KRISTEN SIMOES
Voice Actor and Reporter
STORY CORE VOICE AND VISUALS.
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THE LATEST NEWS FROM KRISTEN SIMOES
Lessons from Launching a YouTube Channel
In the enormous ocean of online content creation, diving into the world of YouTube the last three months has been humbling yet fun, in a way I didn’t at all expect. It began as a passion project. An opportunity to share my love for home exchange travel while doing work that’s creative and entirely mine to mold. While I love my work, I was craving a project outside of my typical lineup of political ads, medical narration, and various voiceover projects.
In the process, I’ve learned a few new skills, met some truly awesome people, and began to realize just how much learning is required to play in the YouTube world. The old saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” perfectly describes the journey I’ve had over the past few months as I stumble through digital storytelling.
How Travel can Make us Better at Work
I’ve made it no secret that I have a travel problem. An addiction, some have called it. In this blogpost, I will explain why I wholeheartedly believe that travel is not just a frivolous pastime of those adventure seekers who like to blow their hard-earned dollars exploring new places. It’s also a great way to hone life skills that can be genuinely beneficial in the workplace. It is truly an investment in our professional development.
I preface this by recognizing that as a voice actor, producer and on-camera corporate spokesperson, I am capable of bringing my work along with me. This is a blessing and a curse. Of course, the ability to work from anywhere allows me to be, well, anywhere. However, it also means it can be challenging actually getting to the part of travel where one might relax. It has also proven an adventure in itself to create an environment that’s quiet enough to record audio for voiceover when I have no idea what the environment will be like ahead of time. read more…
February’s Reality Check: Are Your Goals on Track?
Has reality struck yet? This time last month I was still busy refining my goals, my rewards (for meeting those goals) and cutting out pictures for my 2024 vision board. Now that we’re well into February, there’s a slight film over the whole “clear picture” that I had just one month ago. Are you feeling this too?
My keyword for 2024 is consistency. In an effort to be more consistent, I’m taking a closer look at what’s working from one month to the next and vowing to reflect, refine and reassess. According to my good friend Google, this is one way to be more successful in reaching our goals.
In this blog post, I’m digging into the importance of goal assessment and offering insights (that I gained from others who are much smarter than I) on how to stay committed and when to reassess your objectives.
You(Tube) are doing what?!
Have you ever been afraid to try something because you might fail? Or worse… you’re afraid of what people might say?
Yeah… Me too. This year, that’s changing.
It all started when …
To properly tell this story of my current fear and my determination to overcome it, I have to go back to my college days when I participated in a study abroad program called Semester at Sea. It was a semester on a ship that circled the globe stopping at ten countries along the way. Was it terrifying leaving the safety of my American life with my American friends in my stereotypical American college experience for months with strangers in strange parts of the world? Absolutely. But I did it anyway, and I’m so glad I did. To say it broadened my horizons would be an enormous understatement. It shaped who I am today and instilled in me a desire to keep exploring, always.
Conquering my Demons. What scares me most as a voice actor … and how I get over it!
As we approach Halloween the air (and the grocery stores) are filled with spooky sights and hair-raising experiences. Yet I can’t help but think that the scariest monsters aren’t lurking under my bed or hiding in the closet; they’re the fears that reside within me (although if you’ve seen my daughter’s closet floor … now that’s scary)!
In this blogpost, I’m doing something truly chilling. I’m confronting what keeps me up at night when it comes to working as a professional female voice over actor and on-camera talent in a world filled with AI options and iPhones that do it all (and faster … and younger).
The Power of Lifelong Learning: How to Thrive as an Adult Learner
Okay, here’s a little secret. I don’t think I’m alone in this. I LOVE Back-to-School time! Not only are a plethora of colored pens, fancy to-do lists and new
filing systems on sale everywhere … but my daughter goes back to school. With this comes a return to my routine that is SO much more productive than the summer, when I’m scrambling to set up play dates and shooing my child away when she interrupts during a zoom call. Whew.
The other beautiful thing about back-to-school time is the reminder that we should keep learning, too. Every voice actor is well aware that the trends change, sometimes the technology changes, and certainly your clients change. It’s so important to always be learning, but at back to school time, I feel a natural kick-start inspired by the change in seasons and certainly by sending the kids back to school!
Balance while Working on the Road
Travel has always been a part of my DNA. As a child, my mother worked in the travel industry and instilled in me a passion for finding new adventures and seeing other places. In college, I spent a semester studying abroad through a program called Semester at Sea. We circled the globe on
a ship, going to class while at sea and learning through field excursions in the ten differ
ent countries we visited. Many of them are places I likely never would have seen otherwise. Spending time in third world countries, meeting people whose lives were so different than mine, made me realize that there’s so much more to life than the little corner of the globe I was growing up in. read more…
What to Wear for Your On-Camera Appearance!
I once wore a beautiful, unique, colorful eight-strand necklace with tiny fluttering silver coins on live television. It was my great-grandmothers and is still a piece of jewelry I love. Never have I received so many viewer comments on something I was wearing. From “what was that jingling sound every time you spoke” to “your neck was so bright I had to wear shades”. I’m pretty sure none of those viewers actually heard what I was saying. They were too distracted. read more…
5 Reasons Voice Actors Need Coaches
I often have people who are interested in getting into the VO world ask me … why do you work with a voice coach? If you’re getting the work and pulling in a paycheck, why take classes or participate in workshops?
Similarly, I have clients who respond in surprise when they learn that voice actors regularly work with coaches. In their minds, do they wonder if we’re not qualified because we’re taking a class or working with a coach?
read more…
Turning Career Commitment Issues into Multiple Revenue Streams
Do you find yourself loving your work, but avoiding the prospect of working for someone? Or craving variety in your work life, rather than pounding away at the same project for the same company every day?
All my life friends and family have given me a hard time because I don’t like to be tied down by a traditional “report-to-someone” job. They’ve said I have “career commitment phobia”. Working in television news, I was required to sign contracts that often outline what you can and can’t do, even what you can and can’t wear on camera. Needless to say, I haven’t worked full-time as a journalist, with a contract, since 2001 (even though I’ve been fortunate to work as a reporter and producer for some great stations, consistently, the entire time). read more…
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