Hi, everyone.  As I looked at the calendar this morning, I noticed it has been two months exactly since I retired from the U.S. Postal Service in Columbus OH.  Only two months?  That length of time seems like it should feel more recent, but I seem to have already forgotten what it was like to hit the alarm clock each day and follow a steady morning routine to get ready for work.  I think that’s a good thing.  Well, I hope it’s  a good thing.

When I discussed possible retirement plans with co-workers over the last 4 or 5 years, I always said that I planned to have some sort of part-time job after leaving USPS – partly to keep busy and mentally occupied, partly to have some additional income.  Now that I have a new job with a new business, I have followed that plan.   However, I didn’t know back then what the job would be, or that I’d be working for myself.  I’m glad it’s something I really enjoy, and I’m glad it’s someone I enjoy working for!

Yeah, I need to feel blessed more often.  I was fortunate to get a decent job with benefits and retirement plan in order to raise a family in our own home, and I was fortunate to have decent health and retire while I could enjoy it and pursue other interests.  I was fortunate to find the woman I have been married for nearly 27 years, and I was blessed to have and raise two healthy and handsome sons who are now making their way in early adulthood.

And of course, I am blessed to have a new career in voice-over, to have the VO instructor I’ve had, and to meet a whole new group of fellow voice artists.   And I hope you all feel blessed as well.  Take care.

– Z-

This has been an exciting past two weeks.  First, I got my first paid booking as a voice artist working for myself!  I already have an established portfolio of work from voicing several TV and radio commercials working, but that was as an intern

Last week I started getting more active on submitting auditions to Voice123 and was up to 20 auditions total (yes, I’ve been moving slowly). The next day I received a notification that I had been selected for a job from that 20th audition, consisting of a 2.5 minute read for $100.  I was a little nervous, but I worked for 2 hours to make sure it was as clean as I could make it (yes, I need to edit faster and make fewer mistakes), sent it to the seller, and got verification in a few minutes that my PayPal account had been increased by that amount.  I remember being mildly disappointed it wasn’t a $500 job, but then I came to my senses and realized that if I could land such a gig every 20 tries, then I was doing pretty good in my first year.

Second, I play drums in a casual blues band called “Drivin’ Home”, based in Delaware OH.  This past weekend we played as the warm-up band at Project Blues, a benefit concert to raise money for breast cancer research and fund mammograms for women in financial need.  Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & the MG’s) was the headliner, along with guitarists Anson Funderburgh and John Del Torro Richardson, singer Diunna Greenleaf, and the Texas Horns.  The big thrill was having Anson and John join my band on stage to play one of Anson’s songs.  Pretty heady stuff for a rookie drummer who started late in life and has only been playing live for a year.  I’m not the most technically proficient, but I can keep it simple and give the other musicians a pocket to work in.   However, I did sneak in a few dramatic fills during Anson’s solo, and one or two tasty licks for the closing that I’d been practicing.  it wasn’t Neil Peart or Buddy Rich, but I has happy with it.

Third, I landed my second job on Voice123 yesterday!  I buckled down in the morning and worked in my studio for 4 hours, submitting seven auditions.  By 2:30 PM I received a message saying I’d been selected for one of them, with some changes requested in my read – a small step up, because it was a much shorter read for a bit more money.  This time it only took 45 minutes to submit my final work.  Yeah, I was definitely amped up.

You know, what “they say” really is true.  Have a goal in mind.  Force yourself to take the first step.  Make the necessary sacrifices (time, money, lessons, equipment, etc.).  Practice – practice – practice.  And remind yourself every day that you can do this.