[1 of 3] Igniting The Dream And Steering Her Journey As A Professional Voice Artist: The Humble Beginning of Ms. Kathleen Sone

How far will you go for your dreams? Will the challenges shatter you or mold you with a stronger spirit? Be inspired with this three-part story of Ms. Kathleen Sone, a young fighter in her 20's, who went after her passion despite all the odds and with grit and faith as her weapons.

You may have already heard her voice as she became viral with the "This Is My Voice: Voice Artists Edition" challenge on her YouTube channel Voiceover Flowers. Probably, you have recently ordered from Jollibee's #8-7000 hotline and heard the messaging prompt given life by her voice.


A Simple School Project Becoming the Sparkplug to Her Dreams

Behind the rising voice artist career of Ms. Kathleen, she started with almost nothing but only holding to her dreams that sparked through a school project. She started recalling memories from her college days, "Nag-start kasi siya noong college ako. Course ko kasi Business Administration, major in Management. Di ba ang layo? (laughs) Ang assumptions nila, Mass Comm ako ganyan. Ang course na natapos ko is Business Ad talaga. May subject kami sa English na Business Correspondence. Tapos required kami na yun team namin, magkaroon ng TV and radio commercial. Being the leader of the group, walang gustong gumawa ng radio commercial. So sabi ko ‘sige ako na lang mag-vovoice dyan’. Then my professor discovered I have the skills nga, the voice-over skills. Sabi niya, ‘You have a nice voice ah. Why don’t you try voice-over?’ So I started googling it. Tapos yun, doon na nag-start yun curiosity ko na sabi ko ‘wow ang cool!"

With the growing interest for voice acting, she searched for more leads, "Parang yun naririnig ko mostly ng contents doon sa US. For me as a beginner being a student, kaya lang parang...sa big industry kaya ko ba? Yun na, nag-start na akong gumawa ng demo kahit di ko pa alam saan papunta. I don’t have any mentor. I don’t have the equipment. Wala akong mic. Before graduation yun kasi Batch 2014 ako eh. Mga around 2013. Doon nag-start na curiosity siya until later on passion ko na siya. Hanggang ngayon, nag-create na ako ng vlog." 

Slowly Transitioning To Her Future Vision And Goals

At present, Ms. Kathleen productively juggles her time between her work as a scriptwriter for  GMA 7's comedy hit series "Pepito Manaloto" and weekend afternoon anthology "Dear Uge", her professional voice acting career, and uploading substantial content on her YouTube channel "Voiceover Flowers". 

Crediting Ms. Kathleen Sone for her scriptwriting work in Pepito Manaloto

How does she make it all possible with consistent excellence on her outputs? She shared, Gradually nag-tatransition ako. Plano ko siya full-time work kaya lang may inaayos pa ako sa work. Kasi I am a full-time writer talaga sa GMA Network. I am a scriptwriter sa Pepito Manaloto and Dear Uge. Yun talaga yung ginagawa ko. Super layo so totally magkaiba yun industry. Sabi ko gine-gauge ko pa siya kung pagsasabayin ko ba? Kaya ko ba? Pero yun parang love ko talaga...doon ko na-prove when I created the vlog, doon ko na-prove na okay ito...dito ako dinadala sa voice-over. Parang ito yun best skill ko, yun voice-over. Though I still love writing din. Iba din yun fulfillment na nadadala ng nakakapagpasaya ka ng ibang tao through your writings, your script. Mas mahirap gumawa ng comedy kaysa magpaiyak, yun magpatawa kaysa magpaiyak di ba? Pero masasabi kong kaya pa naman pagsabayin. Pero that’s my ultimate goal, to do this full-time."

Although her strength and forte is in recorded VO's, she admitted that she's still exploring her other capabilities as a voice artist. After all, there are both advantages to general and niche down skills in any profession. She explained, "Kasi ako talaga ang forte ko recorded VO. Kasi ayan, boses ko naturally mababa. Mabenta boses ko sa corporate VO’s, mga IVR ayun, commercials. Ngayon, nag-veventure na rin ako sa live VO. I’m still exploring. Ngayon, naka-dalawa na ako for this year. Naka-dalawa na ako invitation for live VO, inaccept ko. Takot ako pero sabi nga parang may nabasa akong quotation or book na the more scared kang gawin, the more you need to jump on it for your experience. So far na-enjoy ko naman pero comparing it to the recorded, parang mas gusto ko pa rin yun recorded kasi relaxed. I don’t need to glam na kailangan magdress-up ka kasi parang host ka rin. You’re dealing with the director with the tech team and the organizer. Pero na-enjoy ko yun live VO kasi iba yun challenge niya na kailangan precise ka, sure ka sa bibitawan like delivery ng words. Kasi sa recorded pwede ka mag-take two. Sa live VO, iba yun nerbyos ko."

Ms. Kathleen Sone with veteran comedienne Eugene Domingo

She added, "For the voice acting naman yun voice impressions, ito yun mas challenging compared to the live VO kasi nag-iiba ng boses na hindi ko forte. Pero kagaya kanina, gumawa kaming vlog for Mobile Legends, request ng subscribers. Sabi nila, ‘Mam, gawin mo yun mga heroes sa Mobile Legends.’ So far nagulat din kami ni Kuya JV, Jordences Villasan, na nakukuha ko daw sabi niya. Rereviewhin ko kung tama or ineechos niya lang ako. Hahahaha! Nag-eexplore pa rin ako for live VO and voice impressions pero among the three, I do best talaga sa recorded. Pero na-excite ako sa pwede ko pang magawa lalo ngayon, inofferan ako nila Papa Neil (Neil Tolentino, veteran dubbing director) mag-visit sa dubbing audition nila."

Indeed, Ms. Kathleen had come a long way from the simple college girl who dreamed of pursuing a voice acting career. But, how did she start getting bigger breaks? What or who were the catalysts in her successful journey? Find out in the next part of this exclusive article interview.

Follow and subscribe to her YouTube channel: Voiceover Flowers.