voiceover

I’ve seen a few conversations floating around on this topic, and wanted to share my take on turning down work. I have turned down jobs before, usually it’s for content but once in a while it’s for knowing my own limitations.

Most recently, I was contacted about a very cool sounding gig that would have involved some singing for a company based near my hometown. I was so tempted to say yes, it sounded like a really fun project, but I usually don’t sing outside of the car (or the karaoke bar after a good drink). The owner pursued me after I’d said no the first time and had referred her to a more qualified friend; still she insisted I was the person for the project. I had to do a gut-check on it, and then firmly turned down the work. I know I’m not a singer and moreso I know that even if she thought I was being modest about my skills and still wanted me to give it a shot, at that point I’m wasting her time and mine. There’s a difference between accepting a challenge and accepting work outside my scope of talent, and I think the requirements for her job would have pushed me into the latter, and the end result is no good for either of us.

Most of the time, if I turn down work it’s based on the content. I don’t voice anything that sounds like a scam – quick credit fixes, winning free iPads, robo-calling telemarketing campaigns, congratulations you may be a winner website audio, but I’m okay with diet ads and legit debt consolidation programs. I’m cautious of infomercials for bad or ridiculous products, but am not turned off immediately by “but wait, there’s more.” Often, many of these gigs are lower paying or pay well below fair rate, which is another easy way to turn it down before digging into content. I don’t have anything against the people who do voice these but personally have to take a closer look at exactly who I’m representing before I agree to the work. This is also determined by my other clients – I choose to not do work that is in stark contrast or bad taste to the standard of the rest of the work I do.

When considering jobs in this grey area, I suggest that the voice talent imagine the website or company you’d work for is being profiled on a local or even national nightly news program for a news piece (on scams, pyramid schemes, cool new products, or altruistic small businesses… whatever you feel is most likely.) They pull your audio as part of their news package and now your voice is irrevocably tied to that copy and this business. Are you embarrassed to be associated with the company, or glad you did the work? I wonder how the Head-On voiceover talent feels, I hope she was paid residuals.

This is a pretty simple concept that can be found in most any industry. The first part – under-promising – leans heavily on knowing yourself, your products and accurately estimating your workload and your turnaround time. You should factor in a buffer for “in case of” (sick day, computer problems, national holiday, other deadlines that can affect your timeline, etc). The second part is easy – complete the job as soon as possible, and earlier than your buffered timeline. The third, critical aspect that can enhance a client’s experience with you is to communicate with them about where you are in the process, anticipate problems, and hopefully you don’t have to request a deadline extension but if something comes up then you better talk to your client about it (and often, at least in voiceover, you’re working with an agency who then has to relay this to the client.) It boils down to respecting others time!

This topic has been on my mind for several weeks due to a few different experiences I’ve had with companies who do or don’t live by this philosophy. I’ll leave out the names of the first company to protect the ignorant and prevent unearned web-hits, but gladly post the names in my second story. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, this post gets a little lengthy.

The Custom Order: I found a company, after much searching, that I was very excited to work with on a personalized clothing item. I’d emailed through their contact form and spoke directly with the owner, who reassured me that what I wanted could be done within their normal parameters. They’re in Canada and I’m in the US, but after a few email exchanges I felt really good about placing an order with this otherwise unseen company. I put a lot of care into gathering all the exact information they’d need to create my item, and as custom items go, it wasn’t cheap, but it was going to be well worth it. The website had a calendar section, and promised that 7-9 working, non-holiday days after placing my order, that it would be complete and would be shipped to the US. I placed my order January 30th, and based on their calendar that meant construction would be finished by February 10th and it should arrive around February 18th. My expectations had clearly been set by the promises the company made.

I heard nothing from the moment I placed my order up through the date the clothing should have been completed, so on the 11th production day I emailed asking about the status. I heard back 3 days later that my order would be shipping out that afternoon or the following morning and I’d receive an email from Canada Post with tracking information. Two weeks later (a full 2 weeks after my order supposedly shipped), and after 2 messages that went unanswered, I finally got a response. The company copy/pasted my tracking information and suggested that my order would arrive within a few days. Once I looked at the tracking info, I was furious that it had only been mailed off a few days after I sent my most recent inquiry into the order’s whereabouts. That said to me that my project was running several weeks behind in production or had slipped through the cracks, something they should have communicated to me or upon realizing the unmailed but finished product in their facility, they could have upgraded my shipping as good customer service. 6 days later, on March 7th, my custom order finally arrived, several weeks late with no apology or explanation.

