We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Roberto Jolliffe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Roberto thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In the summer of 2018 I was taking monologue and acting classes locally in San Antonio, Texas. I started taking these classes because I seen so many shows on Netflix I was like I have some ideas I want to turn into a show. So for me when I want to learn something or be involved I dive in and commit all the way. One day a prior student came to the class to tell us his experiences in LA at the Groundlings Improv School in LA. Then it hit me like I have to get out of my comfort zone to learn and really see if this is for me. I then decided that no matter what that the first weekend of January 2019 I will be on the road to LA. I had some family there and you know LA prices to live are high so she said I could stay in an extra room at her house. I signed up to take some of the core classes at groundlings before I got to LA and a few days after I landed there I was auditioning for that class and got accepted. That was the second biggest risk I took after moving to LA. In my head a lot of these things seemed inconceivable but little did I know these risk were building up my confidence. I only had six month to be in LA so I took advantage of all the opportunities out there, I signed up for more commercial classes to fill my time in between work and the semester at Groundlings.

Roberto, 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?

I immersed my self in the scene learned and created some great friendships and relationships in the entertainment industry and tech scene. I seen a community support way more supportive than anything I have seen in my life and it inspired me to keep going. I went there thinking I could just ask people for help, but you learn people will help once they start seeing you do work and be more willing once you carve your own lane and define yourself. Those 6 months taught me all you have to do is try and if you want to be a part of a community just go and learn. I learned that actual acting wasn’t for me and I’m better at commercial acting, it also showed me other parts of the industry that I could work in. When my time was up it lit a fire so big it set the rest of my life ablaze! I went back to Texas not afraid to do anything, I threw my first Annnual Boat Day Bash to give back to Kids, I had an app Idea I was always thinking of and by the end of 2019 Evntures app was being started and would go on to launch in February of 2020. That risk showed me that even if I fail I will get a lesson that I can use for another area of my life. So at the end of 2020 during the pandemic my third child was born, first time ever I had paternity leave. I had a lot of time and podcast equipment from a show I used to do, and I had a friend I met in LA said he does Voice Over work. I was like well shoot let me try this and and see where it goes so I signed up for voice acting websites December of 2020, took Groundlings online Voice over classes and started auditioning in January 2021 and by March of that year I was booking cartoon shows and even landed a national commercial for Pop-Tarts out of the gate. This is a career I would have probably never found out about if I didn’t take a risk and go on that journey to LA and meet and learn from all the right people. Something’s don’t happen right away but if you keeep trying something will work for you. You can see my documented journey on all my social media platforms @BertoBoushae and Check out my website BertoTheVO.com that documents and showcases all of my work I do. I Identify my self as having hybrid identities, my theory is that you can do all things with balance. You have to take everything serious and do the work, there will be sacrifices of family and spouse time, so you have to know your why. Not everything is going to make sense along the way but dots start to connect. Im not telling you, you will be use or need everything you go or learn, but be open to new insights and information. We live in a day and age of social media validation and you have to keep in mind you might not be the biggest or most successful now but you will be, so work like everyone is watching, and put in quality work regardless the level of customer!

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I am an advocate for ESPORTs programs that lead kids to STEM Opportunities, I volunteer at Port San Antonio for the Esports committee on getting kids the opportunities play games to win scholarships for college. I say that to say this, these kids and what they do is the future. My daughters loves Roblox and the Oculus now they ask for virtual money to buy their avatars clothes or accessories. This “trend” will transition to actual continual habits that they do in their real lives. It is a ripe time in history where now kids as young as 7 & 8 can have the chance to learn and be self sufficient with investing and crypto. In the metaverse NFT’s that have actually utility, a roadmap and a real community will succeed long term than the ones that are just cool or hype. The NFT space with play to earn gaming opportunities kids and adults can earn crypto while “playing” a game and build residual income and can learn how to invest sooner and bring their household more money.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started an IG account when it first started so as with being first sometimes you do not know what you are doing lol, so you are adding everyone and posting any and everything. A few years ago in 2019 when I was making all my life changes, I told myself I want to represent myself a specific way. So I started off with a mission and purpose that I set out to convey. I started really looking at my content and structuring it in a way so that she people look at my post or go to any of my social media channels @BertoBoushae or BertoTheVO.com that they would get a gist of who I am, what I do, and what I am into. This makes sure you attracts the right audiences and potential business opportunities. As of recent LinkedIn has been like facebook was in the 2009, so I have been building my professional brand to reflect that of what most my endeavors are in Tech, Esports, and Voice Over. I am not tip toeing around who I am anymore, and once I decided that it made everything easier. I want to convey my authentic self and let people know you can be successful as you are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brieflyblunt.com/pages/roberto-jolliffe-profile
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bertoboushae/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-v-jolliffe-iii-97022415?trk=people-guest_profile-result-card_result-card_full-click
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bertoboushae
• Other: https://linktr.ee/deeperthanthecover https://apps.apple.com/us/app/evntures/id1489422299?ls=1 https://linktr.ee/robertovj3