More Money Podcast - 040 Small Town, Big Dreams: A Success Story - Gina Kennedy, Radio Host, Voice Actor & Rockstar

Episode Date: March 9, 2016

Gina Kennedy is a radio host, voice actor and rockstar and she is still in her 20s. In this episode, Gina and I talk about how anything is possible when it comes to your career — no matter how big your dreams are, or how small your hometown is. Long episode description: Gina Kennedy is a prime example of how even if you come from a small town, if you’ve got big dreams the sky is the limit! Gina is originally from Abercrombie, Nova Scotia. A town so small that when I tried to look up the current population, I could only find one website that said the town was not included in Statistics Canada’s census and therefore the population is unknown. Yup, that’s a small town. But that small town didn’t have much bearing on Gina’s ambitions. She wanted to work in the music industry and nothing was going to stop her. So she moved to the biggest city in the province — Halifax. Still, that wasn’t big enough and so her next move was to Toronto where she currently lives. What I love about Gina is that once she sets her mind on something, she goes for it full force. She wanted to be radio host. I’m sure many of us have fantasized about having a sweet gig like that. But instead of just dreaming about it, she went back to school, got an internship, and never gave up until she finally become a radio host for Sirius XM’s The Verge. Next, she wanted to become a voice actor. She’s got an incredibly dynamic voice, but it’s a very competitive field. Again, she figured out how to get her foot in the door, got herself an agent and now voices commercials. If that wasn’t enough, she wanted to see if she could pursue her love of music. I was honestly surprised when she told me she was a classically trained pianist and opera singer, but it makes sense. She’s incredibly talented, and can add bassist for Altered by Mom as her third job. I know not everyone can do a million things like this, but it just goes to show that if you want something, do it. You may fail, but you may surprise yourself and succeed. Don’t let anyone tell you “you can’t” because they have no idea what you’re capable of. Heck, you might not even know what you’re capable of. So, in my worst Nova Scotia accent: “Just giv’r!” Check Out Gina Kennedy Follow Gina on Twitter Follow Gina on SoundCloud Gina’s band Altered by Mom Gina’s Sirius XM show: Press Play with Gina K My interview with Gina for my list of 6 fearless millennial women Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/40 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Mo Money Podcast with your host, Jessica Morehouse. Hello and welcome to episode 40 of the Mo Money Podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Morehouse. And if you didn't gather, if you've been listening to this podcast for a little while, I've changed up my intro a little bit. And that wonderful voice you just heard is actually my next guest, Gina Kennedy. She is a voice actor, a radio host, awesome lady. And I'm featuring her in this episode today because actually yesterday was International Women's Day. And this month is, if you're listening in real time, of course, is Women's History Month. So I want to feature some awesome women that are doing some

awesome things, which is why I have her on the show. She's done some incredible things for being such a young woman who's, you know, done some really tough things. She moved away from her hometown in Nova Scotia to move to the big city in Toronto to make it in a really tough industry, which is the radio and music industry. But she's done it. And we're here to talk all about how she did it, what kind of challenges she's encountered over the past couple years, and what kind of advice she gives to other millennial women that want to succeed and make it in a tough industry too. Thanks, Gina, for joining me on the show today. Thank you so much. I'm flattered.

You're welcome. Oh, I've wanted you on the show since I started this podcast. Yay, me too! I'm really excited that you're here with me. Actually, in your studio, because you're going to have a podcast soon, which I'm also going to be on, and I'm very excited to share that with everybody. But first, here, you're on my show. We're going to talk a little bit about you, because you're a pretty inspirational lady. Oh, stop.

And I don't just say it. I mean it. I'm for a real minute. Oh, I'm touched. Yeah. And I don't just say it. I mean it. I feel a real meaning. Oh, I'm touched. So I want to start from the beginning because to be where you are right now is not an easy feat. I don't know if I could have done that. So let's kind of start from the beginning. Where did you come from? And let's go from there. Yeah, totally. So do you want just like a quick little where I started and where I am now?

