Soul SiStories
Soul SiStories was born out of a mutual desire to bring forward hope and healing through sharing our lived experiences. Hope is embracing life despite adversity. Hope is our reason.
Soul SiStories
Hope Through Expectation: Deanna Johnston
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Your voice can feed you, free you, and still get tangled up in fear. We’re joined by Deanna Johnston, a renowned vocalist and globally working voiceover artist, for a conversation that starts with a plastic microphone in a family basement and stretches all the way to recording projects heard around the world. Along the way, we talk about what it’s like to grow up shy, to feel emotions you weren’t taught to name, and to discover that singing can be less about perfection and more about telling the truth.
Deanna opens up about the boldness it took to build her own band, the lasting impact of her time on Rockstar INXS, and the strange grief of stepping away from performance after years of touring and running a successful corporate entertainment company. Now she works inside a voiceover booth for hours at a time, and we dig into the hidden cost of that isolation, the body’s need for movement, and a recurring dream that perfectly captures what it feels like when expression gets blocked.
We also get practical about getting unstuck: baby steps, finding the right door at the right time, and holding onto faith as fuel. Deanna shares a definition that reframes everything for us: hope as a positive expectation that something good is going to happen. If you’re navigating change, burnout, grief, or a creative reset, this one will meet you where you are and nudge you forward. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find these stories.
Award-Winning Female Voice Actor Deanna Johnston
COMMERCIAL FEMALE VOICE OVER DEMO #videoproduction #videocreator
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Welcome And Why Deanna Matters
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. I just am so excited that you guys are here and that you're gonna join us as we um just finished this amazing conversation with Deanna Johnston, who is a musician and a voiceover actor and all sorts of other things going on in her life. And I will just say, after spending the last 45 minutes with her, I'm walking away with a whole lot of hope. And I really um can't wait for you to have that also.
SPEAKER_01Amen to that. Listen in, everybody. Here we go.
From Plastic Mic To Pro Voice
SPEAKER_01Hey everyone, we are so glad that you're here with us, and we are beyond thrilled to welcome as our guest today Deanna Johnston. Deanna is a renowned voiceover artist with deep roots in the music industry. Her journey started as a shy kid with a passion for interviewing her family with a plastic microphone plugged into her Casio cassette recorder and performing with her sisters in their family's basement. She's now a globally recognized vocalist who has performed for Fortune 500 companies all over the world. She co-owned and ran her own entertainment company, LA All Stars, for almost 20 years. Deanna was chosen out of thousands of hopefuls from all across the world to compete in the reality TV show Rockstar in Excess. Out of 15 finalists, Deanna was one of the top three women. And side note, one of mine and my son's absolute favorites on the show. Her voiceover acting can be heard in every corner of the globe and thousands of recordings from commercials to corporate narration to trailers to podcasts and more. And we'd be remiss if we didn't add, in Deanna's own words, she is at heart pug obsessed, a dessert devourer, and a faith-failed nature lover. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Social Streets.
Middle Child Energy And Quiet Observation
SPEAKER_01Welcome.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much. I appreciate being here. I'm not on podcasts rarely ever. And um, I'm hearing myself talk all day long in my booth, but I'm voicing commercials or whatever. I'm not just talking about myself or sharing anything. So this is uh this is really cool and weird.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well we are excited to have you join us because you know we're all about the stories, right? And and clearly you have a story to tell because such a varied um I I have to laugh because I could remember being there with my plastic uh microphone also. And I come from a large family. We have, well, four of us girls plus the boy, and then later seven other children, so 12 kids in the family, but five of us that we grew up together and certainly know what it's like to perform for everybody that will watch as kids. I didn't continue as a performer. Clearly, you have, Donna has. Um, but I think it's just a good story to tell in kind of where you are today.
SPEAKER_02So absolutely. Um, actually, I also have uh there's four sisters, four daughters in my family. Okay. Yeah. So that that's probably where my journey began as far as I'm I'm a middle child. Hey! So the middle children, um we're the quiet ones, we're the peacekeepers, we're amicable, you know, we're smoothing everything out and just paying attention to what's going on around us, you know, while the the bookends on either end are maybe causing more of the um the noise. Um so I yeah, I um I've always professionally um pursued things having to do with my voice, you know, whether it's singing and performing and now currently voice acting. And um so I yeah, I find that interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I love that. Say a little bit more about that if you would, because the thing is, I get middle child thing. You are right, all eyes and all observation, right? You are aware of everything going on around you to the nth degree, but yet it is your voice. I'm also called my voice. I'm a professional writer. I do like uh I gotta use it, I gotta speak. Talk more about that, how you went from that role to this drive, you must use your voice.
