love that. Troy Holden (08:12) No. ⁓ Kasey Hott (08:26) for a lot longer and I don't know that I would have been very happy. So I'm thankful for that push, yeah. Troy Holden (08:29) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's it is interesting as an outsider not being in the industry. I'm watching that happen too. I mean, I watch ⁓ I try to watch our local stuff from time to time. But as you said, you get so much information during the day at the end of the day. Why sit down at five o'clock or six o'clock and watch it or 10 o'clock? ⁓ Yeah, yeah. And most of the personalities that drew me to it, they're gone. Kasey Hott (08:50) Yeah, you know all the highlights already, right? Yeah. Troy Holden (08:57) They have either left or as you said, some been pushed out and it's sad. It is really, really sad. And I understand it because advertising drives it all, right? The same way with radio. I mean, look at how radio has changed over the last 10 years. You know, we used to have all local content, local DJs, morning shows concentrated on your area. And now, you know, there's a couple of guys in Nashville who are all over the country doing tons of morning content all over the country and somehow they localize it locally and make it sound local but they're not they're they're here in Nashville and Big D and Bubba you know it's all I hear about and those two guys are everywhere and they're doing well and they're nice guys and congrats to them for really being smart several years ago and going out and doing that on their own and hoping it would work and it worked. and you know they were fortunate but look at all of the people on morning shows who no longer have a morning spot in a small town or local town because it's all being networked in. Kasey Hott (09:59) It's so true and I think it's hard because I think a lot of people, they see it's such like a public facing job, know, DJs and things like that, weathermen, and they think, ⁓ they're making so much money, they are just crushing it, and that is a huge misconception, especially with smaller markets. It is truly a labor of love and you'll see it. Troy Holden (10:06) Mm-hmm. Shar (10:10) Right. Troy Holden (10:13) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (10:18) more and more as the advertising dollars are going away. A lot of those people, like you said, who have been there for years and years and years, they were making the big money and they were forced out because they just can't pay that anymore and it's going to younger talent. It's changing a lot, yeah. Troy Holden (10:25) Mm-hmm. Yeah, right, right. And the next thing I want to lead into, and then I got questions for Char too, and we're going to go back and forth. And you guys also, if you think of something when you hear one of you say something and say, I got a question about that, jump in and ask. This is a free for all. All right, so you are having to make the transition, I'm sure, because I can listen to you and I can say, absolute, what a great TV voice. Shar (10:47) Okay. Kasey Hott (10:58) very kind. Troy Holden (10:59) Well, you have it. mean, Shar (10:59) You do? Yeah. Troy Holden (11:00) you have it. You have that delivery. So how is that an obstacle right now for voiceover? Kasey Hott (11:06) Yeah, it is definitely an obstacle. was actually just talking to Brad Hyland about it the other day because I think it's after so many years of, know, like, okay, it's five o'clock and you have to be on and you have to be, you know, your diction has to be great and it has to sound perfect and come across, but that is not the read, I'm sure. both of you know that is in right now at all, is being polished, being announcer, yes, it is all conversational. And so that's been something that really, really is tricky for me. And in a way it helps in certain areas, when it comes to banking or when it comes to medical narration or a bunch of corporate, that really helps. But I really, really, really have had to make it. ⁓ Shar (11:28) Conversational! Troy Holden (11:28) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Kasey Hott (11:50) an extra effort to work on the conversational and just like the real person reads. And I think I've come a long way, but I still have a long way to go. Troy Holden (11:54) Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah, it is. It's the hardest for all of us and me never even having worked in any type of broadcasting before still being a presenter where I worked a trainer. You know, I was in upper management and I was always having to give ⁓ talks in front of all the employees. You're in front of a couple hundred people and talking about, know, we have these benefit changes coming and we have this coming and that coming. And, you know, this year we're working on that and you're you become more eloquent. Kasey Hott (12:01) Yeah. Troy Holden (12:27) in how you say things and now that you know notice however it comes out make it natural you know and for years and years and years people said don't say community say community even though you're in the south you have to you have to speak these things the right way and i became my accent became business southern or proper southern it's still southern everybody can hear it but on the other hand it's not hillbilly or redneck southern and i think that you know Shar (12:38) You Troy Holden (12:56) That's part of it. And what I have to try to do is minimize not only sometimes the Southern, but make sure I don't slip in the elongated vowels and the, you know, dragging out something and making it three syllables instead of one, you know, so I can even imagine with this that you're just trying to sound like other people and not talk at them, but talk to them. Is that the, that's the challenge. Kasey Hott (13:20) Yes, yes, and that is a big change, you're right. And a lot of it is that just kind of getting into that mindset and being like, okay, it's okay