Yeah, girl. All right. All right. Here it is. Lay it out. Get ready for the tears. Sub story. No, girl. All right. All right. Here it is. Lay it out. Get ready for the tears. Sub story. No, I'm just joking. So I grew up in a really small town in Nova Scotia. It's actually called Abercrombie, the spot that I was born on Kennedy Drive. It's the next city over Fitz. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. People talk funny. Marry the cousins. But you know that Simpsons episode where they're in Australia and he has to call his neighbor call his neighbor and he runs like a mile that's like where i'm from no it's not yeah yeah um except it's not australian so there's no koala bears yeah so i was in nova scotia for a long time i did a lot of music went to music school was in jazz band i went to band camp i actually was a flute player all Love it. All jokes apply. It's a very cool instrument to have.

Oh, the coolest. Right? Yeah. I got all the chicks. I mean. So then, yeah. So basically, I moved to Halifax, which is the large metropolis of Nova Scotia. Not that big, but a really great city.

So I was there for about four years being a musician and working on the Harbor Hopper. What is that? Which is an amphibious vehicle that drives through the city and through the water and gives tours. So it's a car boat? Yeah, yeah. Car boat. I've never heard it called a car boat. I don't know if that's what it's officially called.

Okay, whatever. It's a car slash boat in my mind. Amphibious vehicle is what they call it car boat but i don't know if that's what it's officially called okay whatever but you know it's like it's a car slash boat in my mind amphibious vehicle that's what they call it but yeah so it's super fun like like cruise ships and all that like super touristy and uh spend your winters or summers outside and all that stuff so that was really fun and then you know like that was fun for a few years and playing music and things but i wanted you know to take we all get that itch you're an ambitious person that's it right I, you know, I was in Halifax one summer and I called my mom one day and I said, I'm going to move to Toronto. And she said, okay. And I said, okay.

So I packed my bags and I moved to Toronto. I don't really know why I moved to Toronto. Yeah, I'm like, why did you choose Toronto? Yeah, I don't know. Well, just in the music world, it's kind of like the next logical step. Yeah. Uh, is to go from Halifax to Toronto. It just, I mean, I could have done Montreal,

but I'm, I'm an Anglo. Yeah. So yeah, it's tough. So, um, so yeah,

I, uh, I decided to make the leap and move to Toronto. And then shortly after I was like, I'm going to just try radio school just cause everyone, when I did tours, they said, you know,

you should be an actor. You should be in radio. It's you're great. You really capture your crowd. So I was like, you know, why should be an actor. You should be in radio. You're great. You really capture a crowd. So I was like, why not? Then I can wear my PJs and talk to people. So I went into radio school, and I graduated with honors from Humber. Yeah, which was really fun.

It was kind of weird because I actually have a degree in music as well, classical music. Oh, really? An opera singer. No, you're not. Really? Yeah. Oh, you're going to have to sing something hell no um yeah opera singer and classical pianist so uh so when i went back to school i was a little bit older than some people that were there which was kind of a trip but uh been there yeah right and i think we all go through that when

we want to better ourselves and just for sure Education's never wrong, so I never felt bad about it. Absolutely. So, yeah, so graduated from that and then landed an internship at SiriusXM in Toronto, which was wonderful, but didn't pay, obviously. So I worked at a garden center. And then actually my first real radio gig was back in my hometown. Oh, really? In New Glasgow, which is the funny thing, because with radio jobs, sometimes these really

small towns, unfortunately, it might not be like the best place to live. So they, they, it's called blind boxing where they don't list where the city is. They just list the job. They're like, it's in Nova Scotia. Yeah. They'll tell you it's in Nova Scotia and they described it. They're like, it's right on the beach. It's beautiful.

But as soon as you see the blind. Well, that could be kind of anywhere. Exactly. Literally, it's an island. Literally, it's a peninsula. Yeah, exactly see the blind anywhere exactly literally it's an island literally it's a peninsula yeah exactly there's water every 20 minutes yeah um so you know it's cheeky but it gets people to apply um so yeah so i when i moved back home to my hometown which is really freaky being on the radio in my hometown and having people you know call in and my mother every day oh we heard your daughter on the radio it was cute though like we had um one segment that was called uh swap and shop awesome where

where you would call in and uh you know oh i got a pair of four-wheeler tires here call larry and you would literally list the number the radio version of craigslist basically the slow inconvenient it's the non-internet craigslist yeah like for real so that was always great yeah um yeah and then so i uh got a job at serious uh doing basically the same thing i interned for um but you got paid and i moved back to toronto six months later and that was three years ago wow so here we are sorry that was really long no i loved it i loved every moment of it. I like to talk, obviously.

