Meet GM Hakim

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful GM Hakim a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

GM, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I have always tried to do my best, in every situation, every day. From a very early age, my parents held me to my personal best, not any objective standard. In school, whether my best was an A, or a C, if it was my best, it was good enough. And that helped me become accountable to myself. But I’ve also always had an optimization mindset. How can I make this, whatever “this” is, as good as it can be? I think I just have a really analytical way of thinking about things – I love spreadsheets, data, graphs, charts. I love knowing the schema that ties everything together so that knowledge is connected in my brain. Doing things just to get them done just isn’t good enough for me. I’m not sure where that comes from, in a holistic sense, but if I’m going to devote time to something, I want it to be the best that it can be. For example, I try to load the dishwasher optimally, with the taller items on the sides so that the revolving arm doesn’t hit them, which it would if they were in the middle. I suppose it’s somewhat of an obsessive mindset, but it doesn’t bother me. If I can figure out a better way to do anything, I’m going to do it that way. It’s like constantly solving puzzles, and I like to apply that problem-solving mindset to everything in my life. I think that’s where my work ethic comes from. I am never bored. There’s always way too much to do, way too much that I’m interested in. We’re only on this planet for 80-something years. Why waste time? There’s so much out there waiting to be experienced, so I try to go grab those things while I can.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As a multiple award-nominated, full-time voice actor, I work in eLearning, audiobooks, commercials, animation, audio guides, documentaries and docuseries, video games, audio dramas, corporate narration, explainers, promos, and more. My happy clients include Meta, Spotify, Hellmann’s, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Amy’s Kitchen, JPMorganChase, Degree, Marvel Snap, Novartis, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, The U.S. Federal Highway Administration, The American Council of Life Insurers, and many more.

I love that I get to tell stories for a living. I get to play, pretend, and make believe all day. Yes, there’s a lot of non-glamorous administrative work to do when you are your own boss, but the ability to tell stories for a living just lights me up. Whether it’s taking a listener through a novel as a narrator, just like I did when I taught English, telling the corporate origin story for a company’s website like I did in the new 2025 Brand Anthem for Amy’s Kitchen, or being the voice of a commercial, I love being the one to guide someone through a new experience and bring them joy. I think my experience as a teacher lends itself so well to that. You’re constantly telling your students, “Hey, look at this cool new thing! Listen to this interesting take!” – and that’s voice acting in a nutshell. You want to grab the listeners’ attention and say, “Hey, this is cool!” and have them share that experience with you.

As a millennial, I have a relatable style, and my warm, rich, baritone voice has been called engaging and easy to listen to. I would say that my voice and style are a mix of Jon Hamm’s gravitas, Patrick Warburton’s depth, and Jason Bateman’s humor and relatability. Recently, I was nominated for a 2026 SOVAS Award for Outstanding TV or Streaming Commercial – Best Voiceover, and a 2025 USA One Voice Award for Best Performance in an Audio Drama by a Male. I am also the narrator of the audiobook of the 2025 National Book Award winner for Fiction, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine, which was named one of the 10 Best Audiobooks of the 2025 by The Washington Post. It’s also one of three positive reviews I’ve received in AudioFile Magazine, which was recently acquired by Kirkus Reviews.

Some of my goals are to narrate 500 audiobooks in my career, to regularly appear as a voice actor in AAA video games, to voice in a children’s animated TV show (or several!), to become a regular narrator of TV documentaries and docuseries, and to become a regular narrator of museum audio guides. I think my background as a teacher, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and with a master’s degree in children’s literature, plays into this career path well. I know I have the background and the skills to make it happen. I’m trying to put myself in the best position to have the opportunities I’m seeking. I’ve also traveled to 56 countries, lived in 3 (The USA, Spain, and Australia), and visited countless historic and cultural sites, so this goal is just an extension of what already motivates, interests, and enriches me as a person. To get to make that my work is just a tremendous blessing.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First, take everyone’s advice and then keep what works for you and throw out the rest. Everyone is going to have their own way of doing things that works for them. They’re going to speak from that place of experience and competence that works with their particular style, their particular personality. It won’t necessarily work perfectly for you. So, listen to coaches and to those who’ve come before you, and then tailor that information to make it yours. This is why I always wrote my own lessons as a teacher. You can’t just take canned curriculum and churn it out to your students. You have to personalize everything. It’s the same reason I customize my campaigns when I run Dungeons & Dragons games. You have to personalize the campaign and tailor the story to the stories of your players if you want to have the maximum impact, and maximum fun.

Second, know your own voice and strengths. Everyone has different niches that they fill better than others. By all means, you can broaden your areas of work, but if you are a slam dunk as a documentary narrator, then by all means, do lots of documentaries. I think everyone’s happy that Sir David Attenborough did so. It’s better to be thought of as “the person who’s really good at X” than “the person who is just ok at lots of things.” But that said, leveling up your weaker areas so you have no weaknesses is also really useful! But I think knowing where you’re strongest can give you a solid foundation, both in terms of reputation, body of work, and financially, that you can then build on as you go.

Third, make in-person appearances. For a solopreneur who works from home, this is not as easy as it sounds. You have to invest the time and money at going to conferences, trade shows, and events, so that people know you as a person. Especially in this world of Zoom, AI, and remote work, people fundamentally like other people. Familiar is comfortable. So even if it’s hard, if you can swing it financially, take the time to do those things, because they will repay you exponentially over time.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I have dedicated my life to writing, telling stories, and teaching others. I know I make a great eLearning narrator. I mean, if you can get a class of 30 middle schoolers to enjoy learning about quotation marks, and to look back on middle school with fondness, you know you’ve done something right. I am eager to connect with instructional designers, eLearning developers, and corporations who create online learning modules for their employees or students. I know that I have a relatable style that makes learning fun, and lord knows that some corporate training could use a face lift! Have you ever been sent a “required” training module for your job? And you just can’t wait to click through it to get it over with? I’d be happy to narrate, and also to write (or edit) any training modules to make them more fun and engaging. In fact, I believe that my strength as an editor is probably one of my strongest suits. If you have a training module that’s already gone through Compliance and Legal, I can take that script, keep all the required parts, and change the Voice of the text to make it more engaging. It’s one of the things I do best.

I’m also interested in collaborating with documentary filmmakers and TV producers. I went to school, either as a teacher or a student, for nearly 40 years, so teaching others about the world through documentaries is right in my wheelhouse. Not only do I have the voice and passion for it, but the intention and desire to share knowledge and enrich others’ experience of life through education and information. This harkens back to me being an optimizer – I’m always seeking the best way to do or experience something, and I believe I can use that energy and intention as a force for good to help others get more joy out of life through learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gmhakim.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmhakimvo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GMHakimVO
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmhakim/
• Twitter: https://x.com/GMHakimVO
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmhakimvo

Image Credits

Carlie Febo
Two Dudes Photo