By Cheryl Holling
4.7
1515 ratings
The podcast currently has 79 episodes available.
The first thing my guest, Paul Schmidt, would like you to know about him, is that as a single dad, his teenage son, Robbie, is his world and his reason for everything. Which is incredibly endearing considering the level of success he’s attained in a variety of professional and creative endeavors.
Perhaps his success is due to being cast at the age of six in the role of “God” in his school play and that has “anointed” his efforts ever since.
For years Paul would continue his Thespian pursuits acting in just about anything he could, which in 1980’s Baltimore meant musicals, as he performed in over 20 of them before he turned 18. Once he was out of college, he pursued a successful career in broadcasting, and started on-air at 98 Rock in Baltimore, and eventually went on-air full-time at WRDX in Wilmington, DE for almost a decade.
Adding to his performance repertoire, Paul did stand-up comedy and owned and operated Christina's Comedy Zone at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino for 3 years, which won Best Comedy Club in Delaware Today Magazine. He also did a year of improv in the Baltimore troupe of ComedySportz.
For the past 25 years, Paul has poured his stage and on-camera acting experience into commercial and corporate voiceover work, and voicing for hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses via explainer videos, e-learning, corporate training, medical narration, and audiobooks.
As a community builder and business coach, Paul created the VO Freedom Master Plan, a voiceover marketing program designed to generate consistent opportunities for voice actors to book work, and the VO Pro Community, a private, professional, global community created to meet the needs of voice actors and audiobook narrators who want to take their careers to the next level.
Joining me from Richmond, VA, Paul is an avid sports fan, who loves playing golf with his son and refers to himself, among other things, as a “Golf Suckist”. To talk about all this and more, I’d like to welcome Paul Schimidt to 19 Stories.
Contact Paul Schmidt via the following:
Website: https://vopro.pro
The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vofreedommasterplan.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@vo-pro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vopro.pro
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vopro.pro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo
Voiceover: https://paulschmidtvoice.com/
Visit https://paulschmidtvoice.com or email [email protected].
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample (for this episode): 'Don't Worry Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin
Proverbs 23:18
"Surely there is a future, and your Hope will not be cut off."
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
My guest today, Christy Harst, has been heard on the World Series, Monday Night Football, and the NBA Finals as one of the national voices of YouTubeTV. She’s also the national voice of John Deere, and has voiced dozens of television, streaming, and radio ads.
Her career in voiceover began in college when she applied for a news internship at a local classical radio station. It was during her interview that the station manager told her she had a good voice, escorted her to the studio, recorded her reading the Star Spangled Banner and then suggested, “You’d do well in voice overs.”
Two decades later, Christy is in fact “doing well” and continues to work from her home based professional studio. She loves and excels at what she does and it shows in her body of work. Plus, she’s the only one I know that has ever voiced about the dangers of Bed Bug Mating!
Christy grew up in a rural town an hour outside of Cleveland, competed in cooking and public speaking as part of the 4-H program. After graduating college Christy experienced several terrifying situations, including being robbed in her first post-graduate job. And five years ago she suffered a mild stroke.
Christy, by any measure, has been successful in the world of VO, and yet she is on a mission to change the sound of a genre of voiceover that for too long has been dominated by men….the world of sports promos. Her Building Doors campaign seeks to literally change the narrative of sports promos by demanding equal opportunities for female voice actors not just in sports, but in male centric brands as well. Her goal is that the door will be built and always remain open.
She’s even curated a personal YouTube appeal to her beloved Cleveland Browns to be their secret weapon by being their “first female voice to break through the noise!”
I’d like to open my virtual door by welcoming Christy Harst to 19 Stories.
Contact Christy via the following:
Business email Address: [email protected]
Business website: hannchristyharst.com
Facebook LinkedIn TikTok Instagram YouTube
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample (for this episode): 'The Planets Op32, VII, Neptune' by Gustav Holst
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
The following conversation may not be appropriate for younger listeners, or those who’ve experienced abandonment, sexual abuse, or drug addiction.
Today’s guest, author Hannah Sward, has quite the story to tell. So much so, she wrote about it in her memoir Strip, an International Book Award Finalist, Reader’s Choice Award Finalist and Book Soup Bestseller…which is quite the homage to her late father; the renowned poet and novelist Robert Sward.
Widely published in literary journals in the US, Canada, and the UK, her work has also appeared in publications such as LA Times, HuffPost, and many others. She was a regular contributor at The Fix and Erotic Review and columnist and editor at Third Street Villager in Los Angeles.
Hannah Sward, was born in the bohemian seventies, abandoned by her mother at the age of two and lived with her father on an island in Victoria, B.C. that had no stores or cars.
At the age of six, she was kidnapped and molested by a stranger, and as she got older, became a stripper and a prostitute with a taste for crystal meth.
