Journeys to Leadership

Heidi Rew: [00:00:00] If you just lean in, get through it and look for the lesson, then there will never be a hard season that isn't valuable to you.

President Zak: Hello and welcome to Agnes Scott College's Podcast. Journeys to Leadership. Will we explore the paths of inspiring women leaders from around the globe. I'm Leocadia Zak, President of Agnes Scott, and the host of this podcast.

President Zak: I hope that our guest stories not only encourage you, our listeners, and leaders of today and tomorrow, but they also inspire you as you take the next steps in your own journey.

President Zak: A Georgia native. Today's guest is a national voiceover talent actress, host, and former radio dj. She has worked in multiple markets with nearly a decade of experience in the entertainment industry. [00:01:00] She specializes in commercial industrial narration and promotional voiceover. Her work can be heard in commercials for various companies, including Audio Nation, GE Hallmark, Jiffy Lube, Build a Bear, Subway, and Belk to name just a few.

President Zak: She's also the co-owner of Atlanta Voiceover Studio, which was founded with the goal of developing and raising the level of voice-over talent in Atlanta and beyond. Our guest is leading with her heart and making a positive and inspiring impact in the entertainment industry while expanding a freelance career, co-owning a small business and leading a team like so many, her journey has had its challenges, but she's leading with resiliency, consistency, and positivity.

President Zak: Please join me in welcoming Heidi Ru. Hello, Heidi. Thanks so much for joining

Heidi Rew: us. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Such an [00:02:00] honor.

President Zak: Well, we're delighted to have you. I have to tell you, I'm a little intimidated in doing a podcast with someone who does voiceover. I might have to have you come later and do a little voiceover for me.

President Zak: what is voiceover? Some of our listeners may not

Heidi Rew: know. It's kind of this weird mystery of an industry, um, that most people are like, Wait, what even is that? I didn't even really know exactly what it was either when I first started, but voiceover is found in so many different things. Most people probably immediately think of cartoons or animation.

Heidi Rew: The voices behind. And that is one of the aspects or genres of voiceover, but there's also commercials, um, and once you now are attuned to it, if you listen into those commercials, it's like you can't ever not hear like, Oh my gosh, that's right. I just didn't think about like there's a voice behind that commercial.

Heidi Rew: Um, but then there's also a lot of other genre. E-learning is a huge one and it continues to grow [00:03:00] every year. Um, also video games, of course, that may be another one that people are familiar with. IVR or phone messaging, text to speech or AI jobs. Um, those are big. And even if it's like, um, I've. Been playing one for Auto Nation spots for a long time.

Heidi Rew: Just within even their commercial. Audiobooks is another one. I mean, there's a ton of different genres or um, or fields that use voiceover talent. ,

President Zak: and it sounds like one that is continuing to increase, especially with technology. I mean, I love my audiobooks. Yes. So it sounds like there are multiple uses and just continuing to increase.

Heidi Rew: It really is. I mean, especially the audiobook industry. I think that it. I think that, I just read that it almost doubled in revenue just within the past year or so, Audiobooks did, and that's gonna continue to grow. Um, so yes, there is more and more need for voiceover, especially in this digital [00:04:00] world. Um, and even in my own career, um, you know, technology has changed so much.

Heidi Rew: Before we would mainly get booked in outside studios, but now, If you don't have a home studio, it's really hard to compete in the industry, so you really need to have a home studio. And Covid really blew that up. I was doing probably still like 90% of my jobs from my home studio before Covid. Um, and then of course after c.

Heidi Rew: I've been in maybe twice to outside studios, um, and all, I mean, 99.9% of my jobs are done for my home studio, which is wonderful because you can be anywhere. So many people say, Oh, is Atlanta a great hub for voiceover? It's like, it doesn't matter. I mean, Atlanta voiceovers. Studio is here. So it would be great, you know, if you wanna be in person and, you know, can come to even some of our socials and stuff.

Heidi Rew: But, um, but you don't have to be, you can be anywhere and do voiceover. You can be [00:05:00] connected to LA from, you know, I don't know, a small town in Mississippi, . It just doesn't matter so Well that is

President Zak: wonderful to know and. Part of our podcast is talking about journeys and your journey. So I'd love to take you back.

President Zak: Um, where did you grow up and did you think this is what you were going to do , um, as you were growing up?