What did they do right? They at least had a buffer on their production schedule, and clearly laid out which days they worked and which they didn’t.
What went wrong? This story is about a huge failure in communication and what happens when you fall very short of your promises to a new client. There was no contact initiated by the client after receiving my money, and if I hadn’t been following up with the progress it’s possible my order fell through the cracks and was completed but never prepped to ship, and that error might not have been caught for a while. The feelings upon opening the delivered package were bittersweet – relief that it actually arrived, but cynical anxiety about what was going to be wrong with it. They failed to deliver on all of their promises earlier, so why wouldn’t that mean the product wasn’t as good as I was expecting? Over-promising and under-delivering directly impacted my impression of the company’s quality. Their terrible communication and lackadaisical sense of urgency or regret for failing to ship out even close to the day promised via email are why I won’t be recommending others to use them and won’t become a repeat customer. It’s a shame, the item I ordered is actually made really well.

The Patio Door: The door to our patio sucked. The rails that the screen door slid on had been destroyed and instead it was digging into the wood frame. The heavy glass door never slid easily no matter how we greased the track. It was original to our home and the original owners didn’t do such a great job taking care of things, and this thing had to go. Andy and I consulted with our neighbor, a contractor who owns Luxury Home Builders, and he gave us a recommendation for a Pella vinyl door that would work nicely. We got the door from Lowes, and one of their staff loaded it into the rental truck and we drove home. Upon unloading it, we realized he loaded the door upside down, so that the entire handle was scratched down to the metal. A few iPhone photos later and upon returning to the store we were issued a small credit towards replacing the handle. Our neighbor subcontracted a crew and they came out to install the door the following Friday. We were told their hourly rate, what they’d need to purchase to finish framing it out, that we’d need to paint the trim ourselves, and to expect them to work in our home for 4-8 hours.

The guys arrived and they definitely knew what they were doing, but they didn’t (and we didn’t) know what we were in for. To make a long story short, they realized that there was a structural problem with the purchased door itself, and after working in our home for about 3 hours they brought the door back to Lowes and swapped it out. The 2nd door was then installed in placec, and while it was an improvement over the first door, it was still oddly bowed. They kept Andy appraised of the situation the whole time, and our neighbor was overseeing this project and problem and updated us that they would stay until it was fixed. That extended their time in our home to 10 hours before it was agreed that this problem was something they couldn’t fix by adjusting the tracks, but their work would not end there. Our contractor spoke with a rep at Lowes and their local Pella representative. It turns out that she knew there were 10-12 defective doors in that Lowes store, and they just hadn’t been pulled from inventory. Pella would be issuing us a credit towards the overtime worked on installing the door that would have to be removed/replaced. Our contractor also spoke with the subcontracting company’s owners, who agreed that it’s a bad situation that we had a brand new, defective door installed and we already had 10 hours into the project. They agreed that once we settle on a new door that the guys will come back out and take out this one and install the new one at no additional cost. Our contractor also talked with a manager at Lowes who agreed that this should never had happened, and they’ve ordered a new (even nicer!) door for us at no extra cost to replace the defective one and make good on causing us such hassle.

What did they do right? Everything, as far as I can tell. They set clear guidelines for cost, time and parts needed. They were on track to beat that deadline when the door we purchased became the problem. They communicated the challenge and change and we were in the loop on everything else going forward. Then there’s service after the sale. It’s not just about having a door installed and trimmed out – it’s about having a door that works and is safe installed right.
What went wrong? The problem was out of the hands of our subcontractors, but as Mike Holmes would say, they wanted to “make it right,” and the error wasn’t even their fault. Lowes also stepped up to take responsibility for their error and even though the problem itself was out of their hands, they were going to take care of their customer and make sure that we would come back to them in the future. Everyone could have abandoned ship, but instead they took care of the situation.

