We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Harris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Alright, Danielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

How did I learn about voice acting? Research. And I thank God I did. Any industry you want to get into you NEED to research it and understand it as much as you can. In my opinion, before you invest any money into anything. I believe this to be crucial because whatever the reason you want to do something it needs to be for the right reasons. It helps you have more realistic expectations and can really help in you being consistent with it. Researching is never ending. You never stop. It’s a form of learning that can be retained in the best way because it is by your own efforts. It’s homework you give yourself and it is even more rewarding with you grow from your own efforts, so I learned a lot about the voiceover industry by researching which leads to training, networking, investing into my recording space then advertising myself for work.

If I wanted to speed up my learning process more than I did it would most likely have been investing even more money in training after I vetted out the people offering their training services. You don’t know, what you don’t know so it can be hard to figure out where to start completely on your own. Having that help is great and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

Before I got into voice acting I worked in public safety so I had… “a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career…” – Liam Nelson ‘Taken’ lol no. But it’s true. In my previous career I was very good at multitasking, communication, customer service, being decisive under pressure and well, knowing people. I can even say being a consumer and knowing what I expect when I receive a product or service has aided in how I run my business and work with my clients. Being a business major helps quite a bit too lol. The acting portion of what I do is where I needed to focus most of my training because it is out of my comfort zone. But I love to learn new things and am a quick learner.

I can’t say there are too many obstacles of learning more. One of the main things is money because sometimes you have to pay to learn. It’s an investment, but there are plenty of ways to learn and grow on your own. You just have to be creative. I would say that the only obstacle I can think of is me and will always be me. You have to have a growth mindset to learn more. You cannot shy away from a challenge or challenges. Making sure you are consistently developing your mind and abilities has to be at the forefront always. How you do it will differ from another person, and that’s okay because that is what makes us unique.

Danielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Danielle Harris and I am a full time voice actor. I am based in Metro Atlanta, GA with a professionally treated home studio and equipment.

You know how sometimes it’s tough to market a business or service? Well, I help businesses generate more revenue and engagement by inspiring people to listen and make them feel something. I help move customers towards a brand and message. I perform voiceovers for all types of different projects like promotions, ads, politics, radio, television, corporate narration, explainers, elearning, character work, audio books, apps, dj drops and more.

I have worked with brand names such as Canva, Dollar General, Walmart, Microsoft, Michelob Ultra, Sonos, as well as other international businesses around the world on networks and streaming platforms.

I’ve always been intrigued with voice acting, but never really knew what it was and if I could do it. I wish I could tell some super interesting story as to how I got into it, but I really just took a leap and jumped. I was never told I have a great voice. Quite the opposite actually. And to be honest I don’t think my voice is anything special per se, it’s just unique. I just love doing voiceovers and voice acting. It’s fulfilling and I look forward to do it.

What gives me the most joy is making my clients happy. If they are happy, I am happy.

Customer service, communication and timeliness is extremely important to me. So if you are a small business or big business that will need a voiceover for your project, promotion or advertisements, check out my website www.danielleharrisvo.com and take a listen to my demos to see if my voice would be a good fit. I’m easy to contact and quick to answer any questions you may have.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I worked in public safety for 13 years and never really liked or loved it. I did it because it was a secure job and smart but it was unfulfilling, draining, toxic and I didn’t like who I was when I was doing it.

I tried everything to make it work. And to be honest I wasn’t doing bad but I was very unhappy.

I finally got to the point I was done. And it was scary to say the least to leave what I’ve known and was comfortable with for a very long time. But it was time to go.

My mind frame changed. I started thinking, “What will happen when I do something (work) that I actually want to do? Love to do? Where will I be?” And that encouraged me.

That’s the thing. Starting your own business, taking a chance with there is no guarantee… that’s courage. Don’t let anyone tell you different. This way of freeing yourself isn’t for everyone. It’s not meant to be. But if you find out that it’s for you, prepare yourself and go for it!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Wow there are so many books that I have on my list to read and have read so far.

In particular in my industry, Voice Acting, there is a few I recommend and that is Voice Over Legal by Robert Sciglimpaglia Jr. and Instincts of a Talent Agent by Marc Guss.

But I would also highly recommend if someone is interested in doing voiceover to join groups online and read articles on the industry to get different perspectives. This industry is very subjective. Everyone’s journey into this is a tad different and it’s great to hear about as much as you can to get real perspective about how the industry is.

I also highly recommend any business or industry focused books and resources that focus on everything business. Being a creative and entrepreneur is great, but it still is managing a business. Potentially in the beginning you can be doing everything on your own and it can be very overwhelming. You don’t want the managing side to take you out before you can really see your potential so it is imperative to fully understand what you need to do in order to get what you say you want. It will really help you figure out if it is just an interest and hobby or something you want and will do for a very long time and be successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danielleharrisvo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielleharris.vo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielleharrisva/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-harris-187100216/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daniell29295884
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCifKgNhFnxv3Ow4qAIXa_5A
• Other: Voiceover After Hours Podcast IG @voiceoverafterhourspodcast Spotify https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/sTCMGCTtitb