SPI 850: End of an Era with My Voice-over Guy, John Melley

SPI 850: End of an Era with My Voice-over Guy, John Melley

John Melley: It’s very important for people who are starting out to understand that the world is run by those who show up. You have to put yourself out there and people are watching. There’s this expectation and I felt it too, like, sometimes, “Why did that person get that voiceover gig? How come they didn’t ask me?” They don’t know who you are. So I think once you’re there and you’ve proven that you’re not just going to take off at the first obstacle that you run into, then I think people who can help you step forward.

Pat Flynn: The end of one thing is often the beginning of another. When one door closes, another one opens, yada, yada. You’ve heard that sort of phrase before, but this is really the end of an era right now. This episode right here, the end of 2024 and episode 850 marks the end of a 16 year run of Smart Passive Income and this podcast in the way that it’s been done.

It’s always been the same. It’s used the same intro music. With the same voiceover guy. And today to mark the end, but also the beginning of a new era here at SPI, I wanted to bring on my voiceover guy himself, John Melley. And I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that this episode choked me up a little bit.

And after I hung up with John, I sat in reflection for a little bit before I recorded this intro. And I just reflected on how blessed I was to have John be a part of this ever since the beginning. We joke a bit, but he does know quite a bit about me because of all these fun facts. And after 850 episodes, we finally have John on the show and we just, we just talk, we just have a great time.

And honestly, I do imagine myself working with John in the future, just not in the same way. As you’ve heard over the months here at SPI, we’ve had big plans. We’ve made incredible changes all to benefit you and the SPI Community and this was a hard one changing the podcast and the approach to it It’s been amazing. And I’m so grateful for all of you.

Now, this doesn’t mean unsubscribe. I want you to look forward to 2025 and not just what we have to offer, but hopefully what we can inspire for you. Hopefully what I can help unlock for you. How I might be able to help you get unstuck. Now, let’s go to the conversation with John Melley from JohnMelley.com, my voiceover guy. And if you choke up at the end of this, if you’ve especially been a long time listener, I won’t blame you for it because I did as well. I appreciate you. And. Here he is, Mr. John Melley.

Announcer: You’re listening to the Smart Passive Income Podcast, a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, a show that’s all about working hard now, so you can sit back and reap the benefits later. And now your host. He’s got the best voice-over guy on the internet. Hey, I’m just reading what he wrote, but I gotta tell ya, it’s been a blast, Pat. I appreciate all the opportunity you’ve given me over all these years. And just so you know what I really sound like, this is my real voice. And it’s been a lot of fun, Pat. Thank you very, very much.

Pat Flynn: John, welcome! Although you’ve been on literally every single episode, just not in person before, but Here you are, John. Thank you so much for taking the time today, man.

John Melley: Should I use my real voice, Pat, or should I use the one that everybody knows?

Pat Flynn: Use your real voice. Use your real voice.

Like, what does he even sound like? I imagine people would be curious.

John Melley: This is my real voice.

Pat Flynn: Okay. So pretty similar to the, to the voice. So you kind of like go a little bit more guttural on the intro, right?

John Melley: Yeah. You know, I don’t know if you’re familiar with, I don’t think he’s any longer with us, but there was an actor named Rip Torn and he was in Men in Black.

You may remember him. He was the guy who gave them the wand before they I know exactly who you’re talking about. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s kind of a riff on Rip Torn. And this has been a great journey doing these voices for you and these liners for you for all of these years. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been fun getting to know you through your little slices and snippets of idiosyncrasies and interests, etc.

But it’s been fun with that. But it started off a long time ago. Was it Jason Van Orden and Sterling?

Pat Flynn: Sterling, Sterling and Jay from Internet Business Mastery. Yeah, that’s where I heard your voice for the first time and I heard it literally every day. Yeah. As I was still in architecture and getting laid off and figuring things out on my end, your voice was the sort of marker for, okay, this is going to be my future. Do you even remember how that intro went for IBM?

