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

Alright, Roger thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Strike while the irons are hot and don’t let life’s distractions get in your way, they say. Opportunities will only knock so many times until they either disappear, or become much more difficult and costly to obtain.

But, hindsight is…well, let’s not dwell in the past – what good will that do now, right? Lessons learned, move on to future successes.

Yeah, there was a momentous time in my life when I took way too much for granted and always thought I could pick up where I left off. That was 40 years ago. And the stops and starts in-between have taken their toll in so many ways.

Back in the good ‘ole days of my roaring (very early) 20’s, all my friends and coworkers at NBC Burbank constantly said “What a terrific speaking voice I have!” Everywhere I went. All the time. Then I was referred to this person, David Sebastian Williams. Google him. I was given a gift that I did take advantage of…we met, I took several voiceover workshops and got good. Really good – I came a long way…then stopped. I was even told by people in the know at Universal Studios Hollywood, where I moved after NBC, what talent I had with my voice. Later, David produced a Commercial Demo Reel which I distributed at Universal and shopped to Agents. Nothing. Then distraction after distraction, I stopped. Then several years later, I picked up with another Coach – Nancy Wolfson – Google her. Yet another gift. Tough work, but I honed the craft. And the VO Industry doesn’t stay the same for long. Not quite as easy as I thought. But what is that’s worth anything? This stuff gets expensive. My father bankrolled it at the beginning, then work, life, time got in the way…then I had to fund my education. Really expensive. Then I stopped again. I was in my late 20’s now. Needed “the day job” to support myself and my, then, new family. Then it went off my radar…until maybe 10 years ago, then in my 50’s. I had made the decision. No more looking back. I’m in it to win it. But now it was much harder, triple the cost, and time more valuable to find. The advent of the digital age meant more learning curves, voice actors had to bear more of the weight of getting it all done. Recording/editing from home due to what the pandemic did/required with in-person studio sessions, marketing, accounting – all of it.

Additional Demos and other expenditures later…workshops, conventions, networking…doing it the right way, not skipping steps, I’m now with a Coach that is tough loving me to death and that’s a good thing.

Do I wish I had not necessarily “started sooner than later”, but kept up with it when I had way more time than I have now and better cashflow than I have now. But determination, passion, a mentoring network, too many lessons learned than a page can fit, and some flexibility with my employer, has given me the kick in the butt I need to follow through and get it done. It’s possible and I will do it.

Roger, 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?

OK, so I was born a little late and working on “The Big CatchUp”

I wasn’t born into the Entertainment Industry, but my family was very close to it through business partners, friends and neighbors. Shall we say I wasn’t the best student, and didn’t make fabulous choices in college either, so upon graduation, what the heck was I gonna do, right? I was pre-med for maybe a quarter. Just long enough to realize if I didn’t find another Major, I was the one going to need a doctor.

Through these connections, I applied to the NBC Burbank Page Program, made the obligatory post-interview weekly calls into the Network, waited the usual 12 months, and started almost a year after graduating. I was quite fortunate as the statistics on getting an offer here was staggering. Having no real set interest or goal upon hire (big mistake), I pretty much learned the ropes of meeting all the Directors in all the Divisions and inquiring about internships, vacation relief positions, and outside hires once the 18-month Page contract expired. While I was a Page, I did have a unique opportunity to “anchor the news”. KNBC4, the local news outlet, was building a state-of-the-art news studio and I was selected to be on the team of “talent” to break in the equipment; making sure all the elements of the news set worked, so I read from the prompters and did a mock newscast along with other colleagues. This is what my life’s work should have been. I totally excelled at this and would have been quite successful, BUT…

After Pagedom, I did get a position in the NBC West Coast Corporate Events office based in Burbank. That position was a blast. It lasted almost a year and then the West Coast office was shut down and consolidated with the office in New York. No, I wasn’t offered to relocate. Bye. I had made some connections over my tenure and applied for a Managerial position with NBC Burbank Sales Service and Affiliate Relations. I received an offer and was able to extend my career. This also was a terrific position and lasted several years until one of the first economic downturns hit, and bye again. Another layoff. I left NBC and went onto Universal Studios Hollywood. I worked in the theme park in various supervisory capacities, but after many years there, that wasn’t going to pan out into anything spectacular any time soon, so I went back into television.

Over the many decades, I held positions at every television station in the Los Angeles market except for KTLA5 and KABC7. After the major economic crisis in the early 2000’s, I was with FOX at the time, and was laid off yet again. Over the last 13 years, I have been working in National AdSales for a third party Rep Firm.

So what do I want to do when I grow up? Read the last question promp, lol!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As mentioned earlier, voice acting has been on my radar for most of my life. If you have something on your radar that’s still showing signs of life after this long, it’s high time you seize the moment. There’s a reason this sign hasn’t gone away. Once you find a passion, and you have a natural talent for it, hone the skills, learn from it, network like there’s no tomorrow and never quit. Ever. For every time you take a step back, it will take you several steps forward to catch up and regain control. At some point, it might seem impossible, but keep at it. I’ve stopped way too many times and, right now, very close to conquering it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Just call me Gumby.

In life, flexibility is key. When the pandemic hit, everything had to pivot. And I mean everything. Life, as we know it, will never be the same again as a result of the pandemic.

Remote workspaces had to be set up and running. Children were sent home with laptops they might, or might not have to learn from home. No lunch with friends, no playground, no social life. Distractions. Work/life balance became one and the same. Trying to get your own work done as well as making sure schoolwork was getting handled was daunting. Work phone calls along with kids engaging with classmates and teachers over Zoom at the same time became a circus. And family members became ill with it as well.

Having worked in Entertainment for nearly 40 years now, at least 3 layoffs, job changes, changes in management, company ownership changes, all while working on full-time voice acting work…I have become a master of the pivot.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerjonhyman
• Twitter: @rogersvoices