Nicole Swanson, Voice Actor, Audiobook Narrator, Proud Mom

00:00
It's April 1st. Which one of my friends is messing with me?

00:12
Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in, season four, underway. Thank you so much for the folks that have followed me, Chewing the Fat BR on Instagram, also the folks that have bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com. Thank you so much for putting a few dollars in to help support this podcast. I really do appreciate it. Of course, it would be nothing without my guests. I'm so excited to have my guests sitting across from me in the studio now. She is no...

00:41
stranger to any studios, please welcome Nicole Swanson. Nicole. Hello, Robb. How are you? I'm well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming. Yeah, I know we talked about this like months and months ago, but to finally have a chance to have you in studio and talk to you about all the cool stuff that you've got going on. Not to make folks jealous, but.

01:05
Nicole and I spent the weekend together last weekend and it was amazing. I made the last time. Yeah, we actually had a chance to go to VO Atlanta, which is a voice actor conference to learn and network and grow. It was just, it was so amazing. And I wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for you and your swift kick to my rear about, yeah, come on, let's go. So thank you so much for that. I'm so glad you went. It's so good to see you there and enjoying it.

01:34
It's always nice to bring along friends. Yeah, it was good. It was good. So Nicole, she is a voice actor, a audio book narrator, lots of projects under her belt. Nicole, are you from the Augusta area? I am. I grew up here in Augusta. OK, but you've done some moving around, right? A little bit. I am. I went to graduate school in Los Angeles and stayed out there for about seven or eight years. Did a few things out there and then.

02:04
started having kids and decided to bring them back to where the grandparents were. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, having that kind of, that network of like support is really important with kids. Oh yeah, well, you know, Mark, my husband, and I are both, we're both very, very close with our grandparents and we wanted the same thing for our kids. And by the time we had two out of the three, all of the grandparents were back in Augusta. And so it just seemed the most natural place to go. That's awesome, that's awesome.

02:33
So I know voice acting was not your first gig, but was it your first passion? Did you just kind of like always love spoken word and written word and that type of stuff? Oh, I think I always just loved performing. I have some of my earliest memories are when I was, I must have been, I don't know, five or six.

03:02
And I remember, even younger than that, I remember being at my grandparents' house and they had this old record player, the big stereos, the big, yeah, the console. And they had the soundtracks for South Pacific and a few other big musicals. And I remember putting those on or having somebody put them on for me and standing on the...

03:28
the fireplace heart and performing and singing and dancing and doing all the things. That's awesome. Yeah. So it's always performing has always been there. Yeah. Now, did you pursue that in school as well? I was joined like the drama team and stuff in high school or drama department or? I did. And you know, I didn't get into it until I was probably entering middle school. I was a

03:54
painfully shy as an elementary school kid. So I'm performing at home, but around other people, like I was just really, really shy. And I had a teacher that told my mom, I think I was in the fourth or fifth grade, fourth grade, and she told my mom, you've got to get her in theater, put her in theater. And so I auditioned for the Augusta Players production of Heidi. And I was...

04:20
the maid and I got to do a little solo dance. It was great. And then it just so happened that that year, dating myself, that year Davidson Fine Arts School opened and I auditioned and I was one of the first students at Davidson when they opened up in fifth grade when they still had fifth grade. Oh wow, that is so cool. That was so cool.

04:43
Cool. And so I assume that was your track there at Davidson, then was performance. Yeah, performance choir and more choir than drama. I just ended up on the chorus track. But of course, I started doing all the community theater shows and the youth theater and just, I just didn't stop. Yeah. Yeah. So I take it that got you a little bit out of your shell.

05:06
It did, you know, you get into the theater and you have like this instant family of friends you're working with all the time and you get to know and you have to share on stage and you have relationships that you foster on stage and then off stage and you have a script, you know what to say, you don't have to be afraid to say the wrong thing. Yeah, so it's a very supportive way to.

05:35
encourage positive interactions. Yeah, come out of your shell a little bit. Exactly. I always thought of it because I very much felt the same way finding the drama department at Richmond when I was in high school, that that was my tribe. That I finally found the people that I could be comfortable with. And part of that was being able to perform on stage because you weren't you. Right, there's a protective layer. Yeah.

06:03
Yeah, you were the character. You were able to embody that. And so that character wouldn't have been shy. So I don't have to be shy because I'm that character. Offstage, it was a little different. Yeah, but when you're onstage and you are that character, anything goes because you can step away from it if you make a mistake. Well, that wasn't me. If you say the wrong thing, that wasn't me. That was them.