Singing As Emotional Release
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um, I think as a child, um, I grew up in an awesome house, but we weren't um necessarily taught to use our voice to express our emotions. We were more taught to um, you know, deal with whatever you're going through and tomorrow will be a new day, you know. Yeah. Um, and I appreciate that about how I grew up because it made me really tough, especially being in the the music industry, which is ruthless. And actually, voiceover is ev is worse, to be honest. But um oh yeah, it's terrible. Um uh so yeah, sort of being snuffed um by using your voice and then um eventually finding it and everything just coming out like that's why I always loved singing and was um always responded to people like Janice Chopin who, you know, technically like nowadays singers are amazing technically, like you know, um, but I didn't grow up like that. It was more about getting rid of all the emotional crap in your soul. And you don't, you know, you're not editing yourself, you don't care if you're hitting good notes, bad notes, it's not about that. It's just um it's releasing inside and hopefully landing on somebody and they're absorbing it. Yeah, um, so yeah, when I found singing, it really uh it really freed me emotionally, all that stuff inside, which I didn't know. I mean, I was young, I didn't know that I'd I needed to be freed. I was always right crazy, weird, shy, and had internal, like I don't know, just I just felt snuffed all the time. I'm not I don't even uh I need to explore all that, but um yeah um yeah, it just brought me out. Singing brought me out. Um running, I was an avid runner for years. And just like getting into that runner's high, like I totally get that. I could just practically fall asleep running. Wow. Wow. Just like there's there's this there's a state with that. It's really interesting. And I I would get that um performing live as well.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Amazing. Oh, can you share?
SPEAKER_00I I'm curious because you said like when you found your voice and and started to express yourself. I'm curious like how old you were and and how you found your voice.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, how I
Choosing Music And Taking Control
SPEAKER_02got there. Um I was shy forever, and I was in um I was in college at this point, and uh I had a boyfriend who was a drummer. And um, so he opened me up to that world. Like, you know, being a musician, because I I took piano lessons when I was younger, and like I said, I I would pretend I was a you know a newscaster and interview my family, and you know, we would sing and play, and it was just fun, but I I never knew what you could do with that. Like I just I didn't really think that a normal person could have a career as a vocalist or a musician. So he kind of opened me up to um that world. So I, you know, I used to go to the gigs and it was cool, and I just I went through a bunch of crap with him um that you know you can I'm sure look up online. I don't want to talk about it because he uh he was very upset with me talking about that kind of stuff back, you know. But anyways, um so it just it just uh I don't know, there was something inside, and I remember oh Rattle and Hung Hum came out at that time. It was in the uh I forget uh early 90s. And I was and there was something about that movie and just that whole experience that really like something in my car went ding ding ding and I was like, what? But but then so later on, and then being around the band thing, and then so I just decided you know what, screw him. I'm gonna learn how to sing, I'm gonna put my own band together, and uh that's what I did. And I've always had uh like a smart sort of business approach to everything. I'm a little rid rigid in my life, actually. And so being able to control that environment, like I hire the musicians, I buy the gear, I buy the the band, the band van, you know, so they can't fire me, or nobody can tell me I suck. And I don't I don't even know if I suck, but I don't care because I'm the boss. So that's what I did. I just learned how to sing and went for it. And I was like, holy crap. Yeah, being on stage is freeing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I love that. And and in college, which is interesting, like to to find yourself there. What were you were you going to school for business or for entertainment or anything?
SPEAKER_02I was in college for graphic design.
SPEAKER_00Graphic design.
SPEAKER_02And I was uh I was a big athlete. I was playing varsity soccer, volleyball, uh downhill skier, like I always wanted to be in the Olympics, like didn't matter what sport. I was a sports person. So I never uh I never I I never sung ever, really. Just like for fun when we were kids around the you know. Yeah, yeah. So it was it was a big shock. I remember my first gig. I actually played piano probably with like two fingers or whatever. And um my parents came out and grandparents and they were like crying because they're like, Who is this right, you know? This isn't our shy middle child up there performing. So it was it was uh a shock for them, to say the least. And me.
SPEAKER_01What a total fire you had in you then. Yeah. A total fire that you that was there and that you followed, and that just says so much about you that you also like heard that calling and went with it. Went with it that you did it, because many people hear or want, but it's actually putting feet to it that is all the difference. And he's been showing up for it all these years again and again. That's that's extraordinary.
