We caught up with the brilliant and insightful J Rodney Turner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi J Rodney, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes from my father. He was raised in an orphanage in Virginia, and he had no male role models. All of his authority figures were female. He worked at Southern Bell Telephone Company for over 30 years and he instilled in me, and my two older sisters, a sense of responsibility to family.
This reflected in his work ethic at his job and his work ethic when taking care of a growing family in South Florida. From the early 40s when he and mom were married until he retired in the mid 80’s, he and mom set the example for how a husband and wife work together to raise their family, take care of their home and accept responsibilities for their respective jobs.
I like to believe I carried that work ethic with me out of high school into the United States Navy, a short time with the same Southern Bell where dad was employed, and into the Federal Aviation Administration as an air traffic controller, and after my own retirement into building a modestly successful audiobook production business.
Meeting the needs of clients, providing quality work on time and in the proper format is paramount. All while saying in constant and s=consistent communication with authors and publishing houses.
Thanks, Dad!!
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?
I’ve been very fortunate while building my audiobook narration business. I’ve been able to find quality coaches and advisors who have enabled me to capitalize on my natural southern accent, instead of trying to eliminate or diminish it in ordeer to obtain quality work.
From Celia Segel who helped first convince me that using my accent as an asset as opposed to a liability to Tantor Audio who has honored me with the majority of my work in Westerns, Non-Fiction titles set in the post civil war west and south and to a handful of quality independent authors who have also blessed me with consistent work, I’ve enjoyed a growing business that I believe reflect the work ethic taught to me by my father.
Thanks again, Dad.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
For audiobook narrators I believe the following three attributes will lead to a successful business:
1) The ability to effectively research your titles before you begin production. From finding proper pronunciation of words from the dictionary, or the proper pronunciation of words and phrases in different languages or to the proper pronunciation of names of people and places, effective research will also serve you well. And research serves will for those beginning a narration career when finding quality coaches and advisors.
2) A strong work ethic. As one of my coaches, David H Lawrence XVII says, “Have a bias for action” Meaning don’t wait until the last minute to do what can and should be done right now.
3) The willingness to have fun with whatever you may be pursuing. If you’re not enjoying yourself then it become more like a job than a successful business. Finding the joy in your work helps the creative process, and, when gathering together with peers to learn or to simply socialize, makes for a more enjoyable time for everyone.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents were great at not teaching us what to think but teaching us how to think. And allowing us to be independent children and to chart our own courses. That independence, along with the strong work ethic, has allowed me to truly enjoy building my audiobook narration business and it has also offered me the opportunity to mentor and advise others who are jst starting out in their own narration journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jrodneyturner.com
- Instagram: @jrodneyturner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JRodneyTurner
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrodneyturner/
- Twitter: @jrodneyturner1
Image Credits
All images from All My Sins Remembered; Son of the Old West, Dreams of Eagles and house of Secrets credited to Tantor Audio. Credits for Images from Fear and DeadEye to author Ronald Kelly
