IAM221- Award-winning Technical Writer, Voice Talent and Speaker Inspires People Using Her Voice

As an award-winning technical writer, authorpreneur, voice talent, speaker, life coach, and podcaster, Daree Allen enjoys inspiring people and using her voice for good.

Daree is the author of three books, including “What's Wrong With Me?,” in which she shares her stories about self-esteem, media influence, premarital sex, family and personal relationships, and gives advice to teens about it all. Her latest book, “Ending the Blame Game,” discusses relationship advice for Black couples based on interviews with numerous Black men, coaches and therapists.

When Daree is not reading, traveling, jumping into a line dance, or on social media, she enjoys spending time with her beautiful daughter, Kaia. Find out more about her work at KickinitwithDaree.com and DareeVoiceover.com.

• CEO Hack: Evernote, TextExpander and Asana app
• CEO Nugget: (1) Take one step at a time (2) Don't get stuck there, do
• CEO Defined: Flexibility, freedom and purpose

Website: https://www.dareevoiceover.com/

Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Podcast: https://KickinitwithDaree.com/
Freebies: https://KickinitwithDaree.com/resources/
Start Your Own Podcast: https://KickinitwithDaree.com/podcast-setup-checklist
Create an Audiobook: https://DareeVoiceover.com/audiobooks
Getting Started in Voiceover: https://DareeVoiceover.com/get-started-in-vo

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Daree Allen of the Daree Allen Voiceover LLC. Daree it is awesome to have you on the show.

Daree Allen 0:38

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

No problem and I'm super excited to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Daree so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And as an award-winning technical writer, authorpreneur, voice talent, speaker, life coach, and podcaster, Daree Allen, enjoys inspiring people and using her voice for good. Daree is the author of three books, including “What's Wrong With Me?,” in which she shares her stories about self-esteem, media influence, premarital sex, family, and personal relationships, and gives advice to teens about it all. Her latest book, “Ending the Blame Game,” discusses relationship advice for Black couples based on interviews with numerous Black men, coaches, and therapists. When Daree is not reading, traveling, jumping into a line dance, or on social media, she enjoys spending time with her beautiful daughter, Kaya. Daree, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Daree Allen 1:33

For sure.

Gresham Harkless 1:34

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Daree Allen 1:42

Yeah, yeah. You know, Gresham, I am a serial entrepreneur. And so this is just like the latest and hopefully the last venture because, you know, when you're creative, you know, the ideas just keep coming, and you want to do everything I know, you were probably reading that first sentence of my bio like day, like, okay, she's like 12 things, like when you think of a multi-hyphenate, you think of about four things not like that many, but they're all related.

So it's okay. But, you know, literally for years, like, over 10 years ago, I remember friends and other people listening to me speak. And you know, whether I was speaking at an event or just talking to them, and they're like, you know, I really liked your speaking voice, you should be on the radio or something, you should be doing voiceovers, you should be doing this and that. And at the time, you know, my daughter was very young, she was probably four or five at the time.

And so I was a single parent, I was taking care of her. I was writing books, I was doing different projects, and I just didn't want to add something else to my plate. I think that a lot of times when we think about starting a business, we get overwhelmed thinking about everything we have to do. And I just really wanted each thing that I got into to be done very well. I wanted it to be excellent. I didn't want it to be, you know, half done. I didn't, you know, want it to be like, Oh, okay, you could tell she made this or you could tell she did this like I really wanted to be professional and quality. And something that I could be proud of myself, even if, you know, I didn't like to make the New York Times bestseller list or, you know, show up on Good Morning America, I would know that I did really quality, real quality work. And so, you know, I started my business because I am multi-talented, but I wanted you know, this creative outlet I wanted that flexibility to to do for myself. And it's fun. The things that I do, to me, are fun. I enjoy it. It's not work.

Gresham Harkless 3:41

Absolutely. And you know, the same always goes, if you find something that you love to do you never work a day in your life. And I wanted to ask you because I know you touched on this a little bit. I know a lot of people sometimes, you know, I always say don't let the perfect get in the way possible. So how do you balance between actually taking action? So sometimes there are some people that don't actually jump out and do those things, and they just always wanted to be perfect, but they never ever launch?

Daree Allen 4:03

Yeah, I think that you have to get started, what you're talking about is sort of also been referred to as analysis paralysis. You know, you're reading blogs are reading books, you're talking to people, you're absorbing all this information to the point where you're paralyzed, you're not doing anything, because you get so consumed with things and you start comparing what this Guru is doing and what that Guru is doing.