Although Strip is often referred to as an addiction memoir, as one book reviewer wrote, “that is just one part of it. Strip is about so much more. It is a book about loss, loneliness, and the yearning for something more.” It is also, as Nobel Prize Winner J.M. Coetzee wrote, “Touchingly honest, and written with a light touch.”
She writes about the silent gurus, sugar daddies, and drinking in the CVS bathroom before therapy sessions in a painstakingly honest, detailed, and often humorous way. ‘Strip’ is a heartfelt memoir revealing Hannah’s journey from innocence to darkness and beyond, to a world of empowerment. It’s that story, that message and the ultimate redemption of her life and talent that we’ll be talking about today.
Contact Hannah via the following:
Business email Address: [email protected]
Business website(s): hannahsward.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hannahswardauthor/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hannahswardauthor
To order STRIP: A Memoir: https://a.co/d/dLQD8rP
Largehearted Boy Playlist for Strip
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample (for this episode): 'The Welcoming Moon' by East India Dream Company
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
My guest today, Jennifer Clark, is described as the sound of Humankindness.
It’s who she is, how she does business, and what she sounds like.
It’s the sound you can trust.
It’s the sound of collaboration.
It’s the sound of stories with impact.
And on this podcast it’s all about the stories.
Perhaps her humankindness stems from being a pastor's kid and traveling to 14 different countries and exploring the common thread that binds us.
Perhaps it’s her classical training, in both singing and violin, allowing her to speak a universal language that touches the heart of all who hear it. (Smile) Or, perhaps it’s her degree in pastoral children’s ministry that allows her to see life through the eyes and innocence of a child.
Whatever it is, Jennifer puts the human connection in everything she voices; from corporate narration, commercials, eLearning, explainer videos, documentaries and harmonizing with her beautiful alto voice on the occasional holiday jingle!
It’s the reason that national brands such as Walmart, Pinterest, AT&T, PBS, NASA, LEGO, Guideposts, and many more, have trusted her to be the voice of their brand, and also the reason that Jennifer is a 2023 One Voice Awards Nominee and a 2023 and 2022 SOVAS Voice Arts Awards Nominee!
I’d like to extend a very human and warm welcome to my guest Jennifer Clark...
Contact Jennifer via the following:
Business email Address: [email protected]
Business website: www.jennifersvoice.com (new website design coming in the next couple of weeks!!)
https://www.youtube.com/@jennifersvoice
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-clark-vo/
https://www.instagram.com/jennifers.voice/
https://www.facebook.com/jennifers.voiceVO
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Goodness of God' by Jenn Johnson
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
I hope you're all having a wonderful start to 2024 and that you have some things that you’re feeling excited about. If not, perhaps my next guest will inspire you as she is the founder, host and Chief Inspiration Officer of the Women in the Arena Podcast…a celebration of everyday women living extraordinary lives in plain sight. Now in its 4th year, the Women in the Arena podcast seeks to inspire, encourage and challenge women to reach for the greatness they were made for. And I invite the men to stick around as I imagine we all could use that kind of encouragement!
As a corporate veteran, and an award winning sales professional, Audra A-gin has 25 years’ experience of being one of the few women in the room, and in many cases, the only one. While the women she worked with may have been outnumbered, she recognized that they were all uniquely exceptional and became fascinated in learning more about them and their experiences.
It became increasingly clear that these women were contributing significant value to their organizations, families and careers and that their contributions were either being taken for granted or overlooked, sometimes even by themselves.
Audra had aspirations to change that and as a result Women in the Arena was created. As the creator, producer and host, Audra says it’s a platform unlike any other, it’s a celebration!
Her motto is to celebrate women doing extraordinary things in plain sight. She believes that if we start to recognize the value within ourselves, then we can start to acknowledge the value within each other and see that we have more similarities than what appears on the surface.
It is that knowledge that begins to change the narrative from “you are my competition” to “you are my best asset”. This is life changing and as a result, world changing. This is Audra’s goal, to change the world one interview at a time.
Let’s meet this world changer by welcoming Audra Agen to 19 Stories.
You may contact Audra Agen via the following:
Business email Address: [email protected]
Business website: womeninthearena.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-the-arena-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
Facebook Handle: Women in the Arena Podcast
Instagram Handle: @womeninthearenapodcast
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Old Soul', by The Highwomen from the album: The Highwomen
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
Wishing a very Happy New Year to you and yours. I certainly hope your holidays afforded you time to enjoy some rest and rejuvenation, and that 2024 is the year that you’re able to actualize some of your dreams and aspirations.
And speaking of actualizing one’s dreams, I think we can all take a page from my next guest as the term renaissance woman truly applies to Maria Pendolino. She’s a multi-award-winning voice artist working in national television and radio commercials, and numerous other genres of voice work.