06:28
Right, right. And then of course at the end of it all, you have an audience full of people that applaud you for whatever you do up there. So you get this positive reinforcement for being social. Yeah, absolutely. Did you follow that into college as well for theatrical as a major? You know, when I was in 10th grade, my parents moved to Columbia County and I had to transfer to Evans High School. Oh wow. Yeah, that's another episode.

06:58
But it was good because I actually had a lot more opportunity there because it was not, there was more room for everybody to find their strength. I think that it was so dense at Davidson with everybody being so talented and being able to do so much. I mean, it's kind of going from little fish, big pond into big fish, little pond kind of concept.

07:28
But yeah, I had lots of great opportunities there. I had got to be a leader for the drama club and president my senior year and all of that. But I had a really, really strong choral program and Susan Shiplett was my chorus teacher and she really was really encouraging for a lot of the vocal stuff that I was doing. So I actually ended up going to college as a voice major instead of in theater.

07:58
It was just a stronger program in my high school. So, yeah, so I ended up singing. I don't know why I didn't do a theater major. And looking back on it, it just would have made much more sense. But I think that, you know, you're 18 and everyone looks at you and says, what do you want to do with your life? What are you going to be? I have no idea. I'm 18. I have no idea. Yeah, I'm like, I like this, this, this and this. And I don't know, tell me where to go.

08:27
It's like, well, we need more people in this program, so why don't you join that one? Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so I just kind of went with the tide. Whatever, you know, was put in front of me, I kind of followed along. Was that Augusta College or AU or ASU, whatever it was called at the time? It was Wesleyan College in Macon first. Oh, okay. Okay, I wanted to go to Boston University. I was accepted as a double major in music and business. Oh.

08:57
I was so excited. I have really wonderful parents that love me very much. And I'm the oldest of three girls. And my dad said, you're not going to Boston. That's too far away. That's, you know, and he's, you know, I think he probably panicked that I would be so far away in a big city by myself as a naturally kind of shy person. Yeah. You know? And so being the obedient child that I was, I didn't argue with him. I'm like, OK.

09:26
I guess that's not, I don't get to go to Boston. So I kind of just threw up my hands and said, well, whoever gives me the most money, that's where I'll go. Looking back, obviously I wish that I had been braver and just said, no, I really, really, really want to go to Boston. Right. But I didn't, lessons learned. And I've had a good life and I complain about that sometimes that I didn't do that. But I've had a really good path in my life. Yeah.

09:56
wonderful people that I know and things that I've done and good opportunities. So who knows if they would have even happened if I had gone. You can't worry about those things. Yeah. So I ended up at Wesleyan College for a year and a half. Didn't really, really wasn't the right fit for me. And came back to graduate from Augusta College. Okay. Okay. So then, all right, so we've gone to school, life hits you. Boom. Here's your diploma.

10:26
What are you doing? Okay, so I graduate with this music degree and I happen to be dating this other guy who has a music degree, Mark. And he had family at the time in Bakersfield, California. And he was going back to California. And we had been dating very long and we were in love. And I had this degree, I knew I didn't want to be a teacher. I didn't want to teach music. And...

10:55
I knew I wasn't good enough to be a performer in the music realm. I wasn't going to be an opera singer. I wasn't going to go on and do whatever else. And so I thought, and I had wonderful parents who loved me very much saying, how are you going to feed yourself? Right. Like, okay, so let's be creative here. I thought I would go into music therapy. I can use my music. I can help people. I can have an income. And then I thought,

11:24
Well, music therapy is very, very niche and insurance companies aren't going to pay for music therapy. Okay, so closest thing to it is occupational therapy. I can do the same things in occupational therapy that I could in music therapy, but I can do a lot of other things and people will pay for that. Insurance companies will pay for it. Yeah. So, Mark was going to California. It just made sense for me to apply to the University of Southern California. Right.

11:51
And it was the only place I applied for OT school. It's the number one OT school in the country consistently. And I got in. Wow. I mean, I don't know how. I mean, it was, but that's- If you'd went to Boston, you wouldn't have gone to USC. Wouldn't have met Mark, wouldn't have gone to USC, and wouldn't have moved to Los Angeles and lived there for many, many years. Wow.

