Meet Tish Hicks, a dynamic voiceover artist whose journey began in Chicago and flourished in Los Angeles over the past 30 years. As the voice behind major brands like Subaru, Citibank, HP, and even GTA V, Tish has become a recognized and trusted name in the industry. Beyond her own impressive career, she’s also the founder and Master Sensei of The V.O. Dojo—a holistic voiceover training center that, for the past 14 years, has empowered passionate talent around the world to build thriving, sustainable careers. Her mission is simple yet powerful: to help people connect with the full potential and possibility of their voice.
“In some ways that first job was the first big break in awakening me to the possibilities of my voice and voiceover… and it made me hungry and ready to do whatever it took!”
You’ve had a thriving voiceover career for over three decades. How did you first get started in the industry?
I studied theater at Northwestern University with classmates like David Schwimmer and Stephen Colbert, and was doing all the things that you do after you graduate with a theater degree — working and doing improv at The Second City, continuing opera training, doing regional Shakespeare, waiting tables at a swanky jazz club and doing poetry readings between sets. My then-boyfriend’s friend at Leo Burnett, one of the top ad agencies, called me about doing voiceover for some spots. I said, “Sure!” having no idea what it was, but figuring I could do it. I left that session knowing this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, and I moved to LA shortly thereafter.
I call it “the helicopter phenomenon.” Sometimes, you get an opportunity that’s like a helicopter taking you up the mountain — if you’re ready to jump on — but I was far from an experienced mountaineer!
What was your first big break, and how did it shape your path?
In some ways that first job was the first big break in awakening me to the possibilities of my voice and voiceover… and it made me hungry and ready to do whatever it took!
When I moved to LA, another big break was the benefit of the Chicago, Second City and Northwestern “mafia,” connections with a community of amazing, talented, focused people who were ahead of me on the VO journey. One of my improv friends introduced me to Jennifer Hale shortly after I arrived. We bonded as fellow horse girls and she guided me to the right VO people to train with and gave good advice as we rode the trails together! Knowing people who had been on the VO trail successfully made it feel so much more attainable. That is why Community and Connection are at the heart of The V.O. Dojo. It’s always just you, but you never do it alone!
Another key moment didn’t seem like a big break at first, but turned out to be crucial to launching my career. About 10 months into my training — taking non-stop classes, being part of workout groups, doing workshops and private coaching — I felt ready to do my first commercial demo. I coached with a fantastic demo producer who said, “You are 98% ready and I am not going to produce your demo… because to make it in this biz at the top levels you need to be 110% or 130% ready.” She referred me to a working pro level class with one of the top casting directors and I went back to the drawing board for another six months… After that, I made an unstoppable demo that got me my first agent, and the breaks kept coming. I got my first small regional campaign for a hospital in Kansas, then the next campaign for HP, Cooking.com, Burger King, and eventually the voice of Citibank for seven years!
You've worked across so many genres — commercials, animation, video games. Do you have a favorite type of VO work and why?
I have had the most success in being the voice of big commercial campaigns, which brings up my favorite part of VO — the walk to the mailbox to open residual checks! But I truly love working on every type of voiceover. For all you need to bring yourself fully and authentically to each piece of copy or project, and each requires a little bit of a different aspect of yourself. Every genre allows you to collaborate and become part of that team that is bringing that project to life… if it’s the ad agency working on a commercial spot, a marketing team creating a corporate narration, a network or studio making an animated series or feature, a publisher putting out an audiobook, or an instructional designer building an e-learning series. We are part of the solution.
What have been some of the most memorable or meaningful roles you've voiced?
The Citibank campaign I voiced for seven years was one of the first times a female voice was used on a major financial campaign. Being part of breaking those gender glass ceilings has always meant a lot. I did the game play narration for GTA V for Rockstar Games. I remember my son shouting from the other room, “Hey mom, is this you on GTA V?” And me saying, “Yes! And turn that off!” My first animated series always holds a huge place in my heart. I played Lt. Carmen Ibanez in Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles, one of the first CG series with an amazing cast and production team. I got my first action figure with Farrah Goodfairy in Ever After High! And, of course, being one of the voices of Subaru for such a powerfully long time has been an incredible blessing!
How has the voiceover industry changed since you started, and how have you evolved with it?
When I started, the game was to move to a major market, get your skills up to get representation at a major talent agency who would have working relationships with all of the ad agencies and producers. It took work to get there, but once you were there, it was a little like a trout pond. A certain number of people were around it, a majority of the work was only accessible from the pond, and most of it was union. In addition, most agencies had VO booths with directors where we did our auditions, in community, with collaboration on a daily basis.
Over the years, the business has changed, so the way we must run our own VO businesses has also had to change. There is still a certain amount of work that exists at these highest levels and requires working relationships with agents and managers to have access to it… AND there is also so much more work that can be gotten in different ways on our own. Now, we also need to actively create the community and support that was built into the way things worked before.
Today, the VO business requires a true entrepreneurial approach. Now, we are the CEO and the employee, the talent and director and engineer and marketing director and admin. The good news is that at the moment there is more work than ever and more and more we can do successfully from wherever we are in the world (with reliable internet).
