When Jessica Trinidad decided she wanted to pursue a new career in voiceover work, she simply found someone she admired and reached out. 

“Before I even knew what networking meant, I just started to connect with people,” Trinidad said. “I found my coach in New York in a post on Facebook. She was advertising her voiceover classes.”

Trinidad reached out and asked if her coach would let her take the classes back to back over the course of a week when she was visiting New York City. Trinidad completed the classes, then began attending voiceover conferences and meeting people in the industry. 

That networking led to a voiceover career with work that expands the globe. Now, Trinidad is passing on her knowledge about the industry to aspiring young voiceover artists with Beyond the Mic, a voiceover conference at Mainframe Studios on Oct. 10. 

“I’ve always known that along the way, I wanted to give back and uplift people in the arts,” Trinidad said. “I’ve always done that with my community, but I always knew that I would teach my way of how I got to where I’m at in some way, shape or form.” 

Planting a seed 

Trinidad is partnering with Zuli Garcia and Knock and Drop Iowa to put on the conference. The event is a natural extension of the work they had done together to help educate Latino youths about their rights during the recent national surge in immigration enforcement.

“Even though the intent was for us to uplift and help kids, it was sad,” Trinidad said. “It was like you were anticipating the tragedy. So I thought, ‘You know what? This is the perfect moment to flip it and uplift our youth and start teaching them that you can make a living off of your God-given talent and this is how we do it.’” 

They started off providing a voiceover class for 10 kids who receive support from Knock and Drop Iowa between the ages of 10 and 15. The class was administered by Donna Grillo, a voiceover casting director for shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Students learned microphone technique, vocal warm ups, what a script from Hollywood looks like and more. Six kids graduated from the class. 

“Six little souls graduated with a little seed in their head, knowing that this is something that they could explore in their lifetime,” Trinidad said. 

The conference is more geared toward younger adults or folks looking to make a career transition. They’ll hear from Sylvia Villagran, who is the first Latina woman to ever voice the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys. They’ll also meet Erika Alcaraz, who is a talent agent leading the Spanish voiceover division at Sutton, Barth & Vennari, which Trinidad said is one of the most exclusive agencies in Los Angeles for voiceover work. 

Then they’ll learn about Trinidad’s path and how someone from Iowa was able to build a global voiceover business. They’ll also take home a booklet with information and other resources. 

“We want to show you the way so that you can know you can do it and here’s the road,” Trinidad said. 

Lighting a path

Providing a guidepath for others is personal to Trinidad. She understands what it’s like to want to pursue a career without much knowledge of how to go about it. 

“I’ve always recognized the privilege that I’ve had of being able to do what I love from Iowa, and I also recognize from my own journey that there really isn’t a lot of resources for people if you don’t come from a family that has a business or a family that’s very well established,” she said. 

Trinidad was born in Washington state. Her family moved to Mexico when she was 3 and ended up moving to Iowa for work when she was a teenager. She worked as an HR generalist, using her bilingual skills to translate for Spanish-speaking employees. She always knew she wanted a career in the arts, and that’s when she started networking.

Today, she lends her voice to projects and brands. She works with a variety of different individuals and organizations, doing narrations and radio imaging across the globe. 

“I voiced campaigns in Brazil, South Africa, it’s just all over,” she said. “I have genuinely lost track.” 

She often has to remind herself how great of accomplishment that she has turned her voice into a global business. She wants to help the next generation understand how to access markets and build a business themselves, too. 

“At the end of the day, I would like people to walk away from this conference knowing that yes, you’re an artist and that’s your product, but you’re also going to be a business,” Trinidad said. “So you need to have a strategy on how you’re going to sell your product.”

Trinidad said there is a huge demand for younger voices in voiceover work, as well as biracial and bilingual voices. Giving young people these skills will allow them to build something for themselves.

“You have individuals like myself, who are first-generation North Americans, and often our parents are just focusing on making a living,” she said. “We tend to follow that until we become our own person and we branch. That gives us a disadvantage when it comes to having the resources and the network to tap into and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking to start this business. Who can you connect me with? How do I get this going?’” 

Beyond the Mic is free for participants. Trinidad said a similar conference could cost $700, and a coach would be $250-350 an hour. It was important to her when creating the event to provide opportunities to those historically without access.

At the time of publication, the event was getting close to max capacity, but it will have a waitlist once it reaches that limit. 

Trinidad hopes that attendees leave with both practical skills and a deeper belief in themselves.

“I want younger kids to know that if you believe in yourself and if you are willing to put in the work and pursue your dream, we are here as proof that there are people out there you can reach out to to get out there and make it happen,” she said.