And when I say the word Guru, I'm not just talking about somebody big that you know, has been on Oprah show or something. I'm talking about anybody that does something really well that you perceive as a Guru, that person could just be a few steps ahead of you in reality, you know, you don't know. And so what I say is, a lot of times people will say, you know, I want to start this business and I want to get started but there's so many people out there doing the same thing and I don't know if I could really reach this standard or do something like this over here what I've seen on Facebook or what I've seen on Instagram and what I have to say to that is, you know, you have to do something, just start, you know, you will differentiate yourself because you are you.

And even if you and another person are doing the exact same thing, you're going to do things in the way that you only can do it because you have your own flavor that you spend on it. And so every now and then you have that self-doubt that comes in and says, I don't even know like whether it's starting, like you just asked or like midway when you're launching or after you've launched and it's like, yeah, keep going, because there's only one you that doesn't matter whether you're doing things that I'm doing, you know, the podcast, there's a million podcast, voiceovers, there are a million people doing that life coaching, there are a million people doing that, but there's only one me and there's only one you.

So there's something in your experience that makes you unique. And I know we're going to talk about that a little bit. But that should not looking at other people should not keep you from doing what you know, is in your heart to do. And if it hurts, then stop looking at so much of what everyone else is doing and focus on what you need to do.

Gresham Harkless 6:04

Exactly. Yeah, absolutely love that. And I know we touched on a little bit how you're I don't even know the number that you guys gonna say triple threat. But it's beyond that because you're doing so many different things. And I love it. Could you tell us a little bit more about like what you're doing with your voiceover and everything and how you've been able to build that?

Daree Allen 6:19

Sure, sure. So basically, I started off in the beginning with speaking. I did some speaking and mentoring for teenage girls and youth. And then that like kind of burst the idea for my book and things like that. And I had some of those self-doubts and things that I just mentioned, but I pursued it, I actually am a really good writer. And I'm like, trained in it I went to school for it's something that's innate, and I enhanced it. So that was helpful. But anybody with knowledge can write a book, it was just a little bit easier for me because I actually like writing and I know everyone doesn't, but my business started because I like writing.

And I like speaking and it just took some time for me to finish the projects that I was doing before I started the Daree Allen voiceover company. And so I basically went to a really large conference about doing voiceovers. And I learned as much as I possibly could. I thought about exactly what areas I wanted to be in. Because there are a lot of areas there are commercials, there are different kinds of web videos, there are audiobooks, there's learning there's films and documentaries, there are nonprofit and corporate videos, and there there are so many things that people need a voiceover for.

And so I had to think about where am I best suited. What do people want to hire me for? What do I enjoy doing and learn as much as I could, but I didn't just stop with the reading and the going to conferences and networking and the learning, I had to go ahead and you know, do the training, and then hang up my shingle, I think it's very important that you learn and then you train and then you do you don't just read, read, read, read, read, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and then not do so that's really how I got started was I just went to a conference, I got some personal coaching and training because I knew that there were a lot of things I didn't know, and just try to perfect my craft, and then learn a lot of the business and marketing side because we're all business owners.

So working for yourself, you know, no matter what it is that you want to do with what you are doing, chances are you probably have to do your own marketing, or you have to hire someone to do it. If you're going to make money. It's one thing to say you're an entrepreneur. But if you're not making any money, then you are a hobbyist. So you know, there's nothing wrong with being a hobbyist, because that's how you figure out what you like and what you enjoy and whether or not it's sustainable. But don't say you're an entrepreneur, I call myself an entrepreneur, but don't call yourself that if you're not going to do anything that will help you market yourself and make money.

Gresham Harkless 8:55

Absolutely. Yeah. And I know you touched on this a little bit and about kind of like your flavor, what makes you unique, and how we can all find that ourselves. So I want to ask you a little bit more. Could you tell us what I call your secret sauce? What do you feel kind of distinguishes you and your organization?

Daree Allen 9:08

Now my secret sauce, I would say well, it's not going to be secret now, I'm telling you, but I know that was corny. So I have a background in IT. I just also not only did do my 100th episode, but even bigger. I just had my 20th anniversary of my company a couple of weeks ago. It's been 20 years that I've been with my company. And I mean, there have been so many, you know, corporate America, there's been so many mergers and acquisitions. I don't know how I survived. There's almost nobody else that I started with. That's still around.

And when I started at this company, I had just gotten out of school less than two months before. So this was my first job and I'm still here after 20 years and also have this company on the side that I have. So my background in IT is one thing definitely that's very helpful, especially with my e-learning. I also was a nurse's aide for a while while I was in college, so I have a lot of background in health care. And that is also an asset. I've done a lot of public speaking at conferences and with youth and different things.

So of course, anytime you know how to speak, or anytime you know how to write any industry, that's an asset. So when you put that together, I feel like that qualifies me for some things on the business side, you know, on the personal and human side, I'm a single mom, you know, I'm a black woman recently, about less than a year ago, I was widowed. So I'm a young widow. And you know, those things color my experience as well. So when you add the personal and the professional, my married name is a Spanish name that a lot of people can't pronounce. So I just go by Daree Allen. There are a lot of things that make me unique and interesting.

