WHO IS PAUL?
You’re probably here because you’ve found me on social media and you’re wondering who I am and where I’m from. Well, I was born, raised, and educated in the Netherlands. My dad was a minister, so we moved quite a few times during my younger years.
I often mention in my videos that I’m actually from the north of the Netherlands, the province of Friesland to be precise. This part of the country has its own traditions, culture, and language known as Friesian. My parents never taught me to speak Friesian because it didn’t take them long to move to the west of the Netherlands, to a town near Haarlem.
This is where I picked up my Dutch accent which -according to linguists- is considered to be the most neutral type of Dutch (if that’s even a thing). This is the accent I use when I teach my international audience how to pronounce Dutch words and names.
After our time at the North Sea coast, my family moved again and again, but I eventually ended up in the middle of the Netherlands, in the historic city of Utrecht. That’s where I studied Musicology and English, only to switch to European Studies at the university of Amsterdam.
During my student years I entered a contest at one of the national broadcasting companies in the town of Hilversum where most of Dutch radio and television is based. This company (the AVRO), was looking for fresh talent to produce and present youth radio and television programs for Dutch national radio and TV. Winners were offered internships and training by industry veterans. I was so excited to be one of the lucky few that were chosen!
I didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the beginning of a 25-year career in broadcasting. As I was developing and honing my skills, I soon discovered that I was never meant to be an academic scholar. I had an inquisitive mind, but no patience to listen to boring lectures, study for hours, and prepare for exams. I loved being behind the mic, interviewing guests, and using my voice to educate and entertain.
USING MY VOICE
At that time there were only public broadcasting corporations in the Netherlands paid by taxpayers’ money, and since I was a freelancer, I was free to offer my services to whomever was willing to hire me. BTW, I’ve been my own boss since the age of seventeen.
In the next twenty five years I would work as a roaming reporter, a presenter, a producer, a continuity announcer, an editor, as well as a newsreader. While my main focus was news and current affairs, I covered cultural and religious topics, and anything that was worth reporting on.
One of the highlights of my career was a one-year stint at the BBC in London where I produced a show for Radio One that ended up winning a prestigious UK broadcasting award. This eventually resulted in a job at Radio Netherlands International (the Dutch World Service), where I worked for the Dutch and English department making programs in both languages.
This meant that my voice was heard all over the world!
SWITCHING GEARS
While I thoroughly enjoyed my work for national and international news media, it won’t surprise you that reporting on the news can be quite depressing since it has a pretty negative focus. After all, good news is seldom news.
As I was feeling burned out from years of chasing scoops, meeting stressful deadlines, and highlighting human tragedies in different time zones, traditional, terrestrial radio stations were quickly losing ground to internet radio. Six months before Radio Netherlands International lost most of its funding, I jumped the sinking ship and started my own training business.
In 1999, a company based in the United States recruited me to become one of their new trainers. Following my instincts, I said goodbye to my life in the Netherlands, and I moved to the town of New Hope in Pennsylvania.
As I was working to improve and teach the curriculum, I spontaneously signed up for an open casting call at a famous Philadelphia casting agency. After a quick audition, they signed me on the spot as a voice over talent thanks to my unique European, neutral English accent, and irresistible personality. I guess it didn’t hurt that I knew how to work the mic and cold read a script.
At that time I had no idea that this would be the beginning of an international career that would span two decades, using my voice to record audio books, documentaries, eLearning programs, industrials, commercials, and even a few cartoons. I became the voice of Harley Davidson in the Netherlands, and even promoted a Beatles show on Broadway with my best fake British accent.
FROM STROKE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Around 2000 I started blogging about the voice over business, freelancing, and personal growth. This blog became one of the most popular and widely discussed blogs in the industry, which in turn led to speaking engagements at conferences, guest appearances on podcasts, and lots of other free publicity.
I also published a book called “Making Money in Your PJs,” which is still in print. And did I mention that you’ll find over six hundred of my blog posts on this website?
Professionally speaking (pun intended), things were going really well for me, until…
my life nearly ended in 2018 when I had a massive stroke while recording in my soundproof home studio. A helicopter transported me to the nearest hospital where a brilliant doctor saved my life. When I came out of surgery, the man who was making money talking into a microphone, was unable to speak and could barely move a muscle.
My brain had sustained severe damage, but after a year of strenuous rehab, plenty of rest, a stubborn determination, and lots of help from my much better half, I was finally able to walk and talk again. Unfortunately, not many stroke patients are as lucky. Strokes are the fifth leading cause of death in the USA and the second leading cause of death in the world.
While my voice was weakened, I was slowly able to record voice overs again and make a living. However, I knew I would never be the same or sound the same. My vocal folds had lost a lot of strength and stamina, and my brain had to work overtime to process information. I knew I would have to hang up my hat as a voice actor sooner rather than later.
A few years ago we moved to rural Vermont, close to the Canadian border. We’re surrounded by nature, solitude, and the best neighbors ever. No more deadlines, cheapskate clients, or boring scripts to read out loud. Instead, I work as the social media manager and Paul of all trades for my wife’s music school, promoting her business to the local community and to the world (she also teaches online).
AND, I’ll record one video a day, helping people pronounce Dutch words and names like a Dutchman, and giving you my take on English words and expressions they never bothered to teach me in school.