Mike Lenz On Unleashing His Creative Soul And Journey Into Voice Acting

Today's guest is Mike Lenz, a fellow entrepreneur and voice talent who loves helping his clients bring their messages to life. For the past 10 years, he has been working with clients on eLearning projects, corporate and web-based videos, audio books, course books, and commercials. 

During the interview, you'll hear how Mike went from owning and running a pharmacy, to being in politics with a connection to Disney, to jumping right into the voiceover industry. You can find him at MikeLenzVoice.com and MikeLenzVOPodcast.com. You can also learn how to start your own podcast at Mike's new site: PodcastSnap.com --   he's got a lot going on, doesn't he?

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Life is hard. We're all building businesses and raising kids. We get tired and overwhelmed and lose sight of what's important or why we started it off. This podcast is for the dreamers, the go getters and the ones who need a little encouragement and help along the way. This is the square one show

Speaker 2: 0:24

[inaudible].

Speaker 1: 0:27

Today's guest is Mike Lens of fellow entrepreneur and voice talent who loves helping his clients bring their messages to life. For the past 10 years he's been working with clients on e-learning projects, corporate and web based videos, audio books, coursebooks and commercials. During today's interview, you'll hear how Mike went from owning and running a pharmacy to being in politics to jumping right into the voiceover industry. You can find him at Mike Len's voice.com and Mike Line's Vo podcast.com where he actually interviewed me on episode 96 ever thought about starting your own voiceover career. He's got a course for that. He also has a course or starting your own podcast. You can find out more about starting your own podcast at podcast, nap.com he's got a lot going on as well. My husband, Dave, and I got the chance to interview Mike recently. Let's jump into the interview.

Speaker 3: 1:24

Well, Mike, we are so excited about having you on the square one show today. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 4: 1:29

Yeah, yeah. Well I'm glad to be here. This is awesome. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:32

Yeah. So Mike, I was trying to think back of how we met exactly and I think it was, um, I found your podcast listening to your podcast because I had just started to get more into voiceover and understand what this industry is. And I remember listening episode after episode and Tracy Lindley, who is a mutual friend now was, um, on the show and I thought I need to reach out to her and then reached out to you. Um, and just kind of found out that we have, we all have a lot in common. Um, and just kinda started that friendship.

Speaker 4: 2:04

Yeah, I know. I think, I think it may have been, I think you and I were connecting, uh, because we, I think we knew that each other had podcasts. And I know it was you listened to my pop by podcast, but then I found out that you had a podcast and I'm like, okay, we're voice actors, we podcast producers. Uh, we've got to, we've got to connect. So I remember we kind of went back and forth on social media and then finally got a chance to talk. And yeah, it's been, we have a lot of things in common, which is awesome.

Speaker 3: 2:33

Yeah. And I think it was a couple of years ago that were like, hey, we need to have you on our podcast. So,

Speaker 4: 2:39

yeah. So it's been, it's been the last couple of years we've been talking about this. I'm going to get you on my podcast, like we're going to make this happen and here we go. Yeah,

Speaker 3: 2:45

I know. Well, slow. We are. Yep. Our, our journey has taken us to Virginia and back. So, um, but Mike, we want to hear about you and your story. Um, I'm just gonna throw a couple of things out there because our listener, just to have our listeners understand that you have not done this. I wouldn't do college. I got married and then I was a pharmacist for 30 years. Right. So I know that you are a pharmacist and you're a voiceover actor. You're also, you were the mayor of your town. Um, you have chickens and three kids. We have four kids, four kids, beautiful wife and four kids. So I would love to hear about your story. How did you end up in owning your own pharmacy and then how did you make that transition into voiceover? It's

