5 Questions for a Professional Voice-Over Talent – Mercedes Rose

Mercedes Rose Voice-Over

Today’s 5 Questions for a Professional Voice Over Talent are answered by Mercedes Rose, a professional voice-over talent based in Portland, Oregon.

1. The beginning: When did you know you wanted to be a voiceover talent; how did your career begin (please include what year it started) and then when did your passion for voiceover develop into something professional?

I knew I wanted to be a performer…but I had no idea voice acting even existed until I auditioned for my first role. (Don’t ask where I thought those voices on the radio came from…) It was a total fluke that voiceover came into my life. I was an on-camera actor when my agent sent me to an audition one day. A VOICE audition. I had never done one before (Remember, I didn’t even know VO existed!) but I jumped right in and had fun with it. Must have worked because I booked the gig. The rest is history. And I thank my lucky stars (and my agents) every day for the chance to have a career that I love.

2. What is the one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you when you first started out in voiceover?

Many years passed before I realized how much ACTING is in VOICE ACTING. That would have been helpful to know on day 1!

3. What do you see as the biggest professional or personal obstacle you face that impacts your voiceover business and how are you working to overcome it?

Balance. I face a daily struggle with remembering which hat I am wearing when. Am I a producer today? A mom? A voice actor? A spokesperson? Usually, it is all of the above and the hats change every 15 minutes. My constant reminder (and the sign on my desk) is: “Be present”.

4. What personal trait or professional tool has helped you succeed the most in your career so far?

Being a good person that people want to work with over and over again has been the best tool for my business! Over 75% of my work is repeat clients. Making sure I bring my A-game, am professional and timely for every single gig is my goal. I also think having a name like Mercedes Rose helps…people don’t tend to forget me!

5. In your development as a voice over performer, who has been the one particular individual or what has been the one piece of performance advice (maybe a key performance trick, etc.) that you felt has had the most impact on your actual voice over performance and why?

Voiceover people, in general, are the most giving performers in show business. From Ritah Parrish, the gal at that very first voice audition who told me what a mic was to Linda and Michael Bard that got me that first gig (and many more after) to Stacey Stahl, my first voice agent that made me realize voice could be a job to Amy Snively and every person that I have met at FaffCon! So many people have changed the course of my career and therefor, my life! Not to be dramatic or anything ….

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