if it's not perfect or if you have a little, because that's what real people sound like, and I think that's what people are looking like. So you're right, it's just years of that that you kind of have to try to untrain. And I'm still in the process of that, yes. Troy Holden (13:34) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, it's built in. Yeah, it's built in and I listen back to the podcast sometimes just for ⁓ clarity and make sure there's not anything crazy in there before I'll put it up and I'll hear myself a lot. I'll hesitate and pause and I'll go, ⁓ and I'll do that. And I've had people say, we like that you do that when you do a read for us. I'm like, yeah, but I sound like I'm lost or I can't think, but they that's how it is in the real world. And that's what they want. Kasey Hott (14:06) Yes, you sound like a person. Troy Holden (14:08) Yeah, you sound like a real person talking to me and that's Shar (14:08) Exactly. Troy Holden (14:11) what they want. It's hard. All right, Shar, tell us how long you have been at this and why you got into it. Kasey Hott (14:12) Yeah. Shar (14:18) Let's see, I started doing this in January of 22, and I started with, and I still am doing that, I started with audiobooks. That's really what I wanted to do. I wanted to narrate audiobooks. And the reason why was because my background was really in stage performance. So I've done acting on stage, I've done improv. was part of an improv group way long ago, another life. Troy Holden (14:24) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. Shar (14:46) ⁓ And I also had had some experience ⁓ with doing audio, not that I'm at that professional level. I still, know enough to be dangerous. And to do my, and my audio books. And I thought, ⁓ you know, I'm going to give that a try. I'm at that point in my life, like years, I'm, you know, in my fifties, ⁓ this is a big switch. And I thought, Troy Holden (15:01) Yeah, that's me. Shar (15:16) I'm going to pull the trigger and learn how to do this and start my own business. And it's been, it's been a lot of fun. It's been a wild ride. I've only been doing this part time because life is crazy, but it's, it's been great. And I've done other types of a voiceover too, along the way you were talking about e-learning. I've e-learning meditations. Evidently I have a voice to put people to sleep. I do a lot of meditation. I've got a ch- Troy Holden (15:19) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I have a channel on YouTube and it's about outer space and people comment on there all the time. always put this on so I can go to sleep. I'm like, okay. Okay. Shar (15:52) And you know, some fun little in-between things too. I got to do a voice for an indie film, ⁓ which was pretty cool. a little bit there. It's varied. It's like there's so much. Troy Holden (15:57) Mm-hmm. Yeah, the opportunities are endless and there's no, um, yeah, and there's no shame in part time. mean, my intent was to stay part time. I got into this for it to be something I would build up to when I decided to retire. And then I would do this to have something to do, not to make a living, have something to do. And that backfired after, you know, when the stuff happened at the end of 2021 and going into 2022 with COVID and things where I was working and Shar (16:19) Yeah. Troy Holden (16:30) the way things were changing. said, I can't work like this anymore. It just went from fun to I hate it. And had my wife not just told me in October that year, said, just quit. And I said, I can't just quit. I'm not making that much in this. You'll do fine. Don't worry about it. I'm like, I'm glad you think so. But fortunately, it worked out. Shar (16:39) Yeah. Troy Holden (16:54) but yeah, I turned in my notice, gave a three months notice and in January went full time and haven't looked back. And I'm close to, I guess this is year five, but it's still hard every day. And I say this over and over, it's the hardest I've worked for the least amount of money, but had the most fun, you know, so. And you do audio books, bless your heart as we say, ⁓ I have done one. Shar (17:08) Yeah. You Kasey Hott (17:13) Yes. Hoof. Troy Holden (17:21) And the company I did it for was Forbes, which was wonderful. And it was done through a publishing company and they handled everything. So all I had to do was read. And when I screwed up, read it again. They did the editing. They did it all. And then they would send me stuff back and you need to reread this. This has a click in it. This had this noise and I did all my pickups. Shar (17:31) isn't that wonderful? Yes! Yes. Kasey Hott (17:37) That's incredible. Troy Holden (17:46) And I did learn that my keyboard tray has a squeak and I have a very bad tendency to lean on it every now and then. And I never heard it. And even when I played back what they sent me, I couldn't hear it, but they did. So I had to reread like 80 lines or something where I had a keyboard squeak, but that was it. And I may never do another one, but I can at least say I tried, you know, I tried. Shar (18:06) I do really enjoy it. ⁓ Before we started, I told you guys that ⁓ before the holiday, I fell and I broke my ankle and I had to have surgery and I'm still healing from that. There was a good time. I couldn't even sit in the studio. It was just painful. I had to have my leg up. So I wasn't doing anything for a while. Troy Holden (18:21) Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mmm. Shar (18:35) And I realized how much I missed it. And that was really, that was really actually, way, it was a good thing that happened because ⁓ it just made me realize that I didn't make a wrong choice, that this is something I really want to do, it's something I love to do. And ⁓ now I actually, am going to start working on audiobook. Troy Holden (18:39) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Shar (19:03) And actually a topic that I'm enjoying that