We recently connected with Rob Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Rob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I knew I wanted to get into voice-over work as soon as I recorded my first project back in 1984. It was a presentation for Mac Tools. Soon after I first got into radio, a local video producer stopped by the radio station in Washington Court House, and asked if anyone would be interested in auditioning for this project. I did so and got the job and from then on I was hooked. For most of my nearly 40 years in radio, I had been a production director, responsible for writing, recording, and producing commercials. Along the way, I began taking my demo to area recording studios and hustling up my side business, Those connections led me to other opportunities along the way, including providing voices for corporate presentations, eLearning courses, on-hold messages, toys, and video games. It became a dream of mine to one day quit my radio job and pursue voice-over on a full-time basis. During my time in radio, I made many connections. And a lot of those allowed me to do just that. I hustled to get where I am today and I continue to hustle, expand and improve my craft. I had the desire and motivation, which helped me hone my skills. I look for opportunities anywhere I can. I’ve subscribed to many different “pay-to-play” websites, where one pays an annual fee and receives auditions on a regular basis. But I also receive a lot of work from connections that I’ve built up over the years. Auditions are a bit time-consuming, and winning auditions is widespread. I learned that it’s very important not to become discouraged over not winning auditions. You have to keep pushing yourself and have confidence in yourself. Running your own business can be lonely and compliments are few and far between, which is why it’s so very important to be able to self-motivate. I’ve been very fortunate with the success I have experienced and am proud to have worked with such amazing clients as Intel, Cisco Systems, Hasbro, Acclaim Entertainment, Proctor & Gamble, Gibson Greetings, Trident Gum, Scott’s Lawncare, Kid Cuisine, and Kikkoman, to name a few. It also helps to find yourself in the right place at the right time. Working in voice-over full time wasn’t just a dream for me, as much as it was a goal. And I will continue to do so as long as I can. My only regret is that I didn’t make the move sooner.

Rob, 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 career began when a representative from a local broadcasting school came to speak to my high school drama class in my senior year. Up until then, I had no idea what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” At an early age, I found I had the ability to do impersonations. I kept the family entertained during gatherings. And my dad would regularly offer me money if I could refrain from talking during long car rides from our suburban Cleveland home to vacation spots in Florida. And every single report card I received throughout school contained a footnote that said I could be more productive if only I could stop talking in class. As soon as the broadcasting “salesman” wrapped up his presentation, I knew that I wanted to get into radio.

My first job was as an evening disc jockey in Washington Court House, Ohio at WCHO-FM. It was here that I received my first-ever voice-over job…a presentation video for Mac Tools. Two years later, I was offered a job in Dayton at talk radio station, WHIO-AM as an overnight producer. The building also included sister station, WHIO-FM, which was also the number one station in the market, as well as a tv station, WHIO, Channel 7. I was also responsible for dubbing commercials from reel-to-reel tape onto “cart” for airplay. I pestered the production director enough that he began to leave me voice work, which started as tags and led to recording full commercials. It was also here that I did my first voice-over for a tv commercial, a local car dealer. I also started working with my first agency. It was primarily for modeling, but they occasionally offered opportunities to audition for commercials. I even acted in my one and only television commercial as a mad scientist for Warehouse Paint Center. It was here that I knew I wanted to be a voice-over talent.

From there, I had a brief 6-month stint at a local advertising agency. Then on to doing mornings and production at a Dayton area country music station. A year and a half later, I found myself working in my first-ever production director position at a classic rock radio station in Cincinnati, 92.5 The Fox. It was also the first job I ever got fired from when a new owner came in and slowly replaced everyone on air. I auditioned for a production director job at the legendary WLS in Chicago and was offered the job. Unfortunately, the station was going through a transition and the pay wasn’t all that great, I did accept a job as production director at 55KRC in Cincinnati for Jacor Broadcasting. The company withstood several mergers and ended up owning 8 radio stations. Among them from the start was another legendary radio station, 700 WLW, where I had always dreamed of working. I worked here for 18 years,