John Melley: Yeah, I vaguely, I still have it. I archive everything, but I met Sterling and Jay through a guy by the name of Andrew Locke, who hired me to do an intro for a promo video. He was doing a lot of marketing through eBay and he was using eBay to create self liquidating leads.

So, I met up with him and started doing some stuff with him, and he introduced me to Sterling and Jay. And I think it was one of the first, it was definitely the first podcast I had ever voiced an intro for. But it was kind of like a movie trailer. I think it had also sprocked the Zarathustra music like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Anyway, you hang around with me long enough and the characters and the noises and the Starts flowing. So good.

Pat Flynn: So with IBM, you worked with them for several years and I found you through them. And were, were you starting to pick up more podcast work kind of around that time? Cause that’s, that was like the beginning early days of when podcasting became a little bit more mainstream.

You didn’t need to be as technical. And more people were just starting their own show.

John Melley: Yeah, I met several, I met you and it was, it was the early days of podcasting. I still had a flip phone and you were one of the few, Amy Porterfield reached out to me for online marketing. Made easy, Michael Stelzner for social media examiner podcast.

Pat Flynn: You did an Australian voice for him, didn’t you?

John Melley: I did. That’s so good. And I did a bunch of sweeping. He had different show segments he wanted. So we put together a whole production package for him for different show segments and sweepers, intros, outros, bumpers, all that kind of stuff. So we did that. And you were in that cadre of early adopters.

And I remember going into a Verizon store in New Hampshire saying, I’ve been asked to be on so many of these things. I need to experience this media, this platform. And so I, I got an iPhone and the first podcast I looked up was yours because I was doing the most work with you. And I pulled it up. At that point you had to download the podcasting app.

Pat Flynn: Yeah.

John Melley: So I did all that and found you. And then I hit the play button and I went. This is so cool. You can walk around with this little black rectangle and carry the world in your pocket and get access to the entire globe’s worth of content at that point. And it was so fascinating. But the other thing it did for me, Pat, was just like, I can do this.

Yeah. And I looked at your you had a, how to set up a podcast course. I think it was a free course. And I just followed that step by step by step. I emailed you and I said, Hey, I’ve started my own podcast. I actually had you on as a guest early on one of the first 10 episodes. So it’s just been a really interesting journey to watch this whole media just develop and unfold, and explode, really.

Pat Flynn: You’ve had a very unique perspective hearing all these fun facts about, I mean, you know, a lot about me. You probably know more about me than most people I would say, because of the little snippets that you’ve recorded. What has stood out to you? I’m just curious. Do any come to mind that you remember having to voice or there any that you had like questions about, I know every once in a while you had to ask me like for certain terms, like how to phonetically say things because they weren’t necessarily a part of your world. But I’m just curious from your perspective, if there was anything that you remember or stands out.

John Melley: Yeah, there are a couple that actually stand out. One is that you played the trumpet in the marching band.

Pat Flynn: That’s right. And my son does now. He plays the same trumpet that I do. I play and you even grew up with my kids in the way there were some episodes that you recorded where I’m like, I’m a dad now and now my son’s like 15 like this is, this is how much time has passed.

John Melley: Yeah, that’s amazing to me. I, yes. And I remember you talk, listening to your show and how excited you would be about becoming a dad.

I remember you doing an episode on how you and your now wife were putting together your wedding invitations and you were doing, like, I’m going to put the stamps on all the envelopes first, and then I’m going to stuff the envelope, and then, and, but she was doing, I’m going to insert, label, and stamp, and seal the envelope, and you, we were talking about of which one was more efficient?

I remember that episode and how you were talking about, you know, excited to get married and all of that. And you may have been married by the time we started working. I can’t remember, but I remember that. I remember the socks that you like to work in socks.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. Always. I’m wearing socks right now. See. I like it.

John Melley: Definitely Back to the Future.

Pat Flynn: There were a lot of those.

