Episode 111: Wendy K Gray

Announcer: The Producers, featuring the most respected international talent in the world of audio production and voiceover. Radio, TV, film, and online. In-depth interviews, industry insights, putting you on the inside. This is The Producers Podcast with Ryan Dreen.

Ryan: Hey, welcome to it, podcast time. let's see here. The guest is Wendy K. Gray. I'll tell you a little bit about her in just a second. episode 111. I can't think of any significance to that number. There is no— I mean, it's 3 ones. It's 111. yeah. So there we go. On the website, ryandoreen.com, on my blog, I just got my hands on a new sound design package that I wanted to just make a quick mention of. I mean, go to the website and check it out. It's Dark FX from my good pal in the UK, Daniel Mumford, or as his friends call him, Dan. I was told to call him Daniel. Anyway, Dark Arts FX 2 has been released. I love it. I'm not going to— I'm trying to see on his website, if you go to darkartseffects.co.uk, if he gets really specific. Not really. He doesn't say a lot. He's done a lot of tonal work on this package, which I really enjoy. And without getting into too much detail, literally he's, you know, made a bunch of risers and I think impacts, and he's, you know, telling you this is A, this is C, this is D, etc. So if you're making production and you're sort of, you know, harmonically mixing, you want to make everything sound like it's in the same key, etc., you know, you need something in A, grab the one that says A. It's, you know, a little more detailed than that, but you can check out his product there on my website or his website darkartsfx.co.uk. Dark Arts FX 2 is the latest. If you've got a product, by the way, I'm more than happy to mention it on the podcast, or at least on my website, on the blog, if it's not really, you know, podcast time. Please send it in to me, ryan@ryandreen.com, as always. Today, our guest, Wendy Kay Gray. You know, I could probably sit here and talk about all the stuff she does for the next hour, and in fact we will, but that'll be in the interview format. She's a voice actress, had been based out of LA for a very long time, hugely successful, and of recent years Really big in the radio imaging world, but she's in animation. She had been doing a lot of commercial work. She's got plenty of industrial under her belt. Just, just a really well-rounded, top-shelf voice actress. So I mean, instead of me rattling off a lot more about her right here, I'll say I'm gonna— I put together a pretty wide-ranging, about a minute and a half demo of some of the stuff. Of course, my favorite is one of my favorite stations on planet Earth, the stuff she did for K-ROQ. Interesting story about how that came about for her. We get into that, of course. She's all over the world. I've got commercial, I've got animation in here. And then if you go to my website, ryandream.com, there is a Wendy Kay Gray show notes page, which I haven't made it yet as I'm speaking, but I should have it jam-packed with a lot of video content. There'll be probably some kind of a zip file with a lot of her music. I forgot, she's also a musician. She's a songwriter and a singer. A lot of her music is there as well. So plan to spend a little time on that if you would like to. RyanDreen.com, hit the Wendy K. Gray show notes page. But after all that, here she is, live and in person, by the way. The one, the only Wendy K. Gray. KROQ. Uncover new music on KROQ. Call 911 now! The former singer of From First to Last makes all his music on a laptop in hotel rooms. Skrillex. Bangarang. Like to relax with some chilled tunes? Tune in Sunday to Wednesday from 10:00 PM for Smooth 92. 92 Dubai. 92 Dubai. Do you like that? Dubai 92. Yoplait's perfect blend of real fruit and the goodness of dairy is just a peel away. This summer at Knott's Berry Farm, you can take a wild ride. Make a splash on Riptide. Peekaboo! I see you. I love to giggle until my belly aches. I'm here. Let's go on an adventure. Oh no, no. Let's get into trouble. No wait. I have a better idea. I'll tell you a story. Yeah. So I heard a new artist a day keeps the doctor away. That tastes like new music, but sounds delicious. There's a new station trending in town—a radio station built on hits. Seattle's new number. Number one for hit music, Power 93.3. VIPs get tickets first. Not a VIP? Hit electric949.com to join for free. This is the commencement of the annual K-Rock Purge. It's not a concert. It's an escape full of wondrous and unimaginable things, starting with you. Are you ready? Winning a Vegas trip into our sold-out iHeartRadio Music Festival.

Ryan: I am so thankful to have my 5th in-person interview, maybe 5.

Wendykgray: And I think your 5th woman. It might be the 6th.

Ryan: Yeah. We'll have to get into that. We'll have to get into that. Wendy K. Wendy K. Gray, joins me in Dallas at my TM Studios studio.

Wendykgray: It's crazy.

Ryan: And, so happy that you came to join me. Thank you. Thank you.

Wendykgray: Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. I'm incredibly flattered.

Ryan: Yeah, flattered beyond belief.

Wendykgray: I mean, really, I want to know why I'm here. Why am I here? I'll tell you in a minute.

Ryan: Okay. it doesn't end well for you. I— we have— I never have 2 people in this room, you know? Like, this is not—

Wendykgray: this is an amazing facility. Yeah, it's humongous.

Ryan: And yeah, thanks for the facilities. Great. This room is meant for me and nobody to come bother me. So, you know what I mean?

Wendykgray: That's why it's like— it's very cozy. Yeah, it's homey. I feel right at home.

Ryan: So You'll see the side of my head here a little bit as I attempt to talk actually into the mic sometimes, but I actually physically printed out some stuff. Normally—

Wendykgray: You're prepared.

Ryan: Yeah, I'm bullet points, but I wanted to look good.

Wendykgray: For me?

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: For me, thank you.

Ryan: Right out of the gate, wendykgray.com if you wanna be checking out Wendy's material. G-R-A-Y, wendykgray.com. It's a nice little website. I noticed that it's kind of a simple, a little bit of a DIY website.

Wendykgray: Meaning because I built it myself and I build them myself. And I suggest everybody do that. Build them yourself because we get content so fast that web designers, they can't keep up. I can put stuff on my site the day I get it and I can take it off. I can do it. It's fantastic. I love it. Everyone should do it.

Ryan: And why pay somebody if, like you said, you get content so fast, you want to put up really recent stuff and let people see what you're doing. Why should you pay a guy? Constantly moving stuff in and out. So anyway, WendyKGrey.com.

Wendykgray: And I like Wix. I know there's other people out there that use other things, but I use Wix and I like it.

Ryan: It's a good usage of the DIY website.

Wendykgray: And it's simple because I'm kind of Mickey Mouse with stuff, so I need things simple for me.

Ryan: So, I mean, I like to start in with you, sometimes I don't, but with the background, kind of where you've been and what you've been doing. Oftentimes we'll get to that later, but I think with you it's kind of important because we'll kind of go with a timeline here for you.

Wendykgray: Thank you. Okay.

Ryan: So, you know, you, I'm, I'm just gonna say you've been in a lot of things in the entertainment world. I have. Yes. Where did it start and what was kind of the first big, you know, professional life thing for you?

Wendykgray: Oh, dancing at Disneyland.

Ryan: Oh, there you go. Ding, ding, ding.

Wendykgray: You probably didn't even know that. yeah, that was my first professional job, was dancing at Disneyland. I played Wendy, strangely enough, in the Peter Pan parade for the Christmas parade. yeah, I started out dancing. In my youth. I was not any good, but I loved it.

Ryan: So how old were you?

Wendykgray: I started late dancing. I was probably like 14, 15. Oh, but still kind of cute.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: And I moved to Los Angeles right after high school, like a couple days after high school, packed my bags.

Ryan: Did you move there as in like your parents were, hey, we'll support you, or like, hey, I'm leaving, time for me to go be famous?

Wendykgray: I have such an incredibly supportive family, absolutely. And they wished me well and, you know, I'd moved and I packed up and I showed up in Los Angeles and I was like, I'm gonna be a rock star. That's what I originally had intended. Okay. But I was dancing still at that time. And so, oh my gosh, I auditioned for Madonna's tour and Janet Jackson's tour and la la la. But like I said, again, I was not very good, but I loved it. And, you know, eventually it led into music and performing and songwriting and the band and playing with the band. And that was an amazing time of my life. And we had a couple, couple really amazing— we played the Whiskey, we played the Gig in LA, we played the Coconut Teaser, we played colleges. We— I did the whole thing. I mean, I made like 4 albums. And, —

Ryan: You sent me some of that stuff.

Wendykgray: I did.

Ryan: Can I post it on the site?

Wendykgray: Oh, totally.

Ryan: So everything you sent me, I can post to the site?

Wendykgray: Absolutely. Absolutely. Anything that you want.

Ryan: 'Cause not every time when I have someone on, they give me so much material. And I love to do my show notes pages.

Wendykgray: I shoveled stuff onto you. It's too hard for me to pick. I love all of my songs. I've written hundreds of songs. I couldn't possibly we picked. This is my favorite. I asked my sister, what's your favorite? And she said Superman, Little Hands, and like some other one. But—

Ryan: People that are listening now and not able to also go listen to your music right this second, but I'm sure they will.