12:20
got to take classes out there. I got to do some small independent film stuff, a little bit of stage stuff in LA and that was fun. Yeah, so. That's so cool. I know, it's funny because I applied to USC, I didn't tell my parents, I just kind of kept it on myself because, you know, whatever. And I got the acceptance letter, I couldn't believe it. And so I went to my dad, I remember they have like a

12:50
a barn and some land and he's always on his tractor fixing something or building something or he's a dozer, if you know Fraggle Rock. And so I remember he was on the tractor and I walked up and I'm like, hey, guess what, dad, I'm going to USC. He goes, no, you're not. I'm like, yep, bye. And of course they were very supportive, but a little afraid. Did he think it was University of South Carolina at first though? No, I'm like, I'm going to Los Angeles.

13:20
And he actually, it's funny, he actually was born in Glendale. Oh, well. And then he moved to Seattle when he was a teenager. But yeah, he like went to school with Annette Fitticello and knew the Van Dykes, like his parents were friends with the Van Dykes. He never met Dick, but Jerry, I think he met. Anyway, but it's funny because years later after we'd been there for a while and Mark and I got married and...

13:47
Lily, our oldest, was actually almost born in the same hospital my dad was born in. Oh wow. It just so happened I changed jobs during my pregnancy, just after I found out I was pregnant. And of course my health insurance switched me to another hospital. Wow. It's really funny how that worked out. Yeah. That's so cool though. Thanks. And what a great, you know, synergistic connection, like, you know,

14:17
your past and your family to be able to bring forward into your life, even though you may not have been aware of everything. Like I said, one small decision might have changed the path of all of that. It's funny how things come together like that in life, I think. Just if you're paying attention. So you're doing occupational therapy stuff, you've gone to USC, you've done some things there. Pregnant.

14:46
Kids coming back home getting the grandparents involved little help there where does Your Where does your voice career now start? Where does that happen? Because I know we we've done some films together We've done some some stage performances together and things like that But where did where did the voice acting part come into it for you?

15:12
It's kind of one of those things when you're so active in the theater community and the film community locally and people know what you can do, you know, that you act, things pop up here and there. Would you do this commercial? Would you do this little radio spot for me? I need somebody. Yeah, sure, I'll do it. But I'm not thinking twice about it. I'm like, yeah, that looks like fun. We'll do it. Yeah. The first one that I really started paying attention to was after I had done

15:41
Chanoir. I had an Irish accent that apparently went off pretty well. I love doing the accents. I love them. I had some really good feedback about this. And then a few months later I got a call from Debbie Ballis at the Guest of Players who said that the TV station had called her looking for someone who could do an Irish accent for a corporate narration thing they were doing. Some

16:11
trip to Ireland and they had this whole thing they needed it narrated with an Irish accent. And so she called me and connected me with them and I went into the studio and did the narration and I thought, oh, and then they offered to pay me. I'm like, oh, wait a minute. Wait, I get paid for this. Hold up. You mean I could have charged these other people? Yeah. Wait a minute. So.

16:38
Then, you know, some years went by and I just did these things every now and again. And then in 2019, it'll be five years on April 1st. I get this random email from somebody I've never met before, never even heard of, Craig Hart. And the email says, hi, I have a web show and I'm wondering if you will be on my web show, on my YouTube web show.

17:09
I'm like, why does this guy want to interview me? Who is this? Oh, it's April 1st. Which one of my friends is messing with me? I almost didn't answer it. And then I thought, you know what? Well, let's just see where this goes. See how far it plays out. Yeah. We'll just play along and see what happens. So I emailed him back. We started talking. Turns out the games and writers show was a real thing.

17:35
We did the interview and it was great. We got along, had a really fun time. And then three months later, Craig calls me up and he says, hey, listen, I know you've done some voiceover stuff before. I'm narrating an audio book and the author wants the female point of view chapters to be narrated by a woman. Would you do it with me? And I said, well, yeah, sure, of course. So we did that project. And then I think we did six or seven more after that together.

18:04
And then I just started picking up work on my own. And so now I'm 21, 22 audio books out there in the world. And now I'm doing other things. That's great. Yeah. That's great. That's kind of how that all came about. And it's funny because it's kind of like the theater community. Yes, I know that's part of how people saw you, but that's one thing that I felt.

18:34
at Via Atlanta was very much that same kind of I found my tribe kind of feeling that it was very close knit but not closed off. That it was accepting of new people on a journey and accepting of other people that had not been there before. It wasn't exclusionary. It was very inclusionary and well, how can we help you? How can we let's trade contact? You know what I mean? And to have the person.

