We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sami Ro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sami, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
The best investment for me was honestly each time I took a step to invest in myself.
When you are getting into a career space, especially any type of art, I think we often fight “imposter syndrome” and feel like we have to prove to ourselves we can do something before we allow ourselves to invest in it. But every time I’ve finally made that leap, I kick myself for not having done it sooner.
With art, it was finally making the leap into digital art. I had done traditional art for years and carried that as far as I could, and I feared taking the leap into digital art. Would it be something too difficult for me to learn? Would I fail? Would I waste all of that money in buying the tools for it? So I dipped my toes in slowly. I bought a cheap tablet and used a free art program. And I struggled through – but I did it. I got very good at the craft within what I had access to. Then finally, I made the leap into buying an iPad and procreate, and to be honest it felt like starting over. I was discouraged and had a hard time converting to a new program and was almost frozen in fear of “did I really just buy this expensive piece of equipment just to fail at mastering it?” But once I got over that fear and allowed myself to dive into it, I kicked myself for not having done it sooner.
With audio-book narration, it’s similar. I started with an affordable mic, and sound treated my space to the best of my ability. I used a free recording software. I was going to put as little into this financially until I could prove to myself that I could do it. I had finished about 30 hours of published audio using just that, and spent countless hours knit-pick editing because I didn’t have the proper tools for it. Because I had to prove to myself that I was worth the investment, first.
Now, I have an upgraded mic and recording system, as well as a program to edit my audio in that has saved me countless hours (and tears). I just wish I had taken these steps for myself sooner.
And the thing that I really want to drive home here, is I’m not saying that you have to go out and buy the best equipment or spend tons of money on something that isn’t in budget. It’s not that you can’t make it without that. Certainly we see great things from people who don’t. But, we shouldn’t punish ourselves and make things harder for us because we fear investing in ourselves and failing. That fear is doing nothing but holding you back. You deserve to believe in yourself enough to invest in yourself, because if you didn’t believe in yourself then you wouldn’t be here on the journey.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m an anonymous creator in both digital art, as SWShanti and audio-book narration, as Sami Ro.
I’ve always been an artist. My specialty is portraits, as I’ve always been enamored with the small details in people that make them different from one another. I’ve drawn as long as I can remember. I think being an artist is something you just are rather than an occupation to obtain. Honestly I never wanted to pursue art as a profession, because I’m very selfish in my love for it. I never wanted to turn it into work. However, I found my way into audio-book narration, and when you work with passionate authors, it’s easy to stumble into overlap. I’ve found myself since, knee-deep in character art creations, designing book marks and stickers, and even some book cover designs that I’m very proud of. And though I am still not pursuing this exactly – I mainly just do art for my own reasons – it has been amazing to see my art out in the world under official brands and in print.
I am most proud of the work I have done for the Naiads of Juile series by Whit Stanfield. I worked very closely with this author for both the production of her first audio-book, as well as designed her hardcover designs for book 1 and 2, her book marks, author logo, a sticker design, and many character arts.
Since then, I have also joined staff as an artist on a Gaming Podcast called Punch and Roll for Initiative, which is at its core, a group of narrators who decided to play games together and let our true nerd selves shine.
My primary focus right now is as an audio-book narrator. I specialize in fantasy and romantasy. which is exactly where I want to be. When people think of audio-book narrators, I’m sure there’s the thought that we are “just reading a book,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. With narration, especially in a solo narration in the fantasy genre, it’s truly a vocal performance that challenges your versatility and endurance. For example, I am currently working in a fantasy novel, as a femme narrator, and have had to voice (and maintain) upwards of 20 masc voices so far, only halfway through the book.
How is that possible? Designating a certain sound or range for each character within my vocal capabilities, and differentiating that character with the way they speak, the attitude or cadence they use, and their particular accent. For consistency, I even keep a character reel with vocal samples of each to make sure that they sound distinct and consistent.
It is a lot of work, but I love this industry and I love working in these stories and breathing them to life.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
This is a very big topic right now, as I’m sure everyone knows, but the best way you can support artists right now is to help us fight against this massive push for AI in creative spaces.
The struggle against AI has been a well deserved talking point in the art industry for a long time now. Instead of hiring a real artist, anyone can type in a few words and generate art with the click of a button and claim it as their own, even though that AI was trained using art from thousands of artists without their consent, creating a hodgepodge mix of stolen art that loosely resembles something a human might make. I think that remains to be the biggest focus when people think about the controversial topic of AI. But I didn’t expect to see it spread so rampantly in other creative spaces as well.
The unfortunate truth is that AI is being used, unregulated and widely, over saturating markets that are meant for human creatives to be able to grow in. And every creative space is suffering for it.
As a narrator, I have turned down books that I could tell were not written by a human, but were manufactured and spat out through AI. When I am navigating what book to audition for or what contracts to take, that is a big part of what I have to watch for. Additionally, larger companies like Audible have also made a strong push for AI narration, cutting voice actors out almost completely. It’s baffling to me, that so many people with so much talent, are just being shoved out of the spaces where they are meant to thrive in.
I have also adamantly taken part in the Human Voices Only movement, created by another amazing narrator, Samantha Norbury. For this event we collaborate with authors, providing free audio samples of their works, while also allowing us to showcase that you just can’t replace humans in arts with AI. And honestly it’s true. AI is fast and cheap and a lot of people are going to go for it, especially while it is so unregulated and so accessible. But it is, and always will be, missing the heart of the human in it.
With so much at question with the legalities of AI, the morality of how it is trained, and the ethical questions around its sustainability for our environment, there are a multitude of reasons to just hire humans. But unfortunately, big companies see this as a way to get more of your money, without any of it going to those who deserve to be paid for the work. So right now, as I think anyone in the creative/arts industries would agree, the biggest way you can support us, is by refusing to accept AI in our space.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, everything about being a creative is about making our dreams tangible, and finding beauty in the tiny details of life. The reward is in that, in those beautiful moments that make you feel something.
As an artist, we focus often on things that are conventionally beautiful. But the real beauty is in the wrinkles of a hand, in the arch of a brow, in the blue of a vein and the hump of a nose bridge. There is beauty all around us beyond the conventionally attractive, and bringing that out is my favorite part. When I create art for myself, that’s my focus. On the calloused hands and the curve of a nostril, in wrinkled skin – those small details that make something real.
When I’m working for someone, it’s about helping them realize their dreams in a different way. Bringing a scene that an author wrote to life visually. Helping them discover the face of the character that’s been living inside their head. There’s no better feeling than when two minds meet to be able to bring a dream just a little bit closer to reality.
I think this is why narration was such an easy adaptation for me as well. But instead of working in a visual space, it’s with my voice. With the inflections and emphases used in a conversation between two characters, and with the emotions driving an inner monologue for the character who’s mind you’re in. Being able to do this performance and have not only the author realize their work in a different way, but deliver the story to listeners in a whole new way, is such an amazing thing to experience.
“I write her in your voice now,” was my favorite compliment I ever received from an author, and it made all of the struggle worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://samiroaudio.weebly.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sami.ro.audio/
- Linkedin: https://bio.site/samiro
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/swshanti.art/
Image Credits
Sami Ro, SWShanti