S4 E6 | Daisy Hobbs
Play the episode
Powered by RedCircle
Show Notes
Stephanie talks to Daisy Hobbs, a musical theatre performer turned voice actor. Daisy is also a mama to 2 young kids and a writer. She can be heard in all sectors of media, but focuses on nailing her reads for major national commercials and trusting her strong performance background.
Links:
Daisy's Website: www.voicebydaisy.com
Making It To The Mic Website: www.makingittothemic.com
Instagram: @stephaniepamrobertsvo
Email: stephanie@stephaniepamroberts.com
Full Transcript:
Stephanie Roberts 0:09 Hello and welcome to Making it to the Mic. A podcast about how different voice actors got to where they are today. I'm your host, Stephanie Pam Roberts, and my guest today is Daisy Hobbs. Daisy came from the musical theater world and performed on Broadway before moving into voice over. As with many people I've interviewed this season, the pandemic really catapulted her career. She's also a mom and a writer, so we talk about how she balances all of that along with her busy six figure voice over business. So let's jump in. Here's my conversation with Daisy Hobbs. Stephanie Roberts 0:39 Hi Daisy, how are you? Daisy Hobbs 0:44 I'm good, Stephanie! Stephanie Roberts 0:46 Well, thank you so much for joining me today on Making it to the Mic. Daisy Hobbs 0:50 You're welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk to you. Stephanie Roberts 0:53 Yeah, me too. So I always like to start by asking people, tell us about your journey. How did you make it to the mic, and what did you do before you came into voice over? Daisy Hobbs 1:02 Well, I started as a stage actor. I spent predominantly my entire life training for musical theater with the goal and the hope to be on Broadway. I studied at Carnegie Mellon, where I graduated and got my degree in musical theater and dramatic acting. I was on Broadway for a number of years. I was in the original cast of Aladdin with Disney, and I did that for almost four years on Broadway, and then I did the pre trial runs in Seattle and Toronto. So I was a part of that show for almost seven years total. Daisy Hobbs 1:38 Did some regional shows, national tours, things like that. And when the pandemic started, it also kind of coincided at a point in my life where I was ready to start having kids with my husband and kind of start the next chapter of my life. So did a real sharp pivot into voiceover, and I haven't looked back. I've fallen in love, and I have not looked back, and I kind of hit the ground running, and have been going ever since with the voice over track. Stephanie Roberts 2:08 That's amazing. I love that. I feel like there are lots of us that were myself, included, previous musical theater people, musical theater majors, who at some point needed to make a pivot. For me, it was back when the economy crashed. In 2008 I had gotten my equity card, and I felt like, this is it, I'm on my way. I'm going to be a star. And then, of course, you know, the economy crashed, and all of a sudden, all these people that were on Broadway kind of got bumped down to working in regional theaters. And those of us who hadn't yet made it to Broadway and were in that regional theater scene than we were nowhere. But it's interesting that the pandemic was sort of a second round of that, where people that were on stage were totally out of work and needed to figure out what to do next. Daisy Hobbs 2:55 It feels strange to, in any way, link the pandemic as something with something of positivity, because it was such a, you know, horrendous time and such a tragedy, you know, for myself, and I know many other voice actors and other people who've pivoted, it has been a time where it kind of pushed us to other things we wanted to do, whether it be voice over or I'm also a writer. I'm a screenwriter, and I write movies and things like that. And so it was a time for me to like, Okay, well, it's either now or never. Now's kind of the time to leap, yeah, leap without a net, and kind of just do it. Daisy Hobbs 3:30 And so for that reason, it was a positive time, just for that, because it was the thing that kind of catapult. It was the catalyst for me to make this change in my life that was kind of happening for years leading up to it, you know, I wasn't as happy doing theater and auditioning, and I was kind of becoming routine and a slog, and not great for my mental health. I was getting anxiety, and I was like, this is not fun anymore. Like it, yeah, trying to do everything just so I can get the equity week, so I can have health insurance and listen, if I don't have it was just like, it was not fun. And I'm like, I need to do, you know, I need to have stability. I want to have a family. Not that voice over is in any way a stable career. It's probably less stable. But for me, it worked out for me, so it's been a real blessing. And I am so, so thankful and grateful to this profession, and I wake up every day like realizing how fortunate I am been able to make a pivot that's been the successful. Stephanie Roberts 4:29 Totally! And I think that's a very common story, that the pandemic was sort of a positive for a lot of voice actors for different reasons. And you know, for me, I had full time childcare