John Melley: That and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I know Rob Paulson who voiced a couple of characters. Pat Fraley who did Krang. The voice of Krang is a friend of mine and a mentor of mine. So it was fun to, I think I got you a signed picture.

Pat Flynn: You did with Donatello out on it, I believe.

Yeah. That was amazing. Thank you for that gift, by the way. I still have it up on my wall. There’s been a lot that has happened over the course of the past 15 years. And, you know, I know this feels like an end, you know, it’s the end of the year. You and I are not doing the sort of fun facts anymore, like we were, because we’re making some changes on this end.

But it’s definitely not going to be the last time we work together. And it’s definitely not going to be the last time people hear from you in some way, shape or form. But I also know people do enjoy your work. I want to make sure before we get too deep into the episode, if people wanted to, you know, get your services, learn more about you, listen to your podcast, all those things, like where should people go to get more of John Melley?

John Melley: You can go to JohnMelley.com and you can look under services the contact button, all of that. And first of all, thank you for providing that opportunity. I have gotten several clients through your podcast over the years and they all, not all of them, some of them say, can I get the Pat Flynn voice?

And I said, well, Pat’s been really good to me. I’ve So I can give you a nuanced version, but that’s, that’s for Pat. Thanks Pat. Pat, gets that one.

Pat Flynn: Thank you. You’re well, . How is it easier for you to just like, make up a new voice? Like what’s, what goes through your mind when somebody asks you for, you know, some work and you know, do you just have a bag of voices you pull from?

Like, I have no idea how you do what you do as a voiceover artist. I love for you to share a little bit about the behind the scenes of that.

John Melley: Yeah, sure. There’s a lot of different things. I’ve always been fascinated by sound and I could go into the story of how my grandfather gave me my first radio, but I was always this person imitating people.

There was a mimic by the name of Rich Little. He’s still performing. He’s Canadian, but he used to be on the Johnny Carson show and on all these variety shows. And that was appointment viewing for me. If I knew he was going to be on, I would watch him. And then I started doing Imitations of his imitations and true story from what I understand from my parents.

I started talking at an early age and my mom once said to me, I think I was in fourth grade. She said, John, someday I hope you’re on the radio. And I said, do you, do you really mom? And she says, yes, that way I can shut you off.

Pat Flynn: Oh my gosh. That’s so good.

John Melley: It’s a true story, but you know, she’s my biggest fan. At any rate to answer your question more directly, there are different things that you can do. There’s vocal placement. So with the Pat Flynn here I do this more guttural thing, push it down here, but in the same thing, I can push it up into my nose and I’m still in the same pitch, but I’ve pushed it up here, or I can just be right here in the middle.

Then there are, there are different pitches that you can do. I can, I can get way up here too, and I can do this voice up here, and I can come way down here. And like I say, it’s hours and hours of misspent youth finally paying off. I take different elements from different voices, so Do a pretty good Regis Philbin, who’s no longer with us.

But Regis would be this voice here, to ask you if that’s your final answer. And basically what Regis is, is Krusty the Clown with a very stuffy nose. Oh wow. And a little less volume. So there, and then you can do kind of, you can do draws, so here’s Pat Flynn with a southern accent, and then we’re more of a Texas approach, and then let’s say I put a little lateral lisp in there, and this is how I can create this texture, and then if I want to cut down on the breathing, I can make it sound really strained.

Pat Flynn: So, there are like hundreds because there’s all the in between and everything, like anything.

John Melley: Just layered different techniques onto it. And you know, I will, I’ll give perfect credit to all of that. It was Pat Fraley. I was doing it intuitively on some level, but he’s the one who has broken all that down and taught us how to strategically categorize and almost catalog your characters.

Pat Flynn: That’s so cool. Of the voiceover work you do now. What has been exciting to you as of late? Are there any new shows or other things that you’re getting involved with voiceover acting that you’d like to chat about?

