Conversations with Bill Carl

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bill Carl.

Bill, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
For over 25 years, I worked in broadcast media, mostly radio, as an on-air personality and production director.

Radio tends to pay more in “visibility” rather than actual money, LOL. To make ends meet, I picked up free-lance voice work early on with aspirations to “eventually” go full time with it. I loved the work, the pay, and the idea of independence but I feared the unknown so vo became just a far off vision.

Things changed in 2016. I’d hit a dead end. While my job at the time provided growth opportunities and contacts, I wasn’t enjoying the compensation or fulfillment I was after. Looking at other companies and positions just didn’t excite me in any way.  I got serious. I wanted to resign that year but my wife, Missy, wisely encouraged me to plan things out instead of just jumping off the boat and hoping I could swim.

Instead, I strategized – firming up a base of foundational client relationships including “Moving Forward With Dr. Stephen Rummage”, now heard on close to 200 radio stations daily, and “Two Conchs Sportfishing TV” – airing nationally in the U.S. and Canada. Other “early adopters” included Sam Houston State University and the Christian Contemporary band, Big Daddy Weave.

Taking the humbling advice of friends more advanced in the business, I began studying with voiceover coach Nancy Wolfson and continued building. When you’re considering cutting the cord in your late 40’s with a family to support, there is a line between patience and momentum and that’s where I was tip-toeing.

The game-changer came in 2020 when Covid was just on the horizon.  A “scratch track” I’d done for a spec spot captured an ad agency’s ear and I was chosen to voice a national television campaign advertising Toyota’s line of TRD off road trucks and SUVs.  It felt otherworldly when the ads aired during Nascar Races, Major League Fishing, the 2020 World Series and Thursday Night Football. That win provided the financial buffer needed to launch the business full time.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a smooth road mostly…just a long one. I will say that since resigning in October 2020 and officially launching Bill Carl Media, LLC, I’ve made my dollars-booked goal every month and raised it in 2022. I tell those who ask, “we haven’t missed a month or a meal”.

The biggest challenge is always winning new clients and converting them into repeat clients. The competition is fierce. It’s easy to feel powerless. I’ve learned to consider it a numbers game. Statistically, for every booking, I have to audition X amount of times. When I embrace it that way, I feel more in control.

Another struggle rises from the fact that I’m an artistic type. I’m not naturally a grinder when it comes to details. This business has forced me to pay attention to the details – intentional marketing, time usage, bookkeeping, taxes, etc.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m probably best known for narration and commercial voice work across a variety of platforms including television, radio, in-house corporate, and social media.

Well-known brands I’ve represented include Toyota, Pizza Hut, Wrangler, Louisiana Hotsauce, Kraftmaid, Carshield, Merck-Keytruda, Two Conchs Sportfishing TV, John Deere, and New Balance.

As a former production director, I possess a good sense of what the producer/agency is trying to accomplish. The most frequent compliment I hear is that I take direction well and I give the client exactly what they want.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I’ve had to embrace a certain amount of humility.

There was a moment when I had to acknowledge that though I’d put in several decades as a talent, the world wasn’t banging on my door and if I wanted something more, I would have to humble myself to learn…to be an old dog who will learn new tricks.  That sense of needing to get better led me to hire a coach and seek counsel from other talents and folks in the industry and that has made all the difference.

At the end of the day, I feel like I’m honoring my craft with integrity, providing a good life for my family, and though I am late to the game, I’m here to play.

Contact Info:

• Website: billcarl.com
• Instagram: @billcarl_voiceactor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.carl.58
• Twitter: @billcarlvo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9JlSor7Od8fbjRhrggzRbQ

Image Credits
Headshot by Andi Diamond