because my husband is a Broadway sound engineer was also out of work, and suddenly here I was, I was like, great, I don't have to go anywhere. I don't have to do anything. There's no babysitters. There's just my husband. Like, okay, I'm gonna go upstairs and do auditions for 20 minutes. Oh, now I'm gonna go do auditions for another hour. And he was here. So I totally get that. You know that like, kind of the backdrop off the tragedy of the pandemic. But for us personally, it was, it was a positive moment. Daisy Hobbs 5:05 Exactly, and it changed the way that we even auditioned. Like, before the pandemic, I really was not that much into voice over, like I was doing on camera commercials. And I'd get up, I'd get a smattering of a voiceover audition here and there, and, you know, you, I'm in Jersey, so you'd schlep to the city and, you know, do a whole hour trip just to do a 30 second audition, and then go all the way back home. And so I am, you know, that's not, wasn't too viable for me. Daisy Hobbs 5:29 And now having kids, the fact that, since the pandemic, most you know, all of my stuff is at home and remote. I love that. And I know, I don't know how you feel about that. I know some people miss going in person, and I do go in person on occasion, but 99% of everything I do is in my house. So I love that having two kids ( I have a newborn) so it's optimal for me. But I was curious how you felt about in person auditions. Stephanie Roberts 5:53 I love it. We live in Westchester now, and so for me to go into the city for you know, literally two minute audition is like a whole to do. It's a whole thing and expensive, you know, like, I'm driving in, I've got to find parking, or I'm taking the train and an Uber or whatever combination. And then, you know, to be there for less than 30 seconds of copy. Maybe you read it twice, and they're like, thank you, and you're like, thank you, goodbye. And then have to do get on the train and rush back and get my daughter from school. So, yeah, I don't mind it. I wish we had a little bit more interaction still. I find that, you know, and maybe you feel this way too, like being a theater person, I really miss the interaction, and I love when I'm on a session and there's a director, or even anybody there to just say, great next or whatever, just some sort of, like, human interaction. Daisy Hobbs 6:43 Well, that's why I said to you. I was like it'd be nice to speak to somebody. Yeah, I'm a full blown recluse. Like, my life from going to, like, being on a stage every night in front of 1000s of people and applause and this and that, to, literally, I'm in my house all the time, between being a voice actor, working remotely from home, and having two young kids under the age of two, I'm home all day. And so I'm literally a recluse. But I like it's my I like it, and I'm a writer, and so the other thing I do is write, and so I need, you know, to be in solitude for that. But that's my personality. And I have my cats. I'm, like, a full blown cat lady. Now I joke with my husband, I'm like, I'm the I'm the cat lady. Stephanie Roberts 7:25 So I'm curious, when was the first year that you hit that six figure mark? Daisy Hobbs 7:31 So okay, this is gonna sound horrible, but I hit it right away. The first year that I started amazing. Yeah, as soon as I got in, I got an agent. I signed with a voiceover agency right at the beginning of the pandemic. My husband set up my closet, and, you know, treated my area, and when that was all set up, got the agent and booked a national commercial in one of probably my first five or 10 auditions. I booked it. Yea no classes. Never took a voice over class, never took a seminar. Stephanie Roberts 8:02 That's amazing. Daisy Hobbs 8:03 I am very fortunate. My story, I do understand, is not like most people's, so you know. Stephanie Roberts 8:10 But you know, I have to say, after talking to so many people, not just for this season, but for the two previous season where I interviewed other voice actors, everybody's story is so different, and it's kind of amazing. And it's kind of, what I love about voice over is it can be whatever you want it to be, and there are just so many paths in and around the industry that it feels just so different than the musical theater world to me. Daisy Hobbs 8:34 Yeah, exactly. And that's why I love it too. It's like, it doesn't matter how tall you are, if you're blonde, if you're short, if you're this, if you're that, if you can, there's no looks involved. There's no I don't need to ever meet a casting director. I've never met my agents. I've never met, you know, there's none of that, like, networking thing you have to do. You take the classes. I mean, there is that stuff, but I don't do any of that. Yeah, I've never done any type of classes or anything. It's just my innate ability and my, you know, acting training. And, you know, the things that I inherently have, it's like, if you're the best one for it, you're gonna get it. And I love that. Daisy Hobbs 9:06 There's none of the politics involved that I that I encountered with theater and film and TV and stuff like that. And there's no like, for instance, you know, like, when you're doing like, film and TV or theater, a lot of times