makes it makes it even a lot better choice. That's the thing. If you have an audio book that you don't like the topic, if it's not good writing, right, that's that's what makes it painful. But I've been fortunate. This is a good book. It's it's actually about decluttering. This is a nonfiction. I do a lot of nonfiction, which you still have to have that conversational. They don't want Troy Holden (19:15) I could imagine. Mm-hmm. Shar (19:33) TED Talks. They don't want, right, they want it conversational. ⁓ Troy Holden (19:34) Right. I just saw that I think Karen Clark has started doing decluttering work. I think it's her. I'll have to look and see. can't remember if it was her or somebody else, somebody had posted, it may have been somebody else, but they had posted in our group that they're now doing decluttering for people. You know, I thought that's, that's kind of a neat side thing to do with voiceover. Yeah. Shar (19:53) Yeah. Kasey Hott (19:55) Yeah, that's a gift. Shar (19:55) It is. Yeah. So hopefully I'll learn more as I'm narrating. I'll learn more about living this simplistic, minimalist life, the huga, the huga life. Have you ever heard that before from the Danish? Troy Holden (20:01) Yeah. Yeah, I have not. I have not. And the little short book I did was on MRP systems, which is what I dealt with when I worked ⁓ in logistics. So it was very easy and the guy was in Georgia that wrote it. So when I read the preface and everything, thought, yeah, I can do this because it's, know, 40,000 words. can muddle my way through that. It wasn't bad. it I was interested all the way through because it was different industries where they went in and put a system in and what happened and why it screwed up or what they should have done better. And it was interesting to me, probably not a lot of other people, because I had been through three or four of those launches myself and saw how they got screwed up or what worked. And it was interesting to see from his perspective because it was all to do with lumber and how they got rid of scrap and how many pounds of sawdust went through. Shar (20:40) Yeah. Troy Holden (20:59) Anyway, as boring as that is, to me it was interesting. So it's like you said, it's different for everybody. Shar (21:02) Yeah, and it'll be interesting to the people that listen because your enthusiasm for that's going to come through. That's, yeah. Troy Holden (21:09) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, hopefully they'll hear that. I don't know. You never know. Casey, tell us a little about what type of things you're doing in VO, the types of auditions you're seeing, where you're working, how things have progressed over the last year or so. Kasey Hott (21:26) Yeah, I was really, really nervous because it's scary. Like you were saying, when I started out, I had no intention. I had no idea what I was doing. I was literally, I know everybody always says it, but I was on the floor of my closet in my old little apartment with a USB, like a Blue Yeti. That is how I, yes. yeah, yeah, yeah. was surrounded by all my clothes. Like it was not a pretty, yes. Shar (21:42) We all start off with the blue yeti! Yeah, you're not alone! Troy Holden (21:43) Yeah. Yeah. Shar (21:52) A blanket on your head! ⁓ Kasey Hott (21:54) And the reason I started was because, like I said, local news people do not make any money. And so I was used to doing side gigs. So I had done Uber, I had done Instacart, I had done, I mean, I was just doing, and I was like, this will just be a fun side thing. And so when I made this transition, I was really, really nervous. And I was like, am I just gonna be, know, like, what am I gonna do all day? Am I gonna even be busy enough? But I have been really, really lucky that it's been keeping me. Troy Holden (21:55) Ha ha ha. Shar (22:09) Yeah, yeah. Kasey Hott (22:23) really busy and I think just being able to audition like it is, Jay Michael says, the more at-bats you have every single day, the more and so, and that's what you need to just focus on is as many at-bats as you can. And so yeah, I've seen a lot of different styles of reads and stuff and I think. Troy Holden (22:30) Right. Right. Shar (22:30) Absolutely. That's right. That's right. Kasey Hott (22:43) people were saying that kind of somewhat of an announcer-y kind of authoritative read is coming back. And I have seen that a lot. ⁓ I've been doing a lot of things, like I said, for banks and for like ⁓ medical and hospitals and for Honeywell is a big one that I've been doing a lot of stuff for where they kind of want that like authoritative read and that helps a lot. And so those are fun because those are like in my comfort zone. Troy Holden (22:48) Yes. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (23:07) but I really wanna try to start branching outside of my comfort zone and doing maybe more like what you're doing with the audio books and more character stuff, because I think that's just a lot of fun too. Yeah. Shar (23:17) It is. Yeah. Troy Holden (23:17) Neat, very neat. Yeah, and you're right about the reads changing. We're seeing that. ⁓ You're not, and that has to do with, you know, coming out of COVID, we don't have to talk softly as much anymore. We don't have to worry about stepping on somebody's toes as much anymore, maybe. And the advertisers are getting a little more, not aggressive, but getting a little more back to normal to where it's, it went from apprehensive, you know, and all this and, you know, ⁓ Kasey Hott (23:30) Yeah. Troy Holden (23:47) all of the commercials we kept having that had the doubt and the hope and all of that. And now they're coming back to, oh, we got to sell stuff, so let's get it out there. But we can't cram it down their throat, but we need to let them know we're here and be, so I see a lot of not over the top announcer, but not overly conversational. there is, so it's pretty much like good diction, sell