Heidi Rew: Yeah. Um, no, I did not think that this is what I was. Gonna do. Um, but I grew up in Atlanta, just south of Atlanta. So I was born in Riverdale and then grew up, uh, like in middle school or so in Jonesboro.

Heidi Rew: So I went to Jonesboro High School and um, have always loved the Atlanta area in Georgia and so proud to be here. I went away to school in Tennessee, but I came back cuz I was like, Wow, this. Place is awesome. I love Atlanta so much, but I never, I never even thought about voiceover. Honestly. My track was really in radio.

Heidi Rew: I actually wanted to go into television broadcasting for a little bit, and then I interned at a news [00:06:00] station and I was like, Oh gosh, I, I'm gonna wanna hug these people. I'm not gonna get the story. I'm gonna be an awful reporter, . And so, So then I interned at a radio station and I thought, Oh, I love this.

Heidi Rew: This is, this is my jam. And so I was in radio. Really? And it wasn't until a guy, a coworker of mine said, You know, do you do voiceover cuz I could listen to your voice all day . And I was like, Okay, that's quite the pickup line I think. Um, but he actually helped me get started in voiceover cuz I thought, I don't even know.

Heidi Rew: What this is, I mean, I had done, I had done voiceovers. Anytime anybody that's in radio or even tv, a lot of times local stations, sales people will pull you in to do spots because you are there cuz you're cheap. , you're free and you can come in there and do it. Um, but it's a totally different thing doing that than actually trying to compete and, you know, [00:07:00] create a business out of.

Heidi Rew: Um, but I just didn't think it was a, I don't know, I just never thought of it before, but that guy actually ended up really helping me figure out voiceover and understand the business and, um, then he married me so that it all worked out. That's fantastic.

President Zak: That's fantastic. So you answered one of the questions that so many people want to know, which is, do you have mentors?

President Zak: Mm-hmm. , has someone helped to guide you? Um, you have an amazing, someone I do here, um, that you talked about, but are there other people or have you had the opportunity to mentor others?

Heidi Rew: Yes to both of those. And I feel like it is so important to, um, I mean, you know, it's, it's a blessing to have mentors in your life, but also it is so important to give to others.

Heidi Rew: Um, But I remember one of my first mentors was actually, it was in middle school and there was a guy, [00:08:00] and it, it's weird. I know. It's like it's a man, it's an older man, but we were friends of their family and he just always would write me these notes of like, you know, I see that you have leadership qualities and everything, and that was so.

Heidi Rew: It was so impactful for me and my life because I had my dad. My dad was always proud of me. My, I have great, great parents, but to have somebody else say, Hey, I see this in you. That's not. My dad that like has to say it, you know, It's like, yeah, dad, okay. I know. You know, I know you think that, um, that really gave me such confidence, especially going through middle school, which is, you know, it's a tough time for everybody.

Heidi Rew: And then for some reason I just always had these people in my life that would be encouraging and I. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I'm so grateful for that. Um, and in doing so that Al I always thought I wanna be able to give back to other people. Um, [00:09:00] So I actually have a mentor that I started when she was in second grade and she's now in high school, um, and, uh, mentee.

Heidi Rew: And she is just precious. But I will say, and I don't know if anyone's listening or, I know this isn't necessarily part of the conversation, but something that I wanna say that's so valuable that I've been learning. Being a mentor is, I felt a lot of pressure to do everything right or like I, I've gotta keep investing in her life or making sure, like, how do I talk to her about this?

Heidi Rew: Or how do I do this? And, . And actually when I looked back at my own history of having mentors, I realized it wasn't like, it wasn't even necessarily planned or, you know, they weren't there for every moment of my life or anything like that. It, it was in the small, these small moments that even sometimes them not even saying anything but the way that they lived their life or there [00:10:00] was, um, a friend of our families.

Heidi Rew: And he was, um, vice president of Finance, Chick-fil-A, and, and they were just great friends of our family. And I learned so much just even about finances from them. But it wasn't like, it wasn't like that they sat me down and said, Hey, uh, I wanna share this with you. But it was through their own stories of how they grew up or how lessons that they learned.

Heidi Rew: And, um, that's been one of the things that I've really been learning, um, as a mentor, is that, I don't know. It doesn't need to be pressure. You don't need to feel like you have to have everything worked out or have these great things to say that sometimes it's just about being there, having somebody else in their life that supports them, that is cheering them on and yeah, and that, that's, that makes a huge impact.