Speaker 4: 3:36

been kind of a, it's been kind of a crazy journey. And you know, I definitely not a linear, linear one by any means, but you know, that's what life's all about. That's what makes an interesting. But you know, I w I was, um, I went to school for pharmacy. My father was a pharmacist, owned a local independent pharmacy. We have a building here in Saratoga springs downtown and it's been, the pharmacy's been there for four decades and you know, a long, long time and the, and so I went to school and took over kind of the family business and which was fine. I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed being a small business owner. Um, but I always had all these other interests that were kind of driving me, that I, I've never been one of those people that could just kind of do one thing at the exclusion of all others. So, so I kind of have to find myself wanting to do other things. And one of the things that back when I was much younger was politics. I had this weird when I was a kid, I just always remember thinking I want to be mayor of my hometown and I live in Saratoga Springs, New York. And I don't know why, where that came from. I have a little bit of some political pedigree, I guess in my background. Some of my relatives had been in politics, so maybe it was in my blood, but I had this desire to do that at a fairly young age. And so in my very early thirties, uh, made an effort to run for our city council as finance commissioner and I got elected. And, uh, it was fun, exciting time. My wife and I were recently married and, and we were kind of out there on the campaign trail. I was fortunate enough to get elected served for three terms as finance commissioner. And then the opportunity came to run for mayor and I'm like, okay, I think I'm going to do this. And we did it and we won. And I was one of the youngest mayors ever elected in Saratoga Springs. I was in my late thirties. Um, so still relatively young and, and so it was, it was kind of an, it was an exciting time to, to be able to, to do that. And kind of as a quick aside being, I was mayor of Saratoga Springs at the time that they, uh, they opened the Saratoga springs resort in Disneyworld. So some listeners may know of that. They, they patterned it after Saratoga Springs, which is my home town. They did a nationwide search, chose Saratoga Springs, and I happened to be mayor at the time that they were doing the unveiling. So they flew us down there and I got to beat in the grand opening of this new resort at Disney. Got To be in a parade with and Minnie, I mean it was like the whole, the whole thing I got the better of Saratoga Springs is here. I got the full effect. And what's funny was at one of the, at the opening there was a whole bunch of people milling about and you know, you feel like you're a celebrity, people are looking for you and want your autograph. And they're like, so, so are you the, so is this your job at Disney? Like you're the mayor of the resort. And I was like, man, I said, I'll take that Gig. I said, no place where it snows and where it gets really cold. So that was exciting. But it was, you know, the flip side of that was it was very stressful. So I was kind of running a city, running our business. Diane and I were having children and building our home and it was very, very stressful. I didn't realize it until, until I got out, but, so I thought politics was my future. I just thought, hey, I'm just going to take this as far as it will take me. But you know, life has other plans. And I, I lost my reelection bid. It was a year when there was a huge backlash against my particular political party from the national level all the way down. And everybody in my party literally got thrown out. And I think I lost by like 40 votes and it was really close and it was this kind of an upset. And I'm like, but I remember on election night thinking, my overwhelming feeling was relief. I was like, oh, okay. I, I, I, this decision has been made for me. You know, sometimes we need those decisions made for us. And I was equate politics to boxing. It's like, you know, these guys that they don't know when to get out, you know, you have to just, they'll keep going until they get beat. And that was, that was me. That was me. So I got, so I, so I lost the election and all of a sudden, this kind of creative piece of me, which had always been there all of a sudden had some time to blossom. So I had free time and I started to explore voiceover and Oh, actually before voiceover was screenwriting, I was like, you know, I don't want, I don't know why I was loving movies and, and I, I, I started looking into screenwriting and took a screenwriting class online, ended up, uh, submitting some work, started writing, got picked to be in, uh, for the New York State Writer's institute here in New York State. Picked eight people in the state of New York to participate in this, in this amateur writing program. And I was one of those eight select and I'm like, wow, this is, I'm loving this. And so I kept going in and I started joining. I joined this local filmmakers group here in the Albany area. And at one of those meetings, somebody came along at the meeting and was handing out flyers about voice over training. And I'm like, wait a minute. You know, one of the things that I really missed about politics was using my voice to communicate. I love speaking to groups, speaking on the radio and television. That was the piece that I missed. I really didn't miss all the other headaches of politics, but I missed that and I'm like, wait a minute, I can, I can use my voice to communicate. People will pay me to do that and I don't have to run for reelection. So I'm like, I'm in, I'm in. And that really began the journey like 12 years ago. That's what it all. Wow. So do you miss the politics at all? You have any desire ever? Yeah, I get asked that and, and honestly, I can tell you from the day that I lost that election from election night a forward, I haven't missed it. I guess if, if I hadn't achieved what I wanted to achieve, which was I wanted to be mayor of my hometown, I guess I would probably still have that because that, that it was burning in my belly. Man I want to, I lived in briefed politics for about a decade, but once I got into it and then saw it from the inside out and then had the opportunity to get out and look at it from the outside in, I was like, I'm not going back there because I kind of, I guess for lack of a better phrase, I got it out of my system. So I really never, I've never looked back. And, and for me, losing was really a blessing as I look back on it, connecting the dots because, um, it, it was very stressful. I wasn't eating healthy, I wasn't spending the time with my family that I really wanted to, I wasn't spending time on my business that I should have been. So there was a lot of negative aspects to, to going down that road. So, yeah, I mean, I look back and I think thank you God for, for kind of moving me in a different direction because I, you know, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now, which I absolutely love. Uh, if, if not for that, you know, that decision that in in many respects was was out of my hands. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 10:23