you work your way from the ground up. So a lot of times it's like, you do the ensemble for a number of years, and then you get to know the whatever and the director, and then you can do this, and then you can do a get, you know, move up to a guest star with a voice. Like, I literally booked the national commercial in a matter of weeks, and I kept going from there, you know, non stop, full steam ahead. Nobody was like, oh, but she never did a voiceover. But how many classes did she take? Does she know this person? Nobody cared, right? Right? Nobody checked my route. I had no resume of voiceover. I had an extensive resume for acting and everything else, but I had nothing for voiceover, nobody cared. So I do feel like it for voiceover, there is a low barrier of entry. Stephanie Roberts 9:55 Obviously your extensive acting training and your, you know, work ethic and all. That stuff from being on Broadway and being like a working theater actor was a huge foundation for jumping into this career. Did you were you like, Oh, my God, I made six figures. How did it compare to, like, your Broadway income? Daisy Hobbs 10:13 Can I be honest? I didn't. I was so green that I didn't, I really did not know I made six figures. I'm used to, like Broadway, like, you know, you make X amount a week, and this is the amount you're gonna make every week for, you know, 52 weeks, whatever, right? I was not used to the residual model, other than having done little bit things on television in law and order and hearing that, you know. I did not truly know, like, the SAG rates and all of that. I told a friend who had done voiceover shout out to Andy Danish, my friend. And I was like, texting him during the session, and he's like, Wait, what is this? And what is the because I was scared to ask my agent, I kept asking my agent. They kind of were like, We don't know exactly how much it pays. He was like, No, Daisy, you're gonna get, like, you're gonna get over $100,000 and I was like, what? I couldn't believe it. I didn't even understand at that time. I didn't understand how it worked with residuals and the session fee. I literally knew nothing. I came in blind. Stephanie Roberts 11:10 And I think, personally, SAG AFTRA can be confusing when you're new, even, even when you've been in it for a while. If you're working under different contracts, you're doing something that's non broadcast versus commercial, and it's confusing whether what the session fee is, and a lot of times it's that final those usage checks are based on and the residuals are based on where it airs and for how long. So if you do something that's like a summer sale, that has a finite amount of weeks that it's probably going to air. But if you do something that's Gatorade or something, then they may air that for the whole year, and you're going to keep seeing those checks kind of coming in, and whether they use it in this market or this market. Stephanie Roberts 11:10 Right out of the gate, it was a full blown, I'm like, What's class A? I didn't know anything? Yeah, it was definitely a learning curve for me! Stephanie Roberts 12:05 And so that first year, I guess that it was that one big job versus, like, the some, like a bunch of smaller, steady jobs. Daisy Hobbs 12:12 So I had both. I had a couple of nationals, and there's one client I work for that, I can't say, because I signed an NDA, but I'm like the voice of that company. So I get paid pretty consistently from them throughout the year as well. And then I have direct clients. I don't do a ton of direct clients, but I do have, like, direct clients that I'll do, like, you know, corporate work, and then I just kind of started getting into the online I'll do the online casting sites as well, and just to kind of supplement more income that way. Stephanie Roberts 12:51 Do you feel like commercials is your biggest money maker? Daisy Hobbs 12:54 Yeah, yeah. Commercials is definitely my bread and butter. I did about three or four audio books in the beginning, but for me, I found that it's just while I was really good at it, because I'm an actor and I love I enjoyed it. It was just too much work for not enough money for me, yeah, it took up too much time. And as I got into, you know, doing more and more, I get a lot of auditions, and so I take time and care to make sure that each audition I send out is like, perfect and sounds awesome, and could be on the radio at that moment or on TV, like, I make sure that my auditions sound really, really good so I can have a better chance of getting the part. Daisy Hobbs 13:31 And so I'm really meticulous with the auditions. So time is money, and I don't have the time to be sitting up there reading an eight hour book. It's hard enough now, like with a baby, to even get in the booth and have five minutes to do an audition, and without having like, like you said, like yelling up at my husband, like, keep the baby quiet, I'll be there in a second to breastfeed. Stephanie Roberts 13:49 What does your day look like? Daisy Hobbs 13:51 My two and a half year old is in school now. He's in daycare, and he's about to start preschool, so pretty much wake up, drop him off, either myself or my husband. I'm very lucky because my husband does not work a