Rockstar Memories And A Song That Lasts
SPEAKER_01I mean I need to say to you, um, just I want to say to everybody, because we were talking a little early before we were recording here about this call, and it came out of the blue, and you're like, well, it's been so long ago that since you were in a in the public eye in the way that I first discovered you. But I want to say something about that. The thing I it had to do with Rockstar and XS and that show, and that's where I became familiar with you when I was watching with my husband and my son, who was then about 14, 15. My baby was actually born, right, during the time when the show was aired. Um but um we really were drawn to you, my son and I. We were drawn to you because of this incredible authenticity to your voice. You are an extraordinary storyteller with your voice and in your singing, and everything that you did was riveting to us. And someone would hear you on the show, and you know, it's all you know, produced and edited, and however they're gonna do it, but it would always you often sounded somewhat self-deprecating, or that you didn't have that certain vocal skills, and we'd be looking at each other going, what are you talking about? Like you really absolutely do, because you had that facility. And so it's the 20th anniversary right now of when that show was out, and that I I just got to thinking, God, I wonder what Deanna Johnston is doing now and looked you up, and which is what brought me to you now. And I was in so anyway, that's a whole lot of me talking. But I I needed to say and say publicly, yeah, I think you have an exceptional voice, and I love the way in which you use it, and it meant so much to my son. And in that time, we just we loved what you did, and your original song called My Truth, where you talk about your voice and you talk about that shyness. And that just really it just spoke to us. We took that one in and it became one of our songs. So thank you for all of it. That's beautiful. Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm I'm trying not to cry. Oh I really appreciate that. Yeah, it it is always it's it is about um lifting somebody and connecting with somebody.
Divorce, Touring Success, Then A Pause
SPEAKER_02And when you were talking about um being brave, um, you know, to just do that, like recently, um after Rockstar and Excess, first of all, um I was married at the time. I went through a divorce, you know, I tried to make it, get a record deal, all that crap, you know, you go through. Um I eventually started my own company with um three other uh musician friends, our own corporate um entertainment company, and we were very successful. We did amazing and we were performing all over the world, and and it was incredible. And and just after um COVID happened, I ended up selling my portion of that. Um it just felt like it was time to move on. Um so now I haven't sang in three and a half years. Wow. And like emotionally, I can I can tell because like right now, I can cry constantly. I'm not getting all that out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's really weird. Uh, but so I don't know, maybe three weeks ago, I thought, you know what? I'm gonna uh join this Facebook page. I just moved to a new city and I'm gonna just look for a fun band. I'm gonna go back to my roots. I loved singing in bars um and just connecting people with people close like that. Um, just singing good rock tunes that everybody knows and loves. I don't have to be uh a vocal gymnast like the vocalist nowadays. I can just do what I do. So I reached out to this band, and they these were pro cats, you know, my age, 50 plus. I'm like, this is perfect. And so they sent me an email like a few hours later and said, You sound great, you know, let's get together and jam tomorrow night. Here's a list of 13 songs. And it was like, yeah, like what you just said, like, oh no, oh no, I'm not ready for this. They were like really hard rock songs to sing, um uh like Sammy Hag Hagar tunes and uh you know, incredible vocalists that if I'm in shape, I can handle. But right now, you know, haven't sung, I don't know the songs, I don't have time to learn them in like less than 12 hours. Plus, voiceover now, my voice has to stay more clean. So I I just chickened out and and I like all I had all these reasons why I shouldn't. But then I was like, oh, I used to be so brave. Like I was so bold. Like when I started singing in the beginning, like I told you, eventually to get uh away from that boyfriend. I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna go um audition for this band in Rochester, New York. I was living in Canada, like I was born and raised in a small town in Canada, so I hopped in my old car by myself and drove to some guy's basement and auditioned for him.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_02And he was this you know, he was the kind of guy that you wouldn't trust. You know, he had a look about him, and I I don't know. Yeah, like I don't know how I I did that. It's really interesting. Either you're young and stupid or you just there's some fire inside you that you're just going for it. And so it it it was interesting to think about that and then think about where I'm at today and what I'm going through. Yeah, it was wild. It's been it's been interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, it's it's interesting for me because I don't know your story like Donna does. I mean, I was I had a baby, I think, when that show was out, although I remember Donna and Kenny's love of the show and you know, making sure they didn't miss it and you know, all of that. Um but I just found you since she's reached out to you, like, oh my gosh, your voice is amazing and your voiceover work is amazing. So I mean, you you really do, you know, there's people who need their bodies to act and tell a story, but you just I mean, it comes out naturally, I think. I don't know how I know you you say you've taken classes and you've studied with people and all of that, but I think there's something that is just in you that has to tell the story. And I'm in my life, I'm a therapist and I teach counselors, you know, so that's my world. And I'm thinking of just how cathartic singing, and I don't sing at, I mean, I'm a horrible singer, but I will sing all the time because it releases so much. It does. And so I just think you've got this gift, and not that you have to give it to anybody, you don't have to share it at all, but just to allow yourself to use the voice in whatever way you want to use to tell the story and to process whatever you have to process, right? Just amazing.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And it's uh yeah, it's like God gave me this gift and I'm I'm not sharing it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And you know, it's