And when you find those things that make you unique and interesting, and you bring those to the forefront, you can't assume that if someone Google's your, they're going to find out everything they need to know, you need to toot your own horn, you need to let people know about some of your accomplishments and some things you've done. Because if it's relevant, there might be something even if it's not that person that's going to hire you, or what have you. They might know somebody that knows somebody that's interested in those things.

So I feel like we should not kind of like hide or dim our light. Because, you know, we feel like it's impolite to brag. I mean, there are certain kinds of bragging that really you shouldn't do. But what I'm talking about here is, you know, beat yourself up, be proud of your accomplishments, the things that make you you and things that happen to you in life are relevant in the business world.

Gresham Harkless 11:33

Absolutely, absolutely. And I'm super sorry to hear about your husband, your husband, but I appreciate you for you know, shining your own light. And I think that by doing that by saying this is my secret, this is what makes me unique. This is what helps me stand out. You also help to empower other people to be able to do that. I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or book or habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Daree Allen 11:57

Oh, yeah, you know, I think that it's hard to like, go to just one. But if I did, just the one app, I would say that I use every single day is called Evernote, it's free, and you can use it on any device. I personally have one of the paid versions, because I have a lot of devices and a lot of storage needs. And I also like using the Asana app, which also has a free version that is very robust. Lots of features.

In the free version. I use Google Calendar every day. And I also use an app that is not free, but it's very close to free. It's called Text Expander. And that is something that I use to do so I don't have to copy and paste tons of text when I'm emailing or responding to people or doing different proposals or pitches. I've used a text expander to kind of like create a template. And you know, I can save all these different things as snippets and use them in my business communications. I use them both for my corporate job and for my voiceover work as well.

Gresham Harkless 13:02

And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business?

Daree Allen 13:10

Oh man, I'll say this, because I have thrown a lot of different ideas out there, you know, all these different things that I've talked about. So far, I didn't do all of these things at once. Like, it's like that now. But it's built up over time, you know, take it back to 2008. That's when I started Toastmasters. That's when I really learned the fine-tuning of speaking in public. That was over 10 years ago. You know, I didn't write my first manuscript until 2011. You know, I created a self-publishing course from it. But that was a few years later, I got my life coaching certification later. Everything is incremental. It's not like you hear and see all these things out there on social media or in front of you.

And you're like, wow, and you get overwhelmed. Like, I can't do that. Yes, you can you just go one step at a time. These things happen over time. And so with a hard knock along the way, that's life and it happens. So take your time, Don't pressure yourself to have to do everything at once that you want to do be patient. And don't believe the hype that you're behind in life. There's a very common pervasive thought with men and women that you know, I should be farther along by now, I should have done this and this and this by now. And maybe there's some truth to that, but beating yourself over the head and saying that, you know, you've missed out on something that's not the right thing to believe. Just take one step at a time. And like me and Gresham have been saying for the last few minutes, don't get stuck there do.

Gresham Harkless 14:37

Absolutely, absolutely. Action is everything. And I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is a definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote unquote, CEOs on the show. So Daree, I want to ask you what being a CEO means to you.

Daree Allen 14:49

I'm gonna make this brief and I know you don't believe that, but I am. There are three words I can sum it up. Being a CEO to me means flexibility, freedom, and most of all purpose. Flexibility, freedom, and purpose.

Gresham Harkless 15:04

Awesome. I absolutely love that. That's an insert mic drop hit there. And Daree, I truly appreciate you for you know, doing all the awesome things that you're doing and you know telling your story and just being overall like awesome and everything that you're doing. So I appreciate you. I wanted to pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional. You want to let our readers and our listeners know and then how best they can get ahold of you.

Daree Allen 15:25

Oh, yeah, sure. So if you'd like to listen to the podcast, you could find me on iTunes, Stitcher, Radio, Spotify, and almost anywhere that you have a podcast player. It's called Kickin it with Daree. It's kickin it like what we used to say in the 90s. There's no G. It's just kickin it. So, you know, if you don't know that term is coming back. I'm bringing it back. If you need some voiceover work, you've been listening to me for a while. You know, if you'd like my sound, you can find me at dareevoiceover.com. If you want to connect with me on social media, I use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram regularly and you can find me at Deray Allen @dareeallen everywhere, just wherever it is. It's my name. Daree Allen.

Gresham Harkless 16:14

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And we'll have those links in the show notes as well. So Daree again, I truly appreciate you. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Daree Allen 16:20

Thank you. Thank you so much. I look forward to hearing from you.

Outro 16:23

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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