13250: The Doubly Wonderful Week Of Ms. Karen Merritt

Raw transcript:

So, you know, one of the biggest things
I love doing is bragging on my clients.
And today, I get to not only brag on my
client about one bit of success, but
two. And we’ll do that in this episode
of the VO Heroes podcast.
[Music]
That lovely face you’re looking at is
Karen Merritt. Uh she happens to be in
Steeler country. Uh me as a as a former
Browns fan, not going to hold that
against her. Uh but the fact of the
matter is is that she’s got this big
smile on her face because on that rare
occasion when you go through all of the
steps to audition for something, maybe
even get a call back or a pin or an on
hold, and then somebody calls you and
says, “Hey, you booked the job.” That’s
worth celebrating, especially when it’s
one of my clients. And recently, uh,
Karen had not only one but two of these,
uh, moments of success, and they’re
worth savoring. They’re worth really
enjoying. So, let’s do that. First of
all,
uh, Bath & Body Works reached out and,
uh, said, “Hey, we’d like to hear
Karen’s take on this thing for the
Disney collection that we have.” And let
let’s watch this video that that that
came out just recently. Let’s see what
Karen did.
Bath & Body Works and Disney have a new
collection to bring out the villain in
you. And I’ll help you pick your potion.
Apple or plum with spritz for your
villain of choice. A crown fit for a
queen or a set of sinister horns.
A royal castle or a magical forest
realm? Disney’s Maleficent the evil
queen. And now you let sense lead you
into your villain era.
Okay. So there you go. So how did that
project come to you?
I had an audition from my agent. I had
no idea it was Bath & Body Works or
Disney. I just had the copy and I
submitted it. I didn’t think anything of
it because as you know in this business
you audition for a lot of things. And
much to my surprise, I got the job.
Now, uh, when you submitted the
audition, I’m sure you thought, “Well,
let’s hope this happens.” And then what
did you do?
I forgot about it and moved on to the
next thing.
I love that answer. I love that answer.
That’s great. We We spend so much time
sometimes uh thinking how do we circle
back? How do we reach out? How do we
stay connected? you know, but the best
thing to do is as you did, and that’s
just move on and go audition for
something else. So, um, when you
auditioned, I’m assuming that you used
that microphone that’s in front of you
with your mic sock and your earbuds
plugged in, the AT2020, which is the
microphone that we recommended for years
and years and years, um, and is sadly no
longer being made. Uh, did anybody say,
“Hey, this just isn’t good enough.
You’re going to need to record with a
better microphone.
No, I told everyone what my equipment
was and everyone was fine with it.
Yeah.
And it’s a USB microphone, isn’t it?
Yes, it is.
Wow. That’s so sad for you and me and
everybody else who uses that microphone.
Okay. So,
what happened the moment you found out
that you got this gig?
I was shocked. I was so happy. I had no
idea it was such a big brand and two
brands as a matter of fact and it just I
just was so excited and the copy was so
much fun that I I rarely get a an
opportunity an opportunity to do such
fun copy too. So that was a real treat.
Yeah. and you don’t live in a production
center like you would think brands like
that, Bath & Body Works, Disney, they’d
be going to New York or Los Angeles and
likely they did,
but they heard you in Western
Pennsylvania.
What’s that all about?
I’m not 100% sure, but I know that the
industry has changed in that you can
audition for projects all over the
world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. So, was it a phone call? Did they
send you an email? How did your agent
get in touch with you to say you got it?
I got an email and then we emailed back
and forth and it was an a remote project
as well. So, the the client directed me
from their location and I was in my
booth and and it was lovely. The the
woman that directed me was amazing and
we had a lot of fun. Now, did you
connect with them via some platform like
Source Connect or Clean Feed or what?
How did you or did you just submit stuff
and she listened to it? Tell me how that
process happened.
I was sent a link from their end and I I
kind of forget what that link was now.
Okay.
Yeah, I forget what that link was, but
they sent the link. It
doesn’t matter, right? Yes. Right.
It doesn’t matter. They’ll take care of
you. You’re taking care of them. They’ll
take care of you. And it just worked,
right?