the product. Kasey Hott (24:06) Yeah. There's a balance, yeah. Troy Holden (24:16) hit the things, but don't yell. And then the other day to book one where it just said, absolutely let it fly, yell, scream. Like the old under the tent, you're, oh yeah, I was like, I can't wait to do this. And luckily got it and they, I think they're gonna put me on for the whole year. It's for, yeah, it's for a spa place. I can't. Kasey Hott (24:26) You said, am in. Yep. ⁓ that's awesome. Shar (24:37) That's awesome! Congrats! Troy Holden (24:41) I don't know if I'm allowed to say yet, but it's spas and you know, can hear all that pool and spa expo, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, so those are fun to do. starting to see a few more car commercials go that way like they used to, know, instead of, ⁓ you know, we have the best service and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Now it's come on in and get one for 29,995, you know, and I love that. I like even hearing it. I don't care if it's me or not. I just, I think it's good that those spots are out there. Kasey Hott (25:03) Yes. Troy Holden (25:10) It's a lot of fun. ⁓ Yeah, it is. So, Shar, you mentioned part-time, this was gonna be a thing to do. ⁓ And you also mentioned the passion for it. So were you an avid reader before audiobooks? Okay, so there you go. And I run into that all the time with people who do audiobooks or readers. I never, ever was a reader. I read what they made me read in school. Shar (25:11) It's fun to do, yeah. ⁓ yes. Troy Holden (25:38) And I might read a magazine article or a book maybe once every five or six years. You'll be interested to know though next week co-hosting is ⁓ J. Rodney Turner who has done hundreds of Westerns. And if you haven't heard his voice, just wait. my gosh. And J. Rodney, oddly enough, lives about four miles from me. Shar (25:55) hahahahah Troy Holden (26:03) So, ⁓ but he's not coming here for the podcast. I told him he could, you know, we could sit around the kitchen table and drink coffee, but, but yeah, he's going to join next week. And I think we have another guy that's going to be with us. His name's Bill Marsh and Bill is a fairly new voice actor from over in the Carolinas or in, or in Virginia, one of the other. And I met Bill at VO Atlanta a couple of years ago and he came to one voice last year also. Bill, super nice guy, kind of like, ⁓ Shar (26:10) That would be nice. Troy Holden (26:32) myself he was at ⁓ in his 50s and thinking about what could I do I always wanted to do this you know he's going to retire and he's you know doing this thing he's been at it for a couple of years and and really nice guy so we're trying to balance with a little experience and somebody doesn't have a lot of experience and some variety and it's going to be fun this summer getting everybody on. with going in that circle, Char, what what do you look for out of voiceover in the future? ⁓ You mentioned audio books and all. Will it continue to be just kind of something to do? Or if it starts growing? Or what if I land a big audiobook publisher and I've got all this to do? Which way can it go? Shar (27:11) ⁓ ⁓ that's my goal. It's funny because I've just been doing this. Since I'm sitting around with my foot up and I'm not running around, I started writing out more of what, you know, what do I want to do? Where am I going? And I, yeah, I want to, let's put it out. We're going to manifest this today. I want to have, yeah, big publisher. I want to be able to... Troy Holden (27:42) Mm-hmm. Shar (27:45) do more fiction books where I'm really doing more characters. I love the nonfiction too, but I love doing characters. ⁓ And I want to do something in animation, maybe not video games. I don't know. There's not maybe a lot for my voice print in video games. Animation. just, would love, I love, ⁓ I also love children's books and I love children's animation. In fact, I'm going to start working on. Troy Holden (27:51) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Shar (28:13) I don't know, voiceover for a real short one for a client right now. And I would love to do that. I want to do this full time. I want to make this bigger than what it is. But I want to keep it, like you were saying, I want to keep it, I want to be able to really enjoy what it is that I'm doing. I don't want to just go crazy and ⁓ I don't know, like... Troy Holden (28:31) Mm-hmm. Shar (28:38) You can get yourself sucked into projects by not saying no to something and you're like, this really isn't for me either. Does that make sense? Troy Holden (28:45) Mm hmm. Right. Right. It does. It does. Now, Casey, based on what you're saying and auditions you're seeing, are you booking more ⁓ what I call broadcast or non-broadcast? What are you seeing more? what's here's the big question. What's paying the bills? That's what I always like to see. Shar (29:04) Yeah. Kasey Hott (29:04) Yeah. I would say it's definitely a mix. I think a lot of what I do ends up being non-broadcast and internal stuff, but some of that internal stuff still pays pretty well, which is pretty interesting, But I think the biggest thing, and I think it's true for so many people, like I'm with you, I've been doing it five years now, so it's not a long time. I don't feel like, I still feel like a total newbie, but I have people. Troy Holden (29:12) Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Heck yeah. Kasey Hott (29:32) who even five years ago when I still, again, on the floor with my Blue Yeti, had no idea what I was doing, I have people that still come back to me and work with me. And it's that repeat business that I think is the biggest thing for almost any working VO. That's the day-to-day stuff. People who come back to you, and maybe it's not even huge amounts, but it's like $250 here or $500 here or whatever, and things like that, but they come to you multiple times in a month or. Troy Holden (29:40) Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Yes. Right. Kasey Hott (30:01) multiple times in a week and those are really, really the relationships that are really good. it's even just for small things, but yeah, automotive like that, people who come back and have multiple spots a month. But yeah, those returning clients, I feel like for anyone that, and you want to make people a returning client as well, which is not always easy to do, but that's, I think that's the key. Troy Holden (30:06) Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Building a base of your own clients. And then when you do book an agent job or a production company reaches out or whatever, and it's a big hit, you you pick up the 3,500 or the 5,000 or what, you're like, holy smokes, this goes on top of my base. And those, or where you're going, all right, savings account, savings account, or. Shar (30:39) Hehehehehe Kasey Hott (30:40) Yes. Yes. Troy Holden (30:45) that'll take care of this problem. You know, I have this problem with a house and this is going on and thank goodness that came in. Because you live off your base and that's what a lot of us do that are out here hustling every day and every week. We have worked hard in our first few years to build up this handful of clients who keep coming back, thank goodness. And then we keep trying to add to that by doing three things and one is either through agent work Shar (30:50) Yeah, absolutely. Right. Troy Holden (31:14) ⁓ Which for me is a small percentage, but when you book it, it's wonderful The other is through your direct marketing that you do and then the third is just through the look what I found is what I like to call it You know things you may stumble across or somebody finds you through your website or online ⁓ I booked two jobs last year because agents could not find a person who could Do vo and be an auctioneer at the same time Kasey Hott (31:19) Right. Troy Holden (31:45) They didn't know. I said, well, you need a licensed auctioneer. Well, they said they could do it, but nobody could do it. Well, that's a very unique specialty. But if they go search that on the web, know, voiceover auctioneer, they'll find me. And that was how I got found. had two agents book me for, you know, Yeti and for General Mills because they tried other people and it didn't work. That's that, what I found stuff. You don't get much of it, but it's kind of cool. Kasey Hott (31:45) Yeah. Shar (31:55) Yeah Kasey Hott (32:00) That's awesome. Shar (32:00) wow. Kasey Hott (32:11) Yes. Troy Holden (32:14) So do you do any marketing? Do you do direct marketing? How do you go look for those clients right now, Casey? Kasey Hott (32:23) I am gonna give a big shout out to that VA for VO. I was hesitant for years and when I made that jump to full-time last year, right around this time last year, I ended up working with one. I'm working with Miranda and she is incredible and she ⁓ has helped me so much because I told her, said, I'm pretty much, I have no idea what to do. Marketing myself is not my strong suit. I don't like. Shar (32:28) Ha ha ha ha Troy Holden (32:46) Right? Kasey Hott (32:49) talking about myself a lot, really. was just so scared of that idea. And so she has been such a help. I would encourage anyone, even if it's just someone that you're having help you like one or two hours a week, that can really, really pay off. And you end up getting a lot of responses and things that I would have never even thought to do. It's just a whole other skill set, I feel like, that she has and that these ⁓ VAs have. So I would totally recommend that. Troy Holden (32:54) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that is a great approach, a great approach. And some people who have the time and they have the want to, to do it on your own, that's great. Some people pay for a program, ⁓ Mark Scott, Paul Smith, whoever. Marketing is marketing. I say this all the time, no matter who you pay to teach you to do it. And that is another great way to do it. I, for one, have been so afraid to let go of things and I keep thinking, well, what am I gonna do? those two hours a day that I market now. And I like to stay busy, so I'm hanging on to it, but down the road, you know, I'm right there with you. I think that's the way to go, and I'd like to do the same. Now, Shar, what about you? Do you do your own reach outs to publishers yet, or are you just now, tell us where you're at with your... Shar (34:03) I you're going to ask that and I'm like, Casey, Casey, you're not alone. ⁓ I was just skulking around in a couple of our other VO groups and these are people who are, you know, they've been doing this for quite some time and they all say, I don't like talking about myself. I don't like reaching out. Yeah. We're a lot of introverts. And so that's, that's one of the things I haven't done a huge amount. I have. Troy Holden (34:20) It is true with a lot of us, a of introverts. Shar (34:30) done some and I am on some rosters. ⁓ But I need to do more. That's part of my goal. have to... That's why I'm doing this. That's why I forced myself, Troy, to send you the message saying, sure, I'll do this. This is so out of my comfort zone. It's better than my first time that I did something similar to this. I'm not even bringing up what it Troy Holden (34:33) Mm-hmm. Did you? Yeah, well it's good to get out of that zone. Shar (34:59) y'all will know it. No, I'm gonna say it. But I think I blacked out during that call, that whole thing. I don't even know what I said. This is better. This is... So by the next time, I'll be even more comfortable whenever I have to do something like this. So, yeah. Troy Holden (35:10) Ha ha. Well, Good, good, good. All right, so I'm going to do a quick rundown. And I'll start with Casey. And just a yes or no and a quick comment. Pay to plays. Yes. OK. Favorite pay to play? OK. Good, good. Agents? Yep. And you already