We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brandon, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
I don’t think anyone ever overcomes imposter syndrome. It’s something that we need as entrepreneurs to gauge our progress. It’s like a checkpoint in our careers. It can be a tool for growth that reminds us to stay humble, continually learn, and improve our skills. Growth doesn’t happen in comfort but rather when we are experiencing imposter syndrome its a sign that we’re pushing boundaries and stepping outside our comfort zone.
As a voice actor, I’m constantly going through these moments as I reach new milestones or opportunities are presented to me where I feel like I’m not ready. I tend to look at it like this. I wouldn’t be offered an opportunity if I weren’t ready and capable of it. We aren’t often, in our minds, ready for something because we haven’t done it before but we are usually capable of so much more and are resilient in the moment when we are presented with a challenge.
One such experience comes to mind and that was when I was hired to be a voice in a video game. At the time, I wasn’t pursuing video games. I didn’t have a body of work to share or a demo that highlighted my skill set in that area. My manager sent me an audition for a video game and I thought I’d give it a shot, just giving my best performance and interpretation of the character. Low and behold, I booked that role. I was shocked and felt like maybe a mistake had been made.
The day(s) came to record this character with the director and it was a slight adjustment in the type of work I was currently doing which was focused mainly in corporate and explainer videos, eLearning narration, and commercials. The director was simply the best and made me feel welcome, comfortable, and like I was here to own this character.
That experience taught me that as long as I’m open-minded and willing to risk being uncomfortable I am not an imposter, if the opportunity was presented to me it was for me if I chose to pursue it. Opportunities often come from the most unlikely places, even when we aren’t actively pursuing them.
When I find myself deep in imposter syndrome I remind myself that I can do hard things and have done hard things. I keep a Clever Fox Planner (literally one of the best planners) and there is a section at the bottom that says “This Week’s Wins” and each week I write down at least one weekly win. These “wins” don’t have be major milestones, they can simply be something mundane but necessary like “I sent 20 marketing emails to major brands I want to work with” Trust me when I say, that is an absolute win and harder than most people think. Wins are reminders that we can do hard things and if we don’t write them down to reflect upon them in some of the most challenging times it’s near impossible to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and keep pushing.
One of my most recent imposter syndrome moments was when I got a meeting with an executive producer at PBS to pitch my YouTube show, Cut the Mustard. It’s a show all about the world’s most beloved condiments from quirky facts to the history. I know, it’s really niche. I live in the country in Eugene, Oregon and one day decided that I wanted to create a YouTube show because, as a voice actor, my dream is to become an in-show narrator like you would hear on Discovery, History, or even PBS. In the meantime, while I’m pursuing that genre, which is really hard to get into, I thought I might as well create my own show so I can do what I love doing. So after toying with many different topics I settled on condiments because, for one, I wrote down 50 ideas and figured if I can come up with 50 ideas of a topic then it’s worth creating a show. So I ventured into the YouTube world for the first time navigating my way with video production and all things YouTube.
After I had only released maybe 10-12 episodes a colleague of mine pitched the idea to her sister who worked at PBS as an executive producer that manages their digital media side of PBS. It turns out after watching an episode or two she was interested in meeting with me. In that moment, my head was spinning. How, how, does that happen? I produced something that PBS might be interested in? I had the meeting and it went amazing. We had a few more meetings after that breaking down what they’d like to see for further consideration. This led to her and I and a couple of other prestigious media professionals flying to New York to speak at the New York Film Academy about digital media. I was to share my story on how I unintentionally created a show that PBS was interested in. If imposter syndrome wasn’t already hitting me it sure was now being on stage in front of dozens of film students at such a prestigious school nonetheless.
Now, backing up just a little where imposter syndrome had me pinned. A few weeks prior to going to New York I took a talent agent workshop over Zoom. A colleague of mine sent me an email about a workshop that was coming up where I could read commercial copy in front of top talent agents in New York. It sounded like a great idea, I was looking at growing my talent agent representation so why not, it was $100.
What I didn’t see, anywhere listed in the signup materials was that this was for reading on-camera commercial auditions. It wasn’t till a week before the workshop I got an email that said “have your cameras on, good lighting, distraction free background and memorize your lines” Memorize my lines? That’s not typically something that happens in voice over. I was sure this was for on-camera actors and that wasn’t me, so I thought. I got so close to canceling but a colleague convinced me to go through with it so I did. I figured the worst that can happen is that they ask me to leave or that I learn a thing or two about on-camera auditions.