John Melley: It’s interesting. I’m actually in my 30th year of radio this year. I started off as a board op back in 1994 and a board op is somebody who basically back then everything was on reel to reel tape.

And your license, you had to be on 24 seven and the tower has lights and all that kind of stuff because they don’t want planes to fly into the antennas. And so you have to make sure that those are still flashing and keep the station on the air. So I started off there working my chops up and that was from 2:30 to 8 in the morning.

And I started producing, I’d go into the production studio and work on my chops. And I tell you this, because it started off as a board op and then became a copywriter and a production person. And then I got full time in this in late of 1999. I’ve been with my current station for 24 years now. And yeah, so, and I tell you this because I’ve done a lot in radio commercials, and I’ve done some, I’ve done a lot of podcasting. I love podcast. I like podcasts a lot. And that’s really where I’m taking my business. I’m also doing some voiceover coaching. So if I get hired for a commercial, I’m up for that. You know, I love doing it. But I also like working on projects that I’m interested in for me, you know, and so I’m really actually focusing quite a bit on a local podcast that I’m producing.

It’s very niched for the community that I live in. I live just outside of Boston and there’s a lot of history in the Boston area. And it’s called the All About Quincy podcast. And so I’m interviewing business owners just really kind of started off in COVID when the lockdowns were happening. And I come from a small family business background, Pat.

It was a retail card shop and social stationary printing business. We would print birth announcements and wedding invitations and retirement party invitations, et cetera. And my folks retired back in 2002. And I just remember walking my dog around the neighborhood and seeing these businesses just shuttered.

And I’m thinking to myself, thank God I didn’t have to weather this. It’s, you know, that’s a tough business even in the best of circumstances. So I, I started walking around and saying, you know, I love history. I was a kid when the bicentennial happened back in 76 and that was a big deal as a kid. So I got really interested in the Revolutionary War, and I live in the city of presidents where John Adams and John Quincy Adams were born. Their houses are in a stone’s throw away. It’s really cool. So I was, I caught up in the history and I do a lot of marketing and radio commercials and I have empathy and support of small businesses.

And I was walking around going, I’ve got to do some, how can I put all of these things together? And so I started the All About Quincy podcast and it focuses on history, the small businesses and the hidden gems that make the city of Quincy a great place to live. So that’s where I’m spending a lot of my away from the radio station time, if you will, focusing on that.

I’ve also written a book called The Voice Over Athlete, and this is basically, a result of me, several years ago, probably right around the time where you and I met, I was doing a lot of freelance business on top of my radio gig. I was making more money than I ever had in my life, which was great, but I was burning the candle to both ends.

And I got sick. I wound up with a kidney stone, a couple of kidney stones. And I said, I actually go into the story in the book. I was like, you know, what good is all this, you know, if I’m not healthy. So that became, I was very active when I was young and I won’t go into all the details, but I’ve found a really good coach. Nutrition, exercise, joint mobility, different types of exercise, all became very important to me. And so my trainer, who I’ve been working with for over 10 years now, he said, you should do this. You should put it together for people who are voice actors. And so these are what, what this is, is a mobility template for people who, really, who sit and work at a computer all day, but it’s focused toward folks who work with microphones, posture, breathing technique, mobility in the neck, your jaw, thoracic cavity, and all of that. And I go into some of the reasons why it’s important. So those two areas, you know, it’s, it’s funny, I’m kind of going through a similar thing.

Maybe for different reasons, but you’re taking the show in a slightly different direction. And I can’t wait to hear what that sounds like going forward. But you know, I’ve been doing what I do for so long that after a while, you kind of, it becomes a lot of your identity. What you do becomes kind of like who you are.

And every once in a while that occurs to me and I go, be careful. Nothing’s forever. You know, I don’t take it for granted, especially in my business. You’re only as good as your last performance. But they don’t owe you anything. You know, it’s like they owe you when you’ve finished your job, but they could change formats.

