EP4:Business-Family Balance with Stephanie Ciccarelli

On this podcast, I am super excited to bring to you an awesome guest and business mogul, Stephanie Ciccarelli!

Listen to “Branding & Business-Family Balance with Stephanie Ciccarelli” on Spreaker.

Stephanie Ciccarelli is the Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Voices.com and has contributed content to such publications as The Huffington Post, Backstage Magazine, and Upvoted, and her company has been written about in the LA Times, New York Times, Forbes Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Stephanie is also the author of Voice Acting for Dummies and has been listed on the PROFIT Magazine’s 2013, 2015, and 2016 W100 lists, a ranking of Canada’s top female entrepreneurs.

(Also, this post may contain affiliate links which means I receive a commission if you decide to purchase through my links.)

What is Voices.com?

Voices.com is an online marketplace that connects people who need to get a voiceover recorded with talent that can record for them.  Over 200,000 clients and 200,000 talent are connected on their platform.

Just a bit about her background: Stephanie grew up surrounded by music- involved in world-renowned choirs, and attended a school that was music-focused.  She found her career path by finding her voice.

What does the voiceover talent landscape look like today?

People come from various backgrounds and industries and are bringing their voices to the platform.  If you are a voice artist who has a background in a niche area, you could record projects related to your industry.

What are some ways actors can transition into voiceover more smoothly and to break into the market?

The answer is pretty simple: it really boils down to your ability to read well aloud and picture an audience of one (rather than many), then deliver your message as a believable expert.

How can women begin the process of branding their own business?

Get to know yourself before you start developing the brand.  You are the brand since the business is an extension of yourself.

Also, finding out your personality type can be helpful in building your brand.  You can use a number of different tests tools such as Myers-Briggs,  The Disc Method,  and Social Styles to discover your unique personality type. It’s important to understand how you are a part of your brand and getting to know your own personality can be quite helpful in this process.

Some other key factors you should know when developing your brand are:

• what drives you
• what your values are
• and how you want others to perceive you

On family life and business balance…

Stephanie Ciccarelli agrees that it’s important to keep family first. Within her company, her husband is the CEO and she is the Chief Brand Officer.  They have found ways to keep family life afloat even amidst her travels, by securing needed help and building your business around family obligations.

In the beginning, Stephanie was working from home and as her business evolved and the kids grew older she found herself in a different season.  Important points to note are:

• We should acknowledge that there are seasons in life when we won’t be able to focus so much on business.
• There are also seasons when we need to push a little more energy into our business to get things moving.

Stephanie talks about the three different circles we tend to live in and how it’s a balancing act to keep those circles from touching each other so that we don’t allow different aspects of our lives to spill into one another.

An example: keeping business separate from family life and remembering that home is home, not the boardroom.

How does Stephanie see her business as part of her purpose?

Voices.com is a way to give people a chance to create their own stories and to have a voice. She believes she was meant to use her voice, and she took the guided steps necessary to get where she is today.  By stepping in faith, Stephanie is able to use Voices.com as a connecting tool to bring people together all over the world.

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.  Zig Ziglar

A business essentially exists to solve a problem. Voices.com gives people tools to help them deliver their message. 

How to reach Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Twitter: @stephciccarelli

Stephanie’s Instagram

Purchase her book: Voice Acting for Dummies

Voices.com on YouTube

And, of course, visit: Voices.com

I truly enjoyed speaking with Stephanie today!  Thanks for listening in and let me know your thoughts. How are you branding your business as an extension of yourself?  How are you balancing family and business?

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