Carrie Olsen: Dream With Intention and Leap to Voiceover
Dream with Intention: Carrie Olsen's Leap to Voiceover
Episode Summary
Carrie Olsen is a voice actor, coach, and founder of Carrie Olsen Voiceover. In this episode, Carrie shares how a painfully shy child who preferred the background became a professional voice actor with national campaigns to her name. She talks about leaving a corporate career in online training, the podcast episode that introduced her to voiceover, and how she booked her third job ever, a national radio campaign, while caring for a newborn. This conversation is an honest look at quieting the voices that hold us back and pursuing our dreams with intention.
Key Takeaways
How the recording booth became a space to practice vulnerability and fearlessness
Why taking feedback without taking it personally is a skill that transforms both work and life
How to identify the "responsible" excuses that keep you from building what you want
Why focusing on inputs you control, not outcomes you can't, leads to lasting success
The importance of a supportive partner and community when choosing the entrepreneurial path
Why nurturing existing relationships can open more doors than chasing new ones
Meet Carrie Olsen
Carrie Olsen is a voice actor, coach, and speaker based in Kansas City. After earning a business degree, she built a corporate career in accounting, HR, and eventually online training, where she narrated the courses she created without realizing it was voiceover. Within months of discovering the profession, she booked a national radio campaign and soon went full time. Over the past decade, she has built a thriving voiceover business, created courses and coaching programs for aspiring voice actors, and launched the Places program to help anyone push past the blockers keeping them from their dreams. She also hosts the Conversational with Carrie Olsen podcast.
Visit her website
How She Pivoted
Carrie loved her work in online training, but a long commute and an inflexible employer made it hard to align her career with her growing family. Shortly after returning from maternity leave, she listened to a podcast episode featuring a voice actor who worked from home, auditioned each morning, and built her days around her family.
"I was like, that's a job? That's a thing."
She called that voice actor, Alyson Steel, and hired her as a coach. Two months later, she booked her first job. When her third booking turned out to be a national radio campaign, Carrie and her husband realized what might be possible if she gave voiceover her full attention.
Insights for Ambitious Women
Carrie's journey is a reminder that the qualities we think disqualify us can become our greatest strengths. Through her work in the booth, she learned to be fully expressive and to receive direction without letting it shake her confidence.
"The more vulnerable and open I am, the more successful I am at this job."
She also encourages women to examine the stories they've been told about what a responsible life looks like. Honoring your gifts, she believes, sets a powerful example for the people watching you.
"Keep going. It doesn't have to be in a hustle way that is detrimental to your well-being, but keep going and have a community, have support."
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