So it’s like, I’ve wrestled with this point in my life where it’s just like, is it okay for me to want to do something a little bit different, but definitely pull from the skills that I’ve developed over these years. And I, I’m not going anywhere off the air unless somebody tells me to, but I also want to focus in these two areas here, the, this, this podcast, this local podcast and the Voice Over Athlete.

I’m very passionate about this just because I know I’ll be 58 in a couple of weeks. And I, I surprised a lot of people when I say that, but it really does matter what you put in your body.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent.

John Melley: And I know you’ve done a lot with that too, just from some of your liners. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, the, the concept of the Voice Over Athlete, everyone’s an athlete, Pat, because an athlete is someone who uses their body to do their job. And the tagline for my Voice Over Athlete thing is a healthy body means a healthy voice. And if I’m not sounding good, you know, there’s, there’s a sound that people hire based off your demo in my world, you know, and I remember, I’ll tell you a story.

I did a lot of video game work. I did some characters for Atari video games. Wow. Several years ago. Yeah. And I was doing creature sounds and I died a thousand deaths. And video game work is very physically demanding depending on the role. And I remember I was like in my studio and you know, and they say, okay, die another way.

And so I was doing that. And the next day I got hired by a guy who wanted me for this really, the fun thing about voiceovers, you get exposed to a lot of different concepts. So I got hired for this company called Arbor Jet. And what they do is they go around to these urban areas and those city trees that are buried in sidewalks.

They go around and inject nutrients into the trees. And so it was, it was a voiceover for their corporate video on their services and their products and all that kind of stuff. And so he called me up and he said, Hey, can you come in? And I’m like, I yeah, I was doing a video game yesterday. And he’s like, Oh, Oh, John, no, no, that’s your voice isn’t, that’s not what he’s hiring.

He’s, can you just not talk for a day? And I was like, Oh, your voice was sort of horse from the, from the work the day before. Oh, I trashed it. And fortunately I recovered quickly, but you know, it’s a lesson. It’s like, if I’m not taking care of this, it’s how I put food on the table. It’s how I, I pay the bills, you know?

So when I stopped and got to that point where it’s like, this is stupid, I’m in an ambulance, they’re giving me drugs for the pain, and then they’re giving me anti nausea drugs for the drugs. I mean, it was awful and I’m like, I don’t want to be part of this. And so I said, let’s take a step back. And I’ve been lucky.

I’ve been able to find and surround myself with good, qualified people to guide me in good directions. And it’s taken a while, but yeah, am I going on too much?

Pat Flynn: No, I love all this. I mean, there’s so many parallels and lessons and things that I’ve learned that, you know, I’ve picked up along the way too from taking care of your voice.

You know, I’m a podcaster by trade and there have been days early on when I would lose my voice and then I couldn’t podcast and I’d get behind and I’d be behind schedule and you know, people were waiting for stuff that I just couldn’t deliver. So that’s when I started taking singing lessons. Oh, cool.

And that paid off a hundred fold. Breath control, breath control, and also especially learning when in a crowd because I used to speak quite a bit and I used to go to these events and then their networking events were always in these loud clubs. And of course, you’re trying to hold a conversation with people with this loud music and everybody speaking over each other.

I would just lose my voice. And there was one time where. I had done that. I lost my voice on the same day I was supposed to speak. And I was like, this is, this is not good.

I think it’d be remiss if we didn’t cover really quick, just because there are a lot of podcasters and people who use their voice in this audience right now listening, what are some professional tips that you could offer that would help us with. Endurance, taking care of ourselves, just being tip top shape.

I mean, obviously check out the book Voice Over Athlete, but beyond that, what are some easy things that we could think about while we’re using our voice, you know, day in and day out?

John Melley: Sure. Couple real quick things, breathe from your belly, diaphragmatic breathing, a lot of people when they get tense, they hold a lot of tension up in their shoulders and in their neck, and they breathe up in their chest.