Maria is also the President of the Board of Directors for Alleyway Theatre Inc., a professional theater company offering education & development programs to foster the talents of emergent artists from Western New York and beyond.
She also identifies as disabled actor, due to psoriatic arthritis which she was diagnosed with during her rise as a stage and screen actor. She’s proud to use her voice to advocate for disabled performers across the entertainment and media spectrum via The Disabled Voice Actors Database; an online directory of names and contact information of working voice actors who also happen to be people with disabilities.
Adding to her talents are that of a freelance Television and Feature Film Writer with a goal of developing and writing stories about women and disabled people who are at the center of their own stories.
This past October 2023, Maria garnered high praise when she joined USA Today’s Top 10 list of Emerging Entrepreneurs for 2023. I’d say a huge congratulations are in order, and yet the recognition is a bit ironic given Maria has been a working actor going on 20 years.
Maria will soon be adding Podcaster to her hugely impressive list of credits as she’ll soon be launching the podcast ‘We Talk for a Living’ where she’ll be talking about the power of using one’s voice, with guests from all different professions and backgrounds.
Maria can be reached via the following:
Business email Address: [email protected] Business websites: http://www.voicebymaria.com http://www.bluewavevoiceover.com http://www.millennialvoiceover.com http://www.disabledvoiceactors.com Key social media sites: https://www.instagram.com/mariapendo https://www.tiktok.com/@mariapendo https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariapendolinoThanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
To contact me via VO work, or to host your podcast, I can be reached at: [email protected]
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Dreams' Accoustic version, The Cranberries album: Something Else
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
Hello and a very Happy Thanksgiving week to you and yours. I hope that you’re able to take some down time to enjoy the beginning of this holiday season, eat some good food, and do that which makes you feel rested and rejuvenated.
It’s been about a month since I’ve released a new episode and part of that is due to another project I’ve been working on. So, with that in mind, I am going to be taking a hiatus from releasing any new episodes of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope, until the beginning of 2024. I already have some wonderful guests who’ll be joining me to share more remarkable and encouraging stories.
Before I tell you about my new venture, I want to take this time to give a huge, heartfelt Thank You to all the guests who’ve joined me this past year, and to all of my listeners; whether you’ve been listening from day one or recently joined me. For the third year in a row, this podcast has been nominated for a SOVAS Award by the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences of which I am incredibly honored and grateful for this recognition. The award ceremony will be in Los Angeles in December, and although I will not be attending, I want to give a shoutout to my fellow nominees and voice actors who will be there. Perhaps I’ll have news to share in the new year as to whether or not I was awarded a golden statue. Please know that either way, that I’m grateful for this continued recognition.
Now, for some very exciting news! Much like I mulled around the idea of launching this podcast for several years, I’ve been doing the same with another podcast idea as well. My regular listeners are familiar with the numerous voice actors that I’ve interviewed, who have shared their stories of how they moved through fear to Hope, and having personally heard from many of you, that their messages have been inspirational at a time when you really needed to hear them, I’m hoping this new podcast will inspire you in other ways as well.
The pilot episode of my new podcast, ‘The Voice Kitchen: where recipes and voice talent blend!’ will be launching tomorrow, Wednesday, November 22.
Each week, I’ll be chatting with a talented voice actor who’ll be sharing one of their favorite recipes, while delving into its origin and the meaning it holds for them and their families.
From savory soups to sweet desserts, this podcast has something for everyone. Whether you're a seasoned chef or just starting out in the kitchen, The Voice Kitchen will hopefully leave you feeling encouraged to try some of these recipes for yourself and to experiment with some of your own creations.
I realize the holidays can be a hard time for folks. Whether it’s health or financial issues, family and friends who are no longer with us, or a feeling of melancholy that can set in during the winter months and should you be alone during this season, I encourage you to reach out to the numerous churches, temples and community organizations that prepare holiday meals as I know they’d be delighted to welcome you to their table and love on you with a welcoming heart and a warm meal.
In closing, I’d like to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and holiday season.
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To contact me via VO work, I can be reached at: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
If you’ve spent any amount of time on popular social media channels, you’re bound to have come across post after post with the anthem cry imploring you to be authentic, use your authentic voice, and for goodness sake, live your truth!
But what exactly does that mean in a time when truths are manipulated and shaped to suit personal and political agendas? Leaving one to wonder whether or not authenticity, and dare I say, integrity, matter anymore?
The guest joining me today, Dave Walsh, knows a thing or two about what it means to live into our authentic self and has been sharing his method for almost 17 years, as the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of the True Tell Method…a unique and powerful coaching platform designed to help actors, executives and leaders of all kinds, find and use their authentic voice.
Prior to coaching actors and executives in his True Tell Method, Dave has worn numerous hats in the creative arts with a career that spans over 34 years.
