Today we’d like to introduce you to Trecia Lovering.
Hi Trecia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Over a decade ago, I was working for a boutique financial company where I was able to achieve a work-life balance. I had evenings and weekends free, so I took advantage of the time to take classes I was interested in. I started taking singing classes and a voiceover class to try to make my voice stronger since people had a hard time hearing me. (While I was growing up, I had autophony, the perception that my voice was too loud, which I eventually outgrew). I did a few voiceover jobs but then found out that I was not allowed to have another job on the side working in finance. So, I put voiceover on the back burner until my husband and I moved to Los Angeles. I wanted to change careers, and my husband encouraged me to get back into voiceover since I had an interest in it for so long. I started working with coaches and had a few demo reels made to start me off on to my journey in voiceover.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The voiceover industry is like the Wild West – it’s unstructured. There isn’t a curriculum or degree for it, and everyone’s experience and journey is different. The general path is to first get coaching. A coach will let you know what genres you would be good at and when you are ready to have a demo made. A demo showcases your talent and is used to market yourself. When you get traction in getting booked jobs and some big clients, then you can see about getting an agent. Once you have your demos done, you don’t immediately get jobs. You have to market yourself and manage your business.
Once I got my commercial demo, I had to figure out which marketing methods worked to get clients. There are pay-to-play sites (pay a fee to get auditions), direct marketing, in-person/virtual networking, and social media. There’s not a correlation between the number of jobs you can get and the amount of auditions, networking meetings, and direct marketing. Marketing is a huge part of the job. I have a few clients who I also have done online digital marketing for over the years.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Everyone’s voice is different due various factors, but one to point out is our unique vocal folds. Like a fingerprint, no one has the same voice as you. A potential client would listen to your demo(s) or audition and see if your voice would be a good match for their product or service. I have voiced into/outros to podcasts and training videos. My voice can get pretty bright, which lends itself to audio geared towards genres for kids e-learning and commercial bumpers. I can also scale my voice back for mediation. (In my past career, I have put two coworkers and my manager to sleep while training them, so I have the ability to put people to sleep.)
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I wouldn’t refer to luck that has led me where I am now but rather decisions made along the way. A few years back, my husband accepted a job in LA, which had me leave my job in San Diego (working remotely was not acceptable back then.) I could have searched for another finance job, but I would have been dealing with LA traffic and had been wanting a change. Living in LA allowed me to explore other career possibilities, take a bootcamp course in digital marketing, and start back in voiceover.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.trecialovering.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovering_vo/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trecialovering/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tweettrec
Image Credits
Dan Rice Photography
