An Interview with Colleen Arnold
This month we are interviewing Army spouse Colleen Arnold. She found a jackpot career as a voice over artist. It’s mobile, creative, and it pays well! Let’s find out how she went from musical theater, to arts management, to booking a national commercial.
MilspoFAN: Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where you are today.
Colleen: When I graduated with my BFA is Musical Theatre in 2009, I wanted to be an actor and assumed I’d do the whole NYC starving artist thing – I absolutely never EVER pictured getting married at 23 and becoming a military spouse. But – it happened! I met my husband in gym class in 2001– and then it took him 8 years to ask me out on a date (ha!) - his timing was perfect, I guess – we’ve now been married 13 years and have two wonderful kids, age 4 and 7. In that time, I’ve moved 9 times, and lived in 7 states and driven cross country more times than I can remember. We’re grateful now to be in Maryland, close to both our families, for going on 4 years – our longest PCS – ever!
MilspoFAN: How did you become a voice actor?
I started in theatre, picking up small professional gigs wherever we would go, but it became really clear about 4 years into my army experience that life as an actor wasn’t ever going to be something financially sustainable or provide growth in our lifestyle. So I pivoted and got an MA in Arts Management and tried the business side of the business. I worked in fundraising and house management and had a regular salary! But my creative side was still feeling neglected. So, when we moved to Georgia in 2018 and I got a job working for a dinner theatre on our Army base – it felt so good to be touching theatre again, house managing, building sets, performing, everything – finding out 6 months later we were PCSing again was – challenging. That’s when a castmate mentioned she was getting into voiceover- and I sort of was like—really? And got curious. When I graduated from undergrad, VO was still very much an LA/NYC big city thing that you “needed an agent for” (or so my professors told me). But at this point, the technology had caught up, home studios were becoming more common, online casting was creating an environment to make remote work possible – so I started researching training and classes and “dabbling.” We PCS’d, I found a local coach and started learning how to use a DAW and a mic and read audiobooks. The pandemic found me working fulltime as a manager for two boutique fitness studios (I’ve been teaching barre on the side since 2014), but I knew I wanted to keep exploring VO. I used that time to save for some better equipment and demos, and to take some more VO classes and coaching. I started booking a little work – a couple of web ads, and a few audiobooks. Then about two years ago, I made the decision (with the support of my husband – he’s my biggest cheerleader) to go full time as a VO, and part time as barre teacher, and I’ve not looked back since. I booked my first national commercial spot and signed with my agent in December. Every day is a hustle but it’s the most balanced and satisfying I’ve felt professionally, pretty much ever!
MilspoFAN: Describe for us your creative work and the aesthetic of your voice, do you specialize in certain characters?
Colleen: I’m lucky to have a pleasant, resonant, and warm sounding voice – along with all my voice training from my music and acting background, it makes me versatile and marketable across a lot of genres of the industry – commercials, corporate work, audiobooks, eLearning-- I’m really finding a niche with YA and self-help audiobooks. Commercial and corporate work is kind of my bread and butter right now, but this year I’d really love to get into more character work – my agent sends out a good bit of video game and animation auditions, so I’d love to grow that side of my career – there are so many kids characters voiced by voice actors with my voice type!
MilspoFAN: How has your role as a military spouse impacted your work as an actor- creatively, logistically, or otherwise?
Colleen: I struggled for so many years to find a balance. When I first got married at 23, I was like “I am doing my thing and you are doing YOUR thing” and focused really hard on making a traditional theatre career work and refusing to be involved in my husband’s career in anything but the bare minimum way. Embracing his career and embracing the community helped to ground me professionally. Once I saw our lifestyle as a dynamic creative boundary, instead of an obstacle or limitation, my professional path started to emerge. I had to be okay with it looking different that I planned – and I’m glad I did. Creative, mobile, financially viable – voiceover is a military spouse’s jackpot career, IMO!
The other wonderful thing about our lifestyle is that I have authentic experiences of so many different parts of the country, different people, and their stories. There’s so much imagination involved when you sit inside a box and talk to yourself all day 😊 Being able to draw from that well as an actor is just a tremendous thing.
MilspoFAN: How do you cultivate your creativity?
Colleen: Here’s the thing about doing VO – it’s new every single day. You never know what kind of audition or work is going to pop into your lap – I mean in the last 24 hours I voiced a mermaid, a sentient robot, read furniture descriptions for a corporate client and sent in auditions for a mattress, a bank, a political ad, an anti-vaping PSA, and a video game character. My creative muscles are FLEXING! When I feel like I’m running out of fresh takes, I step away – I have ADHD, two kids, and a dog – there’s always something I can do to power up or power down – sometimes it’s belting showtunes or plunking at the piano, sometimes it’s legos or barbies or walking the dog. My hobbies are kind of endless, and I’m a big advocate of setting down your art and just doing something else – a nap, tv, exercise, play – to sort of clear the junk and refill my cup.
MilspoFAN: What’s next for you?
Colleen: More auditions, more gigs, and more audiobooks, I hope! I’ve just finished (by the time this runs, I think!) a YA audiobook coming of age series called The Lightworkers, about an 18 year old girl who discovers she’s a witch with magical powers. It’s got a Buffy vibe, and was so much fun to voice!
MilspoFAN: What is the most practical piece of advice that you would give to other artists?
Colleen: Don’t be a lone wolf! Find an accountability buddy or group of artists in your field, or a community of creators that makes you feel supported. I have the most supportive family in the world (which is great and I love them and I’m so grateful) but having people in the field who can lift you up, give you advice, share ideas – all while understanding exactly what you are going through and push you forward – is just golden. I went to my first in person VO conference in Q4 of 2023, and it was a game changer – not only was it motivating and affirming as an experience, I met some fantastic people that live close by and we have been meeting up in person – a handy way to make new friends after a PCS, too!
Find Colleen online at:
Instagram: @heyarnoldvo
www.colleenarnoldvo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carnoldarts/