Life In The Booth And The Cost
SPEAKER_02weird. And voiceover is a weird um career. It's amazing, but it's really hard because you're trapped. This is a three and a half by five and a half booth I'm in. Yes. So I could be in here hours at a time, like five, six, seven, eight hours. Um and for somebody who, you know, is claustrophobic, it's not gonna work. But so that doesn't bother me. But um, I think just the I didn't realize it because I'm always been independent and uh but the isolation of it recently since not performing anymore and having green room talk and band members and and uh business partners and yeah, you know, traveling all over the world uh performing and meeting people. Now that I'm literally just at home 24-7, I have my husband and our dog Gracie, and it's like, oh, and it's a weird time right now. That's why I thought it was interesting that you reached out, honestly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um yeah, that synchronicity, I get it. And I'm I'm curious, I don't pretend to have any answers for you, but I'm curious to see what the what the direction is. Yeah, I think um, tell me if this resonates for you. Uh does for me. So when it comes to writing, writing is a key expression of mine. I feel compelled, like I must do it, like I must breathe. It is just, it is that intrinsic intrinsic. And I've heard I somebody said it was Stephen King. I've never been able to find the actual quote, but he said something like if he was straight jacketed and couldn't write, he would write with his tongue on the roof of his mouth. I get ding ding ding. That makes so much sense to me. Tell about that a little bit. I have a feeling that you identify with that type of um idea, not for the writing, so but that expression and that just need to get it out.
The Dream Of A Blocked Voice
SPEAKER_02I identify with um like what we've talked about, releasing the inner stuff. Um I've had a recurring dream, like ever since I can remember, literally. Where I am I could be anywhere, it's not really um clear, but there's something in my mouth building, forming, like almost like you're pouring um cement in or porridge, or there's wads of gum, and I'm I'm I'm either on stage about to perform, I'm trying to find the stage, I'm just trying to talk to somebody, and I'm like putting my hands in my mouth and like pulling this gobs of whatever it is out constantly, and I'm like panicking, and it's uh and I've had this forever. And I I it it's uh it's it's frightening, yeah. You know, to feel like that, um, internally trapped inside. Like, what the heck is wrong with me? So it's really it's really interesting, and then everything revolves around the voice and and for me movement, like when you when you were talking about you know him having and you having to write. Um I've always been somebody who uh focuses on, you know, either running or uh right now I took up paddleboarding, walking, you know, doing push-ups, doing something physical. I can't I can't sit on my butt and do nothing. Yeah that's really hard.
SPEAKER_01And just that movement is part of the process too, right? And it's just it's all connected. The voice is you can't isolate the voice from the body. It's but it's all part of this. Absolutely. That's all. And then you alluded to also the the God-given um uh talent that also it's not just this body, there is this energy and this connection, and we pull and move through that as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I did I I told my dad uh a few days ago that I was, you know, going to possibly audition for that band. I told him about it, and he was like, Oh, that's amazing. He's like, Maybe that you tried too much too soon. Why don't you just start singing one song in your studio a day? You know, just baby steps. And and so yeah, I need to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also just knowing there was a door, the doors exist. There are more, there are more doors. The right door will come at the right time, and you just when you're ready, but that you were ready to see the door. I don't know, I think so. Sounds sounds very hopeful and empowering to me from the outside.
SPEAKER_02Like, yes, absolutely. It's really interesting how stuck you can get. Like I I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts. I love podcasts, I love learning. Um, especially, you know, growth minded. You know, I wanna I wanna become a better person. I don't want to be carrying around bull crap when I'm 60 or whatever, which is coming up close. But I I know, yeah. And so I you know, I've I've learned so many tools about uh getting unstuck and coming at things from different perspectives and working through things. And in the last five, six years stuck. And it's like, oh, now I get it. Now I get why people just stay in that, you know, ditch and can't get out. It's really interesting. It's it's um it's rough. Another reason why I was um just surprised that you contacted me. That day you contacted me, I think I'd been like probably crying. It's been a weird time.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm so glad I followed the thread to reach out to you because I was super hesitant thinking, she didn't want to hear from me. But I said, but why wouldn't I flow, right? I'm in the flow. And it really is important to me more than anything to express to you the impact that you had and the relevance that you had for my son and me. And that that was that was a a big deal, and it
Grief, Synchronicity, And Reaching Out
SPEAKER_01matters. And I can feel him right now as I'm talking about it, and we know my son is in spirit now, and but I can feel him right now, and he's so excited, like, cool, mom, cool. Like just very excited about all of it and proud. Um and I think that's one of the things. I'm not gonna go deep in my story, but one of the things that Kenny's death also did for me is it liberated me. It liberated me to just do it because, man, this life is short and it is finite. And what what do I have to lose? What do I have to lose? So I'm gonna reach out to Deanna Johnston and say, hey, you want to be a podcast and be so grateful when you say yes, yes, and get to talk to you now, which is just which is just lovely.