Wendykgray: Could, yeah, could go listen to it on iTunes.

Ryan: Classify what you were doing. What were you trying to be and what were you writing?

Wendykgray: So my dad sat down one night watching E! of all things randomly, and he was watching The Story of No Doubt with Gwen Stefani on it. And he was like, this is my daughter's life.

Ryan: I was like, that's you.

Wendykgray: It just didn't happen for me. This is what I thought was going to happen. And that was the path that I was on. And again, amazing time in my life. And I was waiting tables. Excuse me. I was waiting tables and making $10,000 a year and just struggling, but performing. And it was creative and it was innovative. And it was just—

Ryan: That kind of music?

Wendykgray: So much energy. Is this me? Yeah, it was like, I started, with acoustic music.

Ryan: That's what I thought. That's what I had heard when I listened to her first.

Wendykgray: The first stuff that we did was acoustic, and Thomas Caffey produced it. And we recorded it in Charlotte Caffey's studio, who is of the Go-Go's. That's his sister. And so we went to her studio and recorded some of the best stuff that I probably have. And he— I think he just did, like— I think he just composed the Screen Actors Guild Awards music. Oh, really? Oh my gosh, yeah. Huge, huge.

Ryan: That's cool.

Wendykgray: Thomas Caffey. So he recorded our first stuff, and then we made a couple other albums along the way, and some of this stuff was used in some TV shows. So I worked at a restaurant in Studio City called Mexicali, and it was a great restaurant. The owners were super supportive of everything that I was doing, and they let me keep my CDs in the back when I met people, and they even put one of my CDs on rotation.

Ryan: Oh, that's fun.

Wendykgray: Yeah, I mean, it was just They were good people. And they asked me to do little things outside of the restaurant, like sing on the Christmas parade float. And we did— this is actually— I'm leading into how I got into voiceover.

Ryan: Sure.

Wendykgray: This is all going somewhere.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: So I sang a couple different places for them. They booked my band on the CBS lot for the July 4th Spectacular. I mean, these were great people. And the restaurant's still there. So playing music and waiting tables, struggling, struggling, making no money. Tons of famous people came in there. I waited on Beck. I waited on John Goodman. I waited on Pamela Anderson.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: Tommy Lee. I mean, it was like a happening place. It was right next to the CBS lot. Tons of people came in there. And the owners, like I said, putting me out to do different random jobs outside. And they asked me to model for the Chamber of Commerce Farmers Market, the Studio City Farmers Market. So I was like, sure, sure, I'll do it. I love you guys. Absolutely. So another waiter and I did some modeling for them. They bought us some overalls, and we went to the farmers market, and we picked up little pigs and corn and whatever, and they took a bunch of pictures of us. And I'm waiting tables on, I don't know, like Friday afternoon, and one of my— some regular people that came in— Oh, yeah. We're like, oh, you know, don't worry about us, Wendy. We know you're like you're super famous now, or like teasing me about something. What are you talking about? What you know? What are you talking about? Like no, no, we understand. You're like a famous actress now, and I'm like laughing. I'm like, I'm a singer. I'm a songwriter. I have a band. Ah, you know what? And they open up the LA Weekly with this giant full-page ad of me and this other dude. holding corn for the farmer's market.

Ryan: Really?

Wendykgray: And it's huge. It's like a full-page ad, LA Times, LA Weekly, whatever. Of course I'm dying. I'm like, no! Oh my God, I'm so embarrassed. But it was fun, you know, like another great experience. That guy is the guy who got me into voiceover.

Ryan: Really?

Wendykgray: That guy. Yeah, Rolf Hanson. So eating at Mexicali, this restaurant, I mean, so many wonderful things happened there. I gave Beck our album. Beck has a Jabberbox album. He probably threw it in the trash, but it doesn't matter.

Ryan: What the hell's he doing?

Wendykgray: Come on, Beck. You know, I mean, yeah, totally.

Ryan: So, so, this is— that's like a totally LA story, by the way. I mean, that's just 100% LA. You're waiting on famous people wishing you could be them or at least be with them. Yeah. And then suddenly one random guy is like, hey, look at that famous person. How about I get you into this? And now suddenly— not—

Wendykgray: I joke, I kid you not, this is exactly what he said. So Rolf Hansen came to— I'm outing him right now, I hope that's okay. I don't know, so sure, go ahead. He came to a few shows and watched us perform, and he was like, God, Wendy, I'd love to get you a record deal, but I can't. I can maybe help you get into voiceover.

Ryan: So what was he that he could do that?

Wendykgray: He was a producer. He was producing mostly—

Ryan: Is he someone that I should know and I'm being ignorant by not knowing?

Wendykgray: I don't think so. I don't think so. He worked a lot for Capitol Records and Warner Brothers doing record releases and trailers. It was a trailer house. It was called RH Productions at the time.

Ryan: Okay.

Wendykgray: I think he's since moved on since that. But so yeah, so he's like, you should come down to the office. This is after he came to a few shows and I was like, all right, okay. And I'm waiting tables. I'm making $10,000 a year. So I'm like, all right, I'll come down. So I took a friend of mine with me because, You never know.

Ryan: Yeah, I was gonna say, I've seen that story play out, right?

Wendykgray: Yeah. And I walked in and it was, you know, not a facility as big as this, but it was a real place. I mean, he had like 4 Avid machines and, you know, booth and everything. So I was like, wow, this is real. And so this guy who was basically a complete stranger gave me a bat and a ball and said, this is how you play the game. And he taught me. And then from there it was like, then I got interested.

Ryan: So what was the beginning of the voiceover career? The first job or the thing you first got paid for? And that would be one of my questions.

Wendykgray: VH1.

Ryan: VH1, what?

Wendykgray: VH1 was probably the— at least that's the first one I can remember.

Ryan: Was it like promo work on VH1?

Wendykgray: It was promo work. It was for their Christmas special, and he was doing it. And so, you know, he called me in.

Ryan: I'm not trying to, you know, date you or, you know, ask an age. I'm smart enough to at least know that.

Wendykgray: Well, how old do I look since you can see me in person?

Ryan: 18.

Wendykgray: Young.

Ryan: 18 and a half. Well, I mean, do you wanna tell us like generally like how long ago this was or, you know?

Wendykgray: Well, it was 2000.

Ryan: Okay.

Wendykgray: Yeah, I met him in 2000.

Ryan: Great.

Wendykgray: And 2001, it took me a year to get going, to be able to quit waiting tables.

Ryan: So in a year though, you were able to quit waiting tables?

Wendykgray: Well, my first year out I made $11,000.

Ryan: Great.

Wendykgray: You know, $1,000 more than I was waiting tables.

Ryan: Exactly.

Wendykgray: But I quit.

Ryan: But by year 2—

Wendykgray: Like $24,000.

Ryan: And you felt comfortable like, okay, this is for real.

Wendykgray: Yeah, I could live. Like I could do this. as a job. And it was, I mean, playing music and then going into voiceover, easy transition.

Ryan: That was insane.

Wendykgray: Very comfortable technology.

Ryan: So was that a transition then?

Wendykgray: It was a huge transition.

Ryan: I'm sorry, what I mean is you had to kind of go 100% hardcore into voiceover and you stopped making music at that point?

Wendykgray: I didn't quite stop because I was still playing with the band, we were still doing stuff, I was still recording music, and then I created an animated series, Sidewalk Stories.

Ryan: Right, which we'll bring up in a bit.

Wendykgray: And so I wrote all the music for that, and sang and whatnot. So yeah, I haven't really played— I mean, I haven't played out, performed in front of people. I do have a bit of stage fright. I'm rather shy, which is why I really wanted to do this in person.

Ryan: Right. You mentioned that in email, and then meeting you, I'm like, what do you mean shy?

Wendykgray: Yeah. It takes a lot out of me. Like, I really have to prepare to get up on stage, and then I'm just gonna pass out later when I get home tonight and be like, it sucked a lot.

Ryan: It's having that, a little bit of that anxiety that maybe it's— I wouldn't even say—

Wendykgray: Oh yeah, you can probably hear it in my voice. I'm like— Oh no, no. I mean—

Ryan: Really, like, when you're just performing—

Wendykgray: I just called Chicken Little.

Ryan: When you get up there, though, does it all wash away? Does it all—

Wendykgray: Playing music, I can absolutely say. But this is something else that I wanted to talk about. My project versus doing voiceover. Because doing voiceover, I'm working on someone else's project.

Ryan: Yes.

Wendykgray: So being able to identify both of those things that— I had my own projects. I played in my band and the animated series, whatnot. Can you cut that stuff out? Yeah, I'll have to remember. Thank God. Although everyone that works for me knows I do it a million times, and they're like, I hate you, Wendy! Cut it, cut it, cut it!

Ryan: Hold on real quick. I don't know what I just edited here, but I'm leaving this bit in. A little throat clearing was happening. Did you have that before you moved to Texas?

Wendykgray: I have done this my whole life. You have?