President Zak: Well, that's so encouraging to so many people who can do that. You don't have to be an expert in mentoring [00:11:00] No. To mentor. Mm-hmm. . Um, it's often being yourself. Yes. Um, and just looking out for others. Yeah. You mentioned finance and you know you are a business owner. Mm-hmm. . . Tell us a little bit about that. I mean that you, you know, women going into business and starting their own business.

President Zak: Mm-hmm. is something that can be very difficult. Um, I'd love to know more about how you made that decision, whether there were struggles in that process, or what advice could you give to others?

Heidi Rew: Yeah. Well, you know, I think. The entrepreneur spirit was always kind of in me. Um, my dad was a public school teacher.

Heidi Rew: My mom was a teacher. She stayed home with the four kids. So like I grew up also just knowing I had to make my own money and, you know, to pay for college and everything. So I just would always, um, I don't know. I think I just always thought through that of like, Okay, I need to figure this stuff out so I can provide for myself.

Heidi Rew: So I [00:12:00] always had that mindset, but I tried a lot of things and failed at them. Um, but through all of those things, I learned a lot. I, one of the greatest things that crushed me was I had this blog that I did for six years. It was so consistent. I went to, I went to blog conferences and um, it's took up so much of my time and I really loved it.

Heidi Rew: But honestly, I mean, the most I ever made was like $12,000 for out of a year for my blog, and that was even before expenses were taken out. And so, um, it was something that I just had to say, Okay, this is something I need to let go of and move on after six years. And that was really hard, but do you know what?

Heidi Rew: It was the things that I learned through the blog that actually helped our studio succeed. So, And, and what you're, what you're talking about is Atlanta Voiceover Studio, which we started, [00:13:00] it's actually been a little over six years. And, um, one of the first things that I did with the studio was start an email newsletter.

Heidi Rew: And I had only known how to do that because of the blog. Well, that has been one of the greatest tools for our studio, for growth, for um, community, for connection of the studio. And I never would've done that if I hadn. You know, gone through that process with the blog. Um, there's so much to say, but I will say that, um, about starting a business, it is with the studio, I didn't, we never intended for it to be what it is today.

Heidi Rew: It was supposed to be kind of this small thing. Um, but there were huge needs and so we went to the needs and, and all with the, the desire to help. And that's what led to the growth. But it is also one of the hardest things I've ever done in my [00:14:00] entire life. Um, and I'm, we're run, I'm running it with my husband.

Heidi Rew: So throw that into the mix. , you know, it is. Uh, it is not easy at all. And I just wanna say that if there's ever, if there's anyone that is listening out there, one that wants to start a business, two that's already started a business, and if you ever need someone to talk to, please reach out to me because one of the things about it is it can be really lonely.

Heidi Rew: Um, it. and there's just so many things that you encounter that you're like, I don't know what I'm doing. You know, I don't know how to navigate this. But when you do, when you push through those hard things, it builds up that resilience that then a year from now you'll be like, Oh, I can do this. That's no problem.

Heidi Rew: I've already been through that. That was a long answer to your question, , but

President Zak: No, but thank you and thank you so much for that offer. I mean, we're very excited. Um, this year we're launching [00:15:00] our innovation and entrepreneurship hub on our campus of really encouraging our students in entrepreneurship, so I appreciate that.

President Zak: You know, one of the things you mentioned was you started your business mm-hmm. because you wanted to do something for others. So many people do not equate that they don't equate, you know, business and doing good or the fact there's an opportunity to do good. Yeah. Um, while you're doing something else, could you expand on that a little

Heidi Rew: bit?

Heidi Rew: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's so funny cuz I do so many people, and, and you probably could go on social media and see a ton of, um, Of memes or whatever, quotes about this, about like, find your passion and you'll never work a day in your life. The only problem with that is that a successful business takes what you're passionate about and what you can give to other people.

Heidi Rew: What needs you can meet in other people. So if we only focus on. Our passion and us, and you know, me, me, me, me, me. Then you leave out the equation [00:16:00] that really leads to growth, which is what do people need and how can I help meet that need? Um, but for the studio, you know, it was one of those things where we didn't intend to be a training facility.

Heidi Rew: We started off with just like a small recording studio that really was just. It was our idea to try and like have an outside home studio that, that way I didn't have to be just at home all the time. and I could see people and um, and we could record our friends, especially that are on camera actors that didn't have home studios.

