We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Torrence recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shannon, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I am a voice actor. And I’m very good at it and I love acting. I’m grateful to get to have such a creative job. Acting FELT like my purpose until I found what I now feel is my REAL purpose, from a spiritual perspective, as a human on this earth, And I wouldn’t have discovered what my true purpose was had I not lost the ability to be a voice actor for a few years, when I developed a vocal disorder.
I was at the top of my game, working around the clock auditioning and recording video games, radio and television commercials, e-learning projects, animation projects, you name it. Then it all came to a halt when I developed acute vocal cord dysfunction caused by acid reflux, which led to a secondary condition called muscle tension dysphonia. I was absolutely devastated and in deep grief because I had worked my entire adult life to get to where I finally was, I had finally “made it” and was thriving as an actor, and then my purpose and ability to support myself financially was gone.
I began working with a vocal coach who had had the same experience I had, and she correctly advised me to lean into relaxation methodologies such as yoga and meditation. She also recommended I read, “The Power Of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. I was unable to work so I had a lot of time on my hands and I did cope with my grief by watching and reading a lot of spiritual content.
I’d always been fascinated by mediums and was hooked on shows like, “The Long Island Medium” and, “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry”. Watching them work gave me a sense of hope, inspiration and comfort. I’d always assumed that they were just special, and that you had to be born “that way”. I wished I had that gift.
During this time I read books by mediums like Theresa Caputo and John Holland, and in them, they explained that we all have a sixth sense and the ability to communicate with souls that have crossed over, or the consciousness that is left behind after our bodies die. We just have to believe in it, recognize it and re-train ourselves to use it.
So I spent that time taking classes from celebrity mediums and through a well known mediumship school in England via Zoom. I never imagined I’d ever be good at it but I wanted to learn more about it and to prove to myself that it was real. Through working with some of the best mediums in the world, I discovered that I, too, was able to do what they do. I just had to know how to do it. So I spent 3 years in practice and now I not only host a podcast called, “Magic Is Real”, which is about near death experiences and spirit communication, I myself am a professional medium.
Acting is the most fun thing I can think to do and such an exciting way to get to express oneself. But through mediumship, I am able to connect with others in the most intimate way by connecting them with those they’ve lost, to spend time with and actually “meet” their loved ones in spirit, and to provide strong evidence that these souls are at peace and that while we can’t see them, they’re only in another room and that one day they will be reunited with them again. I am able to hold space for them in their grief, bring through messages from the other side that are comforting and healing. I am not a therapist or a certified grief counselor but the work is similar in that people are sharing the most intimate details of their life with me and I am able to provide insight and support using my intuition and via spirit messages. Doing this work gives me a sense of magic, peace and deep fulfillment and it means the world to me when my clients follow up with even more confirmation that the things I told them were accurate and that they felt they had been in the presence of the people who they are grieving for while we were working together.
Mediumship is definitely a, “cool trick” and it amazes me every time a spirit tells me something no one could have known but my client or when they tell me their name and it’s confirmed and they reference a super random memory or joke they had with my client, but it’s not meant to be a party trick. It’s meant to heal, to support people in the grieving process and to provide evidence that this life is not all there is and to help people overcome their fear of death. Sharing my empathic abilities with others and hosting my podcast, as well as being able to be there for those who are deeply hurting and to allow them feel held and supported … that’s my true purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a professional voice actor and a professional psychic medium, which are both such esoteric professions. Acting, like mediumship, allows me to connect with others using my creative and intuitive mind and with my own unique energy and personality, and so the two aren’t as different as you might imagine.
In the voiceover world, I voice everything from video games to phone system recordings. I work from home in a professional recording studio most of the time, which is fun but can also be isolating, so when I have a chance to record in a professional studio, I embrace it.
My podcast, “Magic Is Real” is focused on near death and other spiritually transformative experiences and that feels like a business because as a passion project, it takes up a lot of my time. The podcast can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts and I’d LOVE for you to check it out if you’re open minded about the spiritual world and curious. I’d LOVE for you to check it out and subscribe to it if it does resonate.
I offer 90 minute mediumship readings via Zoom unless you happen to be in my area.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey as both an actor and as a medium are passion, empathy and intuitiveness.
In acting you have to be passionate because the competition is so fierce. People often ask how they can get into voiceover to make extra money. Unfortunately becoming an actor can be lucrative but it doesn’t typically come easy. It’s a profession like anything else and you have to work hard to be the best at it because there are so many incredibly talented people out there, you have to set yourself apart. You have to have incredible determination and an obsession with the work and to not be deterred by rejection. You also have to be able to understand human psychology, be curious about others and make strong and intuitive choices.
In mediumship you have to be empathetic and compassionate before anything else. You have to go into it with integrity and kindness and love. But you also have to have that passion because it requires a regular spiritual practice, daily meditation, giving free readings, practicing for years. I did not get paid for it for a few years when I felt I was ready and confident that I could be consistent in the quality of service I provide.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always looking for engaging, grounded, vulnerable, insightful and relatable people who are open to sharing their own spiritually transformative experiences on my podcast. I also work with other mediums to offer live group readings on Zoom every so often so there are collaboration opportunities there as well.
In terms of voiceover, I am fortunate that the majority producers of creative projects are inherently amazing to work with. Whether they are business owners or entertainment industry people, they tend to be kind, professional, fun and collaborative. I think when we work together, I respect that they do the more visionary and technical stuff I’m not skilled in and they respect that I have a creative skill set they don’t always have, so we enjoy collaborating. I am enthusiastically here to lend my voice acting skills to any type of project but if any illustrators or animators want to work together, even if just for their portfolio or to pitch something, I’m always extra excited and down to play.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.magicisrealservices.com
www.shannontorrencevoiceover.com - Instagram: realmagicshannon, shanntorr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyogcP2DV6bJxUkD2Fa9JA
