Check Out Jolene Mei’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolene Mei. 

Hi Jolene, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started working as a Voice Over Artist in November 2021, after I had just quit my job in mental health. Like many during the pandemic and post-quarantine, I decided to make a career change. I had spent just over 7 years in the mental health field working with young adults on the autism spectrum and those with learning differences. I truly enjoyed working with my students every day, I truly believe in them, their success, and was surprisingly confident leaving this field due to the fact of my internal fulfillment; considering them as my life’s true work. While I know it was time for me to say goodbye to this line of work, I learned many transferrable skills that I still use today. I got my feet wet working towards diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and gained more confidence in my self identity in leadership. Despite all this, life circumstances led me to a place where I realized the next phase of my life: dedicating energy and love towards myself and my self-growth. Self-care, work/life balance, a simple life. These were all areas that I felt lacking that I was motivated to attain. I quit my position not 100% sure where life would take me, but I was confident that my commitment towards growth would take me where I needed to be. I initially considered a career in curriculum development as this was and is a passion of mine. I’m not sure if I was slightly biased towards this potential career choice because of my background in corporate settings or because of my Asian-American upbringing, subconsciously pushing me to work in education or another “acceptable” field that would make enough money. This initially took priority as a career choice. However, in the back of my mind another potential career choice was nagging at me, voice acting. I have wanted to be a voice actor ever since I was very young, singing alongside Disney princesses, dreaming of becoming “A Little Mermaid”, seeing myself being great behind the mic. I had been singing on stage since I was able to walk/dance. I had truly enjoyed being in musical theater numbers in high school and had a secret dream of becoming successful in a career involving arts and creativity. 

With these two “dreams” in my head, I decided to pursue both passions, allowing life to show me which path would return opportunity. That turned out to be voice-over work. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I would describe the “road” in voice acting as a marathon. It takes training, breath is really important, it’s not easy, but it’s really rewarding. A few struggles or obstacles I have faced include the occasional “dips” in business that come with being self-employed, adjusting to living in the mountains, and imposter syndrome.  Also, the initial struggle and recognition of unequal pay between men and women in this field has been a bit of a downer, especially during the first hurdles of growth and establishing myself in the field.

I’ll start with elaborating on pay inequities and “dips” in business. Firstly, I would definitely say that there are seasonal or occasional reductions in gigs according to the time of year, or sometimes according to the algorithm of some highly competitive freelance websites that I use adjusting to any changes made to profiles. Because I was so used to having a set paycheck every two weeks, this was a new obstacle for me to plan for. Second, when I mention inequities in pay, I’m referring to gigs I see posted on beginning freelance websites. I search for jobs every week and often more than once or twice a week. What I found frustrating was how often I would find gig postings that offered $500 in payouts ONLY requesting a male voice actor. Meanwhile, I would find so many other gigs of similar specs and requirements, requesting a female voice actor offering $60. That pay difference is HUGE. Before I go on, I want to clarify that I am not pointing the finger at men. I want to avoid overgeneralized accusations on groups of people. I do think this is a systemic issue based in unconscious bias or more. This is a very large and multi-layered issue that I witnessed on a freelance website serving international clients and freelancers. Do I think this is a very difficult, multi-layered issue? Yes. Do I think it should still be resolved? Yes. Do I think this affected my growth? Definitely, and most likely other female freelancers. I can only imagine the impacts for voice actors who are part of the LGBTQ+ community or identify as trans. More education and reflection needed. 🙂 

Switching gears to moving to the mountains. I grew up in Orange County, moved to Long Beach while working in mental health, and most recently decided that I wanted to be surrounded by nature! My husband and I have now moved to the San Bernardino mountains, and I must say that I truly enjoy working remotely. While living closer to nature is something I don’t think I will ever regret, it didn’t come without its own obstacles. This included having a backup plan for electricity shutoffs, getting used to quick weather changes that could affect recording, and making enough time out of my day to shovel snow! I initially got so anxious during times of heavy rain because I really wanted to record so badly! Now I pre-plan for weather as best I can and take noisy weather as a sign to re-strategize my business and be present. 

Last on the list is imposter syndrome. I have it really bad some days, and some days I feel like I am just killin’ it. I often appear very calm and collected externally, but I am actually an anxious person a lot of the time. I often fight the feeling that what I deliver isn’t good enough, or that I must have done something wrong when there isn’t any evidence of it. I originally thought that when a client requested revisions for my work, that they didn’t like it, and that I must have done something inadequate. I have worked on myself and my perspective to consider that I definitely am a committer and pretty much give my best each and every time, that I should welcome revisions because I’m just a great and adaptable professional like that, and that I should trust in my own instincts. I am still trying to see every obstacle, time of anxiety or fear as a sign that I’m just really close to the next phase of growth. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional Asian American Female Voice Over Artist specializing in commercial work. What I think makes my approach unique is that I truly aim to bring meaning to each project by connecting to my internal compassion for humanistic creativity. I offer a modern, authentic, relatable, and conversational feel to my voiceovers. Clients often hire or rehire me because I’m detail oriented, I believe in compassionate transparency as a major factor in success for all parties involved, and I truly love what I do. I love that I get to be part of a creative project that welcomes listeners into a space, feeling, or story. I also am a podcaster and host the Diverseek podcast where we amplify very nuanced conversations with DEI experts. I’m really proud of my growth in skill as a voice-over artist, that I am a forever learner of DEI principles, in the fact that I built my own website (who knew?), and that I am comfortably self-employed. 

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I definitely believe in luck, and I feel very fortunate that I feel that I mostly have had good luck in my life. The best way that I can talk about luck is by tying it to life circumstance. I believe everything happens for a reason, good or bad. I feel lucky to have a great support system, I feel lucky to have loving friends, family, and a loving partner. I feel super lucky for breaks in heavy rain for recording, right when I need it. Thinking about it now, I don’t think I really believe in bad luck. I think when bad things happen, I feel like it’s usually a sign that you should pivot to a different opportunity, or it was a learning lesson. 

Contact Info:

• Website: jolenemeivo.com
• Instagram: jolenemeivo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083582284205

Image Credits
Arson Sefi