traditional nine to five. He's able to come home in throughout the day and help a lot. So I have a ton of help from my husband. God bless him. He's the best. But we'll drop him off. Then I will go do some I'll go on my computer, log on, see what auditions I have. I do them throughout the day whenever I can. Daisy Hobbs 14:23 But sometimes it ends up being when I put the baby to sleep. I do them at night. I don't know if you find this sometimes my your voice is not always warmed up in the morning, so you sound a little hoarse and kind of crazy in the morning. So I try to do it when my voice is at the most like the most warm and the most warmed up. And then, yeah, do business work. Like I said, I'm a screenwriter, so I will find time to work on screenplays and things I'm trying to also, like, sell movies and things like that, which voice over is great for, because I don't necessarily have to. I'm not like a starving artist, so to speak, as a writer, where I'm like, you know, I. I'm able to write and not have to worry about the, you know, monetary element of it, which is, again, a very, very fortunate and a blessing, but yeah, and then we'll, you know, Mom stuff. Daisy Hobbs 15:10 And I feel like there's never a dull moment in my day. I'm so, so busy. And now I have an, you know, an 11 week old, so I'm with him around the clock constantly, and so just trying to find the time to juggle everything is, you know, quite the I'm quite busy, yeah, but I love it. And I'm very, very again, I can just, I can't stress enough how fortunate I am. I wake up every day and I'm just like, Thank you. God, I'm so fortunate that I have a job that I love to do. I feel like this is like, voiceover is like the synthesis of everything that I love. I love acting. I love, you know, I did. I tried to do stand up for a little bit and comedy. And I was writing comedy stuff. I love comedy so much. I dabbled in that for a number of years, doing sketch and improv at UCB. I performed there and did all that type of stuff so and singing, and this is the synthesis of everything I love, and it allows me to be a mom and be home full time. Stephanie Roberts 16:08 Yea I always said, like, I love theater so much, and I love musical theater, but like, I can't put up my own show. I don't play the piano. I don't have a theater, you know, all the things, but I can do all of that here in my booth. And I think when my daughter was really young too, I would, I would sort of save the work until nap time or bedtime, because that felt like it was manageable for me. And now, interestingly, that she's older, it's like, I think maybe because I did it for so many years that way, now it's like, when she goes to bed, then it's my time. And I try, actually, not to work at all. I try not to even, like, watch a video, send an email, nothing unless it's like, really pressing. I really try to keep that nighttime, those nighttime hours, sacred for me now, because if I don't, then I really don't get any time for myself. And that, you know, snowballs into me becoming, not, not very happy. Daisy Hobbs 17:04 It's hard to do, though, because, like, sometimes, like, you'll get, like, direct clients, particularly, I just had someone the other day, and I'm like, It's six o'clock at night. They're like, can you turn around this? This is like, a pickup from like, weeks ago, you know what I mean? They're like, Oh, can you do this right now? And I'm like, I'm out with my family. You know what I mean. I'm not, like, stuck inside the booth, right? But so it's, you know, it's all, there's always something, like, between pickups for direct clients or, you know, re recording things or jobs for my my agent, or something. There's just always something. But I love it. Like, I still get giddy when I, like, wake up when I get an email from my agent with an audition. Like, I get giddy of, like, Oh, I get to open the script. Oh, let me see what they want. Let me see. Let me read the specs. I get excited. I do. I get excited after reading hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of auditions. I still get excited at the, you know, opportunity to read a script and bring a script to life. And it sounds corny, but it really is true. Stephanie Roberts 17:56 Do you think the auditions that you get from your reps, do you think that's sort of been like the most important for you to be on the trajectory to maintain that six figure income? Daisy Hobbs 18:06 Oh yeah, for sure. Like, I'm not making that from direct clients. You make a couple 1000 here and there. That's nothing to poo poo at that adds up throughout the over the year. Stephanie Roberts 18:17 So are there other genres that you haven't worked in yet that you really hope to work in? Do you do any animation video games that kind of like, more character actor stuff. I feel like you have a good voice for video games. Daisy Hobbs 18:30 I do. I do some video games. I have a very like, deep voice, as you can probably hear. So I do a lot of like, the commander, the narrator, the captain of the whatever squad you know, the video game, the evil lady or something. I don't do a ton of video games. I honestly do commercials. Its most of the bulk of what I do, and that's what I love to do the most. I'm