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

Roshelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Such a loaded question!

I love all forms of art. As a creative person, I often feel an incessant need to create. In my previous life as a chef, an idea would come to me for a dish that I *needed* to try. As a voice actor, I get these characters in mind that I *have to* play with, live inside their heads for a while and document it. Or when I’m writing, it’s like this thing is living inside of me and *must* come out.

To see a final product that started as a small seed in your mind is a feeling hard to grasp in a noncreative industry. It’s incredibly gratifying and brings me great joy.

On the flip side, I often ask myself if I’m a benign masochist. It takes A LOT of hard work to reach those highs. “Clocking out” of a regular job can sound appealing. Not appealing enough, but almost. 😅

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

Thirteen years ago, if you walked into the Art Institute of Orange County, CA, climbed up the stairs and made a right, you’d see me in the kitchen standing at the dish pit, washing pots in my checkered pants and singing The Little Mermaid.

A few years later, you’d find me in a kitchen at the St. Regis hotel doing accents and playing characters with my colleagues while we prepped for service.

And a couple years after that, you’d find me cooking in a private client’s kitchen while no one was home, singing because the acoustics in that marble house were amaze-balls.

Eventually, I knew I had to perform. As a mom, it wasn’t possible to join the local theater and work nights and weekends, so I looked for other avenues to pursue acting. It was pulling at me like gravity and I had to give in.

Then I found voice acting. After months and months of classes and coaching, I began networking and social media-ing and found myself a sweet little community, a great manager, and a couple of fantastic agents.

As a voice actor, I provide clients with a voice for their projects – commercials, narration, dubbing/localization, characters for apps/video games/animation/etc, and loads of IVR (Interactive Voice Response/On-Hold Marking). All from my home studio! It’s such a fun job and I’ve met the most wonderful people!

What sets me apart, I believe, is my intuition. Not just my instincts when playing a character, but knowing what the client wants to hear even if they’re unable to articulate it. Honestly, I understand how much MORE goes into a project than the voiceover. The voice might be the LAST thing a client thinks about, so I try to be concise, yet thorough and a delight to work with. Because who doesn’t like delightful people?!

I’d love for potential clients and followers to know: 1) I’m always happy to hear from you, no matter the budget size; 2) I like to laugh and it’s more fun when you laugh with me; 3) Reach out! I love to work with small businesses, especially those who are pushing forward inclusion and representation in their work.

Lastly, I like waffles and yoga pants. These are the things of a good life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

If I say LinkedIn, are you gonna mentally check out?

I mentioned writing earlier and that’s where LinkedIn comes in. Many other platforms -Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.- rely on photos and videos to garner attention from followers. What I like about LinkedIn is that while it does favor some photo and video content, it relies heavily on written word.

I’ve found the more honest I am with my posts, me just being me and sharing my reality, the more engagement and followers I gain. It’s not always a professional platform, per se. It’s ok to be open and honest about your journey and speaking to what speaks to you. I rarely post about voice acting. As my friend and pro voice actor Philip Banks says, “voice acting is the least interesting thing about me.”

It’s not that voice acting doesn’t speak to me, but my clients aren’t voice actors. And there’s so much more to all of us than our work. I want potential clients and followers to know they can relate to me on other topics, get to know who I am as a person and why I might fit their brand.

Lastly, I love to lift others up. It makes social media a better place and it always comes back to you tenfold.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Respect.

I could go down the rabbit hole with those two dreaded letters that rhyme with “Shmay Eye,” but I won’t.

If someone is in need of art -written, musical, visual, or performance- do yourself and the world a favor, and find a human to do it for you.

Respect your project. Respect artists.

And to the artists: find compassion and respect for those who can’t afford to hire us because we’re all working to meet our individual needs.

It’s not a zero sum game. A rising tide lifts all boats…or, that’s the goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: roshellesimpsonvo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roshellesimpsonvo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roshelle-simpson-909744100/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@roshellesimpson5903/videos