mentioned marketing through. Shar (35:29) You Kasey Hott (35:31) Yes. Voice 123. Yes. Troy Holden (35:45) through your VA. If you had to, Casey, go back and go talk to 18 year old Casey. Knowing what you know now and you go give that Casey advice, knowing what you remember at 18, what you thought you were going to be doing and where you were going. What would you go tell 18 year old Casey today? Kasey Hott (36:04) I would have liked for her to start in this sooner. think she would have enjoyed, really enjoyed it a lot. And I think that, but you know, can't go back in time, but I think I would tell her, ⁓ I would tell her not to put herself in a box, not to limit herself because I think it's something I still struggle with today as 37 year old Casey is. ⁓ I think that. It's so hard to say, I can't do this or ⁓ you know, even when my friend kind of suggested that I look into doing this for the first time, it's, I think it's hard to put yourself out there. And it's something I think that all of us struggle with. Shar (36:44) Absolutely. Troy Holden (36:45) Yeah. Kasey Hott (36:45) And I just think just Shar (36:46) Yeah. Kasey Hott (36:47) kind of having that confidence that, know what, yes, I can do this and yes, I'm gonna put myself out there and you know, we all have that imposter syndrome, you know, like, should I even be talking about this? But we all have our own experiences and we all have that unique thing to share. So I think I would just tell her, go for it, don't be scared. And I feel like once you kind of get past that, and I am not there yet, but I feel like then that's when you get to where the sky is the limit. Yeah. Shar (36:55) Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Troy Holden (37:10) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I don't think we ever get over some of that stuff because whether it's, you know, being an introvert or whatever it is, self-confidence, whatever it is, but sometimes that energy will help you. Kasey Hott (37:15) Yeah. Troy Holden (37:23) and lean into that because you are at a great age. You have a long career ahead of you. And here I am thinking where I'm at is I may get 10, 15 more years. You never know. mean, there are people that voice up into their 70s. But my thing is, and I tell people this sometimes, I say, why are you coaching with so-and-so and trying to get into that? I say, because time is running out. That's why I can't. Shar (37:30) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (37:41) yeah. Shar (37:50) Yes. Troy Holden (37:52) do all this other for 10 more years and then decide, well, I'd be really good for this or maybe I could do that. I have to do it now. And that's why I try to be versatile and go after as much of it as I can because I love doing it and there'll be a time to when I can't do it. So I want to do it, go at it as hard as I can while I can. And that's what makes it fun. All right, Shar, I'm going to kind of change the perspective on your question. It's very similar. Kasey Hott (38:12) Yes. Troy Holden (38:19) But I want you to go to yourself at say around age 30 and look back at where you were at 30 years old and say, if I had to go back at 30 and make some changes in life to either change where I'm at now or to make things better or just to give some advice, hey, here's what's coming up in the next 20 years. What would you go tell 30 year old Sharpe? Shar (38:40) Well, I'll tell you, was all 32, I was having my first baby. So I don't think that I'd say, hang on, you're going to be doing other things. Enjoy this time, which I did. And I don't regret that. I don't regret that at all. Troy Holden (39:01) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's good. Shar (39:03) Now that I'm kind of like you, now I'm 57. It's my time. And you start realizing, like you said, realize time is not infinite. If there's things that you want to do, got to just, you got to go for it. But do what makes you Troy Holden (39:08) It's your time, that's what you're saying. It's my time. You got to go for it. Yeah. Shar (39:33) what you feel passionate about. I got into this because I'm passionate about acting, about storytelling, and that's, know, I, and I'm seeing more opportunities like you were saying, amazingly, ⁓ even at this age, there's still a lot for ⁓ us to do and to grow. And if there comes a time where I'm not, Troy Holden (39:53) Absolutely. Shar (40:02) enjoying this I'll do you know I'll focus on other aspects of the of the business if something goes wrong with the voice I'll I'll look at where else can I offer something of value you know ⁓ Troy Holden (40:06) Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah and look at those two different perspectives. Casey would go back and say, hurry up, let's do this now. And you're saying, I would go back and say, you're good, it's coming later. That's awesome, that's really awesome. Shar (40:19) Ha ha! Mm-mm. You're good. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There's, Kasey Hott (40:27) I love that. Yeah. Shar (40:29) you still have so much, yeah, Casey, you ⁓ have so much time. So much time. Troy Holden (40:34) But let me say this too, and I don't say this trying to scare anybody at all, but you're gonna wake up one day and be right where we're at and you're gonna say, holy smokes, that was quick. And I'm gonna tell you, I think the period to me between 40 and 60 may have been one of the faster parts of life, but what I'm seeing right now by being home, working at home, my wife works Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night. Shar (40:48) Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Kasey Hott (40:54) Really? Troy Holden (41:03) She works at a hospital and does 3 12 hour shifts. She comes home Monday. She comes home Monday and sleeps. So we're here Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You know, it's almost like a four day weekend. And I'm telling you, when