It did work. Yeah. Um, this project
is not necessarily the kind of project
that a lot of people uh would expect to
be even considered for. You know, you
think brands this big, they’re looking
for celebrities
or they’re looking for somebody who is
the voice of uh a brand or a project
even if they’re not a celebrity. Um, was
it a little odd for you to even be uh
considered for this? I mean, tell me
tell me what your mindset was as you
were submitting the audition.
It was good that I didn’t know that it
was Bath and Body Works and Disney. I
think that would have put a little more
pressure on me. So, I just had fun with
it. I played with the text. I decided
that the character was a playful
character, evil, but playful. And I went
with that. I I did maybe three or four
takes. In fact, it was an audition that
I thought, “Oh, I’m never going to get
this.” And so I just sort of I just did
it and had fun with it and submitted it.
So I think in that way it was better
that I didn’t know that it was such a
big brand.
So did they give you audition sides that
didn’t mention Disney or Bath & Body
Works?
Correct. At first. Yeah.
Got it.
Yeah. And how long have you been at
this? You’ve been you’ve been a Vio
Heroes pro for god, three decades, as
far as I can tell.
Um, but it’s been a while. Yeah.
Yeah, it has. Let’s see here. I I did
things here and there a long time ago
before I had my studio. And then after I
had my studio, things really picked up
because I could record audiobooks and I
was able to submit for more auditions.
It really opened up a whole new world to
me thanks to you. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Um, how do you stay
um, jazzed about doing this with the
constant
drum beat of not hearing back after you
submit an audition? I’m sure you’ve
submitted hundreds if not thousands of
auditions in the time that you’ve you’ve
been pursuing this and over and over and
over again. We talk about this all the
time in terms of mindset. You don’t hear
back when you don’t get the gig and
that’s like it can be debilitating. How
do you keep your mind uh good on that?
One of the things is the support that I
get through VO Heroes. I haven’t been
lately to the monthly workouts, but when
you go to the monthly workouts, I feel
like I am keeping myself sharp and I’m
in a community of other VO heroes, VO
pros that can encourage me, give me
perspective. Um, you let us re give our
reports every month and that’s been
really helpful because you help us to
remember that we need to celebrate these
moments. We need to celebrate the small
things even if we we think I had a great
audition. Like I know I had a great
audition and I didn’t get the job but oh
well. And the other thing is I I have to
say Michael Cruff has given me some
perspective too by giving statistics of
the amount of work that you actually get
when you audition which is very little.
Uh, so that kind of keeps me sane and I
don’t tell a lot of people about my
auditions.
So, you kind of keep this to yourself.
You’re not somebody who’s uh out there
going, I’m an actor.
I’m a voice talent. I do I do this work
all the time.
No, I I probably don’t fit the mold of a
typical actor. Every once in a while,
I’ll try to promote something that I’m
working on, like a a book or
something that I’m doing, but I’m not
I’m not super out there.
Yeah. I want to touch briefly on uh the
other work that you do as a performer
because it led to a second bit of of uh
of success and that is your audiobook
work. Um, you not only do audio book,
How many audio books have you done now?
Six, seven, if you count a children’s
book.
Well, why wouldn’t we count our
children’s book?
It hasn’t been released, so I’m like,
“Oh, okay. All right. Well, all right.
So, you’re on your way.” Yeah. um with
that book and audio books
somewhat different longer process than
doing an audition for a commercial or
for a a promo video like you did for uh
Disney and Bath & Body Works. Um the the
system that we set up for producing
audio books, we promise to make it
faster than the traditional punch and
roll. We promise to make it more
accurate, etc. Um, have you found that
to be the case?
I don’t really have a lot to compare it
with because I fell into ACX master
class right away with the with the
stairstep method, which I wholly approve
of and and it just made me so uh it made
me able to to do this from my home. If I
didn’t have all the technical support
and and advice on editing, etc., etc., I
don’t think I would be able to do this
and I love it. Yeah.
Do you find yourself using the stairstep
method when you’re doing your
auditioning just because it’s easy to do
pickups or do you still do multiple
takes and then kind of you know edit
everything together?
I usually don’t use it a lot on my
auditions unless it’s a longer thing.
Like if it’s a, you know, say a a page
of dialogue for a corporate video or
something like that, I might use the
stair step step. But for regular
auditions, I might just put them all in
one track just to keep the flow going
and then I’ll go back.
And you said you only did three takes on
that uh audition for Bath & Body Works.
