Are you a creative entrepreneur or small business owner, like me? How many of us give ourselves the right to take a vacation – a real break – to replenish our soul, to share good times with family and friends? I’m afraid that the answer these days is: fewer and fewer. Researcher and author Brené Brown, whom I deeply admire, believes that “our culture is moving in the direction of using exhaustion as a status symbol.” Workaholism is applauded, rest is perceived as slacking off, and this is taking a serious toll on the fabric of our lives. It’s time to reclaim rest and play.
I recently heard it said that part of what makes a successful voiceover career is to provide service without interruption to our clients even when we’re on vacation. We are to take mobile recording rigs with us and not let our clients know we’re going away, lest we lose an important regular client. My talented voiceover colleague Maxine Dunn calls this way of thinking a “fear-based business policy”. I call it a scarcity mindset, and I respectfully challenge it. When Brian and I decide to take our few vacations each year, I post the schedule on our website on our “studio availability” page and compose an email letting all our clients know well in advance, urging them to send us scripts to record before or after our days off. I add that during our vacation we are available for short and emergency jobs only. This works. People get it.
When we took our girls on a long-awaited trip to Europe last summer as a high school graduation gift, our clients were wonderfully supportive; I only had three jobs to record while we were away, for clients who were kind enough to apologize for bothering me on our vacation! The rest deluged us with work before we left, or waited for us to return and wished us well. I was there for my major clients, and I took my rest and came back nourished and fulfilled. This has consistently been the case since we started setting these boundaries, which it took some courage to begin doing, by the way. I didn’t always think this way.
We all deserve to rest and play. When we rest, our brain, hearts and spirits have a chance to regenerate and get reinfused with love, companionship of friends and family, nature, great cultural experiences, wonderful meals, and play. What’s the point of a being an entrepreneur and making your own schedule if you never give yourself permission to unplug and really take time off to enjoy yourself? What price are you paying?
I love my bilingual voiceover and Latin music careers, and I will continue to do my best to carve out the work/life balance that I know ultimately makes me a better voice artist, a happier business partner to all my colleagues and clients as well as a better person to be around, period! I have the best clients on the planet, whose expectations I am always intent on exceeding, but I am not only my work: I am the sum of all of my experiences inside and outside my recording studio. I am a mother of twins, a wife, a friend to many, a beach lover, yoga practitioner, doggie-lover, improvisational singer, occasional salsa dancer, foodie, a dreamer and TEDTalk junkie. How about you?
Rosi Amador
Rosi Amador is a native Spanish/English voiceover actor with no accent whatsoever in either language. She was raised both in Latin and North America, so she is a native speaker of both languages, bicultural and equally comfortable in both worlds. She can easily add a Hispanic accent to her English reads when required. Her clients describe her voice as friendly, sparkling, expressive, pleasing, warm and enthusiastic. She is a mom of bilingual twins (daughter and son) born in 1996 and the wife and business partner of hubby Brian Amador, Latin guitarist and bilingual voice actor. She loves dark chocolate, yoga and singing Latin music! Visit Rosi's new website: www.rosiamadorvo.com
Hi Rosi – I loved this piece and I love the interesting job that you do. I’m British and I recently wrote a piece about Leonora Carrington (British-born artist). Leonora fled rainy Britain when she was a young girl and spent her entire working life living and working in Mexico City. She produced some amazing art.
I absolutely adore Latin American and Mexican culture. The positivity, joy, charm, exuberance. It is so appealing for me as a British person. When I think of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende and their style of writing I go weak at the knees.
If you have a moment have a look at my article about Leonora – you can find it at: educated-traveller.com
I was lucky enough to spend 6 months in Mexico in 1984 – I particularly loved Yucatan (not Cancun) and Oaxaca.
I am a fellow WOF x
Hi Janet,
Thanks so much for your kind comment. Of course I’ll check out your article about Leonora Carrington! I too have traveled to Mexico, with Brian and my girls when they were pre-teenagers and we absolutely loved it there. I can see why you fell in love with it. I couldn’t agree more with you about Gabriel García Marquez and Isabel Allende. I am a huge fan of both. I’m sad we lost Gabriel relatively recently, but so grateful for his body of work. I’m so grateful that we’ve been brought together by Women on Fire, that we’re WOF sisters, and that we have that magnificent community to support our courage to rest and play. ¡Hasta pronto y mucho éxito en todos tus proyectos!
GREAT PIECE ROSI! This is something I struggle with BIG time! I seem to book the most only when I announce I am going away, so I take a vacation every couple of days! (LOL) Don’t I wish. I haul, schlep, and enroll my children into carrying my travel rig and then I shove it in the corner of my hotel room and rarely open it, if at all. It’s there for pure security. There is an expression I have written at my desk here that says, “Dolce Farniente” – Italian for…The Sweetness of Doing Nothing. There are Human-Do-ers and Human – Beings. Be. Such an important practice for Super-Humans! Thanks for your share! BE! Jes
I appreciate your honest reply Jessica! I hear you. We are forever trying to do it all, yet time after time we are so much more expansive when we give ourselves these nourishing pauses to simply live. Thanks for taking the time to respond here. It makes my heart sing.
I couldn’t agree with you more. The North American work ethic is pushing the limits. It is impossible to do a good job without giving yourself permission to replenish the batteries. Great article!
Thank you so much Elaine! We know each other so well and I am so aware of how hard we push ourselves to be the best at what we do. It means a lot to me that this resonated for you too!
Love your perspective and advice, Rosi! Thank you for writing this.
Thank *you* Lisa, for your kind comment. I’m so happy that it was meaningful for you!