Ryan: Okay. Because when I moved to Texas, I realized the allergies that you did— like, you grew up in LA. You don't know what that even really—

Wendykgray: It's also I'm nervous.

Ryan: I am a daunting figure, so.

Wendykgray: It's not you, it's just that this is gonna be out there forever and ever.

Ryan: It is, it will be, yeah.

Wendykgray: So stuff like that.

Ryan: Okay, so resetting.

Wendykgray: So stage fright, that's what we were talking about. So getting on stage and performing my own music was such an outlet that, and I so needed, so badly needed to express myself that way. It was so important to me that once I got on stage, I was like, rawr! It was, it engulfed me, just, you know. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But preparing for that, just mentally preparing and knowing that I was gonna be on stage, those things really frightened me. And I prayed to God that, please give me a voice. Let me be able to sing. Let me hit the notes. Let me, you know, all of those things.

Ryan: That's weird. Did you ever have a time where you didn't, where you weren't able to sing?

Wendykgray: Sure. I mean, I sang sick. I sang, I mean, with the flu.

Ryan: No, I mean the fright or the fear, you literally, yeah, right? My point is, it's weird that you worry about that, but you know when you get up there, to be able to do it.

Wendykgray: Well, that's preparation. And that's the other thing about doing voiceover as well. I mean, as a singer, I worked with a vocal coach, Liz Lewis, The Singer's Workshop. She was fantastic, is fantastic. She worked with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Rihanna. I mean, top of the line, amazing. And she helped me understand that, A, I was singing out of my range, and that made it really difficult. And that I had the voice where I needed to work out. And I don't mean just like physically work out. Like, I had to work out my voice on a regular basis to sustain the kind of music that I was singing. And I knew people that they, they could get up on stage and they've never warmed up. They could just walk right on stage and sing.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: That was never me. So I had to really warm up and relax and be able, you know, belting at the top of my range and then going back to the soft stuff, I'd, I'd blow it out. That's when I discovered I can't scream. I don't scream. I don't shout. People occasionally ask me voiceover, do something really loud. I can't. It's not my voice. It's not my sound. Sorry. But that was part of it, you know? It was understanding.

Ryan: Kind of swinging that part of it back around, I don't actually think I've talked about this element of it too much on this show. The shyness or the fright or whatever. When you, especially if you were going into a studio to do a session and you weren't able to just record at home, things you had to prepare for as a voice talent to really get up for it?

Wendykgray: That and being able to take direction.

Ryan: What is it that you think affects you in that way? Is it the people on the other side of the glass? Is it the copy in front of you and wanting to make sure you do it right?

Wendykgray: I think we just get in front of ourselves. We trip over our own feet. We stab ourselves in the foot, so to speak, that we just— I scare myself into things. Auditioning is a skill.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: It's a skill. It's absolutely a skill. And you can easily get out of it. It's just like riding a bike. You remember how to do it, but you're not as good at it. So, you know, I'm constantly taking class just because now, specifically now, we're jumping kind of ahead. You know, I work at home. I work at home mostly. 90% of my time is at home. So, I'm super comfortable there, obviously. But yeah, I force myself to get out of my comfort zone just to challenge myself, challenge myself. myself. And taking class puts you in an environment with other actors to perform in front of them, as well as taking direction. I'm big on class. I try to do something like that at least every year.

Ryan: What's harder, performing in front of the creatives or other talent?

Wendykgray: Other talent.

Ryan: Right?

Wendykgray: I remember one of the last classes I took, Vanessa Marshall was in there. And I was like, oh, no. Oh, like the biggest of the big. And here she is. I'm going to have to say nice things. I'm gonna have to do a good job! And I was dying, yeah. And she's amazing and just the nicest, kindest person in the world. But yeah, it's— I don't know. This to me is really hard, talking about myself, divulging personal information.

Ryan: Yeah, 100%.

Wendykgray: That's much more harder than performing, I think.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: But—

Ryan: I get that. I actually don't like to do it myself, so that's why I prefer— I started the podcast just so I don't have to do that. You have others try it out. No, yeah, but I try to put myself into this a little bit. bit, and then I ultimately start feeling bad, and so then I just ask you another question. So we'll do that now and we'll move on.

Wendykgray: Make you talk.

Ryan: Right. When you were first going, you know, starting in 2000-ish and you were going full-blown VO and you were killing it, but you weren't doing radio imaging yet, what was the primary work in? Commercial, promo?

Wendykgray: Promo was where I started because that, you know, Rolf Hanson's company was that. So yeah, we— I mean, he hired me enough for me to make a reel and I sent stuff out on my own, and I sent it to a couple different agencies. And I got some interest, and I went back to him and I said, okay, this is what I've got. I've got these little agencies, and what do you think? And he said, well, maybe we should call Debbie Cope. And he had gone to Debbie Cope a bunch of times to hire her talent. And I was like, who's Debbie Cope? Again, I'm totally new. I'm green. I don't know anything.

Ryan: Well, there's no reason you should know Debbie Cope until you should know Debbie Cope.

Wendykgray: Right. And yeah.

Ryan: Tell people who Debbie Cope is.

Wendykgray: The biggest, well-known, nicest, also, talent manager. I mean, she has years of agency experience before she opened up her own company. But anyway, so he called her up and said, will you take a listen to this girl? What do you think?

Ryan: See what we've got.

Wendykgray: Yeah. So she was kind enough to say yes. first of all. And then she listened to it, and she's like, I don't get it, but I'm going to send it out as a personal favor to you.

Ryan: She sent it to agents?

Wendykgray: Oh, yeah. She sent it to ICM. She sent it to Tisherman. She sent it to SAG-AFTRA.

Ryan: So, the small little niche houses in LA?

Wendykgray: Right. Yeah. So, the small places that, you know, they aren't even around anymore, the agencies that I got my own interest in. Although Abrams, Rubloff, and Lawrence was one of them, and then I think they merged with Abrams later on. But yeah, so they all called her and were like, we want to meet her.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: We want to— it was weird. And so I went to all these extravagant meetings. It was just walking into ICM and I met all— it was just crazy. And Rolf says, this is what you wanted to happen with your music career. What is happening to you is what you had intended on happening with your music career. Write it. Take it. This is an amazing opportunity. These were gifts. These were just such amazing gifts. And from a stranger, essentially, who said, I will help you. This is— I'm a true believer in one person can change your life. He's a perfect example of that. He changed my life completely. I would probably still be waiting tables, pursuing music, or all my other skills.

Ryan: How long had you been going there in voiceover? You said you had quit the waiting tables.

Wendykgray: Right.

Ryan: $11,000 that year, and then $24,000. Anyway, how long until you actually signed with one of these big agents?

Wendykgray: I signed right away.

Ryan: So right away?

Wendykgray: Yeah, but look, you get Debbie Cope involved in your career, you got stuff going on.

Ryan: Doors open, they all say, hey, let's meet her, and then they all probably said, hey, we're interested, and you were able to maybe pick at that point.

Wendykgray: Yes, and I did, and then I went back to her for advice, and I, you know, we had lunch or dinner or something.

Ryan: Am I incorrect though that you're not currently with Right. You're solely represented by CESD.

Wendykgray: Right. Nate Zeitz for radio imaging, which seriously also changed my life.

Ryan: So I don't mean to jump ahead, but I do. You know, I got so much time. Yeah, right. You have Trader Joe's to get to, right?

Wendykgray: I love Trader Joe's.

Ryan: She makes the trip to Dallas and I'm like the second— I'm the second priority on, on the trip anyway. So you get involved in the agency. Did you see precipitous incline in work?

Wendykgray: Yeah. I mean, I have been so lucky that, you know, when one job ended, another job started. And, you know, I got good advice from the beginning of how to stay afloat. You know, A is stock it away, stock it away like a squirrel.

Ryan: But you have to be disciplined is kind of what I was getting to. You get $50K on a big national— you got to tuck $40K of that away.

Wendykgray: Yes. Yeah. Don't blow it.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: Because that may be all you book. And that was definitely the case with the union commercials. And lucky for me, I started in promo. So that was my background. I was doing record releases for Faith Hill and Josh Groban and stuff like that.

Ryan: The promo work, did it feel more regular and secure? Or am I thinking of that incorrectly?

Wendykgray: It's always been that way for me. It's all— yeah. Commercials were— they were like big chunks of money at once, but sparse.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: So I've had really great national campaigns and then nothing.

Ryan: Yeah. Tell me, I mean, I don't ever like to focus on the negative, but I think the realities are important for people to know about.

Wendykgray: Very, yes.

Ryan: So you get a big wave of commercial work. How long can the ebb last?

Wendykgray: See, and like I said, because— and then radio imaging started for me. That took over a lot and has given me such a sense of stability. But because my background was promo and TV, I've always had that. Even now, you know, from years ago to now. Commercials, I don't— I mean, when I moved to Texas last year from leaving Los Angeles, you know, I needed a break, getting away from like the hustle and bustle. And I quit auditioning for commercials.

