My journey into professional voiceover
So, as you know (you are on my website!), I’m a full-time voiceover artist with a professional, broadcast standard studio working with some of the biggest brands in the world. I have voiced hundreds of TV adverts, corporate videos, radio adverts, audio books and language apps. I make a good living from this job, and I love it. It gives me a great deal of creative satisfaction; it pays well, and it gives me a great life/work balance. I’m aware I’m in a great position, doing a rewarding job and as a result, I often get asked how did I get to be at this point in my career? So…grab a coffee and take a read below if you’d like to know the answer!
I think it all started when I was a child. Every school report said, “Sarah has a great deal of potential, but she talks too much.” Yes, I was the child who wanted to chat to my friends during lessons, much to the annoyance of my teachers. I loved to talk. I also developed a love of the English language and excelled in English Literature, Language and - what they called back in the 1990s - ‘Speaking and Listening’ GCSEs. My love of reading and writing throughout A-Levels and university continued, as I inadvertently chose subjects that required endless reading and long-form essay writing (Politics, Law, and Economics).
After university I worked in catering for about five years in various roles, as one of my other loves is food. Although this may seem massively far removed from voiceover work, it was actually the perfect training ground for providing great customer service and how to deal with crises. Plus, I met my husband in one of the restaurants I worked in!
Eventually, I moved away from catering and into academic writing (a long story!) and then applied to work for a local magazine as a community correspondent, which led to an eventual promotion to editor of the magazine. I should add that the magazine was owned by a media company, so I worked in the same building as the magazine’s sister business, Isle of Wight Radio. I had also been coaxed into doing some voiceover work for my husband, as he was producing an children’s audio book and he thought my voice would be perfect for the project. At the time he ran a recording studio, so had a voiceover booth set up already and I simply had to step in and record the lines.
Back to the radio and magazine work….In my job application I had mentioned I had an interest in voiceover work and this was picked up by the radio team, who suggested I try a bit of voice training in tandem with my writing work. And so, I did! I was lucky enough to enjoy some basic voice training before being thrust into the scary (but fun!) world of live radio. For a few years I read the news bulletins at Isle of Wight Radio and co-presented their breakfast show. A true baptism of fire…
I then moved into the marketing industry and had a really enjoyable couple of years at a boutique marketing agency called Into the Blue. I also did some voiceover work on the side occasionally. I cut my teeth in the world of PR and comms – loving every minute of the writing, the lovely clients, and the great team there. I then moved on to a marketing agency in Southampton, which was not quite so lovely an experience! Suffice to say, this company provided me with the push I needed to get into working for myself and after a year there I took the leap and began working with my husband Jamie for our business, FLYTE Creative Media. Initially my role was to manage our growing video production company along with being the producer on video projects. I still do both of these roles, but now with voiceover included!
Jamie and I with just some of our filming gear!
After six months of working as managing director and producer, Jamie suggested I try doing some voiceover work again (I had had a bit of break whilst working for the second marketing firm). So, with his guidance, mentoring and tuition on how to use the specialist software and equipment, I launched into voiceover work and haven’t looked back! I now divide my time between voiceover work, producing and business management. Voiceover fits in perfectly with my other roles at FLYTE and actually helps with script writing for our clients and managing other voiceover talent, when required, as I know the industry so well!
On location interviewing a client for one of our video productions.
Over the years, we have invested in better recording equipment (e.g., a Neumann-U87 microphone and Kube vocal booth); I have learnt more about audio engineering; and I have improved my voice skills. It has been a learning curve and continues to be a massive curve onwards and upwards! I have worked with clients all over the world and enjoyed successes both big and small.
My studio set up.
My love of talking, reading and writing continues, and I think this has complemented my voiceover work perfectly. I essentially spend everyday reading scripts, sometimes writing them and reading them out loud. Bliss!
