We were lucky to catch up with Kristin James recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Well, from a young age I really had no choice but to be resilient. When I was ten years old I had a heart attack. Thankfully, I was in the hospital when it happened. I was receiving treatment for KawasakiDisease, which Wikipedia defines as, “an autoimmune disease in which the medium-sized blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. It is largely seen in children under five years of age. It affects many organ systems, mainly those including the blood vessels, skin, mucous membranes, and lymph nodes. Its rarest but most serious effect is on the heart, where it can cause fatal coronary artery aneurysms in untreated children. Without treatment, mortality may approach 1%, usually within six weeks of onset. With treatment, the mortality rate is 0.17% in the U.S.”
It turns out I was in that unlucky “rarest but most serious” category and had 2 aneurysms on the arteries in my heart.
During the attack I was rushed to the ICU where I spent about 5 and a half days of my 11 total days in the hospital. I don’t know how much experience you all have with the ICU, but patients aren’t really allowed to do much of anything except to rest and focus on getting better.
Fortunately, I had some very good friends who not only visited me, but also brought me a very influential present. I was given Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” in audiobook form (on cassette!) performed by Ron Rifkin.
Listening to that story I was able to forget for a little while that I couldn’t play soccer or softball anymore, that my days would be dominated by a medication schedule, or that I didn’t know when or if I would be able to go back to school. I was able to just get lost in the world that Lowry created and Rifkin brought to life.
I still have that copy.
That experience has always stuck with me. I don’t remember that time as blood tests and IVs, but rather as the first time Jonas ever saw color.
If Lowry and Rifkin could do it for me, then maybe, just maybe, I could do it for someone else.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
These days I do mostly audiobook narration. I’ve always been an avid reader, so being able to turn a passion into a profession has been very rewarding. It’s never boring because I’m telling a different story just about every week. My favorite genre to narrate is Thriller, followed closely by Fantasy. My newest release is The Prophecy of the Forgotten Fae trilogy written by Tessonja Odette. The world she has created is very fleshed out and makes you want to dive right in. Her characters are believable, even when they’re a telepathic unicorn. I loved the series and hope you do too.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The most important part of being a voice actor is acting. So the fact that I’ve been on stage since preschool was a huge leg up. If this is something you’d like to do, start with an acting class. ANY acting class. Stage acting and improv are extremely helpful behind the mic.
Resilience is also an important quality. All actors hear “no” way more than they hear “yes”, so you’ll need a thick skin.
Even before I started narrating, I had a strong love of reading and books. If curling up with a book on any given afternoon doesn’t sound like a good time for you, then you would not enjoy this work.
If you’re curious as to whether you would enjoy narration, pick up a book, go sit in a closet, and read out loud. Any time you make a mistake, restart at the beginning of the sentence and continue. If you found you enjoyed the exercise you’re likely in good shape to contact a coach and to continue to pursue the profession. If you hate every second, or make a mistake on every single line, well with the former I’m guessing you’ll just stop, and if the latter you’re going to need to practice a lot until you can cut back on that. Regardless of where you are in your journey, finding a good coach will be your best bet moving forward.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
If I only had a decade of life left I would absolutely travel. I would want to see as much of the world as possible before my end. I would also adopt as many senior dogs as I could care for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kjthevoiceactor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kj_the_voice_actor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KJtheVoiceActor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCacalvy0ORweDZLrXRJsbQ