SPEAKER_00And for both of you, j just because uh and Donna did reach out to me as soon as she reached out to you, Deanna. And you know, and Donna had this like spark of let me see if if if this is a connection because there was something that was important to her. But it's interesting for me to hear that also what was going on for you in your world, even though you are the voy voice actor now and you're you're not not a working musician, that that was in your head, that you were already kind of exploring that. And I'm I'm gonna say that like Kenny is the one that connected you two, right? Because it was, hey, there's this music, and Deanna's thinking about music, and you have that connection, you know. I think there's something much bigger than all of us, right? That kind of pulls this together. So um, and and you using your voice in all these different ways. I mean, from a child doing the interviews to the musician to the voice acting now, it's all about the story that you tell. It's all about using your voice to convey emotion and thought and ideas and all of that. And so I think, I mean, that's exactly what we do in this. Our podcast is like, it's about hope and we want people to feel hope. We don't know who's gonna listen. It's not about a million people listening, it's about that one person who needs to hear it right now. Um, kind of like the connection just in in reaching out to set this up, I think.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's what I thought when I thought I'll do it, is I thought, well, maybe I can talk about something and it'll just hit one person the right way and and it'll help them. But now also, you know, just as we're talking, it's also about um just you know, giving me a little validation, you know, like, oh man, such a baby. My voice matters.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It mattered to you know, to your family.
SPEAKER_01It yeah, it does matter. And it does. I mean, I still have that song in my still listen to it. And others of yours. I I mean, I we I think we downloaded all of your songs at that time because we really did dig you had to say. So here's the thing. So you have had these various iterations of your voice career. They've shaped and they've changed and they've shifted, and even now you're thinking about other possibilities, but something has uh kept you going, something has kept that hope alive, has has guided you to that next step to move on. What
Faith, Resilience, And Expecting Good
SPEAKER_01is that? What is the thing in you? What is the thing in you that uh keeps you at it and keeps you finding the new path and the new direction and doing the thing? Is my question making any sense?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean uh I think whether you're a voice actor, vocalist, or a carpenter or whatever you're doing, um yeah, I mean, just keeping going and uh trying to find your you you you kinda have to. What else are you gonna do? You know? Um you're gonna get stuck, which I have, you know, been been in ways, but uh there's always something to explore. There's always something to uh using your voice is is like it is all about giving away part of you and being heard and releasing, and I I guess that's that's part of who I am and what I need to do. Um certainly uh I'm a um a person of faith. Um I'm a Christian and you know you you um you just you keep going because you um expect you expect uh things to work out. You expect, you know, that you know you're believing in your higher power, and even if it's a hard time, I'm gonna grow through it. You know, I'm gonna learn from it, I'm gonna be better, I'm gonna help somebody else. I'm gonna be able to go through whatever comes up next better. Because you're never gonna get a break, right? There's always some kind of crap that's gonna happen. Always, always, always, and that's that's part of the human experience. So you might as well go through it as best you can and uh keep going. And as far as what I um I've always more aligned with the arts um when I found my voice. Uh so you know, and and I like working from home. I like I like being more in control of my schedule and things like that. Uh yeah. So that that's what keeps me going. Um and voice acting is there's so many different things every day. Some some days I'll do a political ad or I'm I have to be a real mean person. You know, and talk about things that are, you know, and then but then the next day I'll get to record uh I had to record a video for um a funeral once. A woman had just lost three generations of people in her life within like the last three months, and she wanted to put a beautiful video together. And I was like, what an honor to voice that, but that was hard to get through. Yeah. You know, and then I'll voice something for uh an e-learning project, and I'll have to think about well, somebody's sitting on the other end, probably possibly hitting their job and they're having to learn a new module. So I have to somehow, you know, get them excited or on board or keep them entertained and do that. There's just so many uh facets to voice acting, which I do appreciate that.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02It's uh you really learn a lot about your voice and and certainly acting, you know. I didn't know that I was an actress, but I've also started doing on-camera stuff now. Um spoke spokesperson videos and um news reads. So, what did I do yesterday? Or read some uh sports news stuff, and that's kind of fun, interesting. Like learning all that video stuff is uh it's overwhelming trying to like do that at the same time as you're acting and uh reading your words without looking at like you're reading the telecapter and oh, there's a hair sticking up. So bam.
unknownOh man.