Well, you're in the right field. That's it. Yeah, you found it. So what I'm curious about, so you've been doing the radio thing for a while, but also on the side, just because you are ambitious, just like me, and you kind of just can't have one thing going on at the same time. Your first side hustle is voice acting, which obviously makes sense because you have a great voice thanks yeah it's uh it's kind of a racket it's cool it's it's also kind of like a secret club and you have to know someone to get into it and you knew someone and i knew someone yeah and i got in it i like swore on the black book and sang the chants and did the blood brother

thing and it's a whole ceremony yeah so what uh kind of voice work did you start to get like when you first started yeah so basically with voice acting um you need to acquire an agent which is very uh much like a dance you need to be like here's why you want me and i'm gonna make you all this money and it's funny too because everyone kind of is like oh i could voice that but really voice acting is kind of hard. You know, it's not just talking in a microphone, your normal voice. Yeah. It's, it's, you actually have to like care about what you're saying. And it's like anything, you know, you, when you do it for a really long time, you learn how to do it right. So being in radio, that really helped. So you have to make a demo, which I had to do. But then I shopped it to the guy and he really liked my voice. So I started off doing commercial and narration it's called.

So that's your batteries not included. That's your, you know, call now for this pizza. That's your all this kind of stuff. So basically when you give a demo, you give like, it's like a snippet of let's say like six or eight variations of voices. So on my demo, there's a pizza commercial. There's, hey, I'm a mom and I like to feed my kids fruit because it's really hard to get kids to eat fruit. And then, you know, there's a pizza commercial. There's, hey, I'm a mom and I like to feed my kids fruit because it's really hard to get kids to eat fruit.

And then, you know, there's like the sexy chocolate commercial. And there's, yeah, you know, and there's so there's all there's the hard sells, slow sells, all those kind of stuff. So, yeah, things that you would expect from like a female. So so that is up on the website now on the Voices website. I will share some of those in my show notes because I think it'd be really fun to be like this is what gina gets out yeah you can go and hear it it's just at pnagency.com i think it is um and my name's up there but uh yeah so and then voice talents go through my agent my agent says to me you know here's an an audition can you send me this like uh so the ones that i have done um i've done fisher price that's a big deal the mommy moments yeah it's on YouTube

I've done the Nature Valley and like Fiber One I'm on TV right now for Fiber One oh that's awesome which is really funny too

because I'm an East Coaster so my accent so I had to do these Lucky Charms treat bars oh that's a hard one for you well I guess it's because I sound like a pirate

when I say bar so they're all from minnesota doing a call-in and and i said the line i said lucky charm street bars and they paused for a minute and they came back in the talk back and the guy was like gina where are you from i was like nova scotia and they all burst out laughing they were like like a pirate anyway so when you listen to it it's really funny i do so you say like i say like bars like it's like you're like it's awful oh yeah i don't know yeah like crumble bars or whatever it is um what else i've done the red

cross i've done a warning for ebola oh yeah that's an important one yeah it was oh bowl has kind of gone away i think i think it's okay now i think it's okay um and yeah just so all over the scope but the one i really want to get into which i I'm starting to dabble in, is animation. Yeah. Which is the cartoons. I'm just saying, like, a TV show, animation, you'd be so good at that. Yeah. And I actually auditioned for that Hockey Wives intro. Yeah.

I almost got that. Definitely watch that show. It's pretty good. Not going to lie. Is it good? Yeah. Okay. It would be better with me.

I'd be a hockey wife. I wouldn't say no to being a hockey wife. A lot of travel, though. Yeah, right? That's got to be hard. That's definitely the hardest part. That's got to be really hard in the relationship the crap i watch the muscles you have from carrying around all those rock like rocks on your fingers yeah right oh gosh it's just like the most like how canadian can

you get i know it's so good it's just so embarrassing yeah yeah but anyways igloo mansions yeah but yeah hockey wives uh that's awesome really hope that you become the next spongebob or something like that wouldn't that be freaking amazing yeah it's so cool i i just auditioned for um a cartoon about mermaids i know and i wanted to be a mermaid so bad that would be mermaid so bad that's like childhood dreams fulfilled well it's really funny too in voice acting because I just actually landed an act for Delta Bingo which was cast