That was the one question I had. Cause I think a lot of our listeners are either in a position where they're about to transition. Um, and a lot of it has to do with like focusing what do we need to focus on family. Like I'm feeling very stressful at work. Maybe it's not filling my needs. And um, I guess your story is it, the decision was made for you but yet you stayed in there for 10 years. So like at what point in those 10 years did you realize I need to figure out how to get out of this?

Speaker 4: 10:56

Yeah, yeah. I, I I know that when I was running for reelection, um, I remember I would be going door to door and with my, a good friend of mine who still one of my best friends and he was my door to door coordinator and we are specifically, remember one day we were out and it was raining and it was late during the campaign season. Had to be some time in October. And, uh, I went into this one house and it was this nice older couple and he had a football game on his, his wife had dinner. Uh, they had dinner in the oven and, and um, we'd been out for awhile and I looked at the TV, I looked at the football game, I smelled that, that aroma of a home cooked meal. And he's like, you guys want a beer? And I, and I remember looking at him, I go, yeah, I do. And I'm like, my day's done. I sat down and we had a beer with a guy, watched a little football. And I'm like, what am I doing? What am I doing? I'm out here walking door to door in the rain, knocking on doors and my wife and art and at the or, or you know, or two, well, three beautiful children at the time, more in our home, what am I doing? And you know, I knew I had to finish it out. I knew, but my heart was not, was not in it. And that's why I tell you, you know, that when I say about the relief on election, I, um, you know, and I think about that now because my life has changed so much in terms of what I'm able to do now with doing this full time and transitioning out of the pharmacy where, you know, we homeschool our youngest, our youngest son I was in, I was in Rochester yesterday doing some on camera work and I got to go overnight and I visited our daughter at Geneseo. And so my life is so family focused and being able to do what I do now is such a difference from where it was and, and so all the people who are in that position where they feel like they're kind of stuck in their job or stuck in the nine to five, you have to understand that, that it is a process. So for me it was almost a 12 year process after politics to kind of get myself to the position where I am now. And we can kind of talk about that if you want. Moving from pharmacy. Yeah, always over. But you know that, that it, it, it doesn't happen overnight, but it doesn't mean that you shouldn't continue to plan for it.

Speaker 5: 13:05

Right. Yeah. That was gonna be my next question. What was that process like and how long did it take from losing the election and getting into where you're at now? I mean, you talked a little bit about, uh, that somewhat serendipitous moment when you heard about voiceovers, but what were the steps that you had to take in between there to get there? Yeah,