I get up on Monday morning and I get after it, the next thing I know she's going to work on Friday and the next thing I know it's January and then it's April and then it's January. And I'm like, I've been doing this three years. She's been on this shift for three years and it's flying by. Shar (41:06) ⁓ wow. ⁓ Yeah. Kasey Hott (41:32) Yeah. Troy Holden (41:32) And that's the sad part, I think, is we get older. It really moves fast. It really does. And even my mother, who is now 87, is telling me that even though you sit there a lot of days by yourself all day, the next thing you know, it's the weekend. The next thing you know, it's the weekend. The next thing you know, it's another birthday. And so it does. It goes fast. So enjoy every moment. I know I did. I have no regrets in life. Kasey Hott (41:53) Yeah. Shar (41:58) Yeah. Troy Holden (42:01) I have raised ⁓ some wonderful kids, some that weren't even mine that I married into. And I don't regret any of that and the career I had and the career that I missed because somewhat like where Casey's at, I walked into ⁓ broadcasting school at 18 years old. I wanted to go into radio. I wanted to go into some kind of media. And my dad, he didn't talk me out of it. He just said, there's no way I would pay that kind of money to come here and for what they're doing, go to college and you can learn this in college. They teach it in college and then take some business courses. And then six months later, he had me come to the house and he said, I'm opening a business, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. Do you want in? And I got in and I'll promise you the education I got in 12 years with him was way better than the one they were giving at college. Shar (42:37) you Kasey Hott (42:50) Yeah. Shar (42:58) Absolutely. Troy Holden (42:58) And I got to spend 12 years in a family business and then went into automotive and then all the other things. I don't regret any of it because all of that brought me to where I am and that's the way we have to look at it. Yeah. It does. It does. All of that helps with what I do now. All of the experiences I had plays into this. right, Casey, give advice to our, and somebody told me, please don't call people. Kasey Hott (43:02) Yeah. Shar (43:09) Absolutely. And, yeah. Kasey Hott (43:10) It made you who you are, yeah? Shar (43:20) ⁓ yeah. Troy Holden (43:26) ⁓ newbies, call them new talent. I said, okay, give advice to the new talent out there who are in their first year, they're struggling because when you started, when I started, it was a little easier to start. Although there were a lot of people starting and a lot of people have fallen off, it's harder now to get the work early. So how about advice for those people who are out there? What will help them keep going? Shar (43:49) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (43:52) Yeah, I think you're right. I think it is. It's a tough time to start, but you don't let that scare you. Please just go for it. And I think the big thing that I would tell ⁓ people starting out is even if you are just starting, you need to place a value on your work ⁓ and you need to not just accept, you know, scraps. And it's easy to think that when you're first starting, you're like, okay, I'll just read all this for $10 or yeah, anything. Yeah, $10 or $10. Shar (44:17) Absolutely. Take anything. ⁓ Yup. Troy Holden (44:21) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (44:21) $50 is Troy Holden (44:22) Mm-hmm. Kasey Hott (44:22) better than nothing. I would discourage you from that because you, I think once you have the training and once you feel ready to jump in, I think, because I think it becomes really, really hard because things will take off and you just don't want to be doing that kind of work all throughout your career. So I think the biggest thing I would say is know your worth and just try to have that confidence, even though it's scary, just say, I've got this. And I guess the other big thing I would say is it's all about relationships. I think it's all about just being a good person, a real person. These clients, these people you're working with, they are real people and they just want to be treated like real people. And I think that is very, very valuable. It's just kind of looking at them as these are business relationships, you know, and I have like friends that I've made in the years to win this. I think it's, I think. Troy Holden (44:47) Mm-hmm. Amen. Yeah, yeah. Kasey Hott (45:13) Yeah, it's a scary time to start, but it's also an exciting time. I kind of wish I was a newbie again, even though I still feel like one. And I embrace that newbie term. I kind of like it. think it's, yeah, yeah. Yes. Shar (45:20) Yeah Troy Holden (45:24) I like it too. don't think it's bad. I don't think it's terrible. you know, recapping a little bit of that is people like to do business with someone they know and trust and get to know people. You don't have to get to know them day one when you're marketing to them. But once they respond to you, definitely dig in, get to know them, see if you can solve their problems and they'll love you for it. They'll, they'll stick with you. All right, Char, what about you? Kasey Hott (45:34) Yes. Shar (45:35) Right. Kasey Hott (45:49) Agreed. Shar (45:51) ⁓ Same kind of track. mean, if it brings, if you have a passion for it, if you're really loving it, just stick with it. ⁓ It is a long journey, like we've all talked about. This is not, it's not a quick thing. It's you're building a business. I mean, look at other entrepreneurs. You know, I knew a lot of serial entrepreneurs from ⁓ my Troy Holden (46:10) Mm-hmm. Shar (46:20) corporate time long ago and they all said the same thing. They would go through like five businesses. They'd learn something every time, right? And five businesses would fail and they'd keep going and they'd keep going. You're building a business. It's a