19:04
you know, to have heard you on a podcast or to wherever they heard you to be like, hey, I'd like for you to narrate this book and now you're 22 books in. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it is. It really is all about relationships and the people you know, and the people you get to know and the people you help and the people they help. And it's just kind of everybody grabbing each other's hands, going up the ladder. You know, it's yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

19:33
take a step up, you turn around, pull somebody else up. Exactly. Take another step up, pull somebody else up. Cause you're not just taking a step up, someone's helping you up, someone's pulling you up as well. Yeah, it's like this whole group effort for everybody to do well. It's amazing how voiceover industry can be so positive and like you said, inclusive and everybody's welcome to the party. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, it was, you know, cause a lot of people, oh, well it's...

20:03
People are in competition for the jobs and this, how many jobs could there actually be out there? There's thousands. So many jobs. Of books. I mean, just on the audiobook side, thousands of books in any type of genre, but then also the commercial work, the industrial stuff, just stuff you wouldn't even think of. And I feel like there's more every day. There's a new niche every day coming out. And there's no gatekeeping. Yeah.

20:32
If I can't do a voiceover job, I probably know 50 other people I could send the work to. And people do. They're like, oh, if I'm not what you need, I got this guy. He's a great friend. He works really hard and he'll give you a good product. You know, like we share the work. Absolutely. Yeah. It's like if I don't, you know, if we're auditioning for the same thing or whatever, it's like if I don't get it, I hope you do, you know, that kind of stuff. Yeah. It's really, really cool to.

20:59
to now personally to be a part of that, to be on the inside and so the outside, and to looking forward to helping others that are looking to get into such a thing. What have you found was one of the hardest hurdles for you to get over? If it's something self-imposed, I'm the king of self-imposed hurdles, but for your...

21:27
your voiceover journey or just deciding to go this route and to use it? What kind of blocks have you had? Oh my gosh. First of all, the whole myth of motherhood, I think is a real thing. I love being a mom. I love my kids. My kids are in their early 12, three of them are in their early twenties now. And they are some of the coolest humans on the planet. I love them. I love hanging out with them. I've always loved them. We...

21:55
They've done theater with us, we've kind of made it the whole family thing. Um, and it's great, but there is something that I think as a mom that either it's self-imposed or society tells us we have to take care of everybody else. We can't, you know, everybody else has to come first before our needs and our, our dreams and wants. And I remember when I.

22:24
I remember sitting down in a restaurant in Los Angeles with Mark, and we were deciding I had been acting and I had been starting to get a career going. And I remember sitting down and having the conversation that we were both ready to start having a family. And I remember thinking very specifically, okay, now acting has to be put away. And that's no need for that. I remember I got pregnant and I was, I was

22:54
had just enrolled in a stunt course. I was gonna be falling off like a 30 story, set onto the big mattress thing, whatever. And I had to disenroll because I was pregnant and I couldn't do those things. But I don't know where the mindset came from that, oh, I can either be an actor successfully or I can be a mom because I can't be a good mom if I'm doing things for myself, which is not.

23:24
true. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Um, and then so, so there was that and, and it's kind of getting over that. And then when we, we chose to leave Los Angeles to come back for our kids and which was the right decision. Um, no way did I want to raise kids in Los Angeles. Right. Um, but you know, then there was farther away from the dream to come back home. Um, but we stayed active in theater.

23:53
I got the kids doing shows, we got to kind of grow up with them. You know, we all go to do a Christmas carol and they're hanging out with their friends backstage while we're hanging out with our friends backstage. And, you know, we're holding our kids on stage during the show or whatever. And it's great, great, great fun. So time goes on, they're getting older. And then we get to a point where I started having more opportunities like the voiceover stuff or...

24:21
you know, auditions and I decided about 10 years ago that, you know, the kids are getting old enough now that I can start branching out again. And I started taking classes coaching in Atlanta on Wednesday nights and living in Augusta. Wednesday I'd come home from work, I'd change clothes, I'd get in the car, I'd drive to Atlanta for a three-hour course. I would leave Atlanta at 10 or 1030 at night and drive back home.