SPEAKER_02And then you're like, oh, I'm getting older or you know, whatever. So it's it's really interesting. But yeah, yeah, I guess you have you have to keep growing. Yeah, like as business has been down a little, and I'm and sometimes I'm like, I wonder what I should do right now. I don't have a job to do, and it's like frightening almost like what am I gonna do with nothing to do? This is horrible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, no, I get it. I mean, I get the feeling and all. But it's like why Diana and I have as our subtitle for this podcast is Hope Through Dot Dot Dot. It is what that idea that that that hope, that drive always does exist, always can exist, and there are concrete ways to access it, but it's certainly not that Pollyanna, like everything's great, or pretending like it's all wonderful, because you know, life is challenging. And they're as you were just saying, it is kind of one thing after another. That's real. That is that is this existence, but there's also all kinds of joys and opportunities and and ways to embrace them. So it's really how you meet it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. How you meet it, yeah, for sure.
Younger Self, Legacy, And Global Reach
SPEAKER_00Uh I would love to ask you, going back to that that younger self, maybe maybe as young as holding the plastic microphone, but maybe elementary school, high school. What would what do you think that the younger Deanna would say about your journey and where you're at today?
SPEAKER_02I think she'd be shocked, amazed, actually. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm I'm um I'm tickled that you know, my voice has been able to get me really far in really interesting places. Absolutely. Amazed by that. Really amazed. Especially like, yeah, like the personality, um knowing I'm remembering how I felt um when I was younger to how it feels when you're on stage in front of thousands of people. Um and how there's a there's a commanding presence about you. And it actually, you know, it doesn't really come out often off stage. I'm one of those people who's a weirdo in the corner off stage, but on stage, I'm I'm on, you know. Yes. So uh it really interesting. I think she'd be, I think she'd be really proud of me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Isn't it interesting because we uh at least I often think about like what remains when I'm gone, you know, what what is the legacy that remains? And it's to me, it's fascinating that you sang a song 20 years ago and it's still like, and that's not what you're doing. You know, it's not like I don't know, any singer who has sung the same song for the last 40 years that we hear again and again, right? It's you sung this years ago and it's still there, and that like somebody I I don't and this is just one person, so I'm sure that there's many others that still that your voice is still resonating for them, the funeral that you just did and the the people that got to watch that amazing video with your voice, that that's the voice that they're remembering when they're thinking of their loved ones is just incredible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it is when I think of uh like how far how far of a reach my voice has had all over the world. Like mo most of my clients now are really in other places. Voiceovers are really global um business. So that's that's really interesting to think that you know, I just recorded um announcements for an award show in Denmark. And you know, there's gonna be and I've performed on stage so like thousands of these award shows. And so now I'm the person that I used to hear in the video, or or you know, the voice of God saying, and now welcome to the stage, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, that's so funny. It's so yeah, it's really interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what a cool job, I think. Very cool. Very cool, very cool job.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, for sure. So um, I've shared with you that you are somebody who was inspiring, is inspiring to my son and I.
Who Inspires Her And Why
SPEAKER_01Who in your world is um it inspiring to you?
SPEAKER_02Um well, it would depend, I guess, what we're talking about. I mean, there's all kinds of people who are inspiring to me. Um God, first of all, um how everything is um how everything wraps together and how it all works. I don't know, I find it fascinating how it's all and and you know, parents, um, like I said, um my mom has been inspiring um just as somebody with strength, you know, somebody who uh had to go through a lot of things uh young, not not really young, but as an early mom. And uh just plow through it. You know, you have no choice.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Tough, you know, somebody who knew how to tough it out. And that's not necessarily a good thing because you're not seeking um support and trying to speak up for yourself and and make things better. You're just putting your head down and plowing through. Right. I I I appreciate that, even though it is can be a detriment. But I definitely got that from my mom, and like I said, in in the industries I've um been down, you have to be like that. You really do. And my dad, uh my dad's a real logical thinker, you know, he taught me about finances and making decisions and um you know just just knowing how to um adult well. You know, and now he's a softie. And uh, you know, it's it's what what that's inspirational too is seeing both parents, how they've evolved. Um you know, the parents that we grew up with are not the parents now. Yeah, and that's amazing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02Wow, like drastic changes. So that's inspiring. And you know, they're still together. Sixty two years, I think it is. Wow. That's a long time. That is a long time, it is a long time, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Especially to be together and still like like each other. Like each other. Right. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I I know sometimes they're they don't, but sixty-two years.
SPEAKER_00There's gotta be some things that drive you crazy, but there's also the things that keep you together. So yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
Rapid Fire: Hope Has A Sound
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, I I think, Donna, that it's probably about time for us to switch gears a little bit and do some of our rapid fire. How's that sound? Cool, cool. Let's do all right, sis. Take it away. Okay, well, I'm gonna start with the the one you already gave her, but I want to know what your walk-in song is. So you're walking up to the stage for your big award, or what is that walk-in song that's playing for you?