career and it's a passion, but you know, it's gonna take time. And as long as it's bringing you joy and you're not hating it getting in there and doing this. Just keep at it. And you'll find where you feel like you fit and you'll find what you love. And you'll build these relationships like with you guys and all the different groups and just get out there, put yourself out there and don't give up. So many, like you said, Troy, there's so many people every day we're seeing them selling their equipment. Troy Holden (47:15) Mm-hmm, yeah, for sure. Shar (47:16) But also too, mean, for those folks, maybe it isn't something that they have passion for and they love, and that's okay too. It's okay to find out that, well, maybe this isn't what I wanted to do. That's okay too. But don't give up after just a short amount of time thinking, hey, you know, there's so many people out there doing this. ⁓ You know, you gotta give it some effort and some time. Troy Holden (47:21) Right, right. Mm-hmm. Yep. That's Yeah, there can be a place. There's a lot of work. There was a guy in the group that I kind of had known for a few years and he all of sudden told me he was done. Well, actually two people this past year said, I'm done. And he was at one time very successful on Fiverr. ⁓ He had the most perfect Morgan Freeman impression you've ever heard. Shar (47:42) Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha. Troy Holden (48:06) And he booked tons of work in that. But he never got the foothold he wanted for his voice. he said, my passion, he said, even though I could do that and I made money at it and it was a big help, that wasn't what I wanted to do. And I just couldn't catch on any other way. So I just don't want to do it anymore. it's okay. Yeah, it's okay to give up. It's okay to, I won't say give up. It's okay to quit. If it's not working, it's okay to quit. mean, and yeah. Shar (48:22) And that's important to know too. It's okay. Yeah. Kasey Hott (48:30) Yeah, to go in another direction, right? Yeah. Shar (48:32) Yeah, absolutely. Troy Holden (48:32) Yeah, there may be something else. But what it did, it afforded him the opportunity to leave where he was at, move to a location in the country he wanted to move to, be able to afford to do all that, get another job, and then it worked out to where he could say, I'm not doing it anymore, and he sold all his stuff. But it got him through a period, and that's pretty neat too. But some other people just, they hack at it and hack at it. Shar (48:49) There you go. Troy Holden (48:57) and it may not be like a talent, it may be like a business sense. They didn't approach it as a business properly and it didn't take off for them so they quit. And you gotta have both. This is one of those things, you gotta be talented and you gotta have a business head and you gotta be able to juggle all this or it gets really, really hard. Really hard. Well, I wanna thank both of you for joining us. These are two really, really great perspectives here today and I hope people appreciate it as much as I have today. Shar (49:01) Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. This was a lot of fun, yeah. Troy Holden (49:27) ⁓ Want to invite everybody to join us next week, ⁓ Jay Rodney Turner and Bill Marshall be here and we've got some really great guests coming up. Tim Powers is going to be on here soon. ⁓ Charles Coates and Jake Sanders will rejoin me. We'll kind of reunite the another VO podcast trio. Shar (49:46) You Troy Holden (49:49) or really is four, it was a quartet, I guess. We'll all get together and we're gonna talk about one voice coming up and this will be on up into July. But several, several ⁓ people coming on in the next couple of months. And this is our kickoff and I really enjoyed it because I haven't seen Casey in a long time and was very curious how she was doing and Shar, congratulations again on the audition. ⁓ Shar (50:04) What's up? Troy Holden (50:15) But to be honest, were three of us that listened to everything and you were unanimous. You won it unanimous. So good job. ⁓ yeah, so I hope everybody enjoyed hearing the spot. We just kind of played it raw. We didn't put any effects or anything on it, but I could hear things as I listened to your read. I said, we could put this in there and this music and this, and it would be really good. ⁓ so anyway, great job using your imagination and stretching on that because we all have to stretch. Shar (50:20) ⁓ wow, thank you. ⁓ Kasey Hott (50:21) That is awesome. Shar (50:34) hahahaha Thank you. Yeah. Troy Holden (50:42) All right, closing comments. You guys got anything to say before we get out of here? I don't wanna keep you all day. Shar (50:48) Just, I had a good time. It was nice meeting you, Casey. And ⁓ thanks, Troy, for getting me out of my comfort zone. ⁓ Troy Holden (50:56) Cool! Good, good. Kasey Hott (50:57) Yeah, same thing. I had a wonderful time. And I just thank you, Troy, for what you've done in this business. I feel like you are just, I don't know, just such a great voice to be out there. And I think you're just so relatable and just down to earth. And I just am really thankful that you're a part of this community. it's true. It is true. Troy Holden (51:14) Well, I hate to say it again, but bless your heart. Shar (51:14) Yes. Troy Holden (51:21) And not bless your heart in the sarcastic way that a lot of people love to do. Yeah, at the end of, ⁓ I just love your hair. Bless your heart. Yeah, I won't give you that one. Well, you guys have a great week and ⁓ Kasey Hott (51:24) Yes, not the one where you say that and then talk bad about him. Yeah, yeah. Shar (51:26) Hahaha, you're right, right? Bless your heart! Kasey Hott (51:31) Yeah, yeah. Shar (51:37) You too. Troy Holden (51:38) ⁓ Anytime you can reach out, do that. Love to hear from you and hope everybody enjoyed this and we'll see you next week right here on The VO Life. Shar (51:46) Woo!