as a 60 year old woman you were? I was yeah so that's on the radio right now do you sound like it's more it's like I know I didn't think so but it's just kind of like whispery and I had to like talk about me and the girls and like oh my god and then instead of saying my name i say bingo at the end and i'm all flustered and yeah it's it's a really funny commercial but it's yeah it's kind of funny but then for the cartoons i have it's like preschool voice right so then

you have to do like really young like baby voice which is really awkward give us a little taste you know yeah i mean obviously we'll be like oh no we have to find him like something like ridiculous right like you have like cartoons do always sound really weird high pitch super ridiculous yeah that sounds like a care bear i know and i feel and it's so funny i hate when people watch me like audition for cartoons because it's like you literally make the most disgusting weird faces that you never would make but you have to commit yeah you have to just whatever yeah so so that's that's kind of what i want get groceries delivered across the gta from real canadian superstore with pc express shop online for super prices and super savings try it today and get up to 75

dollars in pc optimum points visit superstore.ca to get started. So besides having a full-time job as a SiriusXM radio host and being a voice actor, you're also a rock star. I've always wanted to be a rock star. Right? I'm trying. I'm trying. Oh my gosh. And what's the name of your band? So the name of our band is Altered by Mom. And what's that about? So my fiance is the lead singer. I know. How tragic. Oh, my.

Oh, my. I know. Love band romance. That's such a romantic story. It is. Yeah. Well, yeah. Tell them the story because it's relevant.

Yeah. I mean, it's relevant. Yeah. Okay. Well, so my fiance used to be in a band called Hey Ocean, and he's in a really cool band called Smashing Satellites now. But he actually started Altered by Mom in Vancouver and moved it to Toronto. So we started dating because we're both in the music industry and stuff.

And he didn't really have anybody for the band. So he said, you know, we were just jamming and he played me some Altered by Mom songs. And I was like, these are so good. Like, why did you let this band go away? He's like, well, I don't have anybody to play the stuff. And I was like, well, Frank, I'll be in your band. Like, these are so good. Like, why did you let this band go away? He's like, well, I don't have anybody to play the stuff. And I was like, well, Frank, I'll be in your band. Like, these songs are awesome. So, yeah.

So, I play bass in the band and we kind of revived it. And we actually have our guitar player is one of Devin's old friends from where he grew up. Like, they played together, like, I'm talking 10 years ago. Yeah. And so, they have a bromance as well on stage which is great and then we uh actually met our drummer on buns trading zone no you didn't yes that's so cool i know it's hilarious like all the rage now yeah oh god i just heard about it and it seems like everything yeah that's friend zone yeah buns like there's different categories oh

yeah i've never been on it i've just heard a lot about it. Yeah, the app is just crazy. You can just trade up your life, essentially. You can trade your children. I'm assuming. Not that I've tried. No, no, no. Well, we don't have kids, so.

No, not anymore. Because you traded yours. Exactly. That's brilliant. Yeah, so we met him. And then, yeah, it Because you traded yours. Exactly. That's brilliant. Yeah, so we met him. And then, yeah, it was actually really funny. We were taking bank pictures in my courtyard at my house, and he proposed. Oh, like that's just the best.

I know. And then we played a show that night. I know. After lots of champagne. I don't recommend that. No, that's got to be tough. That's what I never understand. Whenever I see, like, watching one of those documentaries where, documentaries where like there's this rock band and they're super famous, but they're like, I was high the whole time.

Oh, they're wasted. I don't understand. I'm like, how do you remember how to play or sing? Like, I don't understand. Well, when they get to that level, a lot of shows are just tracked. They're not even playing. Yeah. Oh, that's the secret.

Yeah, that's the secret. Sorry, guys. Oh, that ruins everything, doesn't it? No, I'm just kidding. No, the magic's still there. I mean, they play every note? Yeah. Oh, that's the secret. Yeah, that's the secret. Sorry, guys. Oh, that ruins everything, doesn't it? No, I'm just kidding. No, the magic's still there. I mean, they play every note. Yeah. Yeah, so being in a band is my, I mean, you know, it would be lovely if it.

