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

Hi Emily, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I currently run two business: Dimple Productions LLC, which manages all aspects of my performing career, and the Professional Audiobook Narrators Association Inc. (PANA), the first-ever professional audiobook narrators trade association.

I officially started Dimple after moving here to Denver during the pandemic, but I’d been working as a freelance performer for almost 15 years by that point. I can’t say there was a thought process at all to the true beginning, other than “I’d like to be a professional performer!” and saying yes to the first handful of paid performance gigs that came my way (primarily singing and acting; audiobook narration came along later). I decided to start the LLC after some conversations with my tax accountant and fellow audiobook narrators, as I was working both as an employee and an employer of other subcontractors and wanted to formalize those relationships.

PANA grew out of a handful of conversations with the audiobook narrator community, and I am proud to be the co-founder of the first-ever trade association for professional audiobook narrators. While several professional organizations existed in the audiobook space, including our hardworking and supportive union SAG/AFTRA, none were specifically founded by and for narrators exclusively, and we increasingly felt the need for an organization educating and supporting narrators within the larger publishing world. It’s an all-volunteer nonprofit currently, but I’m delighted at how much we’ve been able to offer so far.

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.
When your training is in musical theatre, everyone expects Broadway from you. It took me several years in NYC, auditioning and performing off-Broadway and on cruise ships, to realize that I didn’t actually need Broadway to be happy, and that, in fact, my heart lay in audiobook narration and cabaret. However, the skills I honed in musical theatre – particularly how to be honest with your emotions, so that you can access them more broadly and deeply – were the perfect foundation.

That being said, learning how to act was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life! Singing is natural to me; acting is not. I grew up in a home that shut down any and all emotions, so getting my acting degree was just the beginning of learning how to open my heart and mind to myself, let alone to others. I actually remember several key moments in my journey, from a theatre movement class in college, to a sunny evening acting class on the fourth floor of Ripley Grier studios while singing A Light in the Piazza! I yearned to be able to act (well, to feel, really) more than anything, and I will never take all that hard work for granted.

Performing, especially theatre, is a brutal business. And it is very much a business! People assume it’s the rejection that makes it so hard to succeed, but more often than not, it’s a complete lack of feedback (which is even harder than rejection) coupled with hidden (and rarely discussed) start-up costs that severely tilt the field against low-income and/or low-opportunity entrants of all ethnicities but especially BIPOC creatives. I’m very aware of the privilege of having this career, which comes from two women mentoring me into the audiobook world over the last ten years, and so I try to find ways to offer others, especially BIPOC creatives, a similar leg up, including what I hope we’re doing with our audiobook narrators trade association, PANA!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d have us start every morning with a good hike; currently I’m loving all the trails in Deer Creek Canyon Park and South Valley Park, but I’m also a huge fan of the Matthews/Winters Park and Red Rocks trails. For food, I’d take them to Piccino Wood Fired Pizza in Littleton (the gluten-free Quatro Formaggio is heaven!) or beers at GF-friendly Living the Dream Brewery (especially their Powder Run Vanilla Creme Ale) or Nepalese at Sherpa Run in Golden (highly recommend the sampler plate). Dessert at my all-time favorite French bakery, Parfait Co. in Lakewood, for the world’s best patisseries. We’d have to take in at least one show at one of the local theatres (Performance Now Theatre Company, Vintage Theatre, Miners Alley, Town Hall Arts Center – so many great options!) or a performance of the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall. And then an evening of stargazing up in the mountains.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my career to the many teachers in my life, all of whom helped me realize my worth and potential, but especially to Janie Mueller (chemistry) and David Barkley (English) at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, for showing me that I was loved and that I had something important to express in this world.

Website: www.emilyellet.com

Instagram: @emilyellet

Twitter: @emilyelletvoice

Facebook: @emilyelletvoice

Other: TikTok: @emilyellet PANA: www.pronarrators.org, @pronarrators on all social media

Image Credits
Matt Murphy Photography, RDG Photography, Holly Barber, Maryann Lopinto

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