Ryan: I stopped. Oh, really?

Wendykgray: Oh yeah, I stopped. I'm on a break. I'm on a break. I don't— and it just, it freed up so much of my space and my time.

Ryan: Really?

Wendykgray: Yeah. It was not where my career was going. And I mean, even now, you know, the beginning I thought, oh, I'll be so much further along in animation than I am, you know, a couple video games later. And it's like, you know, it's not—

Ryan: There's some legit animation work being done in town here. I don't know if you ever—

Wendykgray: Fabulous.

Ryan: Get up here, but—

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: They got some legit houses here.

Wendykgray: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would love to be doing a lot more work, but I'm very busy, you know, as well.

Ryan: So it's interesting to me to hear that though. So, 'cause I feel like with commercials, like that is a, for me, that is a side of this business that I keep trying to hone in on.

Wendykgray: Get into.

Ryan: Like I'm in it. I'm trying to just get bigger and bigger and better and better. So I have no desire to put that away. Like to me it's the opposite. I want more auditions so I can be better at it. break down copy better, do more and more and more.

Wendykgray: Well, and that— and you make a good point because auditioning, again, a skill. And, you know, when I— one of my first agencies was William Morris, and there was tons of copy. So even though I was green, we were auditioning, you know, 5 to 10 pieces of copy a day.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: And I was getting really good because you were constantly working it. And, you know, then you get out of it and you go back to it. But I also think it's really important to take breaks and then come back with a fresh perspective. I really enjoy doing the radio imaging stuff, probably more than anything else, because I love the way these guys make me sound.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: I mean, seriously, I can't sound any better. These— and it's not just guys, slip of the tongue, it's gals too. But yeah, I mean, I'm only as good as they make me sound, and they make me It makes me sound great.

Ryan: Imaging is very much like cotton candy for voice talent because there are things that are done in that side of the world that you can't get away with on TV.

Wendykgray: It's so fun.

Ryan: Right, all the craziness that they— so let's get there then since I do typically focus on the imaging side of things here. Okay, yeah, yeah. First imaging gig, how'd you get it and where'd that— how'd that play out?

Wendykgray: Well, my very, very, very first one was again through Rolf and that was for Star 98.7. That's really dating me, a long time ago in Los Angeles there. just did like a slew of things for them, but nothing panned out from that. But this is easily a decade ago. I had my website, I had some stuff on YouTube, and I get an email from a guy named Trevor Shand. And he says, I'm doing this smooth jazz station in Canada, and I'd like you to demo some stuff for me.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: And I was like, okay, all right, I'll do it. So I said yes. I didn't know who he was. Demoed some stuff. Nothing came of it. He was like, ah, it didn't work out. Loved it, you know, whatever. So flash forward to probably 5 years ago now, maybe 6. He looks me up again and he hires me for Hit Storm, which is his show on KISS in Toronto.

Ryan: Yep.

Wendykgray: So he hires me for— and he's like, we worked together before. I asked you to do some stuff for me before for some demoing. And I was like, oh my gosh. I mean, that was literally like a decade ago. This is like 5 years ago. So it was 5 years ago, and he remembered me. So I was like, sure. You know, it was a quick little job. I did a page of stuff for him for Hit Storm. And then he calls me back and he's like, hey, I've got an idea for some KROQ stuff. Do you want to do some KROQ stuff? And I was like, what? What?

Ryan: No, I don't want to be on KROQ. Are you for real?

Wendykgray: Right. Yeah. So, you know, I'm stressing out about it. He sends me It's the middle of the night. I don't know him. I haven't met him, you know. I'm in my own home studio in Los Angeles. It's like 12 o'clock, and he sends me this Uncover New Music stuff from KROQ.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: And I'm like, okay, it's KROQ, the girl, what should I do? So I just— I picked something, you know, that was like really soft and intimate, and it was Uncover New Music. That's— it was perfect for it. Sent it back. He made me sound amazing. And I was like, oh my God, it's on KROQ! So I'm driving around Los Angeles and hearing myself on the radio, you know, which is just like I would get thrilled when I would see my commercials on TV. I'd be like, oh my God, there's the cream cheese, or there's your play, you know?

Ryan: Sure.

Wendykgray: 'Cause I'm a geek like that. So doing Hit Storm, and Rogers, the people at Rogers, Chris Pottage gave me my first contract. So he called me up and he's like, we'd like to have you come on for 4 months. Let's try it out. And I was like, okay, all right. So I did 4 months with them. Like, we'd like you to be a year. And meanwhile, simultaneously, I'm doing KROQ. with Trevor. And it just snowballed. It just exploded.

Ryan: So this is like 5 years ago, because I think that's when you said you really even got into imaging.

Wendykgray: This is my first thing.

Ryan: Were you with CESD yet at this point? I had—

Wendykgray: no, no, no.

Ryan: So this is also probably about when you make the transition there?

Wendykgray: Yes, yes. So I was at Fox, And I moved to CESD. So yeah, so Toronto. So I get Toronto. Chris Pottage gives me my first contract. I'm working, doing things with Trevor for KROQ, but no contract. But these amazing spots were coming out of there from KROQ. We did some Bush stuff and the Uncovered New Music thing, I think, is what really—

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: That's what everyone was hearing. But so So I start working on KISS in Toronto, and then Trevor says, hey, I've got another friend over in Edmonton. He could, you know, so I'm outing Trevor Shand again as well. But so Russell James calls me up and says, we'd like to use you too. So I have these 2 stations, which I still have 5 years later.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: I still do them, and I love them. They're my favorites. You know, I mean, they're my beginning. So I got this amazing on-the-job training with Ron Tarrant, Russell James, Chris Pottage, Glen Knight, Justin Spencer Dove. All these people were kind of like on the phone with me teaching me how to do this because this is a different arena. This is different from showing up at, you know, and doing McDonald's with a director telling me what they want. So it was amazing, and it was a huge transition. And I couldn't have foreseen that this was gonna happen, that explosion.

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, I think probably just because of all this, I think we had maybe brought it up. I don't remember if it was pre-show or in the beginning of the show, but you were kind of like, you know, why, you know, why did you ask me right here?

Wendykgray: And I still want to know that, like, why am I here? Like, when you—

Ryan: I mean, aside from— I never make it the first reason, but I do want to feature as many female talent as I can because it's flattering to be—

Wendykgray: I mean, I think I'm the 5th or the 6th. I mean, it's, yeah, it's really amazing.

Ryan: And that's a little bit on me, but at the end of the day, you know, you look on the imaging side of radio, right? It's not a lot of women.

Wendykgray: We're making our way in the world today.

Ryan: So it's great to see, and it's been a pretty sharp increase in just a year, really.

Wendykgray: Just leaving last year. Yeah, even last year.

Ryan: Yeah, cuz I was gonna say, I mean, the reason that I asked you to be on the show is because you were requested, which is one of the first reasons why I go, okay, I really got to pay attention. Because nothing like— not like someone deserves to be on this podcast, but I do try to feature people that are important or at least doing good work.

Wendykgray: Thank you.

Ryan: Above all else, forget gender or any of that stuff, or markets or where you live or any of that.

Wendykgray: And you've interviewed hundreds of people.

Ryan: Yeah. If it seems like this person is doing good work, they should be featured. It's incredibly fun. Yeah, featured.

Wendykgray: Thank you.

Ryan: So the move though, I did wanna not get too far without talking about this, the move from LA to, you're outside of Waco.

Wendykgray: Right, Woodway. Woodway, Texas.

Ryan: So when you're doing radio imaging, you definitely can do that from anywhere without a doubt. And you just said you're not really focused on the commercial side as much.

Wendykgray: Not as much anymore. Right.

Ryan: But what other factors went into that decision? I mean, I don't know. I actually don't know much about you personally. I don't really like to ask that kind of stuff. But you might be married and your husband or wife took you to, you know, Waco.

Wendykgray: I have been. Yeah. I mean, well, that the whole Woodway thing started from—

Ryan: It's an odd choice to me to go from L.A. to Woodway.

Wendykgray: It started from Fixer Upper. Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines. I love that show.

Ryan: Oh, are they the Waco people?

Wendykgray: Yes. Yes, they are. And the house prices.

Ryan: Have you run into them in town?

Wendykgray: I have not.

Ryan: 'Cause I have heard—

Wendykgray: But they're famous.

Ryan: I mean, everybody— I'm not in the business of talking smack about people. I've only heard— the word on the street is—

Wendykgray: Ruh-roh. Ruh-roh.

Ryan: Maybe you just should—

Wendykgray: Ruh-roh.

Ryan: Don't meet your heroes. I'm not saying they're your heroes, but that is a rule of life. Let's just say maybe you don't want to meet them.

Wendykgray: Look, I mean—

Ryan: Or her.

Wendykgray: I've waited on John Goodman. I've been in the room with Madonna.

Ryan: There's no way John Goodman is a bad guy.