24:51
every Wednesday night. Wow. And that was great. And it was fulfilling for me and it was exhausting. But you know, my kids, there would be times where I'd come home from work, I'd be so tired. And I'm like, I'm not gonna go tonight. I just can't make the drive. I don't wanna do it. And I turn around and there's one of them with, you know, a sandwich and the other one with my car keys. And they're saying, here, take this, go. We got it here at the house, go. So, you know, I...

25:18
at the most supportive and Mark too, Mark's the same way. Just whatever you need me to do so you can go do your thing. And still there's that mental hurdle of, are you sure? Because I feel selfish doing what I want now because they're like, no, no, no, no, no. So they really helped me get over all of that hurdle. And now I'm finally at the point where they're all off starting to have their own lives and I'm really diving into this now.

25:47
You know, I have days where I feel like, oh my God, I've got to move faster than everybody else because I'm running out of time. I have a hang up about running out of time. Too old and running out of time. So I'm working on that. But it's getting better. That's good. And it's, I mean, you know, I think for them supporting you, obviously they see, you know, they love you. They want you to succeed, but

26:16
and you're setting an amazing example for them just in that to show that, hey, it's okay to have dreams and have a family. You can do both, but it takes all of you to be able to do it. You know what I mean? You know, if there's one, it's not that you're being selfish. You're being an example. You're like, hey, I'm passionate about these things. I want you guys to follow your passions.

26:46
So go do that stuff, but I need to follow some of my passions too. And there's room for us all to do that, if we support each other. That's the thing. It's just, yeah, like you said, supporting each other and just being there to help each other out. Is there been one like eye-opening thing or what's been the most eye-opening thing you've learned in this part of your career journey for?

27:15
for audiobooks and voice acting and stuff like that. Oh, eye-opening thing.

27:22
Like anything that was like, I didn't know that, or that you just never would have expected. I guess just how supportive and helpful everybody is. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the most eye-opening thing about the voiceover industry anyway, that it's attainable. It's not this, you know, you and I grew up in the age before the internet.

27:47
we didn't have the same reach for things. We couldn't make our own content. There was no content, you know, like that. It was accessible. So I think learning that, oh, there's so much I can do, is, you know, is, every day, you know, you get new ideas and see new things that can be done. And I think that that's a beautiful thing. Yeah, and, you know, and the advancement of technology, talk about, you know, we were at the time before the internet, you know,

28:17
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a VFX makeup artist. I used to love reading Fangoria Magazine and researching how to do creature effects and do prosthetics and things like that. And I would make my own makeup for Halloween and make the side of my face melt off and all this. I just loved that. But...

28:44
I was never going to have a job in that industry, living in Augusta, Georgia, because that industry didn't exist here. And it wasn't in Atlanta even. Georgia wasn't a film friendly area at the time. I would have had to have picked up and moved to Los Angeles. And being...

29:13
son of a single mother, I just felt that I couldn't leave her. And now that we have the ability to get on, I can make my home studio and I can go anywhere for audio. I don't have to go into a studio in Los Angeles. I don't have to go into a studio in New York. I mean, it'd be great to be able to travel and do that. And those are possibilities.

29:42
but to be able to do a lot of work from home, from here, and have it be heard everywhere. You know, have that access to be able to narrate books right from here, and to have these relationships with other voice actors and things right from here because we have access to these tools and communication, you know, that is right at our fingertips. You know, that's something as, you know, young.

30:12
you know, person who was interested in creature effects. I was like, that's just, it was unattainable. It was unattainable. It just, yeah. Whereas now, if there's somebody here, you know, in this area or in a small town or whatever, you know, it's not that unattainable. You can watch YouTube videos on how to get better. You can enter.

30:33
Contest to show your work you can create your own channel. You can order supplies off Amazon Absolutely, you can do all of those things to showcase your passion no matter What it is and share it with the world and you never know who's going to to find it, right? You know, that's one of the things I remember from The conference be findable. Yeah, you know and be findable make it when you do something you're passionate about

31:03
and you want to continue doing that. And then you start making those contacts. Make sure that people can find you. Where are you at? Where can they get your voice, get your effects makeup, get your music, get your words, you know, to be, you know, the next book or movie or whatever it is. And just create. Put it out there. Put it out there for people to find out. Put it out there in the world and get to know people when just... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's so cool.

31:32
Do your thing. Yeah, absolutely. So Nicole, what's bringing you joy right now? Right now, my kids. Watching them start their lives on their own. Lily's graduating next month with her doctorate in occupational therapy. I didn't even try to convince her to do that. She just like saw what I was doing and decided it was a good thing and she loves it. So yeah, we've reached a point.

