Heroes in Business - Susan Bennett Interview

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Susan Bennett better known as Apple iPhones voice of Siri is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm. Susan is also the voice in many commercials including McDonalds, Macys, Goodyear, Papa Johns, Fisher Price, and more. She discussed with David about how a chance opportunity seized can lead to opportunities and a career you never dreamed of.

Up in the sky! Look! It's captivating! It's energizing! It's Eliance's Heroes! Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups. Where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. That's right. This is David Kogan. And when you fly in, you miss all the traffic. I'm with Eliance's heroes on Money Radio. What an incredible morning lineup that we have. It is just, I mean, heroes are the ones that are creating and building communities. They are builders. They are doing something. They are leaving their mark on community. And our heroes lineup today is we have the president and the CEO of an Inc. 500 company.

We have the original real housewife of Orange County. And we also will be ending the show with the president of a $1.2 billion automotive aftermarket brand company, which you're going to definitely know all of his brands. But let me get started with our first hero. Her name is Susan Bennett, and she's with us today. Now, you may not recognize her name, but I promise there is something you will definitely recognize about her. You have an Apple iPhone? Ever heard of the Apple phone speak? She is the original voice of Apple iPhone's Siri, one of the most recognized voices in the world. I gotta ask you, Susan, how does one know they have a voice that can be used for such talent? I think it just comes naturally, Dave. Really? Okay, so it comes naturally. Excellent.

So Susan, but the thing is, is here's what's unique. Not only have you been the voice of Apple iPhone Siri, but have also appeared on hundreds of radio and TV commercials. You've worked for clients and been with clients like McDonald's, Macy's, Goodyear, Papa John's, the list just goes on. Share with us and our listeners and me, though, what do you see as one of the most memorable one that you have done? Because you've done so many and you've done this full time. Well, as far as commercial work, it's really hard to choose one thing. There used to be a company in Atlanta called Cat's Paw Productions and they were extremely creative and fun loving. So I'd have to say probably my most memorable commercial

was for Zeneca Agricultural Products and I played a singing chicken. A singing chicken. So you do, I mean, does it, does it not just amaze you of your talent, of your voice, of what you have done? I mean, do you ever look back and just go, wow, I'm here where I am today because of my voice, my talent, my skill? Well, I do appreciate the abilities that I have and I'm grateful every single day for, for my life because of it. But I never really think that way. I'm always looking for the future. And even, you know, regardless of what I've done in the past, I'm always trying to figure out what else I can do to utilize my abilities to,

you know, to make my life better and to do some more creative and interesting things. Is there any voice or any place that you said, boy, I would like to go ahead and be that voice, or I know I think I can do that better, that you've heard out there, commercials, or anything that you haven't done that you want to do? Well, you know, I would have to say that I would love to do some more animation. I haven't had a chance to do too much of that, but there's a pretty closed group of people in Los Angeles who have that very well covered. They're amazingly talented. And so I'm not sure if that's going to happen. But, you know, I've had an opportunity to do a lot of different types of voiceover work. And fortunately, there is a lot of different, there are a lot of different options for voiceover. different. There are a lot of different options for a voiceover. A lot of the stuff that's recurring and ends up being a good money-making opportunity for people is not necessarily

the most bling or interesting stuff, which is what actually led up to being the voice of Siri. That kind of work, phone messaging, IVR, that type of stuff is definitely pretty boring, tedious work. But it is regular work. And that's a huge accomplishment. I mean, we're talking with Susan Bennett. She could be reached at SusanCBennett.com. That's Susan C as in Charlie, B-E-N-N-E-T-T.com. Or, of course, you can go to to alliances.com. We'll have the interview

posted there too. But the thing is, Susan, not only Apple, original Apple iPhone Siri voice, not only have you done a gazillion commercials, but also too is, is why, you know, when I travel, your voice is very familiar too. In fact, you take the thunder on that and stuff because when I'm on certain airlines and that, or GPS and that, how come your voice is so familiar? Well, my voice is in a lot of different places. I'm the voice of Delta Airlines Gates Worldwide. I'm the one who tells you, thank you for flying Delta Airlines. You are in zone two. Oh, unbelievable. I don't know. I seem to have fallen into that niche because I think I have a fairly pleasant

voice and it's quite, you know, I think it's fairly articulate. And so I seem to end up, especially in the last decade or so, I have ended up very much in a position of giving out information or giving directions. So, yeah, yes, you will hear my voice in a lot of different places. In fact, you talked about giving directions. I mean, have you ever done a prank on someone where they come up to you or you've been somewhere and they're like, can you please tell me where this is or how do I get to here and stuff? I mean, have you ever just wanted to pull the voice out of the Apple iPhone series so

that they think it's their phone actually talking? Well, most people know my background. The people that I know or the people that I would be introduced to are people at tech conferences or other conferences where I've done appearance and speaker events. And so consequently, I don't really do that. But I do joke around with people and say, well, you know, people say, well, why does Siri always send me in the wrong direction? I said, she does that on purpose.

She thinks it's funny. That's great. And you're listening to Alliance's Heroes on Money Radio AM 1510 and FM 99.3. Are you a hero in business? Go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. And we're talking with Susan Bennett. That's susancbennett.com. Or you can go to alliances.com. The original voice of Apple iPhone Siri. Now take me back, Susan. I want to know what it was like. What was the first time that you were actually paid to do a voiceover? Well, it happened in the late 70s. I was a jingle singer because I started off in

the business as a singer and a musician. And back in the day when they used to do higher groups of people to sing jingles, we used to work a lot. And one day the voice actor didn't show up to read the donut of the commercial. And the studio owner said, Susan, you don't have an accent. Come over here and read this copy. And so I went, ding, ding, ding, I can do this. And because I read it fairly easily. So I got a voice coach to help me learn some skills and some tricks of the trade. And got an agent. And I've been doing voice work ever since. So it was a very happy accident.

And we have, you know, I mean, that's just really an incredible story. And with that, I think this next question just is very important, because we have a lot of people that are looking for positions, a lot of people raising children, and they want them to be successful. So I got to ask you, what advice would you give to children that aspire to do what you do or a lesson perhaps to be as maybe almost as successful or more successful of how you have been? Well, it's difficult for me to give that kind of advice at this point in time, because I've lived through a revolution in the voiceover business. It used to be in a system where you would, you know, a client would go to your agent and they'd say, well, give me your top five or ten voices for an audition. And then you'd have a really good chance of winning them.

Now, there are so many outlets for voiceover production companies and tons of agencies that you're competing against so many people. So I would have to say basically start off with being really skilled at what you do, be able to read code, be able to act. Acting is a very important part of it. And you want to be as versatile as possible so you will be able to audition for a lot of different roles. And, you know, if people would like to contact me through my website, I can send you a doc that I put together with suggestions of what to do to get into the business.

Fantastic. But basically before you do anything. You know, we're in a culture where you can't really believe everything you see. You know, someone will get this gorgeous headshot that's been photoshopped to death, and then they show up, and the potential client goes, is this the same person? Right. No, incredible. And so the same is true for voiceover.

You don't want to get some flashy demo and then get hired for something and show up and not be able to come through. Incredible. One last thing. We've got only about 10 seconds left. Can you say something in a unique voice? Perhaps, Alliance's Heroes with David Kogan?

Well, no, I can't really do any promos, but I can say, it's been nice talking to you. I really enjoyed it. Love it. All right, when we return, we're going to have the president and CEO of an Inc. 500 company,

David Kogan with Eliance's.