The VoiceMaster Turns 42: A Life of Greatness Towards Positive Social Change

Forty-two years ago today, a visionary was born.

Pocholo The VoiceMaster De Leon Gonzales strives to change the world with his voice. Motivated to live his dream, Pocholo started his career at the age of 16 after winning a voice acting competition in DZMM’s drama and singing contest Radyo, Radyo where he later became its anchor, scriptwriter, and co-director. Eventually, the VoiceMaster worked for ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation as a dubber and translator for various cartoons and telenovelas. During this time, he was also taking up BA Speech Communication in UP Diliman. 

As he became the “Father of Philippine Podcasting” by co-producing Inquirer.net’s podcast series on the 2007 election, Pocholo continued to lengthen his achievements by utilizing his skills and revolutionizing the voice acting industry in the Philippines. He believed that voice acting is an art that needs to be heard, recognized, and further developed. This led to the establishment of his own voice company, CreatiVoices Productions, in 2005. He founded Voice Acting Academy (formerly known as the Philippine Center for Voice Acting [PCVA]) as the premier and exclusive institution for world-class voiceover, dubbing, and voice acting training in the Philippines.

Pocholo is also credited for founding different organizations that have helped thousands of voice artists successfully make it in the industry. Few of these organizations are the VoiceWorx, Voice Act Now workshops, and the first-ever online voice workshop in the Philippines--the Certified Voice Artist Program (CVAP). 

The VoiceMaster’s vision of creating positive social change

All these achievements and many more are anchored in Pocholo’s vision. “...Marami akong vision at pangarap, pero yes yun din lagi kong sinasabi, to create positive social change” he added. Pocholo understands that change is inevitable, however he strives to make every change into a positive one. “A lot of people want change, but they don’t know if it’s positive or negative...change doesn’t mean it’s always for the better, I want this positive change for everyone.”

When asked how he planned to achieve this, he simply said by using his voice. “The only way you can change people is when you send the right message, which is through your voice… that’s the only instrument that can express your ideas, emotions, principles…”

This has been done and proven with the VoiceMaster’s accomplishments as a voice mentor and as a motivational speaker. With the use of his voice, he revolutionized the voice acting industry which paved the way for aspiring voice artists and ultimately the new generation of online voice artists. Aside from this, he is also a youth advocate who has changed the lives of thousands of Filipino youth by creating opportunities for them.

According to the VoiceMaster, his greatest achievement is those people he mentored and walked with who are now successful, even those who already turned their backs on him. He explained that all of them, both those who are grateful and ungrateful for him, are his greatest achievements. 

Refusing to crumble amid the pandemic, but instead using it as an opportunity. 

Since last year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced establishments to close and limit physical contact; it became apparent that all events are to be put on hold. However, Pocholo refuses to crumble amid such adversity. He used this as an opportunity to reestablish voice artistry and create a new breed of online voice artists. 

With everything done online, Pocholo widens his reach to people in every corner of the world. The same applies to CVAP, an online voice workshop that continues to produce graduates who give their best to make their mark in the industry. “We are making names, not in the voice acting industry kasi patay na ‘yun, but in the online voice artistry.”

Pocholo shared that he prefers online engagements than the traditional face to face as he can now interact with more people than ever before. He sees conducting online events as an advantage because he is more in control and can oversee the projects more efficiently than when it was done in person.

However, as he reminisces about his previous birthdays, he can’t help but feel nostalgic. “Before the pandemic, I had the best birthday parties which was my thirty-ninth and fortieth birthday... naachieve ko naman lahat kasi when I turned thirty nine, I’m the president of JCI Makati, so I had my party during my induction and sobrang saya… and  for my fortieth birthday I held it dun sa restaurant ng kaibigan ko...sobrang masaya din, yung mga special people lang ang invited.”

This Voice Acting day, May 7, 2021, Pocholo The VoiceMaster Gonzales turns forty-two. Most of his life was spent reaching his dream and vision to create positive social change, but with his passion and purpose to change many lives with his voice, Pocholo was destined for greatness.