32:01
I've enjoyed every stage of their lives. But right now we're at this place where we can go have a cup of coffee and talk about real world things. Yeah. And maybe we can talk like friends. You know, I guess maybe I don't have that same need to protect them that I did when they were younger with certain, you know, like the world is crazy. But they can come to me with their grown up problems and I can give them advice. And, you know, it's really nice to hear their successes and yeah.

32:30
A family right now is a really beautiful thing.

32:41
Nicole, this is the second segment of the show. We're gonna dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey. I'm a big believer that we all kind of go through the same things, whether we realize it or not. And the more we can talk about it, the more we can normalize these conversations, the lighter that load seems. So for you, how do you keep the darkness at bay?

33:05
Well, I feel like I keep saying this, but it does go back to family and support systems and helping other people and just kind of connecting with other people. I think that that's a big part of what helps me. You know, I have my big thing is anxiety. I have just anxiety. It's so much better. And it changes throughout your life.

33:34
We all go through different seasons, right? So when I was in college and I was driving to Macon and there were no cell phones and it was rural Georgia and I was alone driving, I started to have panic attacks. I was afraid I would be stuck on the side of the road and someone was gonna come along and I don't know, kidnap me or murder me or something, something horrible was going to happen. I'd actually had a...

34:02
incident when I was like seven or eight in our neighborhood, you know, in the 70s when all the creeps were out, right? And but there was a man in a car that was kind of harassing me a little. I was riding my bike to my friend's house and she didn't know I was coming and he was like on her street and her house was close by but he was trying to convince me to get in his car and you know, I, you know, dead-stopped and

34:33
Heck no, you know? Right. And I remember consciously thinking, she doesn't know I'm coming. If I go to her house and she's not there, he can pull into her driveway. And I just remember turning around, riding my bike back up the hill and hiding in some stranger's garage because I was so scared. But that event just set off this cycle of anxiety of being vulnerable or alone, you know, and driving three hours to college by myself as an 18 year old.

35:03
not able to connect with anybody, call my parents, because we didn't have cell phones. Right. I think at some point, my dad had a bag phone I borrowed on one trip. Yeah. You know, those big, huge things. Yeah. But, yeah, so that's where the anxiety started. And it got better as I got older. In California, it kind of reared its ugly head a little, because there's a new place, a little vulnerable, and then it got better. I think you just find different ways to.

35:34
in life to manage it. For me, driving from Bakersfield to Los Angeles through the mountains, if I got a chocolate milkshake, I wouldn't hyperventilate because I would feel tension while I was driving and start hyperventilating it without realizing it. And that would kind of kick off a panic attack. So mine were all specific to driving. So I'd get a chocolate milkshake.

36:01
and it would just keep me sucking on the milkshake and then I would not be breathing funny or anything and then I start to relax and then eventually I would break that cycle of having the panic attacks while I was driving. I was very lucky when I first started having them in college in Augusta, my parents had a friend who was a doctor who immediately knew what it was because I think a lot of people...

36:26
have these panic attacks, they think they're having a heart attack, they think they're dying, they don't know what's happening, and it's so scary, and nobody can tell them what it is. And then they have these tests and those tests, and this guy was great. He's like, you're having a panic attack, and we're going to give you a teeny tiny bit of Xanax twice a day for three months and a blood pressure pill so that you don't freak out and it stops the cycle. Wow. And it did. Three months, and then I was...

36:55
much, much better. And then I could cognitively work my way through it. Right? Right. Right. So, yeah. So then it went away for a long time. And then I have periods where something's going on. I start feeling it again and I find other ways to deal with it. It manifests now in that I'm trying to do so many things at one time. I'm trying to run a voiceover business. I'm trying to... I'm still doing some occupational therapy stuff. Yeah. Trying to manage that.

37:23
trying to get rid of that and make this bigger. And then I want to do everything all at one time and I start to get overwhelmed. And so when I start to feel those feelings now, I know that it's just a message from my body that you either need to take a break or something's not right in your life and you need to figure out what it is and change it. So either this job is not the job for you right now and maybe you need to start looking at something else. You don't.

37:53
have to stick with it if it's making you miserable. Right, right. Change is okay, it's scary, but it can be very good. Yeah, I think a lot of times, just speaking to that occupation part of it, is that we get just enamored of the golden handcuffs, is what I like to call it, because, well, it pays really good. And I've been there for this long, and if I go somewhere else, I have to start out at the bottom again, or I...

