Rising Stars: Meet Susan Cooper of Decatur, GA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Cooper.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I spend my days as a Creative Project Manager at an advertising agency, helping other people bring their ideas to life. But alongside that work, I’ve always had a passion for voiceover and storytelling. After years of managing timelines, wrangling deliverables, and supporting creative teams, I realized I wanted a space where I could flex my own creative muscles.

I also happen to know an absurd number of wildly talented voice actors, writers, and editors. And from experience, I know that when creative people are given a little freedom and a lot of trust, interesting things happen.

I approached my friend Micah Caldwell and asked if she wanted to create something together. I’ve always been a fan of romantic comedies, and for years I had imaginary romcom scenes living rent-free in my head with nowhere to go. At the same time, I was watching the romance genre explode in popularity through books, audiobooks, and online communities. So I pitched an idea: what if we made an audio romantic comedy and cast ourselves?

Once the main characters clicked into place, the story poured out quickly. I spent a few months writing the core narrative, drawing inspiration from my favorite romcoms, romance novels, and TV series, as well as my professional background in advertising and social media. Micah helped refine the structure, jokes, and character arcs, and suggested bringing in a few writers from her stand-up comedy classes to help punch up the humor and pacing.

Casting was the easy part. The voiceover community is generous, collaborative, and always excited to make something new. The real challenge was post-production. Thankfully, an old friend from high school, Doug Lehman, was looking for a creative project and jumped in as our editor and sound designer.

So with no budget, a lot of shared Google Docs, and a surprising amount of optimism, we built The Romcom Formula entirely from scratch. It’s a funny, trope-loving, self-aware audio series made by people who showed up simply because they wanted to create something together. I’m incredibly grateful for that kind of collaboration and community.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road, but I learned a lot about myself and about the nature of passion projects.

My biggest challenge was learning how to adjust my expectations as a producer on a project with next to zero budget. In my day job as a project manager, timelines are firm because clients are paying us to do the work and meet their deadlines. With this project, everyone involved was donating their time or working at a greatly reduced rates because they genuinely wanted to be part of it. That meant I couldn’t ask anyone to prioritize this over their paying work, no matter how excited we all were.

I originally thought we could record the entire series over nine weeks, begin post-production simultaneously, and launch in early fall. That turned out to be wildly optimistic. Coordinating recording sessions across a large cast took longer than expected, and while that kind of scheduling is familiar to me professionally, it becomes much more complex when availability is limited and shifting. Recording ultimately took about three months, and post-production took another four and a half.

That said, the slower pace forced me to be more patient, flexible, and appreciative of the collaboration. It reminded me that creative projects don’t always unfold how you expect, and that making something cool often means letting it take the time it needs.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love to get things done. At my core, I’m pretty good at making creative systems..

In my day job as a Creative Project Manager, I’m known as a person of action. I make things happen. I’m always looking ahead, asking “What’s the next step?” and making sure everyone on the team knows what they’re responsible for and when it’s due. I see my role as servant leadership. My goal is to remove obstacles so creative teams can focus on doing their best work instead of worrying about logistics.

As a voice actor, my work is informed by more than twenty years in advertising. I’ve spent years on both sides of the mic, collaborating with creatives, producers, and clients, which has shaped my performance style. I specialize in genuine, conversational reads that feel grounded and human rather than overly polished or performative.

What I’m most proud of is how these two worlds have come together creatively. Over the past few years, I’ve been very intentional about nurturing my own creativity. I hold myself accountable to doing something creative every week, whether that’s writing, drawing, cooking, attending live theater, or experimenting with social content. The Romcom Formula is a direct result of that practice. It combines my organizational brain, my creative instincts, my love of collaboration and obsession with romance tropes into one project.

What sets me apart is that I’m equally comfortable managing the spreadsheet and writing the story. I know how to move ideas from imagination to execution, and I genuinely love helping creative people make things together.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Both advertising and voiceover are in the middle of a massive shift, and it would be impossible not to mention AI. It’s the loudest conversation in the room right now. People are suddenly very aware of what feels human and what doesn’t.

I don’t need to debate whether or not AI should be used as a creative tool but I do feel confident that human creativity itself isn’t going anywhere. People will always crave stories, humor, emotion, and connection. You can replicate a voice, but you can’t replicate authentic emotion, empathy, or cultural nuance.

I think we’ll see a continued rise in creator-led, independent projects across audio, video, and advertising. Audiences are tired of constant bad news, algorithmic content, and manufactured perfection. They’re looking for work that feels personal, intentional, and made by real people- even if it’s messy..

That shift will show up in advertising as brands seek authenticity over polish, and in media as audiences support indie storytelling, community-driven projects. Films, literature, audiobooks and formats like audio drama encourage imagination and creative community. I’m hopefully optimistic we’re heading back to the human voice—not away from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.RomcomFormula.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susancoopervoiceover
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-cooper/