Speaker 4: 13:26

and I love that. I love the word serendipity because there's that phrase, never underestimate the power of serendipity. I think Jessica, you and I have talked about that serendipity is a powerful force and you've got to kind of open yourself up to it, you know, and I know we both, we all share faith. My faith is very important to me as I know it is to you guys. And I think that, you know, you, you, you have to be open to those possibilities, but you have to have to make sure you're listening. You're kind of tuned in and listening. So[inaudible] them to well, yeah, you absolutely have to. Yes. Yeah. Like why aren't you doing? I'm telling you what to do. Why aren't you doing it? Giving them these moments. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, you know, I, so I, I knew after politics I wanted to kind of unleash this creative soul that was within me. So I did start to do that. And it was, that itself was a difficult transition because, you know, the, the imagery that people have of me or the people, my perception of what people, how people perceive me was that, well, he's the mayor, he's a pharmacist, kind of buttoned down, conservative, you know, kind of in control kind of guy. Sort of the antithesis of what you think of as this creative person. Right? So I had a hard time even allowing this creativity to come out. I was sort of a little bit uncomfortable with it because I knew I had an interest, but I'm like, who, who am I to explore screenwriting? And I'm a pharmacist, what am I, what am I doing? And that's a real struggle, people, because you think that you, for some reason, we think we have to act a certain way or the way people think we should act, which is just nonsense. So, right. So I had to kind of go through that, you know, exercise those demons, if you will. But once I made that decision, I had the flexibility of owning this, this independent pharmacy, which has a compounding only. So it's a, it's a niche pharmacy. It's not like the, the, the chain pharmacies that we're so familiar with. So it was a very, very niche and I really enjoyed doing it. Um, but it was constraining in terms of, uh, I knew where I had to be, you know, 40 to 50 hours a week. So anything I was going to do creatively had to be done in those margins, plus being able to spend time with my family. So my focus, my goal was I wanted to try to figure out a way to become a little more location independent. And the owning a small brick and mortar business really limits you in being able to do that. So as I grew my, my voiceover business, I, I really had a hustle in the margins as I always like to say. And that was a lot of early mornings, a lot of late nights. And I got to the point where I knew that I had built up enough of a client base that I could probably fairly comfortably go if I was able to sell the pharmacy. And, and sadly, one of the, the real impetus for me to really begin this occurred about two years ago when I was, I had two other partners and one of my partners had just turned 60 sitting in my office and he was talking about transitioning out how he wanted to retire. And I was contemplating whether that was something that I wanted to do as well. And, um, a week after he left my office, he came down with the flu. And a week after that he got pneumonia and five weeks later he passed away and he, he, he died and he was 60. And I'm like, okay, if that's not a wake up call, I don't know what it is. Um, and that really began the process of me saying, look, I'm going to get out, uh, I want to pursue a different path. And that got the ball rolling in terms of finding a potential buyer and, uh, we work through that whole process, took a couple of years, and then ultimately this past March 30th was, was Good Friday as it turned out, which is pretty cool. Um, we finalize the Clo, the closing the sale of the pharmacy, and now I'm still the owner of the building. She's, she's a tenant. She's doing, she's continuing with the business and, uh, and, and, and yet I'm, I know that it's in good hands and I can go in and say hello anytime I want, but, uh, I'm now free to be able to pursue this, this passion for voice acting and aunts on stage or on camera acting and podcasting full time, which is really been a blessing. And if you told me 10 years ago that this is what I'd be doing, I would have absolutely told you you were crazy. Right. But it can happen. Yeah. And that's, that's so cool too. Cause it sounds like, uh, where you're from is, is a bit of a smaller town like you said, but you still have

Speaker 5: 17:50

all these opportunities that you can do voice acting and on camera acting you're talking about, which I think is probably encouraging for a lot of people who live in smaller towns and think that the only way to get involved is to have to move to New York or to La. So how, how have you gotten some of those opportunities?

Speaker 4: 18:08

Yeah, and Jessica can absolutely speak to this with me as well. I mean we are, industry has changed so dramatically, even in the time that I've been in it. When I was early on in my voiceover career, I remember talking to another voice actor who, she was very successful locally and regionally. And I remember thinking, you know, um, when I start making money at this, I think the first thing I'm going to do is I really want to invest in equipment for a home studio. And she's like, oh no, no, no. She goes, I don't even have a home studio. I just go to the end of the studios. And record because that's a waste of money. And I love her. She's a very successful, and I'm sure she probably has a home recording studio now. I'm probably certain of that, but I disagreed with her and I'm like, Nah, that, that's where I'm going to put the my initial money back into my business. And I'm glad I did because we fortunately are in an industry where a location is not as important depending on what you do within the voiceover industry. So certainly if your animation a, if your video games, you know, you're going to need to be where those studios are out in La. But, um, for the things that, that Jessica and I do for e-learning, for corporate video work, um, and even commercial work, you know, audio books and even commercial work to a certain extent is all done remotely. Now. They don't really want you to come into the studio. So we really have a lot of flexibility in terms of our ability to compete, um, for jobs out there in the voiceover world because so much is done remotely. And certainly, you know, the podcasting, as you both know, uh, is remote and you can really do that and interview somebody from anywhere in the world. So that's been a big change in the industry and it's helped people like us to be able to do this because 15 years ago you really would have had to have been in some, in a major market or close enough that you could get to it in order to, uh, in order to have success, I think. Right.

