Don’t you dare. You’ve come too far. You’ve invested too much time, energy, and passion (not to mention money) to throw it all away.

I know things are dark for you right now. I get it. I’ve been through it. There was a time I literally did not know where the rent was gonna come from. I’ve had those sleepless nights. And there are many that have had it way tougher than I and made it through.

This business is full of rejection. It’s quiet. There is no feedback on auditions unless you book. No one will tell you whether you crushed it and didn’t book it because someone else crushed it and reminded the client subconsciously of their Aunt Betty and got the gig. They won’t tell you if you didn’t book this job but turned in a great audition that got them to take notice of you for something they haven’t even thought of yet.

Getting shortlisted or put on hold then not booking feels like going to the Super Bowl, then losing by a point.

If you’re booking in the high single digits or low double digits, percentage-wise, you’re in the hall of fame. You can fail literally 90% of the time in this business and be elite.

I will tell you that to be successful there are some non-negotiables.

The first is time. You’ve got to find a way to hang in there long enough, and it doesn’t matter who or how talented you are, to build a sustainable business in voice-over takes time. Years. Not days, weeks, or months.

The second is consistency. Yes, there’s a shit-ton of rejection. No, it never goes away. But it’s completely irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how many times you strikeout. You’re not going for average. You’re going for hits and hits do come with getting to the plate enough. Market your services every damn day. Reach out to as many people as you can every damn day. Audition as many times as you can. Every. Damn. Day. More nos lead to more yesses.

The third is grit. You have to decide that this thing you love is worth it and this dream you’re chasing is going to happen. It won’t happen how or when you want it to. It won’t happen because someone dramatically “discovered” you.

It’ll happen because you did some things you absolutely didn’t want to do to stay in the game long enough to keep the dream alive until the roots took hold and it bloomed. Which it will do slowly.

It’ll happen because you put in the training and put in the consistent effort to build the daily habits that lead to success over time. It’ll happen because you took the time and had the patience to build the relationships that lead to success over time. It’ll happen because of the thousand tiny things that hundreds of generous people will do for you along the way and the little things you do for them will help them, too.

It'll happen because you reached down deep inside and decided to, in the words of Kay Bess, trust and be brave.

Trust yourself. Trust your training. Trust time and consistency. Trust your grit. Trust that once you decide that this is going to work (not on your schedule or according to your script, but that it will work) that the universe will conspire to help you.

Be brave. Take the risk in the audition. Learn something new. Take a chance. Invest in your business. Put yourself and your dream and your passion out there for the world and it will happen.

In fact, that’s the only way it does.

Don’t you dare quit. Don’t do it.