About A VO's Journey

NICE TO MEET YOU

I'm Anthony Pica

It was early 2017, and I was teaching theatre at a Fine Arts Magnet School. By all accounts, I should have been happy with my job. It paid decent with benefits, and my wife made more money than me, so we were doing okay financially.

We weren't going on vacations, but we had a roof over our heads and two amazing children. So, again, I should have been happy. 

However, I was not happy.

Most of my life had been dedicated to acting, teaching, and directing to this point. However, I was not doing any acting, which is what I set out to do when I started college 20+ years ago. So, I still felt something was missing from my life.

The reality was, I wanted to get back into performing for myself, instead of just directing others. 

One day, towards the end of March, I was thinking about a way to start performing again and make money, but still, have my home and family life. It is no secret that actors have to be flexible and able to travel in order to make the big bucks, plus over 90% of actors work 2 - 3 jobs just to keep the lights on.

So, as fate would have it, I was listening to an audiobook on self-development, and I thought to myself, "I could do that ... I could narrate a book".

Two weeks later, many YouTube videos, packing blankets, PVC pipe, pantyhose pop filter, and a $40 USB microphone, my VO's Journey began. 

More Of My Story ...

Starting out, my goal was to produce audiobooks as a voice-over artist and rake in the money with residual income. 

My schedule consisted of working from 6 am to 5 pm every day (sometimes later and on weekends). I would come home and cook dinner with my wife, spend time with the kids, put them to bed, and then spend time with my wife until she went to bed around 10 pm. 

MY WIFE DESERVES THE WORLD FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME

At this point, I would go outside to my little storage shack that was attached to our house, pull out the big duffle bag with my (Hobo Fort) portable recording booth and assemble it so I could record for 4-5 hours. 

And at the end of every night, I would take it back down and put it away. I did this for 2 years straight, day in and day out. I worked weekends and spent little time with my family. 

As my business grew, I was able to eventually quit my full-time job and go full-time as a voice actor and now my family wishes I was still doing it the old (Just kidding ... hopefully). But the grind paid off in a big way.

And I can say with absolute confidence, that besides the birth of my children and marrying the the most amazing woman, building this voice over business has been the greatest accomplishment of my life. Not because of what I have done ... but because of the people I continue to meet, the friendships I get to keep building, and the peoples lives I have helped change. 

Now, everyday I get to decide my own destiny, and I have never felt more fulfilled. I never wake up thinking I should be doing anything else.

And if there is one thing that I love to do just as much as voice over, it's helping others experience their voice-over dream. 

Price of Success

I wrote an article a while back called ...

"The Price For Success"

I wrote it because I wanted to share with people what it actually took me to get where I was at the time, so people could be prepared and not discouraged about the rode ahead.

The more we can work together and learn from each others journey's, the better we all can end up. 

Check Out Our Podcast

A VO's Journey Podcast - Get The Latest Episodes Here

If you are looking to learn more about my journey and the journey of AVOJ, check out my podcast here. I have documented my journey since 2018