Meet Jessica Mathison

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Mathison. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jessica with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My mother was a single mom for most of my life, raising three kids on her own. She worked as a Speech Pathologist, but most of the time, that income was not enough to keep up with the rising cost of living and the rising costs associated with growing kids. She wasn’t eligible for any kind of assistance, so she worked extra jobs in the evenings, on the weekends, and during the summers to make sure that we had what we needed. She even went without, at times, so that we didn’t have to. Watching her work so hard to support our little family was not lost on me. It showed me what an excellent work ethic looks like.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My journey into the world of voiceover began with a simple conversation about an audiobook my son, Taft, was listening to while he spent hours behind the wheel as an over-the-road truck driver. Little did I know that this little chat would spark a curiosity that would then ignite a passion that would become my new career path. It all started as a means to supplement my small business income during slower periods, but as I started working in audiobook narration and exploring other genres of voiceover, I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do more. Well, aside from business consultation and event planning businesses, which I had been running for years and loved so much! I’m a total business nerd and serial entrepreneur.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of providing guidance to numerous companies and business owners, drawing from my experiences in various industries. Whether it’s offering strategic advice or assisting with process optimization, even helping them do the tasks they have a hard time getting done, I’ve been able to help businesses grow and thrive. It’s incredibly rewarding and I’ve actually been developing a business program geared to voice actors for about a year and will be launching it this Fall. I love that I am able to have a career that combines my love of voiceover and my fascination with business!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I feel like my fascination with business has been a massive help throughout my journey. Not everyone is required to take business classes at any level of education, which is too bad, really. Seeing my voiceover BUSINESS as a business from the start has set me up for success. I don’t have to go back in and try to retool this voiceover thing that I have going into a proper business, saving me time, money, and opportunity cost.

I have always been very curious. I joke that I am a perpetual four-year-old because of the number of times I ask ‘why’. I feel that if I understand why something is the way that it is, I am able to accept it more easily. Having that curiosity and asking ‘why’ has helped me gain knowledge and skills in multiple areas so that I am able to do business better. It has also helped me help others learn about running their own businesses. I learn something new just about every day and it’s amazing!

I heard one of the most powerful things some years ago. I wish I could remember who to credit for it because it has made a huge difference in my personal and professional life. I was told, ‘Whether you realize it or not, you teach people how to treat you.’ In other words, setting boundaries is important and necessary in life and in business. We need to do a better job of normalizing that. You can be a nice person. You can be helpful. You can be generous and kind. AND, you can set boundaries. They are necessary for personal and professional growth.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I am a list maker and a scheduler. It helps me make sense of the chaos of the days and the many thoughts and ideas that are always swirling around in my head. Even if I have a ‘To-Do’ List that covers a bunch of tasks I need to accomplish, sometimes, I can’t get past the first one because what I have written down actually has many things to consider. So, I make a new list – one that breaks down the task on the other list into smaller, more manageable steps. It’s a big help to make sure I don’t miss anything. I also create calendar reminders for upcoming tasks I need to do and set reminders for 1 day, 1 hour and 10 minutes prior to the deadline I have set. It helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed when I am busy, which is always, so it’s super helpful!

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