We recently connected with Tyanni Mah and have shared our conversation below.

Tyanni , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

The most unexpected problem I’ve faced on my voice actor journey happened right after I booked my first audiobook. I found out that I had to have a thyroidectomy to remove a mass that was growing in my thyroid. Of course, come of the potential complications could be that my voice and vocal quality could be impacted. Besides being scared, I felt so incredibly disheartened in that moment because I had just decided to make the leap from nursing to voice acting. I felt a bit ridiculous for having waited so long to pursue voice acting only to potentially not be able to pursue this career path anymore after my surgery!

Tyanni , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Tyanni Mah, a voice actor and family nurse practitioner. I’ve been a voice actor for 3 years. My entry into this career path was through audiobook narration. From there I’ve branched into commercial voiceover, animation, videogames, audio description and eLearning/explainer narration. I’ve been blessed to work with clients such as Pathea Games, Tantor Audio, The Smithsonian, Albertsons, and many wonderful indie creators! I was also recently nominated for a Voice Arts Awards for audiobook narration.

I am most proud of my ability to fulfill a client’s vision for the role or narration. It’s an amazing feeling when a client tells me that the audio I’ve delivered is better than what they imagined. That’s always my goal when I’m working with a client: to exceed their expectations.

A really proud moment for me that happened recently, was being able to hear my performance in 2 different games. One of my career goals in 2024 was to provide voice acting for widely distributed video games (for example released on consoles such as the Nintendo Switch or Playstation); so, it was an amazing feeling to achieve that goal twice over.

I’m always available to speak to client’s about their projects either through my personal website contact form, through my agent at J Pervis Talent agency, or through my profiles on VDC or Bodalgo!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After my surgery, I did have some changes to my voice, especially when it came to my upper register. I also had to be extremely careful about not overdoing long sessions, especially when it came to audiobook narration. I have had to become extremely mindful of warming up prior to sessions, using my diaphragm to support my breath and not strain myself. I’ve had to learn how to utilize my lower register since that has become more comfortable for me to use. But this has also opened up a whole area of roles that I previously didn’t consider (such as boy characters).

I think the main thing I’m proud of is being ok with pivoting from some of the roles and characters I thought suited me best and really settling into myself. Resilience for me was the ability to recognize that the vocal range I was used to had changed, and instead of quitting deciding to figure out what I could do with my voice, and running with it.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes! I wish I had explored my public library earlier in my creative journey. There were microphone technique classes available, DAW classes, audio editing classes, and access to a recording studio that were all FREE! I advise everyone to really see what resources and classes are available at their library. There’s so many great, free classes available that can help so many creatives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.voicebytyanni.com
• Instagram: @tyannimahva
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyannimah
• Twitter: @tyannimah
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tyannimah
• Other: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kyavoice.studio

Image Credits

The Ebony Witch- Lydiah Ndanwu

Run From Mummies- Lost Turnip LLC