Speaker 3: 20:03

Yeah. So how have you managed change in your life? Um, I know you mentioned this, this lady, one of your guests said, oh, no, no, no, no, that's not how we do things. You know, and I hear that over and over and over, not just in the voiceover industry, but a lot of different industries. You know, I kind of got into the photography industry as it was changing, and if I would've taught, if I would've talked to someone, oh, no, no, no, no, you need this camera, or you need to do this, you need to get this degree, you need to do that. I never would have stepped into doing wedding photography and that never would have led to, you know, starting my own business or, so how do you know when to say that's old that's passing, I need to forge a new path, you know, how, how have you been able forge a new path?

Speaker 4: 20:48

Yeah. And, and I forged a few of them. So I mean, yes, definitely. Yeah, it definitely, I mean, I think you have to have a certain level of, um, of curiosity. You know, you, you've always kind of want to learn and get better at what you do. Excuse me. You have to, there has to be something inside of you that says, I really want to do this. And, and you know, you've heard that, that phrase, you know, I need to fail forward, right? You gotta fail forward. You've got to be willing to, to fail. You've gotta be willing to put it out there. And in so many of my experiences in life, whether it was, you know, political or, uh, business or now in voice acting and podcasting is not being afraid to fail. I remember, and I love my father and it was great advice from a father to his son, but I remember as a 30, 30 year old man coming to him in the pharmacy going, I think I'm going to run for finance commissioner on the city council. And I'd never, I'd been involved politically within the party, but I've never, I'd never run for office before or held office. And he's like, okay. And he's like, are you prepared to lose? And he didn't say that thinking I wouldn't win. He's like, I'm, I will support you, but are you prepared to lose? And I'm like, yeah, I'll be okay if I lose, but I'm going to give it my best shot. I plan on winning, but I'm okay if I lose. And I think that you have to not be afraid to lose, you know, you've gotta be willing to, to put it out there and, and not necessarily, uh, subscribe to conventional wisdom. Another very good friend of mine, Evan farmer, who was a guest on my podcast and who's audio book. I was fortunate enough to narrate, you know, had said that, that when he first got involved in acting down in New York, he, he listened to everybody and find out how everybody was doing it. And He, I remember thinking to himself, well, everybody's doing it that way. Then maybe if I do it a little bit different than people might notice me. So he really was a student enough to say, I'm not going to do it exactly the same way that everybody says you're supposed to, that there might be a better way. I mean, that's what progress is all about, right? Every, every PR and any progress we've ever had anywhere in our, in our world has occurred because somebody said, hmm, maybe I could do it a little bit different. And that made all the difference in the world. So you know, your example, Jessica, of the, you know, of the photography. And in my example of the studio, sometimes you just have to kind of think for yourself and you know, you, you have to understand that your idea might be work really well for you. And, and one of your guests on one of your previous podcasts was talking about, you know, when he hears that somebody paid a lot of money to get an MBA, his first thought is, well that was stupid. Like, why did you do that for, you know, he kind of looks at it as, as a negative because you know, you've got to get out there and do it. So the biggest, the, the biggest advantage that I think I've ever had is that I haven't been afraid to try, whether it was writing a book, whether it was starting a podcast, whether it was venturing into screenwriting, whether it was venturing into voice acting, whether it was running for office, I wasn't afraid to try. And I think sometimes that's half the battle because a lot of people just aren't even willing to, to pick up and start.

Speaker 5: 24:06

Yeah, I think that's the biggest part of the battle. And we've talked about this all time, how fear is one of them, the biggest limiters of peoples potential cause they don't even want to try, like you were saying, um, and you're talking about not being afraid, but I wonder too, like was there really no fear or is it just that you were willing to step into that fear even despite the fear?

Speaker 4: 24:29

Oh No, I've never been afraid of anything. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean fear is like my greatest motivator, you know, and I talked to Diane about that all the time cause she, my wife is, I love her to death. She's like, you know, it's like, I don't know how you do this stuff. She was, I'm really proud of you. And she goes, I don't know that I, that I could do it. And I think that, yeah, I mean fear is always there, you know, fear is always there. But for me sometimes if, if I'm uncomfortable, if I'm afraid of something, it almost makes me want to do it more if that's kind of weird. But it

Speaker 5: 25:07

do, you know, you're on the right path. You're, you know, you're doing the right thing.

Speaker 4: 25:10

Yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting you know that you're on the right path if you're being faced with a huge

Speaker 5: 25:17

yeah. Because complacency, if you're just being complacent than that, that's really where there's not fear, although there still is fear in complacency. You're just not, you're trying to dole that fear. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, yes, absolutely. I mean, yeah.

