Meet Terri Nicole | Actor, Voice Talent, Educator and Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terri Nicole and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terri, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

Getting into business wasn’t instant for me. I thought only certain people had the talent for business, and that I wasn’t one of them.

I had spent most of my life in education – first as an artist in residence teaching and performing Shakespeare, then as a classroom inclusion teacher, and finally as a senior education specialist consulting with school leaders across several states.  Inwardly, I had been yearning to do more in the arts but didn’t even think about it as something to realistically to pursue.

I had always acted in plays and commercials on the side of my work in education and that’s how I assumed it would always continue. Fortuitously, I found out a woman I knew was a life coach and thought I’d give that a try. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for that decision. She truly helped me to discover what I really longed for and empowered me to create a life I would love. This was a new concept for how I had been conditioned to think about life, but I found it intoxicating. The problem now was, I wanted to do so many things! Act, write, voice over, dance, speak. Around that time a business associate recommended the book, The One Thing, by Gary Keller to me. In the book, Keller advocates going small and zeroing in on the things that will have the most impact and to think about the legacy you want to leave – in addition to creating wealth. So, I decided I would start my arts journey by focusing on voice over. It was something I could do from home, with a relatively low barrier to entry.

Once I decided that’s what I wanted to do, I jumped into a class at the Alliance Theater in voiceover, found out how surprisingly simple it is to start an LLC, and Terri Nicole Voice Overs was born. I started off providing voice overs for small businesses while I studied the craft of voice over. I felt incredibly proud to have a business that helps clients with engaging voice overs for their commercials, apps, narration, etc.  I had no idea at the time that my work was just beginning.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I have been a professional voice actor since 2014. At first I was quite naive about the whole thing. I thought I’d study a bit, make my demo, and the offers and money would come pouring in. I soon came to realize that it takes studying the craft as well as learning business management and marketing skills, along with consistency, cultivating relationships, and putting myself out there – and of course – good old-fashioned time. I have voiced over 3000 projects for companies such as Royal Caribbean, McDonalds, Air National Guard, Amazon Alexa, Ernst & Young, Intuit, Georgia Power, CVS, Capital One and hundreds more.

I think what sets me apart is not only studying my craft, but also studying entrepreneurship. For example, I took a course in 2020-2021 on Entrepreneurship at Lakewood University taught by Dr. Eric “ET” Thomas which would forever change how I look at my business. The biggest take away for me was to incorporate more partnerships and collaborations which have helped my business to grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined. To quote Eric Thomas, “No one blows up by themselves.” Working with partners, I’ve my own AI voice through Veritone – because why have Siri when you can have Terri!” – which you can check out here: https://www.terrinicolevo.com/ai. I’m also really proud to have created an in-demand eLearning voice over course.

Through my voice over course, I help people to “get in the game” or “stay in the game.” by becoming a Go To eLearning voice talent. Now that may sound kind of weird – but it’s a big deal to know how to voice eLearning because commercial and animation jobs can be very difficult to get into, and may happen too seldomly to maintain a career in voice over, especially at first. Voicing training courses and videos is one of the best kept secrets that helps both top performing voice talent and newbies stay the course when work gets slow. One of voiceover’s top talent confided in my recently, “Commercials pay for my vacations, but eLearning pays my mortgage.” Most people have no idea that eLearning can provide such consistent income and I teach people how to do it exceptionally well and stand out from the crowd.  You can dive into a few of the modules for FREE here: https://www.voelearningaccelerator.com/enroll/1987153?et=free_trial

Another growth point in my career and life has been that I stopped looking for someone else to give me permission to go after what I want, and I don’t mind asking for help. According to M. Nora Bouchard, an executive and leadership coach, 7 out of 10 people who needed help this week didn’t ask for it. So just by being someone who asks for help from your network when you need it, you are setting yourself apart and moving more quickly toward your goals.

I also will forego conventional industry wisdom in favor of doing what feels right to me.  I enjoy carving out my own niche and it’s exhilarating to me when curiosities and ideas turn into income streams and professional fulfillment.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am more of an outdoor person than a foodie and there are more trails, outdoor events and festivals than you can imagine going on year round. The Beltline is terrific to exercise, people watch, and for enjoying great food at a variety of places along the path. I would tell anyone, don’t miss the cultural and natural gems in the area: The King Center, the High Museum, Alliance Theater, for cycling – the Silver Comet trail, Stone Mountain and further out – Social Circle GA provide for some seriously scenic rides

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My family has been incredibly supportive and their belief in me throughout my journey has meant the world to me. In addition, my life would look a lot different without: – Avon Drummond who provided life coaching that broadened my ability to make fulfilling choices for my life (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachavon),

– Thinkific.com Think in Color Accelerator for opening up the world of online course creation

– Shine Speaker’s bootcamp (https://www.shinebootcamp.com/) which provided coaching and mentorship on public speaking, as well as my Toast Master’s group.

–  My online community around my eLearning VO Course – who I have the privilege of learning with and growing together daily. Love my VO eLearning Accelerators!

– My agents at The People Store – https://peoplestore.net/

– Folks at thevodojo.com,  Lakewood.edu, my accountability and mastermind partners

Website: terrinicolevo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrinicolevo/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-nicole-voice-overs/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerriNicoleVO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terri.nicole.singleton/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOKAJrmZBeQ5CfYivH6Fhg/about

Other: Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/terrinicolevo

Image Credits
http://www.ClaudiaandCamera.com/ Corey Reese