Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadia Marshall
Hi Nadia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I originally started in voiceover in October of 2016 after reconnecting with a friend who did voiceover work. She and I met while singing in the chorus for the opera Carmen. After I graduated with my Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance, she reached out and told me that I should consider voiceover as a potential career. I wasn’t sure what my next steps would be so soon after graduating. She was kind enough to show me her studios, her auditioning process, and gave me some of her old equipment.
I ended up doing voiceover as a side hustle all throughout my Master’s degree at Ohio State University. After graduated with my Master’s of Music degree, I felt lost and wasn’t sure how I would get a job. I ended up getting a job as an adjunct voice teacher at a private school about 90 minutes away. I was still doing voiceover work on the side, but I was hitting a plateau. Even after working in the industry at some level for 2.5 years, I knew that I could get higher level jobs, but didn’t know how to get there.
I ended up finding a voiceover coach online and reached out to him for help. He gave me tons of information on resources, who to contact to make a demo, and training to help me level up. I listened to podcasts religiously during my commute to my adjunct teaching job and started to invest in making my home studio better and better.
Then Covid came and it forced us all to be at home. My voiceover business took off. I signed with agents and was booking regularly. I also received a marketing assistant job and was able to supplement my income while investing more and more into growing my voiceover business. I attended online conferences, webinars, and found mentors to help me continue to grow.
By May of 2022, I was able to go full-time into my business. Voices by Nadia was created and I focused more on diversifying my skill-set. I also joined a Mastermind group in 2022 and it was pivotal to helping me and my business grow together.
Where I am today: I am a full-time voice actor working from her home studio. I am able to balance my voiceover career with a singing career and still am able to sing opera and musical theater work due to my flexible schedule. I love having the ability to remain creative to the art form of performing and not feel burnt out. I have been fortunate enough to be a speaker at webinars, podcasts, conferences, and events talking about being an entrepreneur, my skill set, my knowledge of lead generation strategy for voiceover marketing, and maintaining creative balance.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There were definitely some struggles along the way. Covid-19 was (and still is) difficult for performers to maintain finances while also staying safe and healthy. I didn’t have any live performances during 2020 and so the majority of my income came from teaching voice lessons virtually, working as a marketing assistant (virtually), and doing voiceover work at home.
Also, in 2023, we had the Writer’s strike. This affected the entertainment industry and there wasn’t as much ad spending. This directly impacted commercial auditions and jobs, which is a major genre for voice actors. Thankfully, I was focusing on diversifying my skillsets and was able to pivot to other genres during the strike.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Voices by Nadia provides voiceover and singing services and I am a voice actor and soprano. I sing both opera and musical theater professionally.
I am an American and British citizen with British and Indian heritage. I frequently do voiceover work in American, British RP, Indian, and Mid-Atlantic accents. What also sets me apart in the voiceover world besides the accents is that I also have minors in both French and Italian languages and am comfortable with foreign language diction due to my opera training. A lot of my clients are European and they love it when I am able to comfortable pronounce words or phrases in their native languages.
I am most proud of the variety of work I have done over the years. I work in commercials, videogames, animation, corporate narration, explainer, eLearning, Documentary/TV In Show Narration, audiobooks, audio guides, to name a few. I love that I am able to work in such an array of genres and lend my voice to clients all over the world.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risks are a necessary part of growing a business. Risks are scary and our fear can make us feel that we shouldn’t take them. Yet, in order for us to grow, we have to leave what is comfortable and take a step into somewhere new.
I have definitely taken risks in order to get to where I am today. Some major risks included:
-Getting into voiceover. I didn’t know the first thing about it!
-Deciding to go full-time in my voiceover business. I started treating voiceover as a business instead of a side hustle in 2020. After only two years, I took the leap to go full-time and I’m so happy I did.
-Moving to Atlanta. I was comfortable in Columbus, OH after living there for 7 years. But this city is growing rapidly in the entertainment industry- especially in film and TV. Plus being at a major travel hub like Hartsfield-Jackson is a boon for when I fly for conferences, conventions, performances, auditions, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.voicesbynadia.com
- Instagram: @voicesbynadia
- Facebook: @voicesbynadiallc
- Twitter: @voicesbynadi
- Youtube: @voicesbynadi
- Other: www.nadiamarshall.com (Singing website)
Image Credits
Minh Insixiangmy
Kyle Long Photography
JAMS Photography