As a voice actor, this is how I run my business. I strive to deliver in advance of promised deadlines, and will email the client at every important step and definitely at the first sign of trouble. As a whole, most voiceover jobs that come to me with a script that are under an hour long can be completed within 24 hours if I don’t have any other pressing matters. However, I know that life happens, I have other clients and projects and even a life outside of my studio and I need to build in a buffer to accommodate for the expected and unexpected in life and my workload. I typically quote 36-48 hours turnaround on that size project, and 90% of the time I’m able to turn in audio the same day, beating expectations. Finally, upon agreeing to a rate and accepting the final script, I communicate my deadline in concrete terms – “I’ll have your audio uploaded via my FTP site by first thing Thursday morning EST,” or “I’ll send you a sample read of the first 3 minutes shortly, and once you approve my read then I’ll have all your files prepared no later than 2 days after you approve the sample.” I think it’s very important to guarantee a delivery time upfront, knowing that you have some wiggle room if you happen to wake up with sinus congestion or spend all day trying to get an appointment with a Mac Genius to restore your system, or on the positive side maybe a friend is stuck in town for an unexpected layover and you’d love to have some free time to catch up.

The point is, life happens, and you can’t plan for all the variables. Maybe you do finally catch that cold going around, and not only will you miss your (buffered/under-promised) deadline, your voice is probably shot for a few days. I don’t think you should email a client in panic at the first sign of a cough, but you should know yourself well enough to recognize when you’re going to need more time to complete a project or your ability to meet a deadline has changed. The client would surely like to know to expect a delay and they may be more flexible than you think. I know I would have been grateful for an update on my custom order and would have chalked it up to that good work takes time and my project isn’t being forgotten. Sometimes the problem starts on the client’s side – like if the writer has a persistent error in the script and your direct contact only realized it upon reviewing the audio. While you may hold up your end of the bargain by delivering your audio on time, you’re leaving your client with a big problem by not seeing if you can work with them on this error. I’m not saying it’s a free fix, but the voiceover job isn’t done if what I’ve provided can’t serve the purpose its intended for. Be understanding of your client and they may be more understanding if something comes up for you. Under promise to being with, over deliver whenever you can, and communicate and update so your client has no doubt that their project is receiving personal attention.

I voiced my first audiobook, and it was quite an experience. I created over 33 different voices for the 11.5 hour book and honed my process to become significantly more streamlined by the end. I feel that what I learned by doing my first book can’t be explained as easily as it is heard. I also understand why some audiobook publishers won’t hire a narrator until they’ve completed their first book – I’m sure some people are scared off after working on one! I started this project as a shiny new audiobook narrator, and came out of it now a bit more battle-weary but knowing first-hand what it takes and that I can do it and enjoy the process.

There are hundreds more experienced narrators out there to give tips and tricks and tell you how to do it, and since I’ve only done one I really can’t contribute much to that conversation at this point. There were a few things though that were SUPER helpful to me that I think are worth sharing. The most important of those things was the training I had to prepare me for audiobooks. That credit goes to Pat Fraley. I took his Billion $ Read Audiobook workshop in L.A. 2 years ago. He taught more than just skill, he taught the mechanics of the audiobook industry and how to find your place in it. But I’m not dismissing the skill part, no! I’ve studied with him in person 3 times in the 2 past years (so glad Phoenix is on his occasional travel list!) and have worked on audiobook selections each time, and every time my read is elevated by his coaching and perspective. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him on my blog before, but he is the person I refer any interested voiceover talent to check out, contact, and learn from. When you study with Pat, you may also be able to benefit from other amazing talent and producers who drop in for part or all of his workshop – my L.A. workshop included Hillary Huber, Scott Brick, Stefan Rudnicki and Kathe Mazur.

So, go study with Pat. He’s amazing and is the most generous teacher and among the most generous people I’ve met in my entire life. If I’m not convincing enough, here’s a 15 minute video from Pat where he gives away some bigger concepts and lays out some of the workshop content you’ll get in detail when it comes to audiobooks.

The next thing I wanted to share about is way off in a different area. So coaching and having training to be able to approach an audiobook is definitely the most important thing for audiobooks. Next up, I’d say is what’s in your actual studio to help you get the job done. Of all the pieces of my setup or mic chain, I found my iPhone to be invaluable. Remember I said there were over 33 characters that I created different voices for? Well, the iPhone (and I’m sure most smartphones have an equivalent) has an app called Voice Memos. I’d recorded about 10-15 seconds of dialogue from each character – something good, telling, revealing, very true to the character – and renamed the file for the character’s name, and that’s it. That’s how I kept my characters separate. I know that there are a lot of narrators who choose to not make such distinct choices with their character voices, but for this book it seemed appropriate. It won’t be appropriate for every book, and could even be distracting in others, but my choice meant I had to really know what Ramsey sounded like versus the other 15-18 year old boy characters who came in and out of the book. Voice Memo was great in helping refresh my memory as I started a chapter and found who would be showing up in it.

