Mid-life Career Change

[InbetweenDreams]

I guess I probably should do that whole "reintroduce yourself" thread but I never know where to really start with those. I work in IT, kind of burnt out with it. I don't like the direction things are going. I have a crazy long commute that I've been doing for the better part of 2 years now. I don't feel any excitement for the career path I have now and I kind of don't want another IT job.

I have kind of a nerdy hobby surrounding radio. For some context I have played around with that is called a micro-broadcast, or fancy way of saying I run a small FM transmitter that covers my apartment and maybe a few neighbors. TL;DR Here's what I've come up with:

RadioDJ (plays music, all the tracks have been tagged and track rotation setup so that the same song, artist aren't played and selects tracks of what type such as genre, etc)

Virtual Audio Cable - Use for virtual sound cards for sending audio to Stereo Tool and MPX output (MPX is short for multiplex, this is the full "audio" signal after processing & premphasis that goes to the transmitter)

Stereo Tool - Processes the audio for FM premphasis (boosts the highs, by a lot, basically, using a preset "Ohio Valley Blue Hot" which seems to sound best for most all types of music and speech).

GNU Radio - This is sort of the brains on the software side of the transmitter. This takes the audio coming in on the virtual audio cable, converts it to a complex number and creates the FM signal that the HackRF will transmit. Now, because I have Stereo Tool processing the audio and creating the MPX signal, GNU Radio doesn't need to create the Stereo L-R signal, pilot tones or anything like that, so the flow graph is very simple.

ICE Cast - Stereo Tool does provide some built-in streaming options and the newer versions support AAC-HE which is similar to HD Radio and DAB+ in terms of the codec used. Have my "private" stream at 80kbps and sounds pretty much on par with what you'd expect.

....

So that's the neurodivergent part of my life. I realize that radio in the US is basically dead and the idea of playing DJ (think WKRP, the old TV show from the 70's) doesn't really exist. In fact the DJ you hear on the radio probably doesn't live in your city and may be voice tracking on several other stations in other major cities. I have looked at some job postings and I realize that switching up things with my career will likely come with a pay cut but $15/hr is just not enough money and I often hear people talking about jobs in radio being more of a hobby than a means to actually make a living. Not too encouraging there.

So Youtube starts reading my mind and starts throwing videos about becoming a Voice Over Artist. It was one of those channels that kind of pitch that whole "you can make a 100k in your first year" but only if you join my group for $97 a month. Don't want to mention names because while his stuff is a hard sales pitch (and I get it, guy's trying to make a living too) there was so much gatekeeping and got a bas taste in my mouth because apparently took issue with a video link being shared in his "free" area. Basically the free area just had a few people introducing themselves and some people asking for feedback and the most I seen was "sounds great, keep going!" and no real feedback.

There is some audio equipment I need to have for VO, but the biggest thing is having a recording space. Since I live in an apartment, it really came down to building a booth. Currently working on that. I'm about halfway through the build. Having my dad help build it, or rather he's building it. Once it's built, he's got to take it apart and transport all down to my apartment and rebuild it over a weekend.

I guess my anxiety is getting all ramped up about it because the cost of the booth is going to be more than estimated. There is very good chance that I will have trouble booking any jobs. A lot of people suggest Voices.com or Voice123 which are both "pay to play" sites, so you have to throw $600 or sometimes more at an annual subscription and with no guarantee that you'll book any jobs. I have heard many people talk about 200-300 auditions before they ever booked anything. This being an art, it's very subjective. I might think I sounded good in a read but you might disagree and another person think I'm the next Don Lafontaine (I'm most certainly am not lol), so it is subjective. One thing is for sure all the stammering and jumbling up words will have to be addressed. That being said, I don't want to confuse the issue thinking I should sound like a VO artist that's been in the trade for decades, but at what point would I be good enough to audition for anything? Last thing I want is to submit a shitty audition that I know won't get booked and may damage my reputation.

Biggest problem I face right now is that I'm not putting nearly enough time into practicing reads. Practicing reads is the only way I can get better and to a point to put a demo together, which is something required on voices.com. Should have a good demo and should also be in line with what I can reasonably produce in my home studio.

I guess the worry is that I am bat shit crazy trying to do this and perhaps I don't possess the talent or voice for VO stuff. A lot of money has to get put up for equipment, microphones, vocal booth, and a VO coach or some sort of training. And the return on investment might not come for years and might be something I just can't make money on.

Any thoughts? Be curious to hear about anyone else who has shifted gears on their career or maybe just putting myself in the right mental space so I can double down on this. There is one saying I am trying to take more seriously is one by Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can or can't do it, you're probably right."

And one thing's for sure, NOTHING BEATS A JET2 HOLIDAY!