Meet Veronica Barrera | Voice Actor & Podcaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Veronica Barrera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronica, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I never really considered myself a risk-taker, but then I remembered something. I took a leap of faith and moved to Los Angeles about 14 years ago. I didn’t know anyone, anything, and moved here for love. I was a very hard decision to move away from my family and friends. I am a very critical thinker and weight all my options before making any kind of decision. My faith, family and friends all guided me in this direction and I didn’t take it lightly. I knew I had to find a new career, because there wasn’t much I could do here in LA for my previous career in Industrial Design.

When I got a job at the Pantages theater back in 2013, I met so many creative people and they all told me I have such a unique voice and need to do something with it. I got tired of hearing that all the time and finally did something about it. I took another risk and decided to go to my first voice acting class. I still remember being extremely nervous – I still get nervous to this day – but I have channeled it better. I went into the booth and did terrible, but I was having so much fun. It has really fueled me into the actor I am today. My last risk was starting a podcast back in 2019. I again had no idea what I was doing and I tried to research as much as I could and still didn’t know what I was doing. I’ve now had the podcast for about 6 years now, which sounds crazy to say, but I love helping people and giving back to the voiceover community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, I am a voice actor and podcaster. I started about 7 years ago and I was excited and nervous. It was definitely not easy at first and took class after class and it was just a wealth of knowledge. But the main thing I kept grasping, is that it’s hard work and nothing is guaranteed. You have to work hard for what you want in life. Nothing is handed to you. There were challenges of course, building my home studios and all the iterations they went through. Learning about audio technology is always hard, but so rewarding. I’ve learned along the way that not everyone has your best interest at heart and that’s okay. Learn from those mistakes and pick yourself up and try again. Don’t let anything stop you and keep on going.

I want people to know that you can always change and adapt. Nothing is set in stone. You can control the narrative. For example, my podcast is called Voice Acting Stories, it’s on all podcast streaming platforms. I changed the name a while ago, because I felt that we were talking about voice acting, but it’s the stories people stayed for. I’ve had so many amazing guests on the show and continue to do so. Also, it’s so rewarding to have a sponsor finally on the podcast. It’s hard work, but so rewarding to give back to the VO community!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I feel like there are so many things to do in LA, so I’m going to pick out 2 days. The first day, I would say that we would go to Santa Monica and check out the ocean. The pier is really fun to walk on. They have arcade games there and carnival type things. There is a cute little aquarium below the pier. Then for lunch we would go to Red O and sit outside and feel the breeze on our faces, everything on the menu is delicious. Going shopping at the 3rd street promenade is always a good idea. I would also take you to the Ye Olde Kings Head Store and they sell some of coolest food items and they are all imported from London.

Day 2 we would go to the Little Toyko. That’s one of our favorite places. They have some of the best food there. Rice + Nori is the great spot for lunch or Oomasa. There is even two grocery stores called Nijiya Market and Marukai Market and they sell stuff for lunch too. For dessert, there is Honeymee Ice Cream. If you are interested in shopping there is Anime Jungle and we love that place. The Japanese Village Plaza area is so much fun for all kinds of shopping. World 8-2 is a great video game store for all your video game needs. There is also the Chado Tea Room, they have an amazing tea selection. I think that’s a pretty great two days.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh man, that’s a hard one. So many people have inspired and mentored me. I would say a huge shoutout to Joanne Lichtenstein she has been such a great influence to me and anytime I have a question she is always there for me. I call her my voiceover godmother, because of another friend actually – you know who you are. She has done so much for me and maybe even let me borrow a dress or so. Joanne has been such a great friend and talented voiceover actor as well. I don’t know where I would be, if not for her guidance and friendship. In a way she feels like family to me.

Website: www.veronicabarrera.com, www.voiceactingstories.libysn.com

Instagram: @vlbarrera_vo, @voiceactingstories

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicabarreravo/

Image Credits
Photography by @twodudesphoto, @audible, @societyvoicearts, @joefunkphoto