The day came and I wasn’t really nervous because I had nothing on the line here. I just watched the other actors do their thing and then it came my turn and I just gave my performance. The talent agents appreciated my performance and then proceeded to argue about whether or not I should trim my award-winning mustache for commercial work and the consensus was to keep it because it looks unique and cool and if a big heaping pile of money comes my way I’d gladly baby face it.
A few days after that workshop I get an email from a talent agents assistant at one of the top talent agencies in New York saying they want to meet me and consider me for representation. Now, mind you, I told all the New York agents in the workshop that I live in Oregon. I reminded the assistant and they said it wasn’t a problem. So I had a meeting with the talent agent a few days after and they loved my performance and look and wanted to sign me for on-camera commercial. Now that was an unexpected and totally a moment of not feeling worthy. Clearly I was an imposter at that point. Again, I had to remind myself that if the opportunity presented itself that it means I am ready to take it on so I did.
If you only take one thing away from my experiences, it’s that if an opportunity is presented to you and you feel like an imposter it means it is meant for you and you can choose to accept it. Keep a planner or a journal documenting those wins so you can pull yourself up in times of deep imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is a sign that you are about to do something uncomfortable which means you are ready to grow.
When in doubt, lean into it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a full-time voice actor that specializes in corporate and explainer videos, commercials, eLearning, audiobooks, digital show narration, and video games. The most exciting part of my job is that every day is different. The morning could be recording a commercial, the afternoon an eLearning module, and late afternoon could be taking a workshop on how to improve my storytelling skills. Some days it feels like a dream and other days it feels incredibly scary not knowing where my next project will come from but that’s kind of what you sign up for as a freelance voice actor and I’m just now entering my fourth year full time and it’s not slowing down any time soon.
If you’d like to check out some of my latest work you can go to my website brandonmillervoiceover.com and check out my portfolio, there’s also a piece from my YouTube channel Cut the Mustard.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Just start. Do a small bit of research to get some bearings and then just start. Whether it’s starting a business, a YouTube channel, switching careers, or buying a house. The idea is to not do so much research that you burn out, become desentized to the excitement of the new venture and scare yourself into needing more research more preparation to get started. You never need to be 100% prepared to start, just a desire, some action steps, and the courage to take that first step.
Experiment with taking the first step by making it as small as you can because that small action will create a snowball effect making it easier and more exciting to take the next.
Most of us who have jobs have had more than one in our lifetimes. Use the skills and knowledge you gained from those to help accel your new endeavor. Soft skills are invaluable in starting a business or switching careers. We all have transferable skills, sometimes the ones we think are so basic are actually the ones that set us apart.
Make a list of all the basic, intermediate, and advanced skills you can come up with that you posses. Think of all the jobs and/or volunteer opportunities you’ve had. Now see how you can use those to help you move forward in your venture.
Build your team early on. For me, as a voice actor, I don’t have employees but to me building a team means surrounding myself with coaches, mentors, colleagues, and vendors that I can turn to when I don’t have the answers and trust me we don’t all have the answers 100% of the time. We can’t see our own blind spots and there are a lot of them in those early years. Build your dream team!
You can find these people by using LinkedIn, listening to podcasts, Facebook groups, in-person networking at your Chamber of Commerce, Meetup Groups, etc. When you get that business card don’t let it sit on your desk, immediately when you get home write an email and schedule it for the next morning.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Let me make my own mistakes and learn from them. I was a troubled teenager, often causing trouble from skipping school to parties to just being rebellious and some of that led to going to juvenile detention. My parents could have enabled me allowing my behavior to be swept under the rug but instead they let me fully embrace consequences that led me to a fork in the road. Continue down this troubled path or change for the better.
By changing for the better it introduced me to the world of acting which later in my life would become pivotal in a career that is foremost focused on inspiration, motivation, and finding the good in everything I do.
Parents, allow your children space to make their own choices and just be there for support without enablement.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brandonmillervoiceover.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonmillervo/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmillervoiceover/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cutthemustardshow
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