Heidi Rew: But then people kept asking us, Oh, do you do workshops? Do you do classes? Do you do demos? And we're like, No. And we tried to, you know, refer them to. Places and we realized there was a huge need in Atlanta for this. So that's when we started, um, expanding and all I did was just listen. I just listened to what people said, Hey, this is what I'm [00:17:00] struggling with.

Heidi Rew: And because Mike and I had already been in voiceover for a while, we had gone through some of the peaks and valleys. Um, we still go through the peaks and valleys, um, to be honest with you. But we understood what that's like to be down in that valley and to need the resources to figure out, how do I get out of here?

Heidi Rew: And that's really what drove us to go, Okay, there's a need. We can help people, we can help them navigate stuff that we wish we had when we were going through this time. And, and really that just continues to be our focus. Um, and I think part of it is just like who we are, but. It's actually turned out to be a good business , you know, decision too, because that, that fuels the growth, you know?

President Zak: Well you, you mentioned listening several times, and I would be curious, what do you see as good qualities in a leader? You obviously [00:18:00] are a leader in your field, in the Atlanta community, you know, what are those qualities?

Heidi Rew: I would think, um, first of all, like humility. and always staying, Um, I don't know, quite, I guess open is the word, um, because, you know, as a leader, first of all, you're held to a higher standard, um, which can be really hard, you know, I mean, the pressure of knowing.

Heidi Rew: I have got to be, I wanna be the best boss to our employees. I wanna be the best, um, business partner to , to my partner, my real life partner. I wanna be the best, um, you know, uh, figure out where do we grow. I, I wanna make sure that we can benefit the students and everyone that's. And that's a lot of pressure, you know, because we're not [00:19:00] perfect.

Heidi Rew: But I think that the humility to just always stay open and seek help yourself. Um, I. I go to a counselor every two weeks. Um, and that has been so helpful. I mean, I was in counseling before, but that has helped me so much because I wanna always stay in check of, like, okay, where am I health wise? Um, because that trickles down.

Heidi Rew: If I'm not healthy, then that's gonna trickle down to our employees and the students and. So I think just that humility and openness is very, very important. And then I think that honestly, to be a good business leader, you also need to be able to have the quality of being able to look or to have a vision, I guess, uh, be visionary.

Heidi Rew: Um, because for a long time we worked in our. Like, uh, day to day operations and [00:20:00] everything. And the problem with that is that you can't grow. You can't, um, you need to be able to see things from a different viewpoint. And so I think being able to have that strategy of, you know, where can we go and, and how do we get.

Heidi Rew: It's really important. There's a lot of, there's a lot of qualities that I feel like, and I'm still working on myself. I, I

President Zak: think well, well, I think all good leaders are, continue to work on themselves. Yeah. I have a question. Is there anything that really surprised you about yourself as you've gone along this journey?

President Zak: Um, is there anything that said, I never imagine. This about myself or I discovered this or people have told me. Um, clearly you know your voice, but are there other things that you've discovered about yourself?

Heidi Rew: I, Yes. One of the biggest things is, um, I do feel like I'm a teacher at [00:21:00] heart and I did not think that's one of the hesitations with the studio of even offering classes and workshops and stuff, is I thought, Well, I can't teach.

Heidi Rew: I don't, I don't know how to teach or, um, I don't feel qualified to teach. Um, and I think I always just thought, well, I don't know. Like I, I don't know what to tell other people or how to do it. Um, but we did start teaching a class and I reali, I thought we thought Mike was gonna really take the lead in teaching, cuz of course, hello.

Heidi Rew: He taught me how to do voiceover . Um, but honestly, I, I just found that I did really well in that because I think I was able to

Heidi Rew: Again, it's a listening. Listening to other students, figuring out where they are and figuring out how to get there was not only a joy to me, um, [00:22:00] but I did feel like I was really good at one of our, So one of the things that we did, um, Mike and I. When we started the studio, cuz it was like, oh my gosh, how are we running this as a married couple?

Heidi Rew: This is crazy. Um, but is that we established three values to filter all of our decisions through. And I would highly recommend anyone that starts a business, especially with a business partner to do this because it helps to be a compass for you and for you guys to all be on the same page. But we decided on these values and their stewardship, freedom, and grace.

Heidi Rew: and stewardship is like thinking about, okay, how do I, how am I stewarding the students time and resources and money that come in? How are we stewarding the instructor's time and resources and our employees, the, the people that we're worst at is stewarding our own time, and resources, but we're working on that.