Many publishers will provide researchers, audio proofers, editors, or even their own equipment for you to work from. This situation, I was responsible for everything except the final mastering, done to the publisher’s requirements by their hired engineer who I sent all my raw .wav audio files. So, here’s a little about my process for the book.
1) Read the book, mark it up for emphasis or make notes to clarify scenes; take notes on my characters and their relationships
2) Contact the author with questions – pronunciations, any parts of the book that don’t seem clear
3) Prepare my character voices before recording each chapter – like I said, for some books bold differences would be a distraction, this is something that I did as I prepared to record each chapter. Only rarely did I have to spend a significant amount of time researching a particular dialect or accent, but I did when I felt it needed to be more exact
4) Record!!! I became better about not critiquing every line as I worked through the first 2-3 chapters, and as it wasn’t my first time through the book, my markings in it were helpful guides
5) Send chapters off for review – My very patient, long time friend Kristin happily volunteered for this unpaid position, and she painstakingly listened to my audio while following along in the book
6) Corrections – this happened simultaneously while I continued to record more in the book. Kristin would tell me if I swapped out words, misread something, where and what page, or if something sounded ‘off’ to her as a listener. Having her ears on my first book was invaluable, and she was much more confident in my storytelling ability than I was! It was so nerve wracking to email off those first few chapters and not know what kind of feedback I’d get, but as my friend for over 10 years she’d be able to tell me if I needed to overhaul my read. She said she always enjoyed listening, even though she was ‘working’ at the same time.
7) Edit in corrections – pre-roll is your friend in ProTools, I used a 3 second pre-roll at every stage of audiobook work and it helps edits fit in perfectly
8) Bounce out my audio and upload! Here, I’m a huge fan of Dropbox, since we’re working with at times 45 or 50 minute wav files, the file size can get out of hand.

It really was the marathon of voice overs that others say it is, and this book was recorded mostly in the evening and on the weekends. I’m happy with how it turned out, and don’t feel I could have done any better for my first book. From my experience, if you are even daydreaming about recording an audiobook, I strongly suggest you do your research and at the least check out Pat Fraley’s videos on youtube and free audio on his website to get more insight into what is required of you as a narrator and the skills you’ll need to make it happen. And no, I don’t get kickbacks from referring you, but I wouldn’t feel this good about my first book without what he taught me.

If you’d like to check out the audiobook itself, there’s a short excerpt from the Prologue and a handy link if you’d like to download it at Crossroad Press’ website. The book is Blood Angel by author Justine Musk.

I’ve read a lot of firsthand stories about the way the voiceover industry used to be. You had a local agent, you cold-called to meet most of your clients, you cut down several trees worth of paper to have your scripts, ISDN was a requirement if you were truly serious, and I’m sure you could find a laundry list of more things the ol’ pros have had to go through to make a living in voice over.

So by comparison, doesn’t that mean that now all of us pursuing and working in the field in 2010 have it easy? I’d say not it’s easier, but different and possibly even more challenging, for a few reasons.

1) Increased Awareness of the Voiceover Industry
The voice over industry has grown into what’s become a $12.3 billion dollar industry (according to Voices.com research). That’s obviously more than just radio and TV ads. While it’s still not a very well understood profession by the masses, there’s been more awareness of what we do – CBS Sunday Morning had a segment that has run several times earlier this year highlighting a few national talent and animation VO actors. There are also a few videos on youtube that were popular beyond just the VO community: 5 Guys in a Limo and Voice Talkers). More people are using audiobooks to enjoy books, and most everyone knows the late Don LaFontaine’s 3 signature words, and many have tried to duplicate them. More people know about voiceover now than they ever have before, partly because voice over work is called upon in various forms more than ever before.