It was during that time I was able to hone my voice-over skills by recording some 20 commercials a day. It was also when my “freelance” voice-over career took off. I began sending out my demo on cassette tape to every local recording studio I could find. I would then call At one point, I was doing at least 4 recording sessions a week at downtown Cincinnati recording studios. And oftentimes I would have another in the evening in Dayton. I took advantage of every recording opportunity I could get. I auditioned for the voice of “Chuck, My Talkin’ Truck” for Hasbro, which had a local office in Cincinnati. I not only won that audition but went on to provide the voice for more than 5o toys for Hasbro, Playskool, Tonka and Tiger Electronics. I was also contacted during that period by a producer I had worked with in Dayton and at a studio in Cincinnati, who was then working as a sound engineer and composer for Acclaim Entertainment, who created video games. I went on to provide voices for such games as NFL Quarterback Club, NBA Jam, WWE’s Legends of Wrestling, Turok 3, and Fur Fighters. I was also chosen by Gibson Greetings to provide voices for their line of “Silly Slammers.” I never turned down a recording opportunity. I also learned to know my limitations. It’s so very important to be able to know your strengths and weaknesses. I was honest when producers asked if I could do “this,” and I would say “no” or “not very well,” but I can do this! And most often, things worked out very well. My ability to do impersonations led me to be able to create unique character voices, as well. I wanted to be able to do all of the straight reads for commercials, corporate presentations, and eLearning courses, but also be able to become as versatile as I could with character voices, and it paid off.

I always give 110 percent to my clients. Especially when it comes to customer service. If a client knows they can rely on you to give them what they want, in a timely manner, stay in touch, and make yourself available for call-backs, re-records, pick-ups, and possible additions, you’re giving them more than what they’re paying for, saving them time, making things convenient and even saving them money in the long-run. Today, customer service is as important or even more so than the actual recording itself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn using my “radio voice” and learn how to concentrate on a natural delivery. As voice-over work has evolved, today clients, agencies, and agents are looking for natural voices. The days are gone of the “announcer,” and every freelance voice-over actor needs to be aware of this. I’ve spent so many years in radio that it was difficult transitioning to using a normal conversational voice. I still have issues just being “me” behind a microphone. The best way to help me get into that mode is to listen to television commercials and agency-produced radio commercials. Pay close attention to the style of the voice, such as inflection, pace, and tonality. Speaking conversationally includes getting away from emphasizing certain words. Lose the excitement and talk as if you’re speaking to a friend.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had a major pivot within my career that developed gradually. For certain it was a “being in the right place at the right time” moment. Back in 2000, one of our salespeople scheduled a client recording session with me. I assumed it was an advertiser who wanted to record their own commercial. It turned out the salesperson was throwing me a bone and it ended up becoming a VERY lucrative freelance opportunity. The “client” he brought in wanted me to help create a newscast aimed at Expedited Trucking, which is a time-sensitive delivery segment of the trucking industry. He said it was only going to run once a week during an overnight radio show on one station. I helped him create a format for it, and most importantly, showed him how he could make money from it by selling a sponsorship. He brought in another guy who would read the news and I would add an open and close for it, add music, and record and produce the commercial that went within it. As time went on, the original “newcast” host fell ill and another gentleman was hired to write and produce the feature. I still produced it and put it together. The host of the radio show that this newscast was on was Dave Nemo, and he ended up doing the morning show on Sirius/XM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146. It was then that the newscast host was offered a job with Sirius/XM and I was asked to take over the newscast…writing, voicing, and producing. I made the newscast more appealing to all truck drivers and not just expedited drivers and it was such a hit that they asked me to start creating a daily version of it. I continued to work at Clear Channel radio Cincinnati as a production director while I was creating the daily newscast. It was a TON of work, but the newscast ended up paying me almost as much as I was making in radio at the time. When the pandemic hit, our sponsor pulled out and for quite a while, Dave Nemo continued to pay me out of his own pocket. Unfortunately, businesses learned what they could do without, and found new ways of cutting costs during that time, so it was exceptionally difficult to find a new sponsor and everyone was feeling the pinch. The newscast has been placed on indefinite hiatus, but I continue to work with Dave Nemo and his manager, Michael Burns, as I’ve been fortunate to be able to fill in for Dave on his Sirius/XM morning show program.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://robwilliamsvo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robwilliamsvoice/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robwilliamsvoice
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/robwilliamsvo