Speaker 4: 25:32

Have to be able to acknowledge it, right. And say, yeah, this is, this is scary. I had to do this job, this, this job a couple of weeks ago was on camera. It was, um, it was using a teleprompter, which I'm somewhat familiar with, but you know, it was, it was all these people standing in a room and it was like a five hour job where I had a B on and I had a B reading this teleprompter script as this expert in whatever it happened to be that I was talking about. I remember what it was and that was scary but scary in an exciting way because I'm like, this is going to be fun, man. I can't wait to do this. But, but man, I was scared. Yeah. Cared. Um, yeah. And you know, and, and I just, if I can throw in, uh, uh, a Bible verse cause it's one of my favorites, Hebrews 11 one where it's like faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see and cause, you know, the opposite of fear is faith, right? The opposite of fear is faith. And you have to, I remember when I was in the pharmacy one day and one of our very good friends, uh, his father in this a priest and his name is father Billy and good friend of ours and we were talking about it and he came in and, and um, Diana was there at the pharmacy with me and she goes, this is what Mike is, is thinking about doing and, and is think about selling and wants to get more on the voice over and do it full time. And he's like, is it something that you really feel you're being called to do that? I said, well, I feel I'm pretty good at it. I have some gifts that I, that I don't feel I'm actually being able to, you know, to, to use them to the best of my ability. And he's the one that told me, he said, Hebrews 11 one and I go, what is that one? Any, any read it off to me? And I'm like, whoa. Yeah, yeah. You know, sometimes you just have to, you have to take that deep breath and say, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't know what the next step is, but I'm on, I'm going to take it and I'm going to see where it, where it takes me. And you know, that's, that does make all the difference.

Speaker 5: 27:37

Oftentimes it's like what we were talking about before with the serendipitous moments, you actually have to take that step. If you don't take the step, you don't get to the next place you're supposed to be and the potential you have. It's almost, I think for people like us, it's more scary to not take that step. Oh yeah,