not crazy about doing video games. I don't hate it, but like, I just love to sell a product. I love to get you to buy something. I love the fact that a company, a billion dollar corporation, and company is trusting me to be the name of their, you know, brand and to sell their product. It's, like, really cool to me, and it's the least amount of work for the most amount of money. So if I can, you know, make that in my pajamas and wake up and make the amount of money and do that over and over, I'm good video games is cool. I don't I'm not crazy about screaming, just like as a singer, I'm not crazy screaming over to over and over. But I don't do those jobs a ton. I mean, I just don't, to be honest, I just don't book them a ton. Stephanie Roberts 19:30 Yea - It's so it's so interesting to hear everybody's different kind of breakdowns of where they where they make their money, where they like to what jobs they like to do, what genres they like to work in, and how that kind of that kind of lines up with their income. And some people are like, I don't make a ton of money doing it, but I absolutely love blank, whatever, e learning. Or some, you know, a part of the business, like audio books and and it's just really been interesting to hear every different guests perspective on what they. Love where they make the bulk of their money, if that kind of aligns or not. So I'm curious, what do you think your tips are for maintaining this income? Have you maintained the income since the first year you cracked that six figures? Daisy Hobbs 20:15 Yes, and I've grown I've been able to, thankfully, grow it exponentially year after year. I mean, I think part of it is dabbling, doing what you love, like in voiceover, you cannot fake it, you know, we can tell if you're not in love with the words when you're saying it. So, like I said, I'm not like crazy about animation. That's probably why I don't book it. Stephanie Roberts 20:39 Yea you're right. They can hear it. They can sense when you're behind the mic and you're connected, or you're invested in some way. Daisy Hobbs 20:45 With that said, like, do what you love, but also, like, dabble a little bit in everything. Like,I said, I have a set of clients that I work with throughout the year that are recurring clients that come back to me. I don't do a ton of like, marketing, like outreach. I don't actually do any of that. Like, I don't reach out to people like, hi, I'm a voiceover actor, and I do this. I just don't have the time in the day to like, reach out, to do everything. Daisy Hobbs 21:09 You know, you asked how to like, you know, gain more income, but that's how you do it. Reach out to clients, find new potential people, you know, I know some people do like LinkedIn, and I don't, you know, reach out to people through LinkedIn. And I did that, took that course that course that people did about LinkedIn and and about how to reach out to be I just, you know, to me, like, work begets work, and then I have people. Now, you know, I'm in the position where people reach out to me and I'm like, how did you hear about me? Oh, through this person or through this ad agency. So people will hear about you if you deliver quality work and you're consistent, just be consistent in your brand. You know, if you work with clients directly, offer, you know, quick turnaround, clearly be professional, just kind of diversifying where your money comes from, so that you know when there is a luckily with commercials, when there's a drive spell, you're getting residuals consistently in the you know you're getting money. So you have a stretch of time where you're not worried about stuff, because you have money coming in so, but just diversifying. So, you know, if you have a lull, you haven't booked a big thing, you know, just just also trying to get more auditions. The more auditions you get, the more chance you have. Stephanie Roberts 22:14 Yeah, do you work with multiple agents or you're just signed with the one? Daisy Hobbs 22:18 I do. I have someone in New York LA, and I have a San Francisco agent/ Stephanie Roberts 22:22 Yea, the regional agents are interesting. It's, I think again, like, coming from the musical theater world, people are like, what multiple agents? And it's like, Yeah, as long as they're, you know, your agreements are copacetic with all of them, and you they know about each other. And you don't have a, you know, two agents in the same market, sure, diversify! Daisy Hobbs 22:40 It's also like, I need to make sure it's, to me, it's quality over quantity. So I already get, I already get too many auditions that I can even do in a day. So I have to, I have to do that first, and before I'm trying to add on 20 agents. Like to me, it's not about adding on every agent in America. I get great auditions. I just have to turn them around and make them consistent in quality work. Stephanie Roberts 23:00 And how much time do you spend do you think on each audition, like those, like, really good agent auditions where you're like, I gotta give this my all. Daisy Hobbs 23:07 So again, it might be unconventional. I do not like, I don't study the script in any way. I just am very loose. I open up the file, I breeze through the specs, breeze through