SPEAKER_02Uh jump.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Love it.
SPEAKER_02I mean, whenever you hear that whenever you hear that that intro, your your heart starts pounding. Yeah, yeah. Might as well jump.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and isn't that like all that we've been talking about each other? You're right, right? Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, might as well jump. Yeah, just jump, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And and you know what? I have to say, if you go back to his video, David Lee Roth, he didn't jump real well, but he did it. But he did it anyway. But he did it anyway. So yeah, and he looked at it. Yes, he did. Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_01It's hilarious. So here's the question: What book changed you?
SPEAKER_02Uh, the Bible.
SPEAKER_03There you go.
SPEAKER_02As uh through through uh Bible teacher Joyce Meyer. I learned, I was able to learn from her and then apply, you know, Christian values and um understanding in the real world through her. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Great. Absolutely. And you had mentioned earlier, and I didn't realize we didn't even touch upon it. We talk about our hope through word, and we talked about the hope through word. Oh, did she? She brought up expectation. Expectation. There you go. But just say emphatically, hope through expectation. But you said that came expressly through uh Joyce Meyer, yeah. That did, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I always heard her say, hope isn't um like I hope this works out. Oh no, like that's not really hoping. That's just sort of dreading and and not really believing it. What does she say? Uh uh a positive expectation that something good is gonna happen. That's your hope in whatever your higher power is, or yourself, or you know, this is crap now. Everything, you know, you're gonna go through crop now, but then you're gonna, you know, reach the other side and just expect that you're gonna learn something from this, and maybe you can help somebody and just keep going.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I like that. I like that. Um, what movie lives rent-free in your brain?
SPEAKER_02Um, I am Sam has always been one of my favorites.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I know. So good. Speaking of if you want to cry, but I know, yeah. But the acting truth of that performance. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It was like, oh, yes, amazing. Oh my god. But see to tell so equation, that is you vocally, that is the kind of performer that you are for me. That's how I experience too. That authenticity of a performance like that. That's what you delivered. Really? Just being real, just being lovely. Thank you. I love that. That's amazing. So, what did you love doing as a kid that you love doing to this day?
SPEAKER_02Um, forest, just going out into the woods, uh, just going outside and doing anything. Trees. I love trees. I love being outside. I love trees. I love nature. Um, we grew up with amazing um we'd uh we'd go ice skating, cross country skiing, like in the fields next to the house. We we'd go in the the muddy pond and um just just being outside. We had a tree for it in the forest and we weren't afraid, you know. It's just wow. I just I feel bad for people who didn't grow up like that, to be honest. Like nature, animals, it's everything. I think I agree.
SPEAKER_00I didn't grow up with it, but I've intentionally moved to it now. And just when you're talking about trees, I mean to go stand and like touch a tree covered in moss, to me, there's just that's just beautiful.
SPEAKER_01So smells, the smells of the forest. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So that's so great.
SPEAKER_01So good.
SPEAKER_00So what in the world is lighting you up right now? What's sparking that fire?
SPEAKER_02Um, well, just on a silly level is my uh my pug Gracie. She's a little white pug. Um, this is our fifth or sixth pug. Oh wow. Yeah, we we started rescuing them, and um and that is heartbreaking, but that's that's an amazing feeling to do that. But yeah, so she was another rescue. Somebody had stuffed her in a duffel bag and left her in a parking lot, and somebody found her, and sh yeah, I know, right? So she ended up yeah, in a in a rescue group, and and my husband saw her post it online, and he was going through a lot of stuff, and uh something just he goes, uh you know, I really want to get her. And I I was opposed to another pug at the time because we already had a 15-year-old at home, our first one. My heart dog, and she was we knew she only had a few years if she was lucky, and I didn't want to split my love and attention, but he, you know, I thought about it, and he really needed uh an emotional support dog. Yeah, and this dog spoke to him, and she's silly. She has um a real bad underbite, her tongue comes and hangs out, she's a white pug, so she's just funny, and you know, she just brings a lot of light and joy into the house. So that's what's happening.
SPEAKER_00Oh, she's meant to be yeah, and amazing that your heart opens up to have space for both, right? I mean, you when you brought the one in, it was like there's no room for that one, and yet somehow it is yeah, somehow we do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, figure it out, yeah, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Okay, next question what color is hope? Green, green, it's green. That makes perfect sense to me.
SPEAKER_02Green. Yeah, I find solace and yeah, everything in nature, and to me, nature is green. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00This is the best time of the year when everything is green. I absolutely love it. So what what does hope sound like?