Speaker 4: 27:55

I agree. I agree. Yeah. That sitting still, complacency, as you said, is a, it's not a comfortable place for entrepreneurs, for people that are, are, you know, maybe a little more creative. And I think everybody has creativity in them. I don't think that, oh, I believe, you know, everybody's got it in there. It's somewhere down deep inside. But you know, there, there's that movie if I think Indiana Jones where he's kind of at the edge of the ease in this cavern and he's at the edge and he has to get across and, and uh, it looks like there's, there's no way across right in, and he takes the first step and all of a sudden he, once he takes the step is his purpose. His perspective changes just slightly and he can see the path. And that's, that's such a great analogy because you don't know and all of a sudden you take the step and your perspective changes completely and you're like, Whoa, I didn't even know I could, I had this opportunity. I mean the on camera stuff, when I went full time, I could never have gotten an on camera agent when I owned my small business, my pharmacy because right. I couldn't, I couldn't be available to, to audition or to do a job. I mean, I, you know, you guys know we talked yesterday. I was, I was away overnight, uh, for uh, an eye camera shoot yesterday and Diane and I were talking about a year ago. We have a Victorian street walk here in Saratoga Springs, F uh, on this particular night in, in November where they close off Broadway and it's this beautiful, all the businesses are open. There's a lot of people, it's a lot of fun. But a year ago it was a 12 plus hour day for me. I knew I'd opened the pharmacy at nine 30. I wouldn't get out until nine 30. We'd have all these people in the pharmacy. We had a band. It was, it was fun, but it was draining and it was physically exhausting and, and, and I was thinking, what a, what a difference a year, a year ago, that's where I doing. And now a year later, here I am, you know, at an overnight in Rochester, junior and I cameras. So it, it, everything in a, once you start to move it opens up all these other possibilities for you, but you kind of moved. Yep. You got it right. It's that momentum, the kinetic and energy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Things at rest, at rest, things that motion. And I, and you, you may get this all the time, and I get this from a lot of people from the podcast is that, you know, they're there, they sort of feel trapped, right? They feel like I'm stuck. I'm stuck in my nine to five. I don't know if I can do this, but you know, you coming from me and I am not saying this to Brag on myself, I'm just saying it because if I can do it, you can. Because, you know, if I was able to do literally owning a business that I was putting 60 plus hours a week into and grow my business on the side that you've got to do what you can with the time that you're given and, and you have to understand that, uh, if you really want to make that shift to a different path, it's not always as simple as, I'm just going to quit my job and I'm going to throw caution to the wind and go. But the, the flip side of that is that there's always a way, there's always a way to figure out how to do it, even if it has to be done in the margins and build it up to the point where you can begin to make that shift. Right. So, Mike, can you talk just real quick about your podcast and just give us a little bit of information about that, why you started it and what it's all about? Yeah, yeah. The whole podcasting piece has been so much fun. And I, it really came from early on when I started 12 years ago, I started to blog about it because that's when kind of blogging was all the rage. And I'm like, you know, I need to, I want to document my journey because I was having a kind of a hard time figuring out what to do next after I got trained and got my demos and I heard all these war stories from people saying, yeah, I got a demo. I passed it around a few times and nobody bit. So I just, you know, my, they're collecting dust in my, in my garage. And I'm like, yeah, I don't want that to happen to me. So I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to document it because then maybe it'll help people along the way. And I did that. And then that evolved into just a very small ebook that I wrote about my journey. And then another Vo friend locally here said, you know, you should do a podcast. I knew nothing about podcasting. And I'm like, well, hmm, that's a challenge. And so I put, you know, I'm, I mark the calendar June 1st, 2015, I think, and it was like February. I'm like, okay, I'm going to launch in June 1st and I just had to figure out, I just literally had to figure it out from the ground up. And as I'm sure you guys did as well, you just have to figure out how to do it. And so I educated myself and, uh, went through the whole process of getting the podcast up and running and, and was fortunate enough to, to have some wonderful guests who were willing to come on with, you know, having a podcast that had no track record at all. And, uh, and I wanted it to be interview based because I wanted it to be about people's journey and, uh, in the, into the voiceover world. And so it would help people. And, and that started, like I said, about three years ago, and I think we're up to episode 96 now. We're so we're close, fast approaching our 100th episode and it's been an absolute joy because every time I sit down with somebody, it's like a master class for me. And I'm just so excited to learn from them. And so I know my listeners are as well. And that's been wonderful. And that ended up leading to, because I got against serendipity because I was involved in vo and I was um, a voice actor. I had an opportunity to speak at a learning conference and after the conference, a lot of big fortune 500 companies there. And after the conference, an executive from Xerox had reached out to me and said, hey, um, I want to start a podcast and I don't really know anything about it and I need a cohost and so can I hire you to, to produce it and cohosted with me? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, you can do that. But then the weird thing was I had to figure out how to do it for somebody else versus just for my six different, doing it for yourself than it is all of a sudden having to create a system for somebody else. So that was the next challenge. And I started doing that and I still produce and cohost that with him cause that's the learning innovations podcast. And then that's led to, um, two more clients who have, who have connected with that I produce and uh, and or cohost their podcast for them, which led to podcast snap, which is just a whole nother piece of, of what I do, um, in this, in this new world that is Mike, let me explain that really quick. Snap is for people who, yeah, the podcast snap kind of was born out of this. People reaching out to me. I'm being getting connected with people that wanted me to help produce their podcasts. I'm like, I need to kind of create a place where I can send people to say, look, this is, this is a piece of what I do. And, uh, so I created a website. It's not the company. My company is Michael Lynn's Voice Inc, but podcast snap is a website where in what it is essentially is a, it's a podcast consulting service where we can have kind of a small virtual team that I can reach out to and use if I need them. But primarily it's my ability to help people anywhere from consulting with them to simply get up and running and then my work is done and they kind of take, take it and go with it all the way up to, uh, co-hosting and fully producing and editing and uploading their podcast for them. So it covers the whole gamut. If they need web design, if they need logos, uh, any of that, you know, we, I have the ability to outsource that and be able to do that for them. And that's podcast net in a nutshell because why not? You know, as well as record audio book is, it's somewhat related, right? We're still using our voice. We're still using microphones. Right. It's still fun. Funny how those opportunities pop up. And because our world is changing at such a fast

Speaker 3: 35:38

pace, there's always, there's always a new opportunity just around the corner.

Speaker 4: 35:43

Well, and I know you, Jessica, you, you, I mean you, you and Dave both, I mean you're, you know, all about that podcast world and that kind of getting out there and saying, hey look, we can, we can help make that happen for you. You know, cause it's, it's a, as you know, it's a, it's a huge medium that's just exploding and sees no sign of slowing down at night.