What you really want to do is be able to almost, you know, your lungs aren’t just on the front of your body. You’re, you, you want to take a nice deep breath and actually, if you put your hands over the crest of your hips. If you take a breath, you want to be able to feel that breath, push your hands out all around you.

There’s that. If you’re going to start recording, I would stay away from any kind of dairy products. Maybe an hour or two before you’re going to be on mic. So if you like your coffee with a little half and half in it, maybe skip the half and half. A really neat trick for people who worry about clicky mouth apples, eat an apple before.

Oh, really? Yeah. There’s something about what’s the, the juice and the apples when you bite into it, that makes your mouth less clicky, sticky. Drink water, I try to be really good about drinking water and some days I’m good and some days I’m bad, water is always good, room temperature is good, I’d stay away from cold or, you know, like a lot of ice or, on the other hand, really hot beverages, you want to kind of be room temperature, vegetable oils, stay away from the vegetable oils.

And they’re in everything. Because vegetable oils are inflammatory. So you basically, for me, you want to get in the nitty gritty, I try and eat as anti inflammatory as possible. You know, anything that causes inflammation in your voice, posture is important. If you’ve got tech neck with that craning forward.

You want to sit up straight. If you think of it, and I show about it in the book, but if you think, if you’re sitting forward in a posture like this, just think about the airflow and I’ll do it right here. If I’m down here like this, I’m not doing anything to my voice, except I’m craning my neck and the air has got to flow through this bend forward and back up and then back out.

If I sit up nice and straight like this, there’s no friction.

Pat Flynn: This is why when, when I started standing up when recording, you can, I didn’t even have to tell anybody they heard just a difference in energy and voice and tone. I kind of sit up now on a, on a barstool kind of situation. So it’s kind of in between, but yeah, I mean, I haven’t heard of the apple thing or the dairy thing, but those are great.

What could a person do if they’re in a situation where their voice is starting to not feel great? How might one recover more quickly than not.

John Melley: Rest and water.

Pat Flynn: There’s no magic like throat coat I’ve heard or, you know, ginger chews or, you know, honey.

John Melley: Honey’s nice. A little known fact to me is I used to have bees, honeybees.

I used to have two beehives in my yard and yeah, I had I’m always, I’m fascinated by honeybees. Things you didn’t know about John. Yeah.

Pat Flynn: Flip the script cause you know a lot about me.

John Melley: Yeah. Yeah. Nougatory nugget for the treasure trove of trivia. Anyway, a little spitball of useless knowledge is I used to have a couple of honeybee hives, Patrick.

I, so I, I did kind of a deep dive on honeybees. And the interesting thing about honey is that when the bees are pulling the nectar from the plants and they put the nectar in their honey stomach when they’re processing it, the enzymes that they use to dehydrate the nectar, because it’s basically there’s very little water content in honey, but there’s a chemical compound in it that is very similar to hydrogen peroxide.

And so if you’ve ever taken a spoonful of honey straight up and then felt kind of that chalky, almost, I don’t want to say burning, but it’s like, a stronger sensation. That’s that chemical. So that’s what it’s really quite healing. It prevents any kind of bacteria from developing or getting hold. And lemon.

That’s good. So warm water with some honey and lemon in it. Those are really good. Green tea is good. I don’t drink a lot of green tea. I like coffee. So I, I used to drink it with honey and a half and a half, but now I just drink it straight up. It’s black coffee.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. But that’s how I am too. John, as we finish up here again, I just, I’m so grateful that, and I think it’s just so fitting.

That after this many years, as we, you know, have a new CEO now, as we’re making changes, as we’re putting more efforts into different things to have you here to really finish up and, you know, we still have a few more episodes that are pretty similar and, you know, we’ll hear your voice again a few more times, but really I wanted to bring you on just to, Just to say thank you.

