When I created Voice Over Collective (my private FB Community) nearly five years ago, it came from a deeply personal place. I was thinking about what I wished had existed when I started my voice journey twenty years ago. I set out to create a community where beginners could feel seen, learn alongside others, and never experience the isolation I felt starting out.
That desire to combat loneliness in the voice industry became the foundation of everything we’ve built together. And what we’ve built has been extraordinary.
The Research That Changed Everything
Over the past few years, my team and I have been researching other industries where voice is the primary professional tool. What we discovered was both shocking and illuminating: politicians, teachers, public speakers, fitness instructors – virtually every profession that relies heavily on voice – receives little to no vocal training in their formal education.
We started hearing from professionals organically. “I’m a teacher and I lose my voice by week three of every term – can you help?” These weren’t isolated incidents. They were symptoms of a systemic gap in professional voice support.
The Neurodivergent Advantage
As someone who is highly sensitive, I’ve spent the last decade learning how to navigate the performing arts industry with a trait that often felt like a hindrance. The intensity of feeling everything, processing emotions so deeply, experiencing what I call “the heartbeat of the world”. It took years to understand this wasn’t something to overcome.
It was something to harness.
The breakthrough came when I realised that the same approaches that helped me unlock my sensitivity as a superpower could help other neurodivergent people who use their voice for their job. We process the world differently, which means we need coaching approaches designed for how we actually think and feel.
What This Evolution Means
Voice Over Collective is expanding to welcome ALL voice professionals who are neurodivergent, with particular focus on highly sensitive individuals. This means:
For our voiceover family: Nothing changes. You remain the heart of this community. Your home is still here.
For voice professionals in other industries: Whether you’re a teacher, politician, public speaker, fitness instructor, or any professional whose voice is their primary tool. If you’re neurodivergent, particularly highly sensitive, you now have a place designed for how you experience the world.
For our coaching approach: We’re implementing specialised frameworks that honour neurodivergent ways of processing, learning, and performing.
The Bigger Picture
This evolution represents something I’m incredibly proud of. The organic growth of a community that started with one simple desire: to create what I couldn’t find. Your participation, your engagement, and your willingness to be vulnerable and support each other have made this expansion possible.
We’re not just adding new members; we’re acknowledging that the voice professional community is beautifully diverse in how we think, feel, and process the world. And that diversity isn’t just welcome – it’s essential.
Moving Forward
The same warmth, the same educational focus, the same commitment to being a trusted resource continue. We’re simply making the table bigger and ensuring that everyone who sits at it receives the kind of support that honours how they’re wired.
If you know voice professionals who are neurodivergent and looking for community, bring them home. The kettle’s on, the water’s warm, and there’s always room for one more.
Here’s to the next chapter of our journey together.