We recently connected with Gina Kennedy and have shared our conversation below.

Gina, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I am one of the lucky ones where I make my money full time from my voice. My journey with music is not without fraught. I tried to walk away from it a few times, but always got called back and for that I’m forever grateful.

My journey started with music in Nova Scotia. Music is woven into the culture there. I went on to pursue music at Acadia University. I wound up in Halifax playing music for a living, then made haste towards the big city of Toronto. I ended up joining the Radio Program at Humber and landed my first big radio job at SiriusXM a year after graduating. I was still playing music at this time but radio was an exciting new adventure.

Until…radio ended up being quite a sexist industry and luckily one of my radio friends invited me to make a demo and pitch it to her voice acting agent. The agent ended up loving my demo and signed me. From there I started doing commercials both with speaking and singing – since my agent knew I was a musician.

Once the voice over work became steady (which took a few years), I turned my attention back to music and started being a “hired gun” in many projects. I got to sing, play bass and piano all over the world, play the JUNO’s broadcast twice and have even won a JUNO for songwriting contributions to an award winning album in 2024.

Now my life consists of voicing commercials for brands like Air Canada, Starbucks, and Ziplock in the daytime and performing shows at night with my band Altered by Mom. I’m the lead singer and the bass player and life now is full of music and creativity. I regularly host songwriting sessions for other projects with my musical partner in crime Devon Lougheed out of Taurus Recording in Toronto and it’s the most fun.

I will say it took a long time to get to the sweet spot and i’m still learning and growing today. I literally grew up on a cow farm in rural Nova Scotia, so the climb has been long, but so worth it. I’d say the major running theme for most of my milestones would be to take the risk. When I moved to Toronto I didn’t really know anyone, I just jumped. Same for quitting radio and focusing on VO and music, I just quit one day with no backup plan. Big risk has given me some of my biggest rewards and now I have a life full of freedom and agency.

As far as speeding up the process I strongly believe that the things that are meant for you will never miss you…they’ll just take longer than you’d like. I’m still learning how to be patient.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My main focus is my band Altered by Mom. We play with a mix of catchy, well-crafted rock music with a rebellious edge and a sense of humour. The band plays with gender roles, leans into DIY creativity, and embraces a badass, fun, and authentic energy. We’ll be on tour across Canada and the USA this summer and fall with new music coming.

Like I mentioned before I fell into music because of my culture, and honestly just with the choices I made. It was a conscious effort to make music my focus.

As far as services; if you’re a songwriter and you want to connect for a writing session it’s one of our favourite things to do. We’d love to have you come by the studio and create. I’m also a music producer and a voice actor.

What sets us apart is that we believe in radical fun no matter what the project – songwriting, a performance, making your song come to life, whatever! I’d say that’s also what I’m most proud of, the fact that we can inject fun into any project and still walk away with something we’re super proud of. Reach out @alteredbymom everywhere!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

It’s less of a resource but I do with I had a mentor early on. Especially someone who’s not male, I think I would’ve really flourished in an environment of encouragement and attention. And having a real role model, not just random strangers on TV would’ve really emboldened me at a young age.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think we’ve come a long way, but in late capitalism it’s becoming harder and harder to make a living. Especially with the threat of AI everywhere. I think universal basic income is the first step in addressing a lot of issues not just with creatives but this also speaks to aggressive inflation, food insecurity and more.

Otherwise – community is a big one. Everyone wants a village but not everyone wants to be a villager. I try my best to be a good villager for my friends and family. Both in my creative world and out.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://alteredbymom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alteredbymom/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlteredByMom/
• Twitter: https://www.threads.net/@alteredbymom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alteredbymom?app=desktop

Image Credits

Credit for first three Jules Collarile
Last photo (with yellow ABM) – Phoebe Street Studios