Chance Meeting

Jennifer and I were in Los Angeles recently taking a fantastic financial class called Mastering Wealth Bootcamp.  It was a three day intensive seminar teaching how we can strengthen our financial foundation.  Great class, but not the reason for this posting!

We booked an extra day in Los Angeles to visit with a couple friends.  As it turned out, both friends were unable to make it.  Mark was out of town last minute and Val was sick, unfortunately.  So there we were, sitting in our hotel room on this extra day when a plan formulated.  Our friends, Jac and Marylou live in Cardiff by the Sea south of LA about an hour and a half.  It was Marylou’s birthday and we decided to rent a car and take a drive to surprise her.  It had been raining the entire time during the seminar, although we didn’t care because we hardly left the hotel except to eat.  However, this special day brought the sun and more typical southern California spring weather.  Highway 405 to Highway 5 opened up without a hint of traffic congestion to slow our travels.  This was definitely what we were supposed to be doing as that is very rare we understand!

Our guest of honor had already made plans for dinner that evening so we did the most natural thing and crashed it!  Jac and the other four guests were quite accommodating and made us feel like part of the group.   We all shared our connection to the birthday girl and her hubby and then described what we all did for a living.  It turns out one of the guests, Shelly is a voice over artist and has her own company that produces radio commercials and internet infomercials.

Where am I going with all this?  You may already know!  Jennifer chimed up that I had taken a voice over class and bought the right equipment.  You may remember that from a previous post, It’s Been a While.  I had my demo produced and auditioned online for about two months with no luck.  Two water leaks into my modest recording space and I took the sign that I had no business in voice overs.  Besides, ALS patients eventually lose their voice and it starts with slurring.  So unless I wanted to voice simulated drunken man commercials I should just stay away.  What do you do when you’re ready to give up on something?

Actually, I am very fortunate to have my voice still with me and strong.  Shelly humored me by complimenting my voice and that she could hear me doing commercials.  She kindly said she would put me in a few spots to see how it worked out.  We enjoyed an incredible birthday dinner with Jac and Marylou and the surprise was a great success.  We are privileged to call them friends.

Shelly is true to her word and within days of our return she asked me to run a script.  Ironically, I recently made the switch to Mac and my recording software was not set up.  Missed out on that one, but not a week later, Shelly gives me another opportunity.  Here is the result currently airing in California:

united_wholesale_flooring_0329-11

I was very rusty and dull on the first run, but with some coaching from Shelly, I think the final product turned out great.  I had a blast and there might be more to come. What I am most encouraged about is this complete stranger took the time to listen to our situation with genuine interest and follow through with something she didn’t have to do.  What needs to be realized is that Shelly made a dream come true.  I have a commercial airing.  Having a positive mental attitude is great for ALS and this experience was just the treatment needed for this ALS veteran.

Shelly is the real deal, so if you ever need voice over work done check her out at Somerset Productions.  Thank you for the opportunity, Shelly!

You never know what opportunities are out there and with whom you are going to meet.  So, are you pursuing dreams no matter what your physical limitations might be?  In the beginning of our ALS journey we did throw out some of our old dreams, but we created new ones.  Take the time and do that exercise if you start feeling down.  Dreaming is healthy!