We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha Philyaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

To be successful, you have to have grit, the ability to adapt, and an insatiable desire for growth. Now, personally, my belief is that if you’re doing what makes you happy and you live a life that aligns with your soul or gives you peace – that’s successful. However, many people see success as a sort of social standing or a career-specific achievement. Either one takes all the things I’ve mentioned.

You must be determined to make it happen no matter what, no matter how many times you fall or get delayed. You can’t let anything phase you, and you must realize that you have a right to take up a space in this world. Just keep swimmin’.

The ability to adapt is such an underrated skill. Too many people overlook this. If you can’t handle stress, or change, or even the highs that come with succeeding in something, you’ll have a hard time keeping up with the world. And the world demands that you either change with it as it changes, or get left behind.

Which leads into the desire for growth – probably one of the most important things, in my opinion, to be successful in anything. Some of us are lucky and have things come easily, most of us don’t. I love people that are constantly seeking growth and want to learn, it means you’re willing to work at it to be at the top. It means you like a challenge. I do, too.

The most important aspect of being successful, I think, is being happy. I’ve always had this perspective, but haven’t always lived it. I was in sports for 13 years and was very good at it – but I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. I am, however, proud of my achievements and know that it has helped shape me into the person I am today. I’ve been down about 5 or so career paths and while initially I was excited and passionate about them, eventually I fell out and realized I needed to be doing something else. When I found voice acting, I found my calling. I found my people. I started writing again. I started creating again. Playing, imagining. I’m successful not only because I’ve done all these things and have made a name for myself, I’m also aligned and happy with who I am and what I do.

And that is what I think it takes to be successful.

Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At this point in my creative career, I’m a voice actor, a writer, a casting, voice, and creative director, and producer. I have some side jobs that help keep my schedule flexible and supplement my income when needed, but I prioritize my voice acting. I was 21 in 2016 when I first realized that voice acting is an actual career and became interested in learning about it. I scoured the internet to learn as much as I could, watched all the videos on youtube, followed so many people to soak up their knowledge and advice. I bought a mic and put together a small PVC booth so I could learn about equipment and practice. In 2019, I took my first acting fundamentals class and then began voiceover coaching in 2020. I flew with it, finally finding the career that lit up my soul and allowed me a sense of play and freedom. I basically was in training full time for that entire year. Tons of workshops, classes, coaching sessions. All while maintaining a full-time job. January of 2021, I began actively auditioning and booking gigs and have been ever since – never looked back.

All of my past careers and life experiences help me in my current career as a voice actor – and as an all-around creative, in general. I use my experiences to help find, create and understand my characters. My desire to learn new things helps me create better stories. I was a competitive shooter for 13 years, I studied computers – both hardware and software – during high school and college, studied and graduated with a hospitality and culinary management degree, was a personal trainer for awhile, got into nutrition and life coaching and more until I found voice acting was my calling. I’d always been a singer – well, not professionally, but I do sing and I love it. It felt good to use my voice and I’ve even had some wonderful experiences where I was able to sing in auditions, gigs, and collabs! I never thought I’d be an actor…but it feels so natural to me now, I wonder why I disregarded the thought when I was younger. And now, 5 years in, I love what I do and am only getting better. I voice act and create stories – this is the dream.

Rainbow and Thunder VO is my brand, my tagline (Big thanks to the team at Celia Siegel Management for helping create my branding and boosting my career). I bring confidence, quality, and a sense of play to the table for all of my clients. I am easy to work with, versatile, directable, and patient – which are things that are important to have in this industry. I make their lives easier. Talent, skill, and even a tiny bit of luck will win the audition, but being someone they want to work with will have them come back.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I love this question. I think a lot of people, especially non-creatives, struggle to understand how and why creatives – let’s say artists, for example – will continue their pursuit when they’re struggling to make ends meet or just seemingly are failing as an artist. When do you quit? Why continue to struggle when you could find something else more stable and less stressful financially?

Because it’s in our blood. We can’t *not* create art the same way you can’t *not* eat, or breathe, or sleep.

I’ve always been a creative. A hypersensitive, intuitive creative. My father was a musician and while I didn’t have a chance to learn from him before he passed, I still have a passion for music and storytelling. I was singing and writing songs as a child, and I excelled at creative writing. That was one of my favorite things to do, write stories. But like a lot of creatives experience, I was not exactly encouraged to pursue a creative career. “Not viable”, “you won’t make it”, “do something like accounting or tech”. I was scared of the backlash I might receive when I switched my major in college to Hospitality and Culinary Management because it wouldn’t be as easy or comfortable of a life as tech would be. I love to cook, and that was as close to a creative career that I could think of that would have been acceptable. And now? I don’t even use that degree. I still love to cook, though!

Yes, I’ve had a ton of struggle in this career. I still struggle, but creative careers have ebbs and flows and the sooner you understand that, the better you will be able to handle it. Or the better you will be able to support the artists in your life.

To quit is to stop breathing. We may find other outlets of getting out that creative energy, we may take a job to help supplement income or we may just do it as a hobby and not try to pursue it as a career. Inspiration is everywhere if you just take a moment to see, hear, or feel it, and creatives drink it in like water. You can’t keep it in forever, you have to let it out in some form or another. Creatives MUST create, and the world is better for it.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

This might sound a little cliche, but my goal is to one day voice a Disney princess! I’m really not tied to the Disney part, it could be from any other big animation studio, but I’ve been a lifelong Disney animation fan and that’s a huge goal for me.

My main mission is to create a life I love solely on my creative incomes. To live a steady, financially comfy life using voice acting would be amazing, and is 100% achievable.

I want to make the world a better place in as much capacity as I can. I want to be seen and heard through my work, my stories. If I can always make people feel something, whatever that may be, through my writing and productions, I have won in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samphilyawvo.com
• Instagram: @samphilyawvo
• Linkedin: Samantha Philyaw
• Twitter: @samphilyawvo
• Youtube: @samphilyawvo
• Other: For my production company, my handles on IG, twitter, youtube, and tiktok are @iridacornprod.

Image Credits

Artwork by Maggie V.