I’ve heard people tell me they do 20 30
takes and then really spend an awful lot
of time trying to figure out which
pieces of which take they’re going to
use in their f you don’t need that.
No, I’ve learned I started off that way,
I confess. But you learn after a while
that the the client usually only listens
to the very beginning of it and makes
their decisions pretty quickly. So, I
just give it my best. I try to do two
contrasting versions. That’s usually
what is asked for. So I try to make them
different so the the client knows what
what I can do and then I just submit it.
That’s great. Um so that second bit of
joy that you recently experienced was
being featured in Toastmasters magazine.
And Toast Masters, for those that don’t
know, is a an international organization
that helps people uh learn how to do
public speaking, how to be really good
at public speaking. And there are
chapters all over the place. I’ve spoken
at Toastmaster meetings and uh one of
our coaches, Karen Eileen Gordon, has
gone to like the semi-finals in their in
their, you know, uh speech speechifying
uh world competition. And Wow. Uh a lot
of people have seen uh examples of
Toastmaster
uh masters, people who really have
gotten it down. Um, that is kind of a an
allied side kind of path to just being
more confident and being able to put
together uh some really persuasive uh
techniques when it comes to to doing to
using your voice in a public setting,
not in a private setting like you are.
And tell me about what that article was
all about because it ties into your
audiobook work, right? Yes, it does. I
was approached by Karen Neil, who is a
journalist for Toastmaster. She she
submits a lot of articles for them, and
she wanted to know how audiobook
narration
can overlap with storytelling
when you’re giving speeches. And I was
able to talk about in Toastmasters, they
talk about vocal variety and pacing and
tone of voice and all of those tools
that you use as a an audiobook narrator.
They’re also used in speeches. And it’s
amazing to hear how much of a difference
that that gives to a speech when you’re
trying to draw in your audience.
Yeah, that’s great. and
any kind of of uh adjacent training. I
you know one of the courses in Vio
Heroes is called mutual muscles and it
has to do with the fact that if you do
on camera work or if you do stage work
and you do voiceover work
getting better in one of those
categories is going to aid in getting
better in the other categories. You
learn how to use your voice when you’re
on stage. If you do voiceover work, you
learn how to how to, you know, add
physical uh physicality to your work if
you’re doing on camera work, etc. And
Toast Masters is one of those uh very
clear allied
skills that can help you be a better
storyteller and and it’s just great. And
congrats on both. I’m very very proud of
you. Um I I just it just it people say
what why do you do what you do? Why do
you coach? Why do you teach? Why do you
train? This is why. And it’s not just
the booking,
which you there’s so much that’s out of
your control that you can’t really make
that a, you know, a metric of success
when it comes to doing performance work
because you don’t have the ability to
manage what other people’s decisions
are. But when it happens, it’s worth
saying, “Hey, this is great.” And I just
want you to know that I think, hey, this
is great and I’m so happy for you.
Oh, thank you so much, David. And thank
you so much for all your coaching over
these years. I really, really appreciate
it.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Karen
Merritt. Um, and she has been a VO
Heroes Pro uh member for a long time.
She’s a part of our Lifetime crew. She’s
she’s just great. And I love that you’re
sitting there, I’m assuming, in some
sort of uh put together booth, closet. I
don’t know what. Tell me a little bit
about your thing as we wrap this up.
Your space.
If you think about Harry Potter and
where he lives in the muggle world.
Uhhuh.
That’s my room.
You’re under the stairs. You’re in a
You’re in a tree. What What’s going on
under the stairs? But I have it really
treated well. I think I have a lot of
moving blankets up and some some foam up
to dampen it.
Sounds great.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you.
Yeah, it really sounds great. All right,
so thank you so much. I really
appreciate it. Uh for those of you that
are watching this and maybe a little
inspired by the fact that uh Karen has
uh done all this work and there’s some
fruits being born uh you know please
share this with another actor that might
be a little you know uh critical of
themselves or worried about the
potential for the future. You can hit
the like button. You can uh subscribe to
the channel. You can uh be notified by
clicking the notification bell on when
these episodes come out. Uh, and I’d
really appreciate it if you’d do that.
Uh, I’m David H. Lawrence the 17th and I
thank you so much for watching and for
listening and I will see you in the next
episode of the VO Heroes podcast.
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