We recently connected with Tina Wilson and have shared our conversation below.

Tina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I became a voice over talent in 2001. I took my first acting class, and within six weeks, I was in love with voice over acting. I’ve heard voice over talents on radio and TV all my life and felt called to do this. I’ve been blind since birth, and this opened up a whole new career path for me.

When I went to my first voice over acting class, I had to quickly copy all of the scripts that were given to me in braille. But I did it, and I was able to perform just like the rest of the class. This made me feel pretty darn good because I knew that this was a job that I could do well.

When I was done with my voice over classes, I wish I had looked more in depth for a private coach. I feel this would have sped up the learning process.

The skills that I think were most essential to grasp were to breathe life into a script and make it soar off the page. That’s what really holds an audience’s interest. That’s when an audience gets absorbed. Think of a commercial that holds your attention, it does that because the actors are living it. So when I learned that skill, I began to get jobs.

Back in 2001, there was not the social networking that we have today. Today, we have Zoom, we have LinkedIn, and we have Skype, and I can now join all of these people in this industry remotely throughout the world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Since I was a child, I’ve always loved showbusiness. I’m the daughter of a professional singer who sang with big bands. So I grew up with music all around me and my mother had a beautiful voice. I began singing in talent shows in elementary school and I took voice lessons for many years. I sang with jazz bands and country bands and I sang for many private parties. And I still do today.

I simply didn’t discover voice over until later in life.

I’ve been the voice of Kerrygold Butter, Oregon University, Placentia-Linda Hospital, Chick-Fil-A, Wonderware West, Keystone Automotive, Maxon Steel, the Follett Corporation, Quantum Technology, Hunterdon Healthcare, Local.com, Guide Dogs for the Blind and many more.

I was a main voice in the Emmy-nominated PBS film Voices Of A Never-Ending Dawn. And now I’m the lead voice in a new documentary film by the same producer called God, Guts and Grit. It’s really fun to be a character in a film because it’s all about the storytelling.

It’s also fun to be the lady in your company’s phone system. People often ask, “Who’s that lady?” Well, sometimes that’s me!

I’m a naturally friendly person, and I’m usually looked upon as the face of a company or corporation. So by extending a smile through my voice, I’m offering a welcome handshake from the companies I work for. And I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to do that for my clients time and time again.

I believe in timely delivery to my clients and I’m dedicated to the message they want to send.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Part of my job includes self-directing because I work remotely from my home. So, I’ve had to learn that if I don’t get a job, as the director, I’m responsible for that.

I can think of one time that I did an audition for my agent that I felt so confident, I thought I had “nailed it”. But suddenly, after I did that audition, I heard crickets. I had to step back, learn to handle rejection, put my big girl pants on and move forward.

And sure enough, many more jobs followed after that.

There are many people who are auditioning for the same job on a daily basis, and I had to realize that casting directors know what they are looking for within the first five seconds.

So, I had to unlearn not to keep going over auditions in my head, but to let them go when they are completed and simply look forward.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When I realize that I’ve delivered a positive message to millions of people, that’s when I feel that I’ve accomplished my mission and that’s when I feel most rewarded.

For example: When I played the role of Dorthea York in the PBS film Voices Of A Never-Ending Dawn, not only did it play to millions of people across the US and Canada, but it also was released in some theaters, and there are stories of how the older veterans in the audience were so moved, they were crying good tears. My performance ends that film, and it was one of the most moving passages from a diary that I’ve ever read as an actress.

I can’t tell you what it feels like to have moved audiences that much. And I think this is an artist’s job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tinawilsontalent.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinawilsontalent/
• Other: Meet Tina Wilson: https://tinawilsontalent.com/meet-tina/

  Vocals: https://tinawilsontalent.com/vocals/

  Sample Narrations; https://tinawilsontalent.com/narration/

Image Credits

I own these images.