You know, you’ve been incredible as support and just to kind of know that you’re, you’ve always been there for me kind of thing, and you’ve kind of grown with me through the days of kind of figuring things out to then starting to thrive and then, you know, making some mistakes here and there, getting back on track, et cetera, to know that there are people like you in this world who are there to help people like me out is just so reassuring.

And I’m just super grateful for you and I’m, I’m here for you, man. And, and I think everybody listening in their own fun little way, especially the long time listeners has, you know, felt the same way where we just appreciate you and the work that you do. And, you know, as we finish off here, I want to ask you about, cause I’ve been actually meeting a lot more voiceover people in my sort of newer passion of Pokemon.

John Melley: Oh, really?

Pat Flynn: Okay. I’ve met Sarah Nettacheni, who is the voice actress behind Ash Ketchum from Pokemon. And that has put me into a world where I’ve started to meet a few others. And I’ve met the voice actress of Luffy from One Piece and got to have dinner with her one night at an event. And just the community is so amazing.

And it just feels like there’s a lot of really cool, supportive people. But I’ve also heard stories of, you know, people just being very protective of their work. And, you know, I feel like it’s in some ways kind of also pretty cutthroat. I guess it depends on which part of the voiceover industry you’re in.

I guess anime is is one thing, but just can you speak to the community and the people you said you’ve surrounded yourself with amazing people who have you surrounded yourself with who have supported you? And, and how have you been able to just stay so steadfast and on it this whole time?

John Melley: Well, it’s a really interesting question.

First of all, I want to thank you for all the opportunity. So when you said I’ve been there for you, it’s a two way street. You’ve been very supportive of me. In terms of surrounding myself, I think it’s very important for people who are starting out in any kind of endeavor to understand that the world is run by those who show up.

I don’t know who said that or something like that, but you have to put yourself out there and people are watching and there’s this expectation and I felt it too, like, sometimes how, why did that person get that voiceover gig? How come they didn’t ask me? And as I spend more time working and evolving and getting to a place where I was making decisions on whom to use for different projects, people are watching because they want to get to know you.

They don’t know who you are. You know, and there’s a lot of trust in a relationship when we first started out, I didn’t know you, but I trusted you. And you know, it’s like, I sent you the files, you sent me the money. And then there’s trust on your part because you’re like, I’m going to reach out to this guy, John. Sterling and Jay know him, but I don’t know him.

But if I email him, will he send me the files? You know? And so there’s been this thing where it’s like, we go back and forth and back and forth. And. over this period of time we’ve developed, it’s like, you know, if I send John an email with liners and he says he’s going to get them to me next Tuesday, then I’m probably going to get them next Tuesday, you know, but people don’t know that upfront.

So I think once you’re there and you’ve proven that you’re not just going to take off at the first obstacle that you run into, but that you, you’ve got a desire and a passion, then I think people who can help you step forward. You know, and I also think that you need to be willing to step out there a little bit and put yourself in some uncomfortable situations, you know, outside your comfort zone, as they say, I can remember the first time I went out to LA to take a course with Pat Fraley. And you asked who I surround myself with. Pat Fraley’s one. Rodney Salisbury is another person. You know, I’ve worked with all kinds of really neat people in the voiceover industry, but I can remember being in this Buzzy’s recording studio in Burbank, California. And I’m standing there in this studio that James Earl Jones and Catherine Zeta Jones and all these big names, big, big names, they’ve, they’ve autographed stuff on the walls and I’m standing in this studio and I’m going, who the heck am I? What am I doing here? You know, this imposter syndrome thing, but then it’s like, no, wait a minute. You kind of have to trust yourself a little bit. So I think you have to put yourself out there and then the people who can say, okay, this person’s serious, I’ll help you, you know, but I think you also have to go looking for it. It’s not going to just fall into your lap. So to ask in terms of the voiceover community, by and large, it’s a very supportive community. There are those, it’s like any subset of humanity, you know, there are those who are pretty cool, but I think once you get, and I think you amplify this too, people have heard that I’m that guy on the Pat Flynn SPI podcast, you’re that guy.