them, like, okay, just a general because a lot of times it changes, and I can get a feel for what they want. I just kind of intuitive. And I open it, and I press record, and I do not read the script beforehand. It's off the cuff, just read. Do you hear that from other people, or am I a crazy person? Stephanie Roberts 23:34 No, I hear that from people! Daisy Hobbs 23:35 I hear it now, then I'll listen to it. Okay. Well, that sounded crazy, so then I'll delete, okay. Well, that, no, I should have emphasized and then I'll go from there. Oh, I should have emphasized that word. Okay, let me delete. Let me go back and do it again. I don't sit there and like, let's circle the word spicy, because we have to sound spicy. No, yeah, and underline the word today. No, we're not doing that. So we're reading the script and we're moving on. Stephanie Roberts 23:57 Yeah? So probably less than five minutes per audition. Do you think? Daisy Hobbs 24:02 Not that I highly over edit things, but, you know, I do take the time and I edit it. I know some people say don't edit. Some people, you know, I leave breath since I'm not like editing where I sound like AI. So that, to me, like that takes time, but the actual reading, it is usually like me shouting, Hey babe, be quiet for five minutes. I gotta record something, and then I'll close my door and then record it. And it's like, okay, it's like, okay, you can talk now. Stephanie Roberts 24:25 I just open the door and yell clear! Daisy Hobbs 24:26 That's that's a lot easier. The actual reading of the script for me is very intuitive. I just kind of, I don't know, I have a way of like, I see it and I'm like, Okay, this is what it needs to be, or this is the and I just do the best I can do, whether I'm good. And there's some things, I'm like, I'm not right for this. And if there's something I'm really not right for, I'll be like, Hey, I'm gonna pass on this. That's another thing. Like, I'll pass on stuff. Stephanie Roberts 24:48 Same. I feel like I used to try to like, like, wedge myself in. But at the end of the day, if the specs are leading me to believe that they want someone who sounds like you, there's only so much I can do. I'm not gonna have that same, like, depth and warmth, and so I'm gonna just pass and not waste everybody's time, right? Daisy Hobbs 25:07 So when I see things that are like, warm, nurturing or or the Viola Davis, I'm like, yes, that's me, you know. And when I see like, bright and cheer like, no, I don't have a high voice, I'm not gonna sound, you know, whatever, no. And when I do, like, online castings, a lot of times. I'll just look, I'll scroll and see when they look for like, African American okay, well, allow, we've narrowed the pot, so great. You know, you want an African American woman now I'm only competing against 20 people instead of 500. Stephanie Roberts 25:34 Absolutely, and that's so smart, like you might as well capitalize on that niche that you're already in. Daisy Hobbs 25:36 Exactly. I'm browsing through online castings and I only have, okay, oh, you know what? I had a slow day today with agent auditions. I only have, like, 20 minutes to do some online castings. Then I'm gonna scroll. Are you looking for a black woman? Okay, there we go. Now let's go, you know, as opposed to, like, auditioning for every, you know, there's a plethora. There's so many auditions on those sites, you'll never go through 'em. Yeah, so I look at how much they pay and if the rates worth it, or they can negotiate a little higher or something, and then I'll look for exactly kind of what they want. Stephanie Roberts 26:07 Yeah, I think being super specific is is helpful, because then you're sort of telling the buyer as well, like, I know what I have to bring to the table, and I understand what you are looking for, because at the end of the day, they their time is money as well. And if I'm, like, cluttering up all the auditions with the spec of gravitas, then I just wasting everyone's time. Daisy Hobbs 26:33 Yeah, that's another thing too. Just a pointer about, like, another reason I get clients recurring, and I hear from my agent too, is, like, in the sessions, a lot of times, I'll do it once or twice, and they're like, wow, that was great. I deliver what they want very quickly in the session, and it'll be, like, a two hour session. They're like, okay, well, we have everything we need after, like, sometimes 30 minutes, people will remember stuff like that. And it's not to say you can't make mistakes in a session, but because we're human and you know, we're not computers, and we make mistakes, but I try to make sure that when I do grab that job and have that client, that they leave that experience. They had a positive experience working with me, and that's my brand, and that they, you know, come back. And a lot of times I don't have to audition for things, they'll just like, reach out with an offer to do something, and that's because of a session that a job that I had in the past previously, so. Stephanie Roberts 27:23 That has been a very, very common theme as well. Just do a great job. Be awesome. Be nice, be professional, but do a really awesome job so that when that next, you know, campaign comes up, they're not like, oh, who