Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Ganguzza.
Anne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After over 20 years in the IT industry and as an educator, I took a huge leap of faith, and began building my voiceover business full time.
I had reached my fullest potential within my job, and began needing to be challenged again within my career. I really enjoy the creative part of problem solving, and have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Although scared, I knew it was time for a new adventure!
As an early adopter of VOIP and distance learning technologies, I was responsible for voicing a multitude of IVR/On-Hold systems and e-learning narrations within many educational, governmental, and nonprofit agencies. These experiences opened the door to the voiceover industry, and I quickly fell in love with the process. Voiceover work fulfills my passion for creativity, yet it also allows me to employ the technology side of things that I had so loved during my career in IT. It became clear to me that this, combined with the excitement of entrepreneurship, was the challenge I was waiting for!
It’s been an amazing ten-year journey, and I have loved every minute of it – I am proud to say that I am now a full-time voice actor, coach, and producer. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating and growing a business takes a lot of passion, energy, and confidence. I would love to say that it has been a smooth ride, but as many entrepreneurs know, sometimes we learn the most from the curveballs that are thrown our way. Mine, were two-fold.
I was in the middle of growing my voiceover business when my husband unexpectedly lost his job. Finances were tight, and the responsibility of supporting our household landed solely on me and my new venture. It was scary, and stressful, but I truly believe that these kinds of obstacles are really opportunities. The financial pressure forced me to work all the harder, or I’d be forced to go back to a job I did not love.
Ultimately, the loss of my husbands’ job and the motivation to grow my business faster, was a blessing in disguise. In late 2011, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, I had grown the business to the point where it could financially support us and help pay for the ongoing care I needed. However, the road ahead with my health was uncertain – and I could not predict how many more mountains I would have to climb. My diagnosis was a challenge and blessing, but for the first time I realized I had truly built a profitable business.
Throughout the journey, and the many the ups and the downs, I never allowed myself to doubt my ability to have a successful career. If I did, or if I allowed these obstacles to stand in my way, I would not have the business I have today! Of course, I have and continue to fail all of the time, but I choose to learn from it. Instead of thinking of failure as a setback, I like to think that failure is just changing direction to accommodate growth.
The biggest thing I learned is to have patience, and that the concept of becoming an “overnight” success can really take up to ten years. It’s great to have a dream, dreams are great motivators, but it’s business savviness that puts them into action. Don’t just think about the dream, act upon it! Acting upon it requires educating yourself about your industry, finding your unique and authentic niche, and then never stop evolving. Follow the trends, and utilize advancing technology. Evolving with technology will help to put you in front of your target market quicker and more efficiently than your competitor. You can’t be the best product that no one has ever heard of!
Please tell us about Anne Ganguzza, Voice Talent, Speaker and Coach.
I am a full-time voice talent, coach and producer who works with students to develop their voiceover and business skills. I specialize in Conversational Commercial & Narration styles, including Corporate, E-Learning, Medical, Telephony & On Hold.
As a voiceover artist, my credits include voices for Delta, Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, PayPal, Noodles World Kitchen, Wells Fargo, Michelin, Credit Suisse, Cisco, Toyota, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Telecore, Synchronix, and Xerox, and more.
As a coach, I teach voiceover classes and business workshops in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA, as well as providing private coaching/mentoring to students in person and via Skype, ipDTL or Zoom.
I am a teacher at heart, and enjoy sharing my resources and knowledge with others. I’m proud to say that I founded and currently manage a global networking membership group, VO Peeps, with over 3,000 members! My mission was to build a community to network with other voiceover artists and industry professionals, and provide continuing education initiatives focused on growing members’ voiceover skills and businesses.
In January 2012, I created the VO Peeps Career Education Scholarship Fund – a fund providing both need and merit-based scholarships to qualified members of the voiceover community. Since its inception, this fund has awarded over $30,000 in monies and scholarships to deserving individuals.
I’ve recently expanded my coaching business and added a weekly podcast called VO B.O.S.S. (Voiceover Business Owner Strategies and Success), which is growing daily. The podcast delivers solid, actionable business advice with a dose of inspiration for entrepreneurs building their voiceover businesses. Of course, being the tech geek that I am, the podcast is the first of its kind recorded entirely using an ISDN over IP technology called ipDTL. You can find out more and listen to episodes on iTunes or Stitcher, or at our website at voboss.com
I am proud that I’ve taken a passion and turned it into a business that I adore. I love to learn, and love the thrill and challenge of growing a business. I keep evolving as an entrepreneur – into directions that follow my passions – educating others, and giving back to the community.
My most recent adventure is learning how to grow and manage a large social media fan base with a new brand via my VO Studio Cats Facebook and Instagram pages. Luckily, I get to develop these skills while posting adorable pictures of my studio kittens, Turq, Sebastian, and Sebrina. As of right now, over 29,000 FB fans agree that they’re the cutest VO Studio Cats out there!
In a competitive industry, you need to be confident and savvy enough to carve a unique niche that provides a product of value for your target audience. I want to help others get to that point in their own careers. Clients are attracted to brands who are authentic and passionate, not consumed with a desperation or rate lowballing that sometimes happens within competitive markets. Success begets success, and your potential clients are attracted to that confidence.
I just want to keep doing what I love to do, because it fulfills me.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My fondest memories from my childhood would be from my years spent horseback riding. My horses, Mandy and Rhapsody – named after one of my favorite classical piano pieces Rhapsody in Blue – meant the world to me, and it wasn’t until adulthood that I realized just how much they taught me.
There’s the technical aspect to riding that one must master, and yet you’re riding a living thing that has its own spirit, mind, and direction. Much like running a business, when riding you have no idea what can happen along the journey, you’re truly taking a leap of faith. I can’t count how many times I was thrown from a horse who had been spooked, bucked, and then changed direction on me! It’s important to be in harmony with your horse, and when you connect creatively and technically with the animal – like in your business or voiceover – it’s a beautiful ride!
Without a doubt, riding shaped my philosophy on life and business. At an early age, I learned how to apply technical knowledge to a creative process, allowing me to build trust and synergy with my horse. For me, this synergy was achieved when I first listened to – and trusted – my gut instincts, and then combined that with education. Thus, I run my business the same way, by first listening to my gut, and then making an educated decision. If I were to get hung up on being scared or unsure or not confident, that fear would be transmitted to my horse and I would run the risk of falling!
As a child, if I wasn’t riding, you’d find me playing teacher with my dolls. I’d stand proudly in front of my classroom, my inanimate audience, teaching my dolls math. I created lesson plans, made my dolls flashcards, and even surprised them with a pop quiz every now and then – my dolls really hated that!
As a child, your heart and creativity are limitless and (hopefully) without negative external influences. I truly believe that the closer you align to your childhood passions the more successful you will be in your business!
Contact Info:
- Website: anneganguzza.com
- Phone: (949) 630-3208
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnneGanguzzaVoice
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/aganguzza
- Other: voboss.com, vopeeps.com
Image Credit:
Main Photo: CeCe Canton Photography
Image 1: CeCe Canton Photography
Image 4: Christina Cavadias
Image 5: Anne with her horse Rhapsody
Image 6: CeCe Canton Photography
Image 10: Johnny Kavadeas Photography
Image 11: Johnny Kavadeas Photography
Image 13: Johnny Kavadeas Photography; Anne interviewing Chuck Duran & Stacey Aswad
VO Studio Cats: Christina Cavadias
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