Wendykgray: Oh, $50 tip on one margarita.

Ryan: John Goodman is the coolest guy on earth, and I don't care.

Wendykgray: I cried. John Goodman, huge fan. Yes.

Ryan: He's the best.

Wendykgray: No, but that's how we ended up looking there.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: I mean, Texas in general— But you wanted to come to Texas? Yes.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: Well, I guess the main thing I was getting at is what are you missing by being out of LA?

Wendykgray: Yeah. So this is what, what I think, and I can only express my opinion and my experiences doing voiceover for the last 17 years. I've seen the industry change. I remember when Vox, like, sent out a memo saying, we're having all of our talent audition from home. I remember that happening because at William Morris, you went in and you waited in line and it could be 2 hours. And you waited, but you needed that opportunity and you had to do it.

Ryan: When was that about? 2001, 2002, 2003?

Wendykgray: 2003, 2004, maybe 2005, 2006, 2007, somewhere around there.

Ryan: And how many auditions would you be doing like that a day?

Wendykgray: Seriously, I mean, there was tons of copy. There was tons of copy. There was just tons of opportunity.

Ryan: That's crazy. But anyway, so Vox, you remember when they finally said, okay, from home.

Wendykgray: Yes, they initiated that. That lured me in because some of the bigger stuff, because I have always been working. That's the thing. I've been so lucky to be constantly working. I couldn't always make it into whatever agency I was at. And I wanted to have the option of being able to record from home.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Which was all I was doing at that point. I wasn't working from home. I was doing my auditions from home. So I had the M-Box and a microphone and my Mac, and it was— now I upgraded it a little bit because I do work at home, but it was just a basic setup. And I booked stuff from home. I booked. I booked my national commercials from home.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: Yo Play, I booked that from home. So you have to learn how to self-direct, first thing. And the only place that I can think of to do that is start doing it from home. But I took classes. I took with Cynthia Sanjay. I took with Elaine Craig. And great, I mean, just—

Ryan: Are there potential job opportunities though that by being outside of LA now that your agents aren't— or well, CSD I guess, isn't gonna send you? Because you're not an LA talent now?

Wendykgray: No, no. If I want to be—

Ryan: You haven't run into that?

Wendykgray: No, if I want to do— I mean, I still do the promo side with Vinnie Buno. So I still do that and I do my work from home. Or I'll go to, you know, someone will Skype. I'll go to a local studio in Waco and do a Skype or come up here, Dallas, Austin. I mean, there's studios right all around, but people have ISDN lines. That's my, you know, out-of-house jobs are not— that's not a big deal at all. You can absolutely do that. And there's, you know, the Source Connect now. I can jump on with that. So no, you can abs— you can be in— I can be anywhere I want to go.

Ryan: So you haven't discovered any lost opportunities by not being in LA?

Wendykgray: Not a bit. Not a bit.

Ryan: Now what about— you brought it up, ISDN.

Wendykgray: Well, you know, I started there.

Ryan: It's true. It would be harder for me to do as much or have as much accessibility as you having been there for 15 plus years.

Wendykgray: I have had a base of clients, but I mean, most, 90% of my work that I do at home is the radio imaging stuff now. I don't do— I was actually going to get to that. I do my TV stuff out of house because I particularly don't like to read to picture. At home by myself. It's one thing, like, you have to become an engineer by default working at home, and I want to be able to concentrate on the— yeah, nothing wrong on the picture.

Ryan: Yeah, so you have a studio in town there near where you live that you found?

Wendykgray: Yeah, and I'll go up to Austin or, you know.

Ryan: How much of the work you do— I mean, you said 90%, that was the number you just said— is radio imaging?

Wendykgray: Yes. Yeah, guessing.

Ryan: How much— how many sessions do you have to do outside the house? How many sessions You know, of these promo sessions or whatever, you know, 5 a week, 1 a week, 50 a week?

Wendykgray: Yeah, weekly. I try to just kind of condense it.

Ryan: Get it all into one?

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: Okay, cool. Yeah. As far— I mean, we'll get to the real hardcore radio imaging side to sort of get us rounded out here too. But because, you know, you got Trader Joe's.

Wendykgray: I'm telling you, a lot of people stop— you went back to my Trader Joe's. That's so funny. People— I do so much stuff from home now. Yeah. I mean— I think a lot of talent does.

Ryan: Yeah, everybody I know does. Yeah, it's just a lot of times, especially people I talk to, 'cause I try to keep us, you know, if I angle this show anyway, it's the radio side of it. Yeah, right. But the whole thing is, you know, you got agents in LA and New York, and the word on the street is they typically want their talent to be local.

Wendykgray: Yes, that's absolutely true. But because I was with CESD before—

Ryan: Right, because you were there.

Wendykgray: For years before. Right. That, you know, they would absolutely, if something was appropriate for me.

Ryan: Yeah. And, and another angle for people to kind of hear, living near Waco hasn't really hurt your business.

Wendykgray: No.

Ryan: You're able to do everything you need to do.

Wendykgray: Yep.

Ryan: And then Waco, let me just tell everybody, it's pretty nice. And better. It's grown a little bit. Would not what we would call a technologically advanced city.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: You know, flourishing metropolis.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: But it's fine. There's nothing wrong with it.

Wendykgray: It's exactly what I wanted.

Ryan: It's exactly what you want. Yeah.

Wendykgray: Yeah. There's 200,000 people in the metropolitan area. Woodway has 10,000.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: I can step out my office, you know, like I was saying, I wanted a different view from my office window. My office is my home, and I want to be able to take a break and go out and have coffee and hear birds and not traffic and people screaming and sirens and, you know, whatnot. It's done wonders for me as a person and even for my career. The happier you are, the better life is.

Ryan: So getting over to the radio imaging side specifically, because that's something that has grown for you. You've done some very large-scale jobs. You, you said 90%— would you say 90% of your day now is reading radio copy?

Wendykgray: I mean, I'm so bad with numbers.

Ryan: 80, 75, more than half? Who knows?

Wendykgray: A lot.

Ryan: A lot?

Wendykgray: A lot of it is, yeah.

Ryan: Tell me about your day. Like, like, you know, what time do you have to wake up in the morning and get into the studio? How, how much are you voicing throughout the day?

Wendykgray: Every day is different, which is That's another thing I love about this job.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Every day is different. Every piece of copy is different. Every radio station is different. Every TV station is different. Every— I mean, time-wise, most important thing for me is to get a good night's sleep. That's how I sound my best. So I make sure I get a good night's sleep. I take care of my voice. I wake up, I have my coffee. You know, maybe I jump in the studio right away. Maybe I go take the dogs for a walk. And then I just start working. And, you know, I take a break when I'm tired or I don't sound good anymore. And I eat some lunch and I hang out. And, you know, I spend an hour in my beautiful backyard and, you know, regenerate. And then I'd go back in and knock some more stuff out until I get tired. And I, you know, I try to quit by 5.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Sometimes that doesn't work out. Sometimes I'm there till, you know, 5:30, 6 o'clock. But—

Ryan: This is a pretty good time zone to be in, I have to say.

Wendykgray: This is the best time zone to be in.

Ryan: I've lived in all the time zones.

Wendykgray: In LA, I would wake up, you know, 6:30, 7 o'clock, 7:30, and I would have piles, piles of work.

Ryan: West Coast is the worst time zone.

Wendykgray: Yes. I, as a person, I need to get stuff off of my plate. I cannot sleep at night if I have a pile of work to do.

Ryan: I try to be— have you ever heard of the zero inbox? Something I don't know if I've brought it up on this podcast, but I've brought it up in conferences and such. I've tried to become a zero inbox guy for that Yes.

Wendykgray: And it's important. It's important to me. However, I have to train myself that if you send me something at 6:30, that's on you, man.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: I can't be everything to everybody.

Ryan: But you have to get the, hey, I'm desperate. I'm Trevor Shan, damn it. You will do what I say and I need it now at 8:00 PM. But no, I'm just kidding. But you have to get those sometimes.

Wendykgray: That dude's busy. He's busy and—

Ryan: I couldn't believe it when I talked to him. I'm like, wait, Did he just say he does that and that and that and then goes home and does that and that?

Wendykgray: And I don't want to be that. For me, I want to have a life. I want to enjoy my life. That was the other part about leaving Los Angeles. I can financially afford to enjoy my life now. Enjoy where I live. Enjoy just— yeah.

Ryan: So, but you do get those like, hey, it's Friday at 5:48. I'm desperate. Please voice this.

Wendykgray: Not very often. Not a lot of that? Yeah, and I think the reason why is because I'm so fast, you know, otherwise. I get stuff done.

Ryan: So what's the turnaround for you like? A station can expect what, to send you copy and—

Wendykgray: Get it back that same day.

Ryan: Same day?

Wendykgray: Always, yeah.