should we cast? Like, nope, get Daisy again. She was great. And even if it's not the same product, it's the same, you know, ad agency or whatever, then they already have in their head like, oh, the client wants these specs. Oh, wait, wait, wait, we know somebody. We don't have to go through the whole process of auditions. Let's just see if she's available. Stephanie Roberts 27:52 And, you know, I think for auditions too, I think we can just get so bogged down in the minutia, because we're by ourselves, and we're alone all day long, and we're just reading, you know, script after script and spec after spec. And I think, I think listening to what you said, I was like, wait, do I do it that way? And I think, yes, I actually don't really read it through without recording. I always record. So my first pass is always recorded. And even if there's like, flubs or whatever, I try to just go through it so that it's there. And it's like, spaghetti on the wall is out. And then I go back and refine it, but I don't listen to it. It's like I have two hats, like, one is like the actor hat, and I just record the first take. And then I'm like, okay, let me try again. Let me reread the specs. Okay, got it. And then maybe I'll do two or three more, and then I'll move on to the next audition and sort of batch the record. And then I'll go out and listen back and edit each one. But I don't know, I mean, it would be interesting, an interesting experiment, to stop and listen back, because when I do several takes, sometimes I think I'm doing something different. But then I get to the computer and I'm like, oh, I was not doing something different. Then you have to go back in, and then I got to go back in. So I feel like that's an interesting way to do it. Daisy Hobbs 29:10 Yeah, I do it all because I'm already in the mode of McDonald's. I'm already here. We're eating a hamburger. Let's go. While we're in this mindset, let's go. And then I listen back to it. I'm in the McDonald's whatever mode, okay, oh, that was great. Let's send it all right. Shake that off. Now we're doing Zales bracelets. Okay, now let's get into this mode, you know, right? So I just, I send one off, and then I get into the new mode. So everyone has their own, you know, method and way of working. So that's interesting to hear, to hear yours, yeah? That's, that's cool. Yeah, whatever gets it done. But I do say, if I'm not in the mood, I step out of the booth. You know, those long days and you're like, if I'm not feeling like, going back to what I said before. Like, we can tell if you're into it or not. Like, particularly with commercials, I have to make you buy this and spend money you don't have on something you don't need, right, right? So if, yeah, so subsequently, if I'm not in the mood and it's been a long day or something, and I'm just not in the mood. I just step away. I step away and I just do it again in the morning or when I have another chance. You know what I mean. Stephanie Roberts 30:09 Yeah, I think that's why I stopped auditioning at night, because I felt like it was not my best work anymore after a long day of, you know? I mean, she's in school now, but still, like, it's just, like, a lot of logistics. And then when you step into the booth at night, sometimes it's like, I'm so tired. But sometimes those are the I like to call those the zero Fs auditions, and sometimes those the ones you book, because you're like, I don't know, I have nothing. I'm gonna just read it and be done. Daisy Hobbs 30:36 And that goes back to the like, just recording it, even when you think your throw away, take sometimes that's the one, because everybody's reading it with the same emphasis on every syllable, right? Like everyone's doing the thing and circling and doing the check mark and all everyone's doing that. And then you see a person that's kind of like off the cuff, you know, that's 99% of what they want. It's a conversational read, throw it away. Like, you don't need this. You don't need to go to, you know, KFC, you know, you don't need this. You know, that's the read they you you were getting you to buy something by acting like it's just like, very flippant and kind of like, off the cuff, like, you know, that's what they want most the time anyway. So when you do those kind of, like, forget it reads a lot of times. It works when you're not, like, stressing the same thing that the other that they'll they've probably heard 100 times. Stephanie Roberts 31:18 So is there anything else that you feel like is helpful in thinking of yourself as like a six figure earner? Like, this is my business. I'm a voice actor, and I earn six figures. Is there anything that kind of helps you keep that mindset, keep that front and center and positive, Daisy Hobbs 31:33 Remember that you have the best job in the world. And other people say they have, I have the best job. No, like you really do you have the best job in the world. And if you don't feel like that, then I hope you re evaluate it, or find something else that you find more exciting. But I think this is a pretty exciting career, and there is the potential to earn a lot and make a very great living. I think a lot of it has to do with your sticktoitiveness, as they say, and