2) Accessible technology
I’m sure professional videographers initially were irritated by the availability of those old, clunky video cameras made for consumers. Fast forward a few decades, and tiny Flip video cameras can even stand-in for pro gear where access is extremely limited or dangerous. I don’t think these consumer-level products or the availability of pro-level gear for consumers takes away from the work the professionals do. However, it certainly makes some amateurs think they’re as good as the pros just because they spend money on nicer gear. Well, to make a longer point short, they’re not.

This certainly applies to voiceover as well. I’m not the least bit threatened by the availability of pro-level gear at the nearest electronics store, and you shouldn’t be, either. If you’ve got a gorgeous sports car in your driveway, but it’s a stick and you can only drive an automatic, what good is it going to do for you? Gear does not make you a professional. Experience, eventually, will. Training and coaching help immensely.

What has been great about our world becoming more geeked out in general is that when you do want to get studio gear, you have no lack of options both in person and online. I can’t say what it was like trying to figure out what mic would be best for your voice 25 years ago, before the internet as we know it, before random strangers can indirectly give you reviews or audio samples to share their experience with gear to sway your decision, or even going back just over a decade, before B&H opened in their current location in NYC with their fabulous microphone room (September 2, 1997, if you’re curious).

3) Competition
Ask anyone who built their career in the 90′s or earlier, and they’ll tell you that they never had this much competition for work. You’re not only competing with people who share your agent, it’s likely that not everyone on the agent’s roster is local (I personally have several agents outside of Phoenix, Arizona), and it’s entirely likely that your agent isn’t the only one casting for the job. Online, you know very well that we’re working in a global marketplace. Because of the rising awareness of voice over as a fun source of income for some or a career for others, plus the availability of gear and user-friendly programs that may even be free, there’s a lot of people vying for work. Are they ALL your competition? Of course not! But there may be 30 other upbeat, smart, friendly, girl-next-door types going up for the same job I’ve auditioned for, whether that’s through my agent or an online marketplace or someone connected with me through my website and has contacted other talent as well.

So what’s a modern voice talent to do to stand out and make a living?

Don’t let these things distract you from your goals if you really want to make voice over your life’s work. It’s simple, and could apply to any creative field. Be unique! Rowell Gorman shared this gem from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” I’d also add a few more specific directives:
- Be educated and always strive to learn more
- Be a good business person
- Be ethical
- Be fair
- Pay it forward
Despite the changes to the voice over industry and what it takes to build a VO career in today’s marketplace, I think all the talent who built their careers ‘back in the earlier days’ would agree that these few guidelines will always be relevant.

Do you have anything to add to this, or you disagree and feel it’s much easier now to work in a creative field with global competition and global clients? I’d love to hear it, add your comment below!

I was the kid in school who LOVED being picked to read the textbook out loud for the class. Seriously, in my head it was the spotlight on me, as I read page 192 in World Civ, and please please when I get to the bottom of the page, have the teacher tell me to continue reading. I can remember feeling like I was performing for an audience. My speedy sight-reading came in handy for the various instruments I played, too, and it was something that I knew I was good at, but never thought it would amount to anything professionally.

Now I’ve really turned my voiceover focus toward narrating audiobooks. That is, I’m reconfiguring gear, and doing lots of practicing and marketing in order to make publishers and producers aware of me, and surely to get myself ready in all aspects to voice any books that I may be assigned. I have found the optimal outlet for that handy sight-reading skill. Reading the book in advance is ideal, but even a 10th time going through any script, you’re still performing it on the fly, in the moment, and you have to know the nuances and curves in the story as you go so you can choose a better performance. The ability to sight-read and see ahead without jumping ahead in the performance, or letting what is about to happen bleed through into your read leading up to it and ruin the moment – that’s the balancing act.

It’s reassuring to be able to look into my past and see the spark – reading aloud to my classmates – that over time and through much introspection, training with experts and practice on my own has become a huge flame for audiobook narration.

Obviously I’ve neglected my blog. If it was a kid, it’d be taken away and I wouldn’t even get visitation. Sorry, those of you who have added this to your RSS feed, but I do think that over this summer I’ll be able to be a bit more diligent about SOME kind of update.

I have a lot of things I wanted to write about:
Audiobook Publishers’ Association Conference in NYC
B&H – ah yes, a sweet, sweet candy shop for anyone even remotely techie
Book Expo America (a few days later)
A personal trip to North Carolina and a week later a couples’ trip to Vegas (and my first time there!)
A shift is coming

So, I’ll be brief on most of these but want to get something posted, so I’ll start with my NY trip.