Took off and you won some Grammys. I would love that. No, it's the most fun. Like, being on stage is the most fun. It's just the best feeling. That's awesome. Yeah. So you've got, like, three things, three jobs the best feeling. That's awesome. So you've got like three things,

three jobs going on, which is super awesome. And I just find you so inspirational as a fellow millennial. That's just like, I want to do a bunch of things and I'm going to do them and, you know, and just not always talk about it and think about it and blah, blah, blah, but actually go forward and just try new things and see what happens. You've gotten a lot of success. So what I'm wondering is just because you've had you know you've done a lot of things like just like the fact that you moved to toronto by yourself is like how do you do do that because i literally would be on the next plane home crying well i was on a train with a bottle of whiskey yeah that'll help i guess that'll help oh it helped but still like making you know yeah making

it on your own in a new city and reaching the level you are now is super inspirational. Thank you. What kind of tips or advice would you give to, I'm just kind of thinking of my little sister. She's almost done university and she's like about to be thrust into the real world where adults are. And oh my Lord, I know. I want to help her out. I want to like almost give her a guide to help her out. Actually, it's so funny that I'm just thinking about that now.

When I first started my blog several years ago, I just moved out of my parents' house and I had no clue what I was doing. Like I'd never taken out the trash. So there's a lot of things I needed to learn. And I actually was like really serious. I'm like, you know what? I'm going to write a book. I'm going to write a book called How to Be a Grownup.

Totally. Because I don't know and no one told me. No one knows that shit. No. I mean, there's YouTube now, but you have to know to go to YouTube to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so what kind of advice would you give someone who's just kind of starting out, but

they have a lot of dreams and they don't really know where to go. Yeah. I mean, basically, the thing is, is that you don't know until you try. So that was my big thing. You know, even if you don't have it all figured out, all you got to do is just do one thing that day to get towards it. You know, it's not all going to come together in one day. And you can't be scared of what other people think. That's the other thing, too. You know, it's like also and that's the bonus of of which isn't maybe another thing is like maybe instead of telling everyone that you're going to do this thing. Right. Just resist the urge to to share that until you take the first step towards it. And then, you know, people will notice what you're doing because you're doing something.

And that's more than a lot of people can say. until you take the first step towards it. And then, you know, people will notice what you're doing because you're doing something. And that's more than a lot of people can say. Absolutely. And I think like just actually setting something in motion that you had in your mind is a success. Yeah. Even when you don't have a plan, like who knows how it's going to end. But that's the fun. Like it's that stupid thing.

It's not the destination. Yeah. Oh my gosh, we're on the same page. Oh my gosh. Right? I just finished your sentence. How crazy. It's like we're roommates.

It is kind of like that. But it's true. And I mean, and you'll be so inspired and fulfilled at the feeling that you get from just taking that first step, just pushing play, just picking up the guitar for the first time. Just, you know, if you want to, I don't know, do whatever, just pick up the phone or talk to your friend or it literally it's that easy just do the first step and also just like reach out to people who you think you want to be in their position that was something that i had to learn i was very i mean that's part of the luxury of having a podcast i have a reason to approach some of the people that i really look up to and get to learn about them and you know and it kind of gives me an idea of where i want to go in the future so if you don't know where you should go look at people uh that are you know kind of at the next level of you and see where they are.

See if that's where you want to go and reach out to them and talk. Most of them are receptive and the ones that aren't, you don't want to bother with anyway. Yeah. And that's the, it's the coolest thing about being on the radio too. And, and what I love about reaching out to other people, people have the coolest stories. Everyone has lived these crazy lives. And it's cool to see what people have done with the cards they were dealt. And maybe you can relate that to your position.

Maybe you can't. But either way, you know, you've hacked into someone's little world and that's a cool thing. And that was episode 40 of the Mo Money Podcast with my awesome guest, Gina Kennedy. Make sure to check out the show notes for this episode, jessicamorehouse.com slash 40. I'll also include a link to my blog post that I did that features seven awesome, fearless

millennial women that are doing some great things with their money, great things with their career. Definitely check that out. You can also just check it out by going jessicamorehouse.com slash women, and that'll take you right to the blog post. And if you enjoyed this episode, which I really hope you do, please leave me an iTunes review. I would really, really appreciate it. And I'll give you a shout out on a future episode. Until next Wednesday. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.