38:21
have to, you know, they may not pay as much. You're not successful if you don't stay the course. Right, right. It's like you get the one, you just need the one job and be there for the 40 years and that's it. That's if you don't do that, you're not doing it right. You know? So I think a lot of times we get just lulled into this complacency, like I said, by the golden handcuff because it's just, it's just easier. Yeah. And you just get stuck and you're not necessarily living up to your passion.

38:51
or your potential really. And I personally have definitely dealt with that. I got let go from a job I was at for 10 years at the beginning of this year and have been dealing with that. Because you also feel it wasn't my choice to leave, it's different when you choose to leave as opposed to someone else choosing for you. And...

39:20
feeling like a failure because I got like, oh, whether it was for restructuring or some BS reason or whatever, it's like, well, you failed. You failed and now you're just gonna be a failure and that's all everybody, anybody will see, but it's not. It's not. You have to look at it like, okay, all right, this is an opportunity. Maybe that's the universe saying, hey, you are not gonna leave. Sometimes the universe needs to give you a kick in the pants to get you back on the track, right? Exactly.

39:48
Exactly. And that's, and that was the whole reason why I started looking back into the stuff I love to do this, you know, you know, I was in radio for so long and got like, Oh, again, thinking I was a failure. It's like, you know, how can I find my way back into something that I actually am passionate about connecting with people, helping them tell their stories and things like that. And that's what that's what this whole journey of the voice acting is about for me.

40:17
you know, but having people like you that are there as a support system. I personally, I think, I think it's amazing. Tyler Smith, who I met, and the other amazing folks that we met at the VO panel. I'm very excited about just, just relationships. If, you know, if voice acting doesn't, you know, pan out or whatever, the people I've met and now have relationships with.

40:47
is just amazing. You know, I feel like so much of these anxieties and feelings about careers and doing this job or staying the course or any of that. I feel like it all so much of it goes back to this whole society, societal idea of what do you want to be when you grow up instead of what things do you want to experience in your life?

41:17
If you think along the lines of what do I want to be? What is it the thing I want to do? Whether it be a banker or a voice actor or a doctor, that it's so limiting in your mind that you have to be on this one course to be successful and you have to end your life as a thing, one particular role. When there are so many different opportunities in the world.

41:44
to experience all these different things. Like yes, I want to be a professional voice actor and I want that to be my career. But I also want to be a mom and experience the mother thing. And I also enjoy some occupational therapy and I want to be an explorer and see this part of the world. And it doesn't have to be, I think that when we focus on the one thing we want to be or ask kids, what do you want to be?

42:12
or what do you want to major in, or what job do you want? I think it really, I mean, of course, it gives us a little bit of direction where to go, but I feel like it closes off our ability to see all of the opportunities around us for the way we can experience the world in our life. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you were to ask a child instead of what do you want to be when you grow up, it's like, you know.

42:40
Well, what makes you happy? Yes. What are you passionate about? What do you want to try? Yeah. Where do you want to go? Where do you want to, what do you want to see? What do you want to experience? Yeah. Because that puts you in a different mindset. And then, you know, well, I'm going to be this thing, this one thing. You know, people are multifaceted. You know, you have people who are, you know, occupational therapists that also are amazing narrators of audio books. And...

43:10
and great moms as well. You know, you have people, you can be more than one thing where, you know, you can add and even later in life, you can add another facet to the diamond that you are. Thank God. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's not, you don't have to decide your entire life. That's true. All at once, you know, at, you know, 13 years old or whatever. Well, you know, people are living so much longer now and living healthier lives so much later. I mean, I have a friend who is almost 90.

43:40
And she's amazing and she is like physically active and on boards of things and volunteers for this. I like, you know, our lifespan is just getting longer and longer and we're healthier and healthier. And to think that we, with all of the opportunities at our fingertips now, you know, how could we even think that one, two, or even three careers or adventures are all we have? Yeah. There's just, just.

44:09
so many things. There's not enough time to do all the things, but we have so much time to try many of them.

