Ep. 302: Why Most People Quit Voice Acting in the First Year

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Why do so many voice actors quit after their first year? In this episode I get into the three reasons I see most, and what you can do about each one. These are my personal opinions, and they're the reasons I built everything we do at VO Journey Academy the way I did.

(01:56) The first reason is that they don't get work. Setting up your studio and learning your DAW can take a year on its own. Then it depends on where you train, because some places tell you to train for years before you go after work. I got my first job in my first month, a $50 audiobook, and after that I made sure I always had a job in the queue. If you want to never worry about getting work, aim for 40 to 50 auditions a day. If that's too much with a full-time job and a family, can you do 20 to 30?

(08:46) The second is that they don't treat it like a business. When it feels like a hobby, we let our feelings decide what gets done. Look at your business from 20,000 feet, write down the actions that have to happen every day, and do them. Burn the boats.

(15:16) The third is that they have no support. This is about the most isolated job there is. Find your people, even if it's one other person or a small group that meets on Discord every week. And watch out for the wrong group, the negative Nellies who tell you everything is bad and AI is going to kill everyone.

If you want to join us, here's VO Journey Academy: https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast Or sit in on our live classes for free during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October, at https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class-week-october-2026?src=podcast And there are over 750 free voice over scripts to practice with at https://www.avosjourney.com/scripts/

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