APAC was the single most amazing conference I’ve attended directly related to my career. I haven’t been to VOICE in LA yet, I think I’ll plan for next year, but otherwise APAC was phenomenal. The workshops were great, but several time slots were double-booked so I had to choose which ones to attend. Oh man, to have a little mini-me running around to those other workshops just to absorb it all! However, in lieu of a mini-me, I have great friends and we’ve shared notes on all the workshops. Specifically, there’s 4 of us from Pat Fraley’s Audiobook workshop called the Billion Dollar Read in ’09 (he’s offering another one in LA in July, if you’re considering it then jump on this!) and we’ve stuck together, encouraging, critiquing, sharing, and it’s just more evidence that people in the voice over industry are selfless givers. These awesome ladies are Rachel Fulginiti, Heather Henderson and Amy Rubinate. Together, when our powers are combined– ok no… just when we all reunited at APAC, we are a force to be reckoned with! That group has been my mirror in voice overs, showing me bits of myself and reassuring me that I’m in the right place and doing the right things. The workshops at APAC were eye-opening, networking and getting to actually talk to people who can use you on a book was an incredible opportunity, and between some very open and kind publishers and the awesome people I knew I’d see and the new ones I met, the best part was still the people. Oh please, stop rolling your eyes, I mean it!!

BEA was overwhelming. It was a book lover’s dream, and a strategic nightmare to navigate in the 6 hours I had until we had to head to the airport. The Javitz Center was filled with people from all walks of the publishing industry – from librarians, book club members and authors to presidents of publishing companies and the top tiers of management who were there to make distribution deals. It was totally nutty but Rachel and I were able to get around to quite a few independent publishers to tell them about our collective of narrators. A few seemed pretty interested, thankfully the ones whose books and general topics we were most interested in. We’ll see if there’s any love connections that form from BEA down the road. It was a great side-conference to attend on exhibitor day, but much like APAC, I could have used a 2nd day to take it all in.

I just skipped over the other fantastic thing I enjoyed while in New York: B&H Photo/Video. The best thing to me was the mic room. I was able to spend some time with 2 well-trained sets of ears, Tony Willson and unfortunately I don’t have the woman’s name handy, but they were awesome. I tried out many mics and we all agreed that while I came in expecting the Neumann TLM 103 to be a perfect fit for my voice, it was actually the TLM 102 that brought out all the best aspects of my voice, and gave me enough options to play around with distance and warmth. That’s been my new standard mic since I came home, and my poor RE20 has been stored in its case until I need it. It’ll still be the mic I use on the road, since it travels so well, but for daily use I can’t bear to take my new 102 off my mic stand. :)

I spent 5 days in or traveling to and from New York and Andy met with photo editors in NYC, so he was no slacker on this trip, and while he had to go home (he shot the midweek wedding of our talented massage therapist, Amy and her new husband Nick) I flew to North Carolina to see family and friends. It’s only fair, he was just in North Carolina a week or two earlier to shoot another wedding, so this trip would be just me and slightly less running around than last time I was there.

I’m doing some targeted advertising right now to build up other aspects of my business, and still finishing my follow-ups from APAC and BEA. I’m happy to be working on projects for new clients and to also have continued work from clients I’ve worked with for a while. I’ve gotten some good feedback from my contacts so far from APAC, which is very encouraging. I’m busy, but it’s that good kind of sustainable, manageable busy and I can fit a blog post in here or there. My personal life is busy with an attempt to shift my waking hours to accommodate for a grueling early yoga class, adding in some volunteer work to my day and Andy and I are grilling anything we can think of with our new outdoor grill.

I feel like we’re embarking on another big change or shift. I’m not sure what it is but I think I’ve turned a corner in the balance between my business, Andy’s business and my full time job doing voice and production work. I know, with all this going on, doesn’t it sound busy enough without a 40 hr/week job, too? Maybe it’ll be the addition of audiobooks and more station imaging to tip me towards going 100% freelance, maybe Andy’s wedding or commercial business will get too busy for him to handle without getting extra help in a bigger capacity. Who knows. As of yesterday, I’ve been in Phoenix for 3 years now, and I sense a positive shift is on its way. While change can be scary, I’m not closing any doors but I’m just watching for new ones to open. This blog post has been in my mind a lot lately.