44:21
Alright Nicole, this is the third segment of the show. It's time now for the Fast Five. The Fast Five. It's time now for the Fast Five. Fast Five. So I'm still working on a theme song. I've kind of fallen into that one, but it's easy to remember. Works for me. It's entertaining. The Fast Five is powered by Poddex. It's an app created for podcasters, but they're great icebreaker questions. If you go to chewinthefatbr.com

44:51
the PodDex app on the platform of your choice. No wrong answers. First thing that comes to the top of your mind, you ready to go? I'm terrified, let's do it. All right, here we go, question number one.

45:07
Do you like movie musicals? Yeah, they're all right. Which one is your favorite one? Movie musicals, La La Land. Because I can completely relate with that whole storyline. Oh wow. Wow, that's great. See, I'm thinking like all the classics, the South Pacifics and things like that. La La Land was great. It's the go to LA and neither do it or go have the family, right? Wow, that's a great one.

45:37
All right, question number two.

45:42
What's the last thing you've done that you are really proud of? Last thing I've done that I'm really proud of? Making the decision to take a three month work assignment in Seattle, Washington for OT. And I'm going with my dog and I'm just going to see another part of the country by myself for a little while. Oh, wow. And I'm proud of myself for having the bravery to say, this is scary. Let's do it. Yeah.

46:12
You know? Yeah. Gosh, you don't know what kind of growth you're going to get from that. I mean, you're going into a job, which is great. But you know, but yeah, all the the people you meet the relationships you will forge, I'm sure because you're very, even though you're very introverted, you're also very, very good person to know. And so that's amazing. That's I'm excited. I'm really excited about it. That's really cool. What? When you when you go in? I'm leaving in May. Okay.

46:41
Okay, that's awesome. I'm definitely gonna have to find out how that's going. We may do like a follow-up later. What you can do. Let's see how Seattle was. That's amazing. Question number three.

46:55
Which do you think is prettier, a sunrise or a sunset? Sunset, because I rarely get to see a sunrise. Same, same. I always say that I feel like I appreciate the sunrise more because there are fewer of those that I've seen. So I have to appreciate it when I do see them, but yeah, definitely think sunset too, that's good. All right, question number four.

47:20
If you could learn any language fluently, what would it be? Mandarin. Yeah. It's different, new and probably pretty useful. Okay. Yeah. No, that's, that's really cool. That's really cool. I am currently doing like five languages on Duolingo, which is a little insane, but it's like, but I have French and German, Irish, Scotch, Gaelic and Latin. And.

47:49
And so like I just rotate a day of which... How do you keep them all straight? Yeah, definitely. You know, there's oddly there are a lot of obviously Irish and Scotch gay are very similar when you started looking at those, but like also French and German have a lot of similarities between them, you know, as far as like masculine and feminine, you know, words and having ease and things like that. But it's pretty cool. Pretty cool.

48:20
Mandarin or anything like that. It's like a totally different thing. Yeah, yeah. I had to learn. At least I recognize like the shape of letters in the language that I'm doing. I learned, I worked on, I learned Dari and some Pashto for an audio book. Oh wow. And that was a challenge. Wow. I like, you see the combinations of letters? I've never seen anything like that. Well yeah, Irish and Gaelic are like that too. It's like that, should not make that sound, but yeah, that's really cool. And I never even thought about it in as far as like narration.

48:49
Yeah, you probably might have to pick up a couple of foreign languages or so and being able to do so quickly is probably a very good skill to have, right? Yeah, it happens. It's fun. I enjoy it. I enjoy a good challenge. That's awesome. That's awesome. All right. And question number five.

49:08
Do you like to plan things out in detail or be spontaneous? Oh my God, analysis paralysis check right here. I will plan, it's degree. I'm working on that. I'm trying to do a little bit more spontaneity, but if you wanna go to Disney World, I will make sure you get to do every single thing that you wanna do at Disney World. That's awesome. That is the perfect time to be that type of planner, for sure. That's awesome. Well, Nicole, that's our Fast Five. And that.

49:38
is the show. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me, Robb. I've really enjoyed this. This was awesome. This was awesome. If people want to keep up with you, what's the best way they could do that? Oh gosh. I've got my website, Nicoleswansonvo.com and you can follow me on Instagram, which is the same, NicoleSwansonVO. Awesome. So I'll make sure I'll put those in our show notes. Again, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for the swift kick in the ass for me to get to go with you to that conference.

50:08
And just thank you for your friendship. I just love you and I wish you nothing but success in the future. I love you too. We got a good thing going. Yeah. And if you would like to support this podcast, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com. But until next time, I look forward to the time we have to sit a spell and chew the fat.