Everything you’ve done in your life has been building towards this moment. As a voice over artist, a lot of my key life moments are easy to see.
I’ve never feared performing in front of people.
In elementary school, I was a beet in a school play. At the end, all the kids worked together to pull me out of the ground. It was pretty adorable.
I also narrated another school play. I remember this particular one, because while narrating, I sneeze and something flies out my nose, landing on my script. Then, a teacher darts out onstage and cleans my face before I continue.
Was it embarrassing? I don’t remember, but what I do remember is that was my first time behind a microphone in front of a crowd.
In college, I joined the radio station and that is where I started developing my mic skills. At the same, I took up German. I suffered from the embarrassment of looking and sounding foolish in front of others while speaking horrible German.
With practice, I got over that und jetzt kann ich Deutsch viel besser sprechen. These foreign language skills strengthened my resolve to get out there, make mistakes, and keep improving.
Years later, I earned an opportunity to be a play by play commentator for power soccer. The people who approached me knew I had some radio experience and thought I would be good at it. So, I packed up and shipped out to Minnesota…a place I had only visited before.
I further built my confidence behind the microphone and traveled the world while doing it. However, living in a place outside my comfort zone was not easy. I was away from everything familiar to me and I had to make it work. That was critical in building my resiliency.
A short time later, I took a new role in New Hampshire…a place I had never been. This was particularly difficult because although I had support from my new coworkers, I didn’t have much of a local support system beyond them. This further galvanized my resiliency.
While there, I learned to coach and started a business for the first time. In addition, I faced some adverse moments that I never encountered before. (another story for another day) Although it was tough, living there was the most valuable learning experience of my life.
Now, I’m back in a place that’s comfortable, but I am equipped with a new set of skills. Everything I had done in my life led up to this very moment. Looking back, it’s easy to see the events that laid the foundation for who I am now.
You have laid your own unique path over the years.
Where will it lead you?
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