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

Jalen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Well it all pretty much started from my childhood because growing up I was exposed to a lot of media especially in the animation space. From Animaniacs, Avatar the Last Airbender, Chowder, Ducktales, Scooby- Doo you name it. So naturally as time went on I started off with impressions of characters, and then moved on to taking voice acting courses while finding my voice, which as a voice actor is sort of difficult at times just because since we do so many other voices, we neglect our natural voice which most of the time helps and books work. The skills that I felt was more essential was learning how to edit my audio, good mic etiquette, how to audition, and most importantly how to be comfortable with my natural voice and hearing my voice. Obstacles I learned in the beginning is I hated hearing my voice because I didn’t think it sounded good but as time went on I had to learn that how I perceive my voice is not the same as others, but I needed to learn that I needed to be more confident in my abilities and skills as an artist. I believe knowing what I know now I think having more faith in my natural voice would’ve probably given me more confidence when I first started out.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As I mentioned before I got into this craft by honestly auditioning while taking voice over classes and at the time I bought a usb mic off of amazon, and got some indie roles here and there. It also helped that while I was upgrading my equipment and practicing my ranges both high and low I started getting more paid work for video games, animations, and even some cool commercials. My first love has always been animation so being exposed to that medium at a young age definitely helped build my creativity especially when it comes to character choice and how I see the character in my mind. I provide high quality voiceovers ranging from deep voiced villains, young adults and teens ranging from 15-30, and big masculine characters. What sets me a part I would say is that I’m a quick learner and always willing to pick up new skills whether it be voices, delivery, or just how I market myself overall. I’m pretty proud of my versatility because of not just how many voices I can do but also my accents which are Texan, British, African, New York, and Standard American.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a voice actor is just being able to not just do the work but see the final product. We are storytellers at the end of it all and with that we have a responsibility to make the audience feel something whether its happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, and so much more the point is to bring these characters to life and make them feel not just real, but also relatable. Whenever I get compliments on some of my work by a coworker, family member, or just someone who watches the project, it is definitely fulfilling to know I chose the right profession because the audience connected with the character in some way.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Something I feel like a non-creative wouldn’t understand at first about the journey of a voice actor is that it is definitely not just voices because it is acting, and its not easy in the slightest. You aren’t just a voice actor you have to learn how to send audio, edit your audio, send emails, and do a lot because this business is so intricate and everyone has a different experience coming in. Not everyone wants to do animation or video games, or narrations but this industry is about learning and it’s also about self discovery specifically about which part of the industry we fit in to. Something I want people to know the most is that this creative venture has so many nuances and so many rewarding and cool aspects but it’s something you have to dedicate time, passion, and understanding for what it takes to get you where you want to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jalenaskins.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jalensvoices/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jalen-askins-ba641821a
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JalensVoices
• Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11898821/