being consistent, like I said, diversifying your auditions, where you get auditions, not relying on everything, all of your opportunities to come from one place, learning as much as you can about the industry, joining networks, meeting people, you know, joining Facebook groups. I've learned so much from different, you know, Facebook groups and learning, always learning, always, you know, not thinking you know everything and you can't, whether it's about technology, upgrading your equipment, editing, you know, you'll learn, and you'll take things, different things, different things from different people. Daisy Hobbs 32:41 And some things you can take with a grain of salt and say that's not for me, and other things you will hold, as you know, with more reverence and go like that's for me. And you will, as a voice actor, find your flow. And when you find your flow, it's really great. You like, you know kind of how you do things. You know what to charge people. You know you know your rates. You know, you know what your time is worth. You know what your I'm gonna get in the booth rate is like, I'm gonna wake up and get in the booth for no less than this. You know what I mean? I'm gonna get in, get in my booth for no less than this amount of money. When you work with certain clients, you'll work your way up to that, because this is a business. You know you need to make money. You know your time as a voice actor, your time is money, because all the time you're spending doing things for free, you could be auditioning or for something that pays a lot of money or and making sure that that's solid. So knowing your priorities about what, where to, where to, you know, exert your energy, and things take time. It takes time to build. And everyone is different. Everyone's path is different. So, you know, don't compare yourself to others, because that is a very easy way to, you know, get yourself all in a jumble and sad and oh, well, they booked this. Stephanie Roberts 33:56 Yea, I have a musical theater teacher. Do you know Jen Waldman? Daisy Hobbs 34:00 Yes! Stephanie Roberts 34:00 Jen Waldman is the best. So Jen Waldman always says, compare leads to despair. And I feel like that is just such a good way to succinctly say that. Daisy Hobbs 34:10 I'll just say, like, everyone does everything different. I have no socials. I have no social media. I don't post, you know, I mean, I do. I have Facebook. I post my family, but I, every once in a while, I'll post a job. But some people say you have to. Some people spend so much time on social media and posting this and like, I don't do any of that. Like, you don't, you know, at the end of the day, like, you don't have to. Everyone does things differently. Social media, I don't post anything, and I book work like, it's okay. I don't do certain things. And I book work like, so I think a lot of times we get caught up, and I have to have this and this teacher and this, and this, and this person did this, and this, headshots and this, you know, and it's like, okay, or you know what I mean. Stephanie Roberts 34:45 Yea, the shoulds really creep in there, like, I should be doing this, I should be doing that. Daisy Hobbs 34:50 Yeah, exactly. Everyone does everything differently. And, you know, everyone has different, you know, varying levels of success. And people are successful without doing any. Of those things. So, you know, you kind of have to find what works for you and get in your groove. And you know, I wish everybody the best and so much success. We are all very grateful to be in this profession, in this field. I particularly feel very, very grateful to be in this field. Stephanie Roberts 35:18 Me too! Well, thank you so much. This was such a great conversation. Daisy Hobbs 35:21 Yes, it was so great to meet you and talk to you and continued success to you. Stephanie Roberts 35:30 Daisy comes from a strong performance background, and I loved hearing how she leans on that daily in voiceover, she trusts her instincts and works hard to deliver a great product for her clients. I also really appreciated when she shared that she doesn't do things like social media, showing that there are so many ways to run your voice over business and still get to that six figure mark. If you'd like to learn more about Daisy, I'm linking her website and socials in the show notes, which you can find at my website. Making it to the mic.com Please make sure you follow or subscribe to this podcast where you're listening so you don't miss an episode. Please leave a rating or review at Apple podcast so I can reach more people. Thanks so much for listening, and here's a little preview of the next episode. Jessica Taylor 36:16 I know my story is is not the typical sometimes I don't like to share it, because I don't want it to sound like you're gonna make a $40,000 in your first month of doing voiceover, like it was a really unusual circumstance that is not typical. And I've had plenty of down times that have made me go, oh, wow, that really wasn't typical. It's just such a roller coaster. You can go so far down, and then you can come so far up and you just, I think you just have to stay on the ride. Stephanie Roberts 36:43 That's next time on Making it to the Mic.