We recently connected with Bruce Kronenberg and have shared our conversation below.

Bruce, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

I was a Voice Over Talent for many years before I started teaching Voice Over. I was previously hired to work for a Voice Over coach at their studio. After a while I began to see that they could not separate personal from business. Everything was dealt with personally and emotionally rather than using common business sense and thoughtfulness. When I started my own business my particular mantra was to always deal with things in a thoughtful and business like way. And to not bring my personal feelings into decisions that were strictly about how to conduct business.

Bruce, 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?

My name is Bruce Kronenberg. I am the co-owner of Abacus Entertainment. We are a Voice Over studio that provides instruction and coaching and we also create Voice Over Demos for aspiring Voice Over Artists who are looking to get into the industry. What sets us apart from other companies that do this is we are a boutique operation. I have a business partner who handles all the recording of demos and also production work as well. We have two employees. One is a working Voice Over Talent and also serves as our Project Manager and Voice Over Instructor. The other is also a working Voice Over Talent and a VO instructor with us and also specializes in Direct Marketing to Producers. We work with people who we feel have a predisposition for doing VO. A lot of folks want to get into this industry so we vet them by meeting with them first on Zoom to get an idea of whether or not this is something that’s right for them. Not everyone can do it. We teach VO to be an interpretive skill. Our motto is – “It’s not about your voice”. It’s about the ability to interpret scripts and make them sound genuine and real. As if you are talking to someone. That’s the skill. We specialize in teaching how to interpret commercials, corporate narration, e-learning, Video Game characters, Animated Characters and Anime characters as well. A great number of our students have gone on to have full time careers in Voice Over. That’s what we are most proud of.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I was a working Voice Over Talent from 1990-2007. When the SAG strike against Commercial contracts happened in 2000 – it changed the industry completely. I am a union member of SAG-AFTRA. When the work started to go more towards non-union – a lot of opportunities for union talent dried up. So I thought since I had been doing this for so long – maybe I could teach it. And so I pivoted from being a full time VO talent to a full time VO instructor.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Referrals are the best source for new clients. If someone is happy with the results of their experience with you they will always pass that along to someone who is interested in the industry you represent as well. Social media has been great, too. Especially if you use key words and strategize the marketing. I also teach classes outside of my business which inevitably brings in new clients also.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.abacus.nyc
• Instagram: abacus.nyc
• Facebook: Abacus Entertainment NYC, LLC
• Linkedin: Bruce Kronenberg
• Twitter: @AbacusNYC