Meet Gina Scarpa | Voice Actor, Coach, and Professor of Voice Acting

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

Hi Gina, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
It’s funny to have chosen this question to talk about because in my personal life, I’m not a big risk taker at all. I’m afraid of just about everything and no one who knows me would call me adventurous! But in my professional life, I have taken many risks and never been afraid to change careers, create new connections with people, or adapt to situations – especially something as massive as the pandemic. From becoming a radio DJ at 19, to an Editor-In-Chief and podcast host in my 20s and 30s, to a full-time voice actor in my 40s, I’m not afraid to go after what I want and give everything I have to be successful at it.

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.
Hi, I’m Gina and I’m a full-time voice actor, coach and professor of voice acting from Connecticut. I started in radio back in 1998 and on the air in CT and NY for nearly a decade. Then, I went on to entertainment reporting and was the Editor-In-Chief of two television news websites and hosted a podcast. I started voiceover in 2014 and then opened my own business and went full-time in 2020. It was a long journey to make it to the full-time, professional level and really, the pandemic ended up playing a big part in finding larger success. Because everything went remote, new opportunities suddenly became available and that allowed me to audition for projects I never would have been able to before. That led to me getting agents, booking national commercials, working with several big brands, and voicing video games, which is something I’m incredibly passionate about.

Actually, going full-time sort of happened by accident. When the pandemic hit, my business was focused on vocal performance for kids and teens. We had all these events lined up in our community for the students to sing and perform at but everything was quickly and indefinitely cancelled. I decided to take voiceover, which I had only been doing part-time, and throw myself fully into the industry. I also taught all of my young students how to do voiceover as well and they actually began booking with big brands like Walmart, Target, and PBS. And I ran many free workshops in 2020 to help other actors or just people interested in voiceover learn how to get started in the industry. Had it not been for the pandemic, I know I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’m thankful to have made it through the hard times and find this massive silver lining along the way.

My brand/tag line is “Meet your next best friend” and I partially chose it because I tend to book a lot of warm and friendly projects. But I mostly picked it because I want people to always feel like they’re working with a friend when they hire me to voice their project or be their coach. I try to go out of my way to make everyone feel welcomed, heard, accepted, and respected.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
What’s interesting and unique about voiceover is that we really operate almost completely on our own most of the time and when we do collaborate, for me at least, it’s all online. So instead of going out for drinks, I have coffee over Zoom, or hang out on Discord and play games, or chat on social media. I wish I had a more interesting answer, but I actually really love working from home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would definitely like to dedicate my shoutout to my family and friends, Tom Aglio (a phenomenal voice actor who referred me to Shoutout), the theater department at Quinnipiac University, and the members of my educational group, Positively Voiceover. x

Website: https://www.voiceoversbygina.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ginascarpa

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-scarpa-874baa22/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginascarpa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/voiceoversbygina

Other: My studio page is https://positivevoicesct.com/