Ryan: Do you typically— are you able to do like hour, 2-hour, or—

Wendykgray: I would never say, oh, I'll get it back to you in an hour. But I do do morning sessions and I do do afternoons, and it just depends on when I start working and how I sound. I'm not gonna put out a bunch of turds.

Ryan: And from your side, as the talent side, 'cause I talk to the producer side quite often as well, you feel like that's pretty acceptable from your point of view?

Wendykgray: I've definitely—

Ryan: For producers to expect same day, but—

Wendykgray: I don't think so. I think that's rare. What does that mean? I think people are busier, maybe, and slower than that, or—

Ryan: So you think talent is actually— Other talent is slower than that.

Wendykgray: Maybe.

Ryan: Not delivering same day quite as often.

Wendykgray: I know that I am constantly praised for that. Constantly. So because I get that constant praise, it must be an issue. It must have been an issue at some point.

Ryan: Yeah. I was talking to John Plesi in the last one.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: Or 2 ago. I kind of brought that up, the service by voice talent being a little lackluster, and I hear it, and he really couldn't believe it. He's like, I don't get it. How could they not deliver same day?

Wendykgray: Me too, yeah. Yeah, but that's just my personality.

Ryan: Yeah. So we've already talked agents. You're probably a little bit lucky in that you are kind of exclusively represented on all fronts by the same agent.

Wendykgray: CESD, yes. Nate Zeitz came along. Yeah, so I started at CESD. I had 2 radio stations at that time, which were KISS in Toronto, and Edmonton was The Bounce at that time, but now it's KISS as well in Canada. And those were my 2. And I, you know, but I had tons of promo work and national commercials and whatnot. And Vinnie Buono actually answered my email that I sent through the website.

Ryan: So that's how you started with CSD?

Wendykgray: Yeah. Yeah. Just like cold. So someone didn't walk me in there. But look, the only reason I've gotten anywhere in any of this is because someone has helped me. That's the one example where I had enough stuff. I've accumulated enough jobs to be like, hey, these are all the things that I have.

Ryan: Even cold, they went, oh wow, we should really Yeah. Maybe we gotta—

Wendykgray: Mm-hmm.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: But usually someone helps you get in. Absolutely.

Ryan: And that would be kind of— okay, so to really get in the door with any of these people, that might be—

Wendykgray: You have to— someone has to help you.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: Which is why I help people.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Jessica Ann Bogart is a perfect example of this. We met at a job, my first national commercial, Philadelphia Cream Cheese. We're at a studio, and I'm nervous, and I'm scared because it's my first national, and I'm like, grrr. I struck up a conversation with the girl sitting next to me, Jessica Ann Bogart. Didn't have voiceover representation. I was like, how do you get a job when you don't have voiceover representation? She's like, well, my on-camera agent got it for me. And I was like, what? Give me your stuff. I'll take it into William Morris. And I took it in. Fast forward, does Subaru for a gazillion years, books a JCPenney ad. I mean, just like she exploded.

Ryan: She's doing okay.

Wendykgray: She's doing okay. Perfect stranger, you know. I said, I'll help you. And then, you know, she comes back to me and says, you know how many people I know at William Morris that wouldn't take my stuff in?

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: And that just makes me mad. It makes me mad and it makes me sad because you can't get anywhere in this world at all without someone helping you.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: So we're fast friends. She's, she's how I got to meet Seth MacFarlane.

Ryan: Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah.

Wendykgray: Nice. For Saturday Night Stories. Yeah.

Ryan: Yeah. Maybe we'll end on a little of that stuff.

Wendykgray: That'd be good. Yeah.

Ryan: I did wanna mention Lisa Keys, who's— I think we're still calling her an up-and-coming voice talent, 'cause she's pretty new in the industry. She sent me some questions. I had read a couple of 'em here.

Wendykgray: For me?

Ryan: Yeah, yeah, for you.

Wendykgray: It's so funny.

Ryan: She's a fan. That's crazy. She's a fan.

Wendykgray: Oh my God, that's so great.

Ryan: I even asked her, I was like, hey, is it cool if I mention you, or should I just kind of like anonymously say there's questions?

Wendykgray: That's amazing.

Ryan: She's like, yeah, she's a big fan.

Wendykgray: Lisa!

Ryan: I don't think that we— So you were just sort of getting there, which is why I'm kind of like, I'm kind of a blabbermouth.

Wendykgray: I'm really nervous. That's why I'm just kind of like, sorry.

Ryan: So she, her, one of her like 50 things she wanted to ask you here, but like, how do you pick up news stations, word of mouth, direct marketing through your agency? So for you, what has been the most successful way to acquire? I mean, actually I've already heard one way. Which was? Well, the word of mouth. The word of mouth. The Trevor saying, hey, my buddy has heard you. Yeah.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: But other than that, maybe, how do you acquire?

Wendykgray: Look, if you roll everything back to Trevor asking me to do free work, had I said no, had I said no, I don't do free work, I'm not gonna demo that for you, none of this would've ever happened. So you have to take that into consideration, and you have to do it. You have to demo things for people for them to slide you in and see, is this gonna work out, whatnot? And you just never know where things are gonna lead. So saying yes to opportunities is my first advice to anybody. Any opportunities that you get, say yes, do it, try it.

Ryan: For those that might be sitting there like, hey, I know I'm good, but I don't have a Trevor Shand coming to me asking me to do free work. I would do it, but I don't have that.

Wendykgray: Yeah. And see, again, I'm lucky. I mean, these are all just gifts that happen. Someone said, I can try to help you get into voiceover. Classes, I think, are really important. And if you can get in with casting directors that are holding classes, they have pertinent information about auditioning.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: They do this all day long. Elaine Craig is a perfect example. And she will call you in. She will likely, if you are good and you go in, and this is LA obviously, but she will call, they'll call you in. And you could book a job. You could book a national job. You could book, you know, so that's one way. And then, yeah. Make friends with somebody. Somebody will help you.

Ryan: When you say that, are you telling me—

Wendykgray: Have her send me her stuff. I will help her. I will listen to her stuff. Does she need help?

Ryan: Yeah, she's doing pretty good, I think.

Wendykgray: Okay, well, see there. There you go.

Ryan: I'm sure she'll email you. Your email will be on my website if people wanna reach out to you as well.

Wendykgray: Please, please do that.

Ryan: Whether you like it or not, I'm putting your email.

Wendykgray: Bring it on, bring it on.

Ryan: You said you got a job because of this podcast.

Wendykgray: Mm-hmm.

Ryan: You weren't even on this podcast yet.

Wendykgray: And it was years ago.

Ryan: Years ago.

Wendykgray: Years ago.

Ryan: And I'm gonna be totally honest, I don't— I didn't remember your name coming up, but I've done 110 episodes, so.

Wendykgray: That's okay.

Ryan: But anyway. Yeah.

Wendykgray: Somebody— Somebody found me.

Ryan: Trevor. Trevor brought you up.

Wendykgray: Trevor brought me up.

Ryan: That's right.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: And so you booked some little station somewhere. Yeah. As important as any other station.

Wendykgray: Jamie Rankin out of Red Deer.

Ryan: There you go. Yep. Canada likes you.

Wendykgray: Canada has been so good to me. Yeah. The Canadian TV networks, Canadian radio stations, Canada.

Ryan: I'm going to bring this up really quickly because it was just in the discussion of the— in the ether. The big story was that voices.com is buying Voice Bank. I don't know if you saw that, which can impact agencies nationwide, really. People are still wondering what impact that'll have.

Wendykgray: Yeah. And I'm one of those people. I'm right along with you.

Ryan: No immediate thoughts on whether that can be negative for, for example, the CESD commercial department or you on the promo side. I don't know.

Wendykgray: Right. You know, just buckle up. That's all I can say is, you know, Buckle up, let's be prepared. And, you know, as a talent, all you really can do— that kind of stuff's out of your hands in the sense of, you know, we need work. We got to work. I mean, there's celebrities, you know, doing Chase Bank, you know, and I love her. But, you know, that could have been a union, you know, a working actor.

Ryan: But if you were Fred Savage and they said, hey, you want to do Honda? Of course you're going to say yes.

Wendykgray: Of course you're going to say yes.

Ryan: This is like an hour of work a week and you're going to make— you can't blame them. Yeah. Whatever your rate is. I mean, you know, whatever Fred Savage's rate is.

Wendykgray: Who knows? Yeah. I don't know what. Right.

Ryan: Anyway. Random. You know, so I hear what you're saying, but then again, put yourself in their shoes. I'm never saying no. Yeah. Tim Allen, he's not saying no.

Wendykgray: You have to follow the opportunities and they're doing the same thing. And so a lot of people are doing non-union work, commercials, because we need to work. So I totally understand.

Ryan: The tech side, I mean, you big time into it or you pretty much—

Wendykgray: I'm kind of Mickey Mouse.

Ryan: Yeah. You set your own stuff up?

Wendykgray: I did. And I even took lessons. I hired somebody when I was first— but that was actually for music. I hired someone to teach me how to use Pro Tools.

