Meet Maria Pendolino | Voice Actor

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

Hi Maria, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve been an actor since I was 11 years old. I was the annoying kid who was scream-singing Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis in my basement and auditioning for community theatre productions of The Sound of Music. I think I always knew that being an actor and pursuing a creative path would be in my future.

It took time though to really develop it as my career. I pursued it on the side while working in finance, of all things, before I finally said: OK, I am ready to try and be a full-time actor and a full-time creative professional.

I love the freedom that being a full-time voice actor and creative freelancer provides. I get to work on so many different types of projects – it’s truly like being a worldwide generalist. I get to learn a little about a lot of different industries. I get to collaborate with people all over the world. And, I get to use my voice and my acting abilities to bring words to life for brands and companies in every industry sector. Every day is different and it’s a really cool way to make a living.

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.
I love being a voice actor. It’s such a creative and unique medium. Because I worked in banking and finance alongside my creative career for a long time, something interesting that I bring to the table is that insider knowledge of Corporate America. So, one of my “niches” is being able to bring corporate narration and e-learning scripts to life in a real way, because I lived that life. I can sound like the co-worker who’s just a cubicle over from you, because I was that co-worker for a period of time in my life. That authenticity sets me apart from the competition and I know my clients appreciate that I understand how to pronounce and deliver technical and jargon-heavy scripts with ease.

I’m also not afraid to try new things – that could be learning new character voices or new approaches. That ethos of life-long learning and striving for more has always been something that has set me apart.

I’ve gotten to work on a lot of really cool projects – from commercials to video games to promos to telephone systems – my voice is everywhere. I think it’s always funny when I’m listening to Pandora or Spotify and a commercial comes on and it’s my voice – I’m interrupting my own playlist listening experience! It never gets old hearing my voice on TV or the radio. And this year, I got to do two promos for Monday Night Football on ESPN – those are the kinds of jobs that your parents get to brag about to their friends and your family, so that’s always funny to have those kind of shiny opportunities that get a lot of attention.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Early on in building my creative business, I heard about the concept of an “accountability buddy.” Someone that was pursuing a similar path to you that could be your sounding board, your cheerleading squad – someone that could hold you accountable. When you’re working for yourself, you don’t have a manager or a boss who’s checking in with you or doing 6 month performance reviews – it’s all on your shoulders to know if you’re hitting your goals and doing what you need to do to succeed.

I went to a weekend voiceover workshop and I met another voice actor, Joey Schaljo, there. At a lunch break, I went up to her and was like “Hey, I think we should be friends.” (I’m bold like that.) And, voila! We became great friends and actually started meeting weekly as “accountability buddies.” We talk weekly about our goals, our struggles, our successes, our fears. We cheer each other on, we lift each other up and it’s a great example of how people who are technically competing for the same jobs can actually be a valuable asset to each other. I’m grateful for her friendship and her support.

Website: https://www.voicebymaria.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariapendo/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariapendo

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkmvgiBP89fHUl9-8awQRA

Image Credits
The shots with me in the black dress in my studio are credited to Destiny Rogowski, Sweetheart Pinup The shot with the brooklyn bridge in the background is credited to Dennis Kwan, DK Headshots The two horizontal headshots in teal & purple shirt is credited to Courtney Dalton