Daily Inspiration: Meet Jared Svoboda

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Svoboda.

Hi Jared, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I come from a very artistic musical family. I spent my childhood learning how to play instruments and sing starting at the ripe old age of four years old. I was always highly encouraged to perform in my family, my siblings and I would put on little shows everywhere we went; we joked that we were like the Von Trap Family. As I got older and started to wonder what I wanted to do in the long term for my life, performing was a no brainer. It’s the thing I’ve loved more than anything for basically as long as I have been alive. Nothing brings me more joy than entertaining a group of people however big or small. So I got heavily involved in extracurriculars in high school, from theatre and drama club, to showchoir and choir, to marching band and jazz band, to thespian festival and community theatre. I wanted to be part of as much as I could handle before going off to college. I studied drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts spending a few years in the musical theatre program and then switching into the film studio to maximize the diversity of my education. After I graduated, I moved to LA where my career found its start working at the various regional theaters around LA, all while juggling a bartending job and writing music in my free time. Then after covid hit, where I spent the entire pandemic living in Van Nuys biding my time and honing my skills, my career really took off. I’ve been traveling around the world bouncing from contract to contract working on various projects with various degrees of profile ever since. Currently, I’m in Europe rehearsing for a project that will be touring the Mediterranean all summer. I am so grateful to have gotten where I am today and to every person who taught and encouraged me along the way. I know how blown away younger me would be by all that I’ve accomplished.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all! I’ve been very lucky to have secured as much work as I have in my life, but I wouldn’t call any part of it a smooth road. From the struggles of the career maintaining peak health and fitness at all times, to always be ready to work at the drop of a hat, to juggling schedules of a day job you’re maintaining while trying to get your next artistic gig, last minute getting coverage for a shift so you can shoot an audition or scrambling to find a friend available to read lines with you for a taped audition. There’s also the immense sacrifice of your time and huge portions of your life given up for various jobs. I’ve gone, at times, years without seeing my grandparents. I’ve missed birthdays, weddings, and funerals because I’ve been away and unable to get out of a contract to see my family. In between contracts I scramble to squeeze in as much time as I can with loved ones even if it’s only five minutes to share a coffee and a hug. It’s important to me to maintain my relationships over time and loving your people through a phone mostly is a huge emotional sacrifice and burden. I sometimes joke with my father who is a lifelong military officer that I’ve followed in his footsteps in a way simply because the way my life takes me to the ends of the earth at the drop of a hat at times feels very reminiscent of my childhood when he would get deployed.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I usually say I am a performer as a blanket statement as what I do involves acting, singing, dancing, and sometimes playing a musical instrument. I most regularly work in Musical Theatre utilizing any or all of the above skills.
I would say I specialize in rock singing, some of my favorite artists to sing are Freddie Mercury, Billy Joel, Journey, and Elton John. I’m probably most proud of the production of Jesus Christ Superstar I was a part of at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, I’ve spent much of the last year working in Sarasota both at Asolo and at Florida Studio Theatre and it’s a really special place with a huge artistic community that has really grown on me. The production of JCS that I was in was truly a work of art with a fully realized vision under the direction of Josh Rhodes and an absolutely star studded creative team and cast.
I think in this industry it’s extremely important to have versatility, but also it’s important to be yourself and own that fully. I think one of the things that sets me apart from others is the way in which I own who I am, I consider it the utmost compliment when I am told “I’ve never met anyone like you before.” I know that it’s not possible to be everyone’s cup of tea, especially as a neurodivergent person, but I want to make sure that the people who’s cup of tea I am are getting a genuine one.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
You can support me by consuming the art that I make, either by coming to a show, listening to music I put out, or always by following along and engaging on social media. I love meeting other people from all walks of life and find that to be one the best most inspiring parts of what I do for a living.
I also love collaborating with other artists I’m very reachable online via my website, or through social media as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.JaredSvoboda.com
• Instagram: JaredSvoboda
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/jaredsvoboda
• Other: TikTok @nothingrhymeswithJared

Image Credits
Lu Clark
Sorcha Augustine