Speaker 3: 36:02

I think what's fascinating too is that it's enables you to connect with someone on such a personal level. So I remember first listening to the Mike Glenn's podcast, um, when I was working out at the y, you know, stairstep are listening to how this person got into the voiceover journey. And I thought, oh gosh, I need to reach out to this Mike Guy. But I don't know, he's got this big podcast. He's kind of famous. He is a big deal. I remember reaching, I remember reaching out and I was like, oh, oh, he wrote me back.

Speaker 4: 36:31

It's not that big a deal after all. Right. He wasn't a parade with Nikki though. You didn't know that. And once you found that out, man, that's true. Gosh, your autograph, you probably wouldn't have reached out if she had known that. No, she would have been terrified. Yeah,

Speaker 3: 36:48

yeah, yeah. I just, I just think it's such an interesting medium and you really get to connect with people on a very personal level and your stories intertwine and it's just fascinating. And so, Mike, I really, really appreciate you taking your time today and just have it on the computer with us. I guess. Not Phone on the computer, on the computer and just sharing your story. I think your story has so much value, um, the things that you've been through to help other people learn and to face their fears. Take, take courage, take that step. Indiana step, Indiana Jones,

Speaker 4: 37:27

Indiana Jones. It's been, it's really been a joy. Yes, it's been, it's been absolutely a joy. Um, the process has been fun. The journey has been, uh, has been so much fun. I think the most rewarding piece of it is being able to do that. Being able to communicate with other people. And I get emails a lot. I get people reaching out on social media, people that respond to the podcast because my friend, good friend, Brent Allen, um, uh, Hagle, he, he's a great promo guy and he, he's gives back all the time. He's always doing these different, these do different events where he has people bringing them into the promo world and you know, that, that it, it's, that's so much fun because you know, you guys know this is a, it's a fun industry and uh, and, and I know, you know, we know what it's like to be starting out and not having a clue where to start. And it's nice to be able to, at least in some small way, be able to help people kind of along in their journey. And that's really what it's all about.

Speaker 3: 38:24

Yeah. Awesome. So, Mike, when you end your podcast, you always, what's the very last question to you asked?

Speaker 4: 38:30

Yeah. I always ask for that golden nugget, that one piece of advice you'd give to an aspiring voice actor. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 38:35

So now it's your turn. What is your golden nugget, not necessarily for an aspiring voice actor, but for someone who aspires to get unstuck, take that next step in their, the Indiana step.

Speaker 4: 38:47

Yeah, I mean, I would say that it would be what we, kind of, what we already talked about in terms of never underestimate the power of serendipity. I believe that to my core that, um, you know, w w when you, when you get, if you think of the analogy of you're getting in a boat on one side of the lake or the ocean or whatever and you need to get across and you think, I want to go there, that's where I want to go. And you get in the boat and then the wind starts to pick up, or the current starts to go, when you start tacking and you're changing, you're sailing, you're like, no, I gotta get over here. Now. One of the best pieces of a piece of pieces of advice that I ever got was, um, just get in the boat. That's what you gotta do, get in the boat. And if the current takes you somewhere, go. And, and when I first started this person who was already kind of ahead of me in a consulting business, he said the advice he was given was for the first month or so. Don't say no to anything. Don't say no, just see where you go and see where it takes you. So, you know, Steve Jobs said you can't connect the dots going forward. You can only connect them going backward. And I believe that as well. So never underestimate the power of Sarah deputy. Take that first

Speaker 3: 39:58

step in faith and see where, see where Leejay amazing. Thanks Mike. Can you leave your contact information? If anybody wants to get ahold of you or listen to your podcasts, where can we find you? Yeah, the best way to find out all things. My cleanse is Mike Lens, voice.com. So it's m, I,K, e l, e, N, Z, voice.com. You can get connected to my podcast, to my website, obviously, and then all the other things that I'm doing is that's the best place to find. Awesome. Thanks, Mike. Thanks again. Yeah, you bet. My pleasure.

Speaker 1: 40:32

Hey, thanks again for joining us on the square one show. We hope you found this conversation helpful and encouraging. We'd like to stay in touch with our friends, so head over to square one show.com enter your email address and we'll let you know in the next episode releases. Until next time, this is Dave and Jessica Lewis. Have a beautiful week.

Speaker 2: 41:04

[inaudible][inaudible].