Time for another review of my year as a voiceover.

Another year rolls around. And it’s true what they say; the years do go faster the older you get. Which I personally think is rather cruel.

As is tradition at this time of year, I write a little blog reflecting on the plans I made for the previous year, reporting on the things I actually ended up doing, and set some targets for the year to come.
So, here goes.

Well, what to say about 2023?

It went as quick as a flash – mainly because I had so much fun and was so darned busy! I threw myself into everything and probably took on too much, but life is for living right?

Fantastic clients – old and new

2023 saw me continue to voice countless radio commercials across the UK for both the Global and Bauer groups as well as a handful of independent producers. My work for the Royal Osteoporosis Society 1 in 2 Women Campaign went on to win the Third Sector Award award for best Marketing Campaign.  And I had great fun voicing (internationally!) as I created a pillow fort in my Tunisian hotel room to do a few emergency jobs for clients like Pets Corner and the London Palladium.

I continued my relationships with Duck Duck Go and Oura and have become a regular brand voice for them on TV commercials. And it‘s hard to listen to Amazon Music Free without me popping up convincing you to pay for their ad-free service.

The year ended well, as I was also thrilled to voice the Christmas appeal for Action Aid – a charity I’ve donated to for years. I was listening to a favourite podcast recently and heard the commercial pop up. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that!

Gaming, VR, Animation and E-learning work goes on.

I dabbled my vocal toes into the world of VR this year for Jaguar by voicing their Jaguar TCS VR Racing experience. Also on the elite motor sports theme, I voiced a Legoland Formula 1 game. Such fun.
It was also a great year for my Gaming and Animation work. This is always a tricky area as I’m usually tied up with a million NDA agreements. So I can’t always report on all the great games I’ve been involved with or tell you which characters I’ve voiced. But, I can say, I’ve really enjoyed working with amazing directors and producers including Frontier Games and PitStop Productions. And as soon as I can say more, I will!

I had a lot of fun doing the wallah and crowd scenes for Baldurs Gate 3 which has gone on to  6 awards in 2023 already.

As well as all that, I continue to voice for various e-learning providers and countless bespoke corporate videos and explainers – my Youtube channel is a good place to see some of these.

A new look

I had some fab new photography done in 2023 which captures me and my brand in a much more authentic way. I’ve had a lot of fun adding the images to my social media and website. I plan on doing more of a refresh in 2024.

It wasn’t all work!

As well as all the work, I had plenty of fun too. It was an amazing year for us as a family with loads of holidays and short breaks and adventures. It was a real ‘YES’ year as we threw ourselves into everything that crossed our paths. In truth, we probably over did it as we’re all exhausted now. But it was certainly a year to remember. Plus my dad turned 70, my husband celebrated 50 years and I organised 5 or 6 fundraising events for my local charity. As I said, perhaps I took on too much.

What about 2024?

Well, that’s what I did. But how does it compare to what I planned to do last year? I had planned to take more time to prioritise training and development, but that fell by the way side as I was so busy with actual delivery work (not a bad place to be!). Plus, I took on a lot of local voluntary work which ate up any free time I had left. I don’t regret it as I love supporting my daughters school and I’m proud to have set up Love Lowndes which is a project tasked with raising £150k to build a new playground in my town. But I must focus more on work in 2024!

I had also planned to apply for a few Voiceover awards in 2023 and go to a few events or socials. But again, the natural introvert in me took over and I prioritized family and local life. Will I try again in 2024? Let’s see.

So, what are my goals for this year?

I’m going to continue to keep a sharp eye on the development of AI and how it may affect our industry. I need to make sure I’m diversifying my income streams (working in all the many genres) and staying relevant. Continued Professional Development is a big part of this, so I PROMISE this year I’ll work on brushing up some accents and pushing myself more into Gaming and Animation. I’ll finally create my gaming reel and try to make inroads into TV narration. I do want o continue volunteering locally, but I mustn’t let it take over too much.

Little Ada starts school in September which will allow me so much more time to work so it’ll be easier to factor in all these plans in the latter half of the year. I also plan to build on the on the new photography and imagery I created last year by giving my website a little facelift. Reorganising and updating – not a full re-brand, but a refresh.

So, plenty to be getting on with.

It just leaves me to say thank you to all my clients and voiceover chums for being with me on the brilliant career path. I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings my way.