Ok, so it's now Tuesday, and I'm a tad jet lagged (and really, just flippin' tired from no sleep for five days)... but I have to write about Saturday! 

Saturday was a HUGE day!!! My morning began by attending a session about vocal warm ups.  However, I was called away to make some ad hoc plans for Randy's introduction later that afternoon.  What with Bernie Mac passing away, and other celebrity breaking news, Kevin Gershan was not able to come to intro Randy for her presentation.

Then, we went to Nancy Wolfson's session. I was happy to finally meet Nancy as I had taken some phone lessons with her prior to receiving the opportunity to work with my current coach Marice Tobias.  Nancy is smart and funny as hell. Her presentation about Branding was very informative, and she used really great analogies to make her point. During her presentation, she used t shirts to make her point that when branding yourself, be true and honest... don't try to be something you're not. She had various t-shirts and tried to find people in the audience that represented the style of the shirt.  It was agreed that I represented this shirt: a pink shirt that says "Spoiled to Perfection" with an image of Tinkerbell on it.  I vowed not to show my husband... I certainly don't want him to say, "See, I told you so!"  Ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!! Well, at least "perfection" is one of the words in that phrase. LOL.

I had time to grab a quick lunch at the mall across the street from the hotel with Kara Edwards, Rachel Rouch (my roommate for the week), and Connie Terwilliger.  Then I rushed back to the hotel to meet up with Randy and friends to set up for her presentation.

Randy's presentation. WOW!!  The woman never ceases to amaze me.  Seriously.  Her presentation was about Dreaming Big and Living Your Dream.  Her guests were Arielle Ford (former celebrity publicist, and now with the Spiritual Cinema Circle) and Martha Quinn (former MTV VJ and host of Martha Quinn Presents on Sirius).  Each woman shared her story of achieving her dreams. Arielle even led us through an exercise on how to FEEL... and that you need to hold onto that feeling you get when things go right, and that's how you manifest your dreams. 

Hokey it may sound, but honestly, I started focusing on more positive thinking about a year ago, and well, good things DO happen. And, when bad things happen, they really just don't seem as bad as they used to.  I have a vision board in my studio where I've put pictures or words associated with of all the things I plan to accomplish. I look at it every day (some things even have a check mark by them b/c I've DONE THEM!), and I thank God everyday for all I have. Gratitude is so important.  

Randy, is, however, one of the most dynamic and inspirational women I've ever met.  I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from someone like her.

Which, brings me to this point (a segue from my trip recap... sorry).  I used to work for New York Life. Everyone is likely familiar with their tagline - "The Company You Keep".  Four great words.  I do believe that success in what you do is in part to what and who you choose to surround yourself with/by.  In other words, if you want to be successful in something,  then surround yourself with successful people. I mean, really successful people in your industry. Ok, I hit the motherlode... who would think I could live in Southwest Florida and that one of the premiere vo's lives five miles from me? (Actually, there are a number of VERY successful vo's that live here). But, I do. It's possible anywhere. Successful vo's are everywhere. And, if they aren't in a town near you, that's ok.  In this day and age of web sites, message boards and online communities, you can still get in touch with your vo hero. Try to learn all you can from them.  If you surround yourself with success, you will be successful. Learn from your mentors, and study with the best coaches you can. Successful people simply have an aura about them, and it's contagious. It's about "The Company You Keep."

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I was very excited to meet Martha Quinn as well. You can tell, she's a woman that's just full of good vibes and friendliness. She couldn't be any sweeter. Here's a pic of me and Martha:


After Randy's panel, we had to go up to her suite where she and Peter were filmed, talking about their book. Then we rushed back downstairs to the booth so they could meet all the lovely people who wanted to meet them. 

I then attended Bob Bergen's panel.  It was fabulous.  I was so excited to meet Bob earlier in the week.  Not only do I use Randy as a resource when I have questions, but Bob has also helped me immensely as well. His panel was on the business of the business. There were agents, casting directors and the like on his panel, and they were very open about answering questions.

Then we had Peter's panel. Somewhat similar to Bob's though there was more time for the audience to ask questions. And, there were some very thought-provoking questions - particularly about people doing non-union work (which is a topic of a previous blog of mine). As always, Peter brought his style and sense of humor to the panel.  Wally Wingert was one of the panelists... what a warm and friendly guy. 

Wally invited myself, Kara Edwards and September Day Leach (and a number of other vos) over to his house that evening for pizza and a tour. Wally does LOADS of vo work, particularly I'll mention the cartoon Family Guy (one of my faves). Wally's house isn't just a place to live... it's a museum. Seriously, he could charge admission.  And, he could run his own Netflix business out of there... he has more DVDs than I've even seen in a video store. Oh, and the memorabilia... WOW!  Of note to me were the original Austin Powers British flag undies that were worn by Mike Meyers, the Adam West collection of all things Batman (one of my favorite shows as a kid... and he happens to be a good friend of Wally's), and he had a number of really special things from Andy Kaufman.  It was really so very nice of Wally to invite us over and share with us the things he loves. 

Then it was back to the hotel and off to bed at somewhere around 2 am PT.

Here are some pics from Saturday:

Me and September Day Leach



Me and CourVO. It's true, he is so handsome!!!


Me and the awesome Aussie vo, Matt Cowlrick!