I’m like, they’re like, what’s he like? And I’m like, what you see is what you get, you know? And it’s like, yeah, you know, I’ll send him an email or he’ll get back to me. I, it’s all been very cordial. And so I think that’s, I’m going to compliment you here, but I’m complimenting anybody who’s achieved real success.

People like to work with people who are easy to work with. And if you are easy to work with, you don’t want to be a doormat and let people walk all over you, but you also don’t want to be the person who walks all over people you want to go in, do the job you’re hired for, and stay true to that. And as things evolve, then things will evolve, and more will be asked of you, and you prove yourself. It becomes this cycle. Does that answer your question, Pat?

Pat Flynn: Yeah, it does, and it so eloquently portrays my thoughts and the way that I’ve taught things. You know, the Serve First attitude and this idea that whatever you get into, if you can leave it better than when you got there.

John Melley: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you don’t want to, let’s be real, there’s a lot of opportunities to be disappointed today.

You know, I mean, there’s, you just, yeah, turn on the news, anybody who’s listening to this, including you, we’ve all had experiences where you’re just like, you know, if you just did what you said you were going to do, this would be great. But sometimes people try and take a shortcut, you know, or maybe they won’t notice.

They notice. And even though they may not say anything, I’ve often said, you don’t know the opportunities that you’re missing based on what you’re doing. I’ve had several encounters where people just sort of expected that I was going to deal with the fact that they didn’t show up, you know, for something.

And it’s like, well, I may have you back in to finish up what this project is, but you’re not going to be asked again, but they don’t know that they figure, well, okay, I’m doing the job. Everything’s cool. And it’s like, yeah, it’s cool for that gig, but I, you know, I don’t want to sound harsh, but if you can meet those expectations, do what you say, you’re going to do and give it. So perfect example. I could have our relationship here. I don’t know what people know of your production process for your show, but I never just read your liners once. I gave your production team like a minimum of four takes with different variations on the liner. And I left that all up to you folks to pick out the one that you thought best suited the tone for your show and what you wanted to accomplish with that episode.

But it’s like, all right, Pat Flynn wears socks when he works. Next item. You would have been like, yeah, okay, I guess that’s okay. But I wanted to give you choices. You know, it’s like, Ooh, I hadn’t thought about it reading that way. I didn’t thought, Oh, I wouldn’t have approached. I heard that differently when I read it, you know?

So that’s, that’s what you have to bring to the table. That’s for my genre, for my toolbox. That’s, that’s what I have to bring to a session because if I just do one and done, that’s, you know, okay, thanks, but I’m not sure we’d still be working after 14, 15 years.

Pat Flynn: No, it’s, it’s been a great run and, and again, this isn’t the end of our relationship.

In fact, I do feel like this is even like a new beginning for us. I’d love to, John, if I’m in the Boston area, let’s hang out, have a, have a coffee together and same if you’re in San Diego, I’d love, I’d love for that.

John Melley: I would be upset if that didn’t happen.

Pat Flynn: Same, same, absolutely. And for everybody listening, JohnMelley.com and check out his book, Voice Over Athlete. John, if I could ask you one final favor here before we finish up. If you could sign us off in the Pat Flynn SPI guy voice. Yeah. And also wish everybody a happy holiday at the same time. That would be great. That’d be tremendous.

John Melley: Sure. You’ve been listening to The Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn, signing off for the year 2024, wishing you all a wonderful holiday season.

Until next year, thanks for listening.

Pat Flynn: Thank you so much. I mean that deeply. Thank you so much for listening to the SPI Podcast. All the way through 2024, and I look forward to serving you next year in some fun and unique ways and just seriously, thank you, John, and for my family and my team to you. Happy New Year.

Thank you so much for listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast at SmartPassiveIncome.com. I’m your host, Pat Flynn. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. The Smart Passive Income Podcast is a production of SPI Media and a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network. Catch you next week!