SPEAKER_02Sound like I yeah, um I don't even know. Silence maybe. Silence.
SPEAKER_01Great answer.
SPEAKER_02Especially like if you can shut your internal mind and thoughts and racing and off silence. Yeah. Just being able to really uh relax into that. Wow. It's hard to do. Hard to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. That's a great answer. Okay, so what in your world is giving you hope right now?
SPEAKER_02Um
Healing, New City, And Final Links
SPEAKER_02healing that I'm seeing. Um my husband is going through some pretty serious health issues that we've been dealing with. Uh we actually moved to the city, like met some doctors, like them, decided to sell her house in Nevada, move here, did everything. Within like three, four weeks. So it's it was it's been a whirlwind. And um but it was a good decision because he's in a better place, he feels more confident, and that carries getting and you know he feels like he can maybe I can live now, you know. So um so that that gives me hope. Um and just uh just um working on getting back into um healing for myself and not worried about that as much.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Now that hopefully things are getting a little more under control and um yeah, like the healing that I can maybe go back to like we talked about singing and um you know just working um on healing myself a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because you deserve it for sure. Yeah, we all do.
SPEAKER_00We all do, we all do. Yeah, yeah. Do you go ahead? No, I was gonna say that I I just we'll leave it on that. Hope hope through the healing that we see, because I think that is we need it in the world. Personally, we need it, the world needs it, the environment needs it. I mean, we just need healing, and so that is if you can just see that there's growth and healing, even through all the pain and all the devastation, that does, I mean, for me, that gives me hope.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, and knowing also that our own individual healing resonates, right? Yes, it it moves outward and it does have an impact on the health and healing of us all.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we uh individually, we each affect other people. For sure. We totally take that for granted. We don't really think about that. Every little smile, like I find people here aren't as friendly and open as like when I lived in Nevada. Uh you'd walk past anybody and smile at them and say hi, and it was a lot more, you know. And but here I find people more closed off and I find that interesting. But just you know, I'm like, I'm just gonna smile and say hi anyways. Hi, you know, and my dogs like trying to like chase them.
SPEAKER_00So I have to ask, are you on the west or the east? Uh we're you're on the west.
SPEAKER_02We're in Gilbert.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you're in Gilbert, okay. I'm in Arizona. Yep, I get that. I I've heard the same thing from people who have moved there from California to there. So I that's interesting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. California people were really, I thought open and friendly and warm. And then Nevada, uh, we were in Summerlin area. I thought it was.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they're so uh really nice people. And and people are nice here. It's just they're just not as open, they're a little more um closed off, more reserved. Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, and I thought it would be different. I thought it would be um, I thought they'd be different, but yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, maybe part of you being there is to help them with that openness. Maybe they're gonna have to resonate and create some shift. Well, yeah, I mean, you definitely created some shift for us. I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for saying yes and for spending this time with us. It was really lovely talking with you and so generous of you to share your time and your thoughts with us. And we hope everyone in less listening is so inspired. I'm gonna pull up uh right here. We know that if you want to reach out or to uh find more about Deanna and what she's doing, you can check out her website, which is Deanna Johnston, jostonwithet.com. Or um she has a LinkedIn, which is LinkedIn.com slash IN slash Deanna Johnston, and also her YouTube channel, which is Deanna Johnston VoiceOver. And we'll share that all out in writing as well. But you can definitely find her and you can find um all kinds of great videos of her work and her performance and uh hear what she's doing now and what she did back in the day. Both worth your time, everyone. Oh, thank you. Thank you both so much.
SPEAKER_00And and no doubt, a lot more to come. So yeah, we're gonna look forward to that. Yeah. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02When I start singing again, I'll let you know.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, yes. Please do. Yes, I'll be listening. Yes, and so and so you know, because I said my youngest was born right when Rockstar was on. So I actually was just introducing him to your music. And he is a musician and an amazing vocalist, and he thought you were amazing too. Oh, part of Joey's world, too. Yeah, awesome. Yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I appreciate it. You guys have inspired me, and uh I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Can't wait to see what you oh, wonderful. Can't wait to see what you do next, Deanna, because we'll be following. Thank you so much. Thanks, everyone.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for joining us today on Soul Systrees.
SPEAKER_01And thanks for sharing stories with us. We'd love to hear your stories as well and keep the conversation going, absolutely keeping the hope going. So we're really hopeful that you'll connect with our guests as well who have great stories to share. Go ahead and follow them in various social media platforms or live venues, wherever it is that they're performing and uh sharing what they do.
SPEAKER_00We would love to have you follow us on all of our social media platforms, subscribe, and rate, as that will help us get our message of hope out to others.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for listening to Soul Sisteries.