Ryan: Oh, nice. Are you still on Pro Tools?

Wendykgray: Oh yeah.

Ryan: Oh cool.

Wendykgray: Yeah, but I have just discovered Twisted Wave.

Ryan: Ah yes, Beau Weaver was the big Twisted Wave guy.

Wendykgray: Oh really?

Ryan: He was the one who was always saying—

Wendykgray: I really like it. And, and I, and I just discovered the, Apogee mic for when I'm traveling, and I took that with my iPad. I don't know, whatever that little teeny tiny one— it's not USB because it plugs into the iPad. So what's the iPad?

Ryan: Oh, that one. I don't have anything like—

Wendykgray: Oh, it is USB into like the iPhone cord.

Ryan: I gotcha.

Wendykgray: Whatever that thing's called, I don't know.

Ryan: It goes direct into your iPad though.

Wendykgray: I'm totally Mickey Mouse. I don't even know what that cord's called. And I really like that. So I got Twisted Wave on my iPad for traveling with the Apogee mic and loved it. Super easy. It sends you a link, like you record it and you can just link it, send an email to your producer.

Ryan: So your mic chain on the road is So you just use the Apogee mic into Twisted Wave on the iPad?

Wendykgray: Yep.

Ryan: No, any kind of preamp or anything in between?

Wendykgray: I didn't. I've only used it a couple times, and everybody said—

Ryan: The quality's fine?

Wendykgray: Yeah, that the quality was great.

Ryan: Now, how do you treat a— what do you do when you're on the road in your room? What's your special technique, your trick?

Wendykgray: Well, my two— so I have 2 studios at my house because I'm scared to death that something bad's gonna happen, and I'm not gonna be able to get my work done. Again, making sure I sleep at night kind of thing. So I have a backup for everything. So I have 2 booths.

Ryan: When you're on the road?

Wendykgray: Oh, just—

Ryan: When you're in a hotel?

Wendykgray: Yeah. You know, if I'm—

Ryan: Everybody's got their little pictures where they set up their pillow forts and they—

Wendykgray: Right.

Ryan: You know, how do you do— what do you do?

Wendykgray: First of all, I don't get to travel a whole lot. But when I do travel, I don't want to work.

Ryan: So you're able to sort of lock it down. It's like, hey, I'm going to be away for Great.

Wendykgray: Yes.

Ryan: Nice.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: It's a question, and then Lisa actually had also asked this one, and I'm interested in it.

Wendykgray: Okay.

Ryan: When you get sick, I mean, everybody gets sick. I happen to be probably on the healthy side, and maybe you are as well. I am very blessed. But I do know, especially in this godforsaken state, is when it comes to the allergies, man, they can slam you in the head and destroy you for 2 solid weeks.

Wendykgray: No doubt.

Ryan: So when you get sick, how do you deal?

Wendykgray: Well, Again, I have to go back to my vocal coach, singing coach, Liz Lewis, the Singer's Workshop. I learned a lot of tricks from her. And a big thing from her was, you gotta still sing. You can't not sing. And Throat Coat, medicinal, traditional medicinals tea. I love that.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: Huge. It's got the slippery elm and the licorice kind of thing in there. I'm a big drinker of that. Sleep, you gotta have sleep. I can't stress this enough, at least for me. Sleeping and no screaming, number 2 things, or whatever, the 2 major components of making sure that I don't get sick. I learned to talk over it.

Ryan: Hmm.

Wendykgray: I learned to talk over it. So maybe now I'm talking like this, and I'm not getting any of that gravel that's down, down, down in here, which is where it usually gets stuck when you're sick. So yeah, I learned to talk over it. I sang sick. I work sick. Thankfully, I don't get sick a lot. But there were a few times Ron Tarrant will remember this where he's like, "Nope, can't use it. Nope." They wanted to revamp that whole Kiss Toronto, and he's like, "Nope, not good enough. Nope, not good." And this went on for like a week. I was dying. Oh, sinus rinse! That I sinus rinse every day twice a day. Wait, wait.

Ryan: You use that? You use like the neck. Not the neti pot.

Wendykgray: You use the squeeze one? It's called the sinus rinse.

Ryan: So it's the squeeze bottle. Yes, the squeeze bottle. I got that. So you use that every day even when you're perfectly healthy? Every day. Oh, that's interesting.

Wendykgray: Morning and night. Okay. Every single day.

Ryan: Really? Yep. Do you do like one full bottle and like half in one nose or nostril?

Wendykgray: Yeah, I mean, I clear it out. I let it go down my throat and come out my mouth.

Ryan: Oh, really? Everything. Oh, gross.

Wendykgray: Yeah, no, that's gross. Yeah, it's not for everybody. I know, my mom's like, I can't do that, I put it up my nose. But you won't—

Ryan: I lived here about a year before I finally had to get into that.

Wendykgray: I love it.

Ryan: The squeeze bottle, the sinus rinse.

Wendykgray: It's just salt, that's all it is.

Ryan: Oh yeah, for sure.

Wendykgray: Salt and water, I mean it's—

Ryan: Yeah, no, I swear, if people aren't aware of it, I mean especially like if I ever feel maybe like a tickle, I'm like, well now wait a minute, I feel fine but I think it's almost like I'm getting a head cold. I will rush home, I'll do 2 bottles full in one night, I'll do it the next day. I swear that thing stops whatever's about to come on too.

Wendykgray: Maybe you should start doing it every day.

Ryan: Yeah, that's crazy. I never even thought of that.

Wendykgray: Yeah, I use it every day. Every day, twice a day.

Ryan: I'm not very bright, but also I hadn't really thought of that. So that's cool.

Wendykgray: During the allergy season, I have been known to use, you know, a product if I have to, you know, like Claritin or something. If it's bad, if it's bad enough. The problem with that stuff is it really dries me out.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: I mean, I already drink a lot of water, but oh my God.

Ryan: Yeah, the allergy pills? I'll get nosebleeds after—

Wendykgray: Yeah, see, so it's not for everybody.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Yeah, not for everybody.

Ryan: All right, so we've gotten to talking about bleeding from the nose. So clearly this is—

Wendykgray: We've covered everything now.

Ryan: I did, you know, since you're here and—

Wendykgray: I'm here.

Ryan: You know, what are we? We're like maybe 2 hours in.

Wendykgray: Oh God.

Ryan: I'll ask everything. Coaching, you know, is definitely, to me, it's mandatory.

Wendykgray: Yeah.

Ryan: So my question isn't necessarily, you know, do you get coaching? I'm sure you've had coaching, but how do you pick the right coach for you?

Wendykgray: Hmm. That's a good question.

Ryan: Thank you. I try.

Wendykgray: Yeah. I didn't. I just worked with a lot of different people because I think there's something valuable you can get from everyone. And every teacher is different.

Ryan: Like once a month, once a week, maybe a couple times in your life?

Wendykgray: Well, okay, so I haven't taken, I haven't taken any Vocal. I haven't done any classes since I've been here. So, I mean, I've had a whole year off. I have, however, taken some ballroom dance classes and some paint— some painting classes and some drawing classes and other things to stimulate your creativity.

Ryan: I was gonna say, they say that that's good. Anything creative to do.

Wendykgray: so I, yeah, I take classes of all kinds of different things, but, and yeah, I mean, they're— that's, it's a hard question because And I don't know if there's any such thing.

Ryan: Well, I could ask it this way. I've noticed that there are a few coaches that are not voice talent, that have never been a voice talent. They're on the casting side, or they're just vocal coaches, you know?

Wendykgray: Right.

Ryan: Then a lot of them are voice talent that are now suddenly a coach. And some of them have great reputations, or I'm sure they're really great at it. And others are like, well, I'm not booking crap.

Wendykgray: And I need to make a living. And they're doing that instead, yes.

Ryan: So I'm going to try and earn some income off the—

Wendykgray: Yeah, I see what you're saying. And a lot of people do start doing that.

Ryan: Do you wanna tell me who you've worked with over time?

Wendykgray: Well, let's see. Kat Cressida's animation class was amazing.

Ryan: That's right, 'cause you've put a lot more focus on animation, and that's a totally different muscle.

Wendykgray: Cynthia Sanjay, bless her heart. Her 6-week intensive was animation and commercial. Also amazing. Elaine Craig, we did a couple-day intensives with her. For me, casting directors would be the number one. Kathy Calmonson. All these people are in LA though. The casting directors, they're directors. That's not to say that there are not voiceover people who can be directors as well, because there absolutely are.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: Kat Cressida is a perfect example of that. Because she's a successful voiceover and a great director. I took home lots of wonderful things from that class. But someone like Elaine Craig, this is what she does all day, every day, is see pools of talent come in. So she knows what books the job, first of all.

Ryan: The whole what works and what doesn't.

