When people hear "voice actor," they usually picture cartoons, game trailers, maybe that deep movie voice saying, "In a world..."
I love that side of the job, but some of the work that has stayed with me most this year has nothing glamorous about it at all.
In August, I reached out to Glenwood Sound, a boutique recording studio in Glenwood, Maryland. Michael O. Collins, the owner and audio engineer/producer behind it, replied the same day. Two days later, I had my first project.
Since then, I've been voicing Armenian audio for healthcare: letters a US health plan sends to its members, explaining what was covered, what wasn't and why, what their rights are, and who to call if something looks wrong. They're recorded in Armenian so that members who can't read the printed letter, or can't read English at all, can still listen and understand.
On paper, it's paperwork. Numbers read out digit by digit. Web addresses spelled out letter by letter. Paragraphs of legal language about rights and deadlines. No music, no character, nothing anyone will share on Instagram.
But I keep thinking about who's on the other end.
Imagine being an elderly immigrant in a country you maybe never chose to move to. You don't speak the language. Now you're sick, caught in a healthcare system that confuses even people born into it, and maybe you're facing it alone. Then an envelope arrives, and instead of a wall of English, you hear someone speaking to you in your own language, explaining what happened and what you can do next.
That's the part that gets me. I'll never meet that person, but for a few minutes, my voice is the one walking them through it. If it sounds even a little like home, if it makes the bureaucracy feel a bit less cold, then that recording did something a commercial never could.
It also changes how I read. This isn't a script you "perform." The job is clarity and calm: every number exact, every instruction easy to follow, and a tone that stays warm even when the news isn't what the listener hoped for. Nobody should feel rushed or talked down to while hearing why a claim was denied.
None of this would have happened without Michael. Glenwood Sound, his studio in Maryland, produces multilingual audio for clients across many industries, and working with him has been one of the most enjoyable collaborations I've had in a long time.
There's no guesswork with Michael. He knows exactly what he needs, says it clearly, and trusts you to deliver. He's professional in the truest sense: fair, reliable, and respectful of the people he works with. Those qualities sound simple, but anyone who freelances knows how much they're worth.
So when he told me the end client now asks for me on all of their Armenian projects, it meant even more coming from him.
I'm proud to do this work, and grateful to Michael for trusting me with it.