May 15, 2020
The movie Back to the Future Part III helped me write financial goals with a timeline. Plus an update from the first two weeks of May 2020: medical narration practice, auditioning, my new website, playing Ticket to Ride, and more!
Mentioned in this episode
- Back to the Future Part III is a great movie!
- Dave Ramsey is an American businessman who created a money management course called Financial Peace University
- Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
- The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John
- LinkedIn Profile linkedin.com/in/kimnewlove
- LinkedIn Company Page linkedin.com/company/thepharmacistsvoice
- LinkedIn Podcast Page linkedin.com/company/tpvpodcast
- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kim.newlove.96
- Twitter https://twitter.com/KimNewloveVO
- voiceactorwebsites.com is updating my website
- Sean Pratt is my audiobook narration coach seanprattpresents.com
- Medipreneurs https://www.medipreneurs.com
- Ticket to Ride https://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/usa/
- Westgate Toastmasters Club https://3159.toastmastersclubs.org
The last two weeks have been interesting! If you missed the last solo episode, here’s a super-quick recap. My husband lost his job two weeks ago, on Friday, May 1. His position was eliminated as a reduction in force (RIF). He’s agreed to be a stay-at-home Dad while I run my voiceover business full-time.
For years, I have felt like life was holding me back. I wanted to work, but I couldn’t. It really sucks that something negative had to impact my husband’s job to give me the chance I needed, but there’s nothing holding me back now! I am excited for the opportunity. My husband is being very supportive. And, I love what I’m doing. I’m excited to grow my business!
You might be wondering why I don’t just find a traditional pharmacist job. There are a number of reasons. The biggest one is that for the past 2.5 years, I have been training to do voiceover work, and now I have the chance to do it. Plus, I need to see how much income I can bring in over the next six months, and my husband needs to see what kind of jobs are out there for him.
Speaking of money, my husband and I had a “talk.” It ended up having a Back to the Future Part III theme to it, which at least made it kinda fun. We set income goals and assigned them to a timeline. We got out the colored pencils and added green, yellow, and red marks on the timeline.
Because my husband and I have a “budget meeting” every two weeks, we know exactly where our money goes. We figured out how much monthly income we need to survive. We are “Dave Ramsey People.” We graduated from Financial Peace University in March of 2013. Thanks to the program, we are excellent money managers, and our spending behaviors are well-controlled.
Essentially, we figured out how long we can afford for my husband to stay unemployed while I build my voiceover business. We wrote down how much money I need to earn by December 2020, and every six months after that. If I’m not on track to support the family fully by January 2022, my husband needs to be employed again. It can take a while to find a job, so he’s thinking about next steps NOW.
Back to the movie reference. We know it’s ok for me to work full-time as a voice actor right now, and we know when it will be time for one or both of us to try something else. We will be ok until December. Then, the scary times are going to come a little faster…just like that train in Back to the Future Part III.
What have I been doing, other than setting goals and playing with colored pencils?
Here are the highlights
- Practicing medical narration skills
- Direct-marketing to potential clients
- Auditioning
- Expanding my LinkedIn network
- Signed up for two voiceover pay-to-play sites. (They connect clients and voiceover professionals.)
- Participated in some webinars
- Finished two books: Story Brand by Donald Miller and The Power of Broke by Daymond John.
- Updated my LinkedIn “about” section with my Brand Story
- Audiobook narration lessons with Sean Pratt. I will “graduate” in August.
- Updated my social media banners: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
- Got a sneak peak of my new website
- Met with my voiceover accountability buddies on-line
- Attended an on-line Mastermind with Medipreneurs co-founders Michelle Fritsch and Sue Paul and a group of bright and enthusiastic healthcare entrepreneurs
- Played Ticket to Ride Europe, Switzerland, and Japan
- Attended Toastmasters via Zoom
- Working on an on-line course!
May is turning out to be an interesting month! I’m working on my voiceover business full time, plugging away at goals, having fun with my family, and trying new things. I have a feeling a lot is going to happen in the next two weeks, and I’ll fill you in on Friday, May 29!