Wendykgray: That, I think, is invaluable. And so hooking up with the casting director, in whatever town that you're in, or maybe they'll start doing, you know, internet classes. That would be amazing too. But another thing that I did that I really liked, also in Los Angeles, was that some of the studios would have a workout class where you'd pay $25. And because classes are expensive, you know, they're like $500 to $800 or something, you know, they're expensive. But some of these studios would run workout groups. groups where you'd have a director and 10 people. And that also gave you auditioning technique, which I said, again, is a skill. And if you don't do it, it's— you can really— I mean, you've got to learn how to audition. And the only way to audition or learn how to audition is to audition and getting in front of people, standing up, performing, all of that kind of stuff. So there would be like 10 people in the class. It'd be $25. It'd be like on a Wednesday night. You'd go from 7 to And then you'd get to take the stuff home with you afterwards. So they'd give you copy, you'd go in, you'd read it, he'd give you direction, she'd give you direction, you'd go back in, redo it, take your stuff home, and listen to it and go, oh, I don't like that.

Ryan: Would I do that over? Is that kind of an LA thing?

Wendykgray: I don't know.

Ryan: Or, I mean, I'm sure—

Wendykgray: Again, I mean, all voice actors—

Ryan: I know it's going on in New York, actually, but probably Chicago. But do you think there's a Waco, a voice actor workout group?

Wendykgray: Ah, you know, and I've been so bad, I just haven't connected or reached out in any way yet. Sure, well—

Ryan: That would be something interesting for people to look for because I could see how that would help a lot of guys.

Wendykgray: I probably should start it.

Ryan: Sure. Yeah. As far as everything we've talked about, you might have already said it, but, you know, the most important thing for a young talent to focus on in order to actually have a career in this business?

Wendykgray: Being prepared. You know, as these opportunities have come up for me, saying yes, that was my big one. Say yes to those opportunities when they knock on your door. You just don't know where they're going to lead. and being prepared.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: I was prepared for— well, I can't really say that because as the radio imaging thing did kind of explode, but being prepared, being mentally prepared to accept the responsibility of taking on all of my new duties, one thing, but just being prepared. And again, that's different for every person, but being prepared for me is getting a good night's sleep, taking care of my voice, feeling confident. Whatever you have to do to feel confident. Mm-hmm. And, and be proud of yourself and be able to show up for the job, you know, be prepared. Cool.

Ryan: Thank you. Thank you. wendykgray.com. Yeah. Gray. But gimme a Seth MacFarlane story. Oh my gosh.

Wendykgray: Okay. So Seth MacFarlane, 'cause this is the show that won't end.

Ryan: So Seth MacFarlane.

Wendykgray: The show. Exactly. We could just talk forever. The nicest, most successful person I've ever had the privilege of meeting came from my voiceover friend, Jessica Ann Bogart, who earlier on the show I discussed, we met, who was a stranger who I helped get into William Morris.

Ryan: Yep. Yep.

Wendykgray: So she crossed paths through another friend of hers with Seth MacFarlane. And I was working on Sidewalk Stories. I had created this animated series for kids. And she's like, She was like, I'm gonna call him. I'm gonna get you a meeting. And I was like, no way, no way. So she did. And he agreed to meet with us. And we must have stood outside the building for like 15 minutes squealing before we went in. We're like, oh my God, we're gonna meet Seth MacFarlane! And she'd already met him because she crossed paths with him through another friend of hers. But I have this show that I'd created. I didn't— I'm not an animator, but I had this idea, and I had it fleshed out enough to go and maybe talk to somebody about what do I do? Right. So he takes this meeting with us, and seriously, the nicest guy, totally busy. We're squealing all the way in. I'm sweating, thinking, dear God, deodorant, don't let me down now, kind of thing. And Jessica just steps up to the plate and is like, Seth MacFarlane, my friend Wendy K. Grayhair has created this animated series called Sidewalk Stories for kids. It has alternate endings and audience participation and helping them learn how to stop, think before they act. And we don't know how to pitch it. We don't know what to do. She's not an animator. What do we do? And it was like the look on Seth's face, the weight was just lifted off of him because he— I'm sure he was sitting there, what does this girl want from me?

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: What is this clown doing in here? And he was like, oh, Oh, okay. Well, you need to create a bible. And I'm like, what's a bible? So, 30 minutes. 30 minutes. The busiest guy in show business sits with me and Jessica Ann Bogart in his office and tells me how to pitch this show, and what to do, and what I need to make to create a presentation.

Ryan: So you weren't pitching him the show.

Wendykgray: No.

Ryan: But he gave you the playbook on—

Wendykgray: Exactly. Like, you need a bible. I was like, what's a bible? And you need this, and da-da. So, you know, 30 minutes later, we squealed the whole way down in the elevator. I don't even remember everything that he said because I was sitting there sweating. I was so nervous and scared. Again, because I'm shy and I have stage fright. And here was Seth MacFarlane. I mean, we're in the room with Seth MacFarlane. And Jessica's just cool cucumber over here. I was dying.

Ryan: Well, you gotta act like you've been there.

Wendykgray: stepped up to the plate. So I go back. I find someone who— Kate Shannon through the July group. And she does the illustrations for me. She's not an animator. She's a book writer. And I just loved this. Like, she had created a moon inside a boat with a smile on its face.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Wendykgray: And I was like, that's it. She gets me. She gets what I want the show to be about. So she drew all the characters for Sidewalk Stories. And then I hired some people to— the thing was about me pitching a show was I'm not an animator, and I'm not a well-known show pitcher or showrunner or any of those things.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: So what could I do to make it unique? And so I've written hundreds of songs. I'm a singer. I'm a songwriter. I'm a voiceover actor. Those are the things that I have to put up front. And Seth said that as well. I was like, you're a voiceover actor. You need to do as many of the characters as you can. This is what you do. So we decided to make basically a digital DVD, an electronic press kit. So we— I don't know if you got a chance to watch them because I sent them to you. No. Oh, I will. I will. It's such a great idea. It's so cute. It's so sad it hasn't gotten made yet, but it will see the light of day before I die. It's still out there. Okay, you're still out there. Great. So I made a DVD, and Jessica called Seth back and said, okay, we're ready. We want you to see this. So we squeal all the way up the elevator again. We get into the office, and busiest guy in showbiz. I can't stress this enough. So he's meeting with us during his lunch hour. He's eating a turkey sandwich. And I walk in, I'm a little more confident now. So thank goodness he had a DVD in his office, back when people had DVDs. I don't see one here, you know?

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: So he had a DVD player in the office. So we started it up, and it started with the Sidewalk Stories theme song. And he's just literally kicked back in his chair, feet up, eating his turkey sandwich, and he's like, hot damn, I can eat my lunch and get a show pitched to me at the same time. I love this. This is a great idea. Oh my God. And just helped us. He set up meetings for me. I mean, he hooked us up with the producer of Family Guy, Cara Vallone, and it just went on from there. And it was just like meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting, and it was crazy. And this was a guy— I mean, this is another example of helping someone.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: The biggest guy in the world turns around to help someone he doesn't even know. You know, some girl that's like, I've got a little show, and what should I do?

Ryan: Yeah, and I wonder how many of you he has to deal with. You know what I mean? Like, how many people are like, hey, Seth, I have this.

Wendykgray: Oh, I'm sure people are challenging him all the time.

Ryan: Right.

Wendykgray: You know, help me do this, help me do this. Now, Sidewalk Stories was not his genre.

Ryan: Oh, is it not?

Wendykgray: It's for kids. Yeah, it's a kids', you know, it has alternate endings. It's got, you know, a stop, think, act song. It's for little kids.

Ryan: Right, right.

Wendykgray: So it was not his genre at all.

Ryan: It's not getting a TV-MA rating.

Wendykgray: Right. So, but, you know, he just— it was just such an amazing experience. Yeah, that's cool. It was an amazing— it will be one of the highlights of my career forever. And also, you know, Jessica Ann Bogart, passing that forward.

Ryan: Yeah.

Wendykgray: So I helped her a decade ago, and she crossed paths with someone, and she hooked me up with other people as well. But it— you can't get anywhere in this business or in life in general without helping people. That's why the service that you're doing for everyone that has come on your show, Yeah. How amazing. I wasn't even on your show, you know, 5 years ago when you did the Trevor Shand thing.

Ryan: Yeah, I don't think I had heard a story like that yet.

Wendykgray: I got a job from that, and I still have that station.

Ryan: Yeah, that's funny. I mean, you just never know. People will get contacted after they're on the show, but to—

Wendykgray: To be like, hey, you outed me. No, yeah, right. I outed a few people.

Ryan: Or, you know, hey, I heard you, but— Well, hey, yeah, so now we'll really end. I wanted to make sure we talked about everything. And I think we did. Thank you. So wendykgrey.com, all your great demos are there. So I'll just simply say thank you for coming in and being a live guest.

Wendykgray: Thank you very much. I am so flattered that you had me on. I mean, it was really my privilege. I had such a great time. Awesome. Really, thank you. Made me feel super comfortable. Yay!

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