Heidi Rew: Um, and then freedom is just more. We [00:23:00] felt like at the very beginning, it, it was easy when things would come up that were hard or, um, you know, we've had a couple hurtful kind of situations this past year and it's really easy to kind of hold those fists because you don't wanna get hurt and you wanna protect yourself.

Heidi Rew: But we wanted to just always remember to kind of have our business with open hands and think of it like just you. We're, we're gonna go where kind of this business leads us and we're, we're not gonna try and control things. And then grace. And the reason why I share that is because we define grace as meeting people where they're at.

Heidi Rew: And so I found that, I just love to be able to figure out, where are you at? Where can we go? How can we take you a step further? And that was something that totally surprised me. I did not think that I would. Love that also, you know, it really does fill my heart too, to see people be able to make strides and I [00:24:00] love the

President Zak: visual of the open hands.

President Zak: Mm-hmm. , I think that is, that is just really a wonderful visual and so important. What excites you about the future?

Heidi Rew: Um, maybe getting a nap , if I'm being honest. I think

President Zak: we, I think all of us. Um, that would be

Heidi Rew: exciting. Yeah. You know, um, I'm honestly, I'm excited to. How I grow through the business, honestly, even though it has been one of the hardest things that I've ever been through, it's also been the greatest opportunity for growth in my life.

Heidi Rew: And so as hard as it is, I look forward to being able to look. Back two years from now and go, Wow, that was hard. But that was the greatest character building exercise I've ever been in my life. Um, and yeah, I, I think that, I think that I'm hopeful, um, you know, our studio, it. [00:25:00] It has grown well and it's done.

Heidi Rew: I mean, to be, to have a business, a small business, make it through six years, um, is really incredible that most small businesses don't do that, you know? And so, um, So I even have to step back and just see that, see that victory and just go, Okay, then who knows what the next four years are going to look like.

Heidi Rew: You know, how, who knows what, um, great services that we can provide to the Atlanta community and, and beyond too. Cuz we offer virtual options as well. But, um, yeah, I just, I look forward to that. I look forward to. More wisdom. I know that sounds really weird, but, um, I don't know about you, but I, I think I remember Oprah talking about how, you know, in the different decades of her life and how there were lessons or, or, or great gifts.

Heidi Rew: And I do feel like I'm in that decade [00:26:00] of like, I value wisdom so much, and. With wisdom, for me at least, comes peace. And so being able to look forward to, even though hard times, um, Though they may be the wisdom that comes from that and then the inevitable piece. I think

President Zak: that's so beautiful. So often we talk about knowledge is power, but I love the wisdom is peace.

President Zak: That's really terrific. Heidi, it has been such a pleasure having you on our show. Do you have any last words of encouragement for our listeners?

Heidi Rew: Um, yes. , I think this is two. So one is I know so many people say, um, I have no regrets in my life. I have regrets. Um, I'll just be honest with you. Um, I have regrets.

Heidi Rew: And one of those is, is when I left radio to, um, to do [00:27:00] voiceover full time and acting. Um, There was another radio mentor of mine that said, You need to take a month off. At least take a month off, six weeks off. Like, don't do anything and just take that time. And I'm like, Okay, okay, okay. And I didn't take that.

Heidi Rew: I hit the ground running and to this day I regret it because, I was so anxious to kind of get started that I didn't have that time to reflect. Um, and I think that could have saved me from a lot of like, mistakes and, and yeah. So I would just say if you had that opportunity to take a break or take that time to reflect, um, then take it

Heidi Rew: Um, but then the second part is if you think that something's going to break you, Sleep on it.

Heidi Rew: [00:28:00] more than likely in the morning, you'll realize this still may hurt. This still is hard, but you will get through it and if you just lean in and look for the lesson, then there will never be a hard season that isn't valuable to you.

President Zak: Heidi, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time. To our listeners, I hope you are encouraged and inspired.

President Zak: Thank you for listening. Heidi Ru's journey is one of many that we can't wait to share with you. Thank you so much for joining us. I also want to thank our producer, Sydney Perry for making this podcast possible. I am Leo Katie Aza, and this is Journeys to.

President Zak: Looking for more

Heidi Rew: content. Check out, Leading Everywhere. The Agnes Scott College Podcast, a show that shares the stories of the campus community, students, faculty, staff, and alumni available on Apple Podcasts [00:29:00] and Spotify.

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