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HEALTH "Just One More Audition And Then I'll Go To The Gym" - Is That YOU? June 24, 2014  By Amy Taylor-FernandezVoice Actor Perhaps some of you fellow booth-dwellers can relate to this:
Sound familiar? That was me. LOVED JOB - IGNORED HEALTH Sure, I had accomplished a lot during the course of a day. I had connected with people in various cities, recorded fun voices and had a blast. I love my job. But sitting and standing day after sedentary day was taking its toll on me. Although I avoided mirrors at all costs, I knew I had gained a lot of weight. And as the years went by, I kept doing the same routine. After all, I was making decent money at the best job in the world, right? That was all the justification I needed for ignoring this problem. I rationalized: "I’ll get to the gym some day. I really need to concentrate on my career right now. It’s not like I’m home watching TV. I don’t even watch TV. I can’t remember the last time I sat on my couch. I voice and edit 12 hours a day. I don’t have time for a gym.”But, of course, sitting in an office chair or standing in a booth for hours on end is just as bad as sitting on a couch. HEALTH WAKE-UP CALL For some, making the choice to get in shape comes after hitting a certain number on the scale. For others, the wake up call comes in the form of a medical diagnosis. For me, it was simply time to pay attention to the signals my body was giving me. I noticed I was editing a great deal of breaths out of my reads - way more than I did when I was in shape. One of my vocal coaches pointed out each catch breath I was taking in between sentences, and I became hyper-aware of them. In the eight years I’ve been doing voice over full time, I’ve hired seven voice coaches. They’ve all been great. One beat the radio announcer out of me with a stick. Another taught me how to bring characters to life. Each has played a pivotal role in honing my skills as a talent and for that I am eternally grateful. But the coach I am working with now is perhaps the most important one of all and he does not teach voice over. BOLD MOVE, DAILY COMMITMENT I first met with Peter Bergamo in March 2104. (That's our picture above). I was really out of shape, completely foreign to gym equipment and paralyzed in fear. I was apprehensive about this "personal training” cutting into my session availability, audition-to-booking ratio, and just about every other obstacle that popped into my head. But I told my inner voice to shut up and started going to the gym anyway. Religiously! THE PAYOFF DOES COME How many auditions do we do in a day? 10? 20? More? Some days we get nothing in return. Then one day we hit pay dirt. Well, the gym is like that for me. Most of the time it’s a lot of tedious repetition- and sweat- with very little ROI. Ah, but then all at once it pays off either on the scale, in the way my clothes fit or a nanosecond glance in the mirror where I think, "Who is that?” I wouldn’t dream of not auditioning tomorrow just because I didn’t book a gig today. That’s just crazy talk! So I began to apply that mindset to exercise, and now I can’t imagine not going to the gym tomorrow, either. WHO HAS TIME FOR GYM? I treat my sessions at the gym just like a session with a client. We’d never blow off a client, would we? I go three times a week for personal training. Most other days I go in to do cardio. All of this is making me physically and vocally stronger. I carved out the time to work out. I reprioritized. I got rid of a few clients that were a lot of hassle and little profit, but that’s another story - see the Pareto or 80/20 principle. If you truly want to improve your health, you’ll make it work however you can. Taking that first step is probably he most difficult. But ultimately, it’s an essential lifestyle change. It’s one that only you can make. ------------------ ABOUT AMY Amy Taylor-Fernandez's voice was recently featured in ESPN promo work during the World Cup, National Vonage TV spots, Clorox, Kaiser Permanente, and Domino’s among others. Amy specializes in U.S. English and Neutral Spanish voice overs. Email: amytaylorvoice@yahoo.com Web: www.amytaylorfernandez.com |
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You continue to inspire and amaze me. I'm so proud of you and happy for you.
Thanks for addressing an issue we all clearly are coping with to one degree or another.
You have all of our support!
I hope that many colleagues will follow Amy's example, and get back in shape again. After all: we embody our product, and we've got to take good care of the goose with the golden eggs!
Go Amy. Losing = winning!
You are such an inspiration! ROCK ON!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing you story.