From publicity and public relations, to Director of Television research for Paramount; to Chairman, Executive Producer and Talent for ‘Get A Laddah Entertainment’, to his very lucrative career as a top voice talent, Dave, by any measure, was a huge success.
He was at the height of a magnificent voiceover career with an incredible manager, two agents and 22 years of voiceover success…when his entire world spiraled, and he lost the use of his voice.
After being diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia; aka, strangled voice syndrome, Dave began searching for answers for his own healing and thus his powerful formula was birthed and branded as ‘The TruTell’. Naturally, Dave expanded his focus and adapted The TrueTells ® transformational process specifically for leaders and innovators and is on a mission to help them communicate more authentically to and with their teams and customers for greater success.
Dave can be reached via the following:
Email: [email protected] Website: www.thetruetell.com Twitter: @yourtruetell IG: @thetruetellClasses: They are posted on his website under "Privates/Workshops"
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To contact me via VO work, I can be reached at: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Boogie Wonderland' by Earth, Wind & Fire and The Emotions
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
For this episode, I’m turning the table by interviewing the interviewer!
I first met my next guest when the editor and publisher of the Women Who Podcast magazine, Kathy Baron, asked if I’d like to be interviewed for the 2023 Fall issue. And given I love all things podcasting, I of course said yes.
Thus began a new friendship and relationship with writer, copywriter, editor, content creator, and fellow podcaster Chelsea Pegues (Pig-geese).
Chelsea has a Professional Writing degree in Communications from Southern New Hampshire University, graduated Summa Cum Laude and is a member of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society.
For 14 years, she served as a Senior Administrative Professional at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and continues to have a passion for learning, communication, media and creating content across multiple mediums.
Her desire is to apply her creativity and skills to projects that make a positive impact in the world. We’ll be chatting about how her original podcast ‘The Sticky Eddie Podcast’, with her co-host Suzanne Michele, and their current one, ‘Let’s Try This Again…Random Chats About the Chaos of Life’, is doing just that!
So let’s meet Ms. “smarty-pants” by welcoming Chelsea Pegues to 19 Stories…
Chelsea can be reached via the following:
Business email: [email protected]
A new business website is under construction: chelseaelizabethwrites.com in the near future.
Follow her on Instagram: @lets_try_this_again_pod, and @chelsrunsaround
Thanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To contact me via VO work, I can be reached at: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Pride and Joy' by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
I am so excited for you to meet my next guest, and yet I have to say out of all the guests that I’ve welcomed to this podcast, crafting an intro for this one has certainly presented a challenge in summarizing her vast credits and expertise.
This multi-preneur’s career spans almost 2 decades in several high-profile, very successful businesses. First, as an award winning voice talent with an incredibly impressive list of world-renowned clients, as the President and Founder of her own voice and business coaching community, VO Peeps, where she specializes in Commercial and Narration Voiceover training, along with Strategic Target Market Demo Consultation and Production, to help her students in developing a broad range of current, real world skills applicable to their careers.
For the past six years she’s also produced and hosted her award winning VO BOSS Podcast; one of the first podcasts to offer budding and thriving voice actors a winning business mindset and plan to choose the best marketing strategies & tools. The VO BOSS Podcast guides voiceover talent toward success by helping talent navigate today’s VO industry and to have fun along the way! VO BOSS was recently recognized by her industry peers with a 2023 One Voice Awards Nomination Best Voiceover Services Provider of the Year and has also received numerous SOVAS nominations and wins.
Add to that, the time she takes each Thursday morning to join me and our other co-moderator, Jodi Krangle, in our Voices in Podcasting room on Clubhouse.
Let’s meet this powerhouse of talent and success, by welcoming the one and only VO Boss, Ms. Anne Ganguzza…
To contact Anne Ganguzza:
Business email Address: [email protected] Business websites: anneganguzza.com, voboss.com, vopeeps.com Coaching and Demo production: anneganguzza.com VO Boss Podcast and Audition Demolition Events: voboss.com Community Networking, membership and monthly guest directed workouts: vopeeps.com Studios cats: @studiocats GANGOOGLE me to find me on social media – also @aganguzzaThanks for listening to this episode of 19 Stories: from fear to Hope.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, make sure to follow 19 Stories wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It would be greatly appreciated if you gave a nice review and shared this episode as well.
To give feedback or a story idea: [email protected]
To contact me via VO work, I can be reached at: [email protected]
To listen to my demos: https://www.cherylholling.com/
Follow me on Instagram: @cherylhollingvo
Until next time, stay Healthy and Hopeful!
Theme Song Credit: 'Together' by For King & Country
Outro Music Sample: 'Accencuate the Positive' by Aretha Franklin
The podcast currently has 79 episodes available.