From Chiropractor to musician to emerging voiceover actor one man rewrites his story
By Amy Nicole Tangel
During the height of the pandemic even certain healthcare professionals were faced with being unable to safely work and uncertainty when they began looking outside the box like chiropractor turned voiceover actor, Jeff Williams.
“I am a real evidence-based type of chiropractor,” said Jeff who owns a healthcare clinic in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas.
Then Covid hit and he said nobody wanted to be anywhere, especially healthcare clinics unless it was a hospital.
“I am a doer,” he said, “I have a really hard time sitting around being idle.”
Prior to becoming a chiropractor and in his early years of practice, Jeff made a life as a singer, musician and songwriter who traveled throughout his home state of Texas and toured across the southwestern states.
Like many other people who were suddenly sitting home with everything on hold, Jeff said he started thinking of what he could do to keep working and be creative without being around people. One day when Jeff was exploring different ideas, he said he came across a friend’s narration work on a video game and it grabbed his interest right off the bat.
“I was off and running and it has been incredible,” he said. “I wish I had known about it 20 years ago.”
After years being a singer and, in a band, ironically Jeff said nobody who heard his voice had ever suggested him do anything like this prior, so he never really thought anything of it being remarkable or notable until the pandemic came along.
“It’s just been my voice my whole life,” he said.
Only a few years later, Jeff holds credits such as The World Series of Poker, WWF, Honda, Bank of America, Audible, Werner’s Ladders, just to name a few, for a man who did approximately 1,300 voiceover spots in one year. Adding to his rapidly growing collection of work, Jeff has now most recently become quite busy in the video game world.
In the newly released video game, God of Rock-Jeff plays the voice of “King,” an Elvis-inspired character and keeping the video game momentum going he is currently working on an up-coming video football game, Maximum Football as voice to a stadium announcer slated to be released in the fall.
“It’s funny, I guess because I am from Amarillo, I always have the perception of myself that I’ve got the voice for beers, burgers and trucks, but I really do like the more meaningful work,” he said.
For Jeff, the nature of the voiceover industry is currently very competitive in his eyes because of an influx of creative people such as himself migrating to the industry during Covid, but with a blend of abilities as a musician, healthcare professional, and businessman he said he feels it has been an asset to help him stand out.
While Jeff’s voiceover work has become primary next to his chiropractor work, he said he loves being a chiropractor, enjoys teaching people and helping others. With two fellowship trainings and years in practice Jeff said at the age of 50 though, seeing 30 to 50 patients a day has become physically taxing, so voiceovers have become a “win-win” for his creativity and his retirement plan.
“One thing always seems to come from another,” he said.
In Jeff’s life he said everything has always seemed to come from one another even in his music career. From being a local musician in Amarillo to traveling across state lines, Jeff’s entrepreneurial skills over the years also led him to starting his own radio promotion company and holds credit to being Turnpike Troubadours first radio promoter.
Taking something from every aspect of Jeff’s life professionally and creatively, more than anything he said making the connection with other voiceover actors has been the most fulfilling. Compared to other artistic industries he has worked in over the years, Jeff said fellow voiceover actors have been a breath of fresh air with everyone being so kind and supportive.
“Voiceover actors are just like that. Everybody has such a good time together,” he said.
As he continues to build and grow his newfound career, Jeff is moving right along upwards in the voiceover industry and has recently reached new milestones having signed under the reputable management of Celia Segal. Just weeks ago, Jeff also announced he additionally signed with the Lori Lins Talent Agency. Through it all, Jeff remains humble in his sentiment and said at the end of the day it is just, “send it and forget it.”
Seemingly there is no limits to Jeff’s drive as an artist, and he is currently working towards the next venture paying forward with Square1VO; a new platform created alongside industry leader Andy Field, to teach and guide new voiceover actors to get their start.
Looking back on the whirlwind of the past few years, what Jeff said he has enjoyed the most aside from the connections with other fellow actors has been his introduction into the video game world of voiceovers and just enjoying the actual work of the commercials.
“I just love working on video games. It is a blast. I would love to do some animation too,” he said.
To learn more about Jeff Williams and Square1VO visit:
http://www.jeffwilliamsvoice.com
