Gina Scarpa On The Self-Care Routines & Practices Of Busy Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Self-care leads to better mental and physical health, lowers stress, helps you form and maintain stronger relationships with others, supports your ability to become a more resilient person, and increases your energy.
All of us know that we have to take breaks in our day to take care of ourselves. “Selfcare is healthcare”, the saying goes. At the same time, we know that when you are a busy leader with enormous responsibility on your shoulders, it’s so easy to prioritize the urgent demands of work over the important requirements of self-care. How do busy entrepreneurs and leaders create space to properly take care of themselves? What are the self-care routines of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders? In this interview series, we are talking to busy and successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, and civic leaders who can discuss their self-care practices and self-care routines. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gina Scarpa.
Gina Scarpa is a full-time professional voice actor and business owner. She is the founder, owner, and creative director of Positive Voices Studio which provides coaching and educational programming for children, teens, and rising adult voice actors. Gina has voiced major projects for Burger King, VistaPrint, IKEA, Google, Xfinity, L’Oreal, and Invesco. Her work can be found online at ginascarpa.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about your personal background. Can you please share with our readers your personal backstory; What has brought you to this point in your life?
I grew up as a theater kid. My parents have been married for almost 50 years and directed together until their retirement in 2019. After high school, in the late 90s, I became an intern at a local radio station here in Connecticut and ended up on the air for nearly 10 years. After that, I went on to become an entertainment reporter, Editor-In-Chief, and podcast host for television websites and eventually found voiceover in 2014. I went full-time in the early part of 2020, really out of necessity due to the pandemic, and it has brought me more happiness and success than I ever could have imagined!
What is your “why” behind what you do? What fuels you?
Even though I always liked performing, I always struggled with anxiety in front of an audience or crowd. I’m actually a lot more introverted than people may realize. Voiceover ended up being the perfect way to work on creative projects either on my own or in small group settings like recording sessions. It’s allowed me to use my voice and personality for so many amazing projects and voice actors have a lot of influence in the world from what people buy or watch on tv or even who they might vote for in an election. Voiceover has also given me a tremendous opportunity to continue teaching and coaching, something I did extensively and won awards for while working at my family’s theater. I love making voiceover feel accessible to people who may be looking at it from the outside wondering how they can get started.
How do you define success? Can you please explain what you mean from a personal anecdote?
Success is definitely a hard word to define because it means different things to different people. To me, success means reaching the goals that you have set for yourself no matter how big or small. Once you’ve reached your goal, a new one is set and you’re always trying to move yourself forward in a positive direction. Success is also doing what you love and what you’re passionate about every day, which is something I’m very fortunate to be able to do. And success for me has also meant being able to build up the credibility and influence to help others pursue their dreams as well.
In regards to that last point, through becoming a successful voiceover artist, I have helped others do the same as well. I have mentored rising talent to help them learn how to better network and negotiate, which led one actor to land a booking that paid $15K. I have helped child and teen actors get the recording equipment they need to pursue their dreams of voicing commercials, animated series and movies, and video games. One of my young talented students recently voiced a national toy commercial using the equipment I was able to get her. And I run many free workshops throughout the year to be a resource to as many voice actors as I can about a number of business related topics as well as mental health and self-care topics.
What is the role of a growth mindset in your success? Can you please share 3 mindset mantras that keep you motivated, sane, and propel you forward?
A growth mindset is the understanding that talent and ability can be developed over time and that many more aspects of our success are within our control than we may even realize. Here are 3 mindset mantras that have helped me:
- All I can do is my best and be myself and the right opportunities will come my way.
- Patience and perserverance are the keys to long-term success.
- You are never too old or successful to stop learning or receive feedback.
You are by all accounts a very successful person. How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I have tried to use my success to benefit others in as many ways as I can. I offer free programs throughout the year for new and experienced voice actors of all ages with many of those having a component on building confidence and/or managing the emotional side of a voiceover career. I have also provided recording equipment to kids and teens who have a financial need and want to get started in voice acting. And if everything I do, I try to bring a positive, supportive attitude to my wonderful voiceover community to help them feel like they’ve always got someone on their side cheering for them.
Can you share a mistake or failure which you now appreciate, and which has taught you a valuable lesson?
When I was first going full-time with my voiceover career, I booked a project with a very big brand. I felt like it was the big break I had been looking for, and that it would lead me to agency signings, more jobs, etc. I ended up being recast in the project and I was not prepared for it at all! I cried for 2 days and worried that I had made a mistake by trying to be a professional voice actor. I ended up brushing myself off and got back into the grind of auditions and networking in the industry. Two months later, I booked a project with L’Oreal which turned into 10 videos on their YouTube page. I joined a voiceover agency in New York right after and another two months after that, I landed my first national tv commercial. Sometimes, what feels like the end of the world is just the universe telling you that this just wasn’t the right time and something even better is waiting just around the corner.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Three traits that I think have helped with my success are adaptability, resilience, and being highly connected with others.
Adaptability: I opened my own business in January of 2020 which was a performing arts studio for kids and teens. At the time, I was still only doing voiceover on the side but when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, I was suddenly forced to make a change or lose my business entirely. I made the decision to throw myself into voiceover full-time and help others do the same with free workshops throughout 2020. I taught my young students (in elementary, middle, and high school) how to do voiceover from home as well and they started booking with big brands like Walmart, Target, PBS, and many more. I was not afraid to be in my 40s and make a complete shift to adapt to what was going on in the world and it ended up being the best decision I’ve ever made.
Resilience: Voiceover, just like life, can have many ups and downs. Resilience is not about toughening up or pushing through those tough times but more about how to bounce back from them. In the Spring of 2020, I booked a voiceover project with a huge brand and was convinced I had “made it”.About a month after I voiced it, the project still hadn’t turned up online so I emailed the production company only to find out I had been re-cast. I cried in my bed and worried I had made a mistake by going full-time with voiceover but very quickly, I picked myself up and kept going. Not long after, I booked a project with L’Oreal that turned into 10 videos on their YouTube page which led to landing my New York agent which led to landing my first national tv commercial all within the span of a few months. You know what they say — when one door closes, another one opens!
Highly connected: Something that has helped me in my careers in radio, entertainment reporting, and voiceover is my ability to connect with others. I’m not afraid to reach out to people about potential opportunities but I’ve really learned how important it is just to form genuine connections with others with no expectations or strings attached. Some of the best projects I’ve worked on in voiceover have come as a result of some wonderful friendships I’ve formed and then someone thought of me for something they were working on. And some of the best friends I have in this industry (fellow actors, producers, casting directors, etc) have not brought me any work and that’s more than okay! Every relationship in business doesn’t have to be transactional or have something that’s “in it” for you. I have had people in my life only want to be around me because they thought they could gain from it and I’ve learned to weed out anyone I find to have selfish intentions. I’m sure others do the same when you or I are networking as well.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I’m currently working on some downloadable courses for new and experienced voice actors. This helps me reach more people with educational content without having to put in as much 1-on-1 time because there are only so many hours in the day and people I can see — and that’s besides constantly networking, auditioning, and working on booked projects, which are my main priority and focus. My workshops tend to focus on the business and marketing side of voiceover to help people better manage their careers.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview about Self-Care. Let’s start with a basic definition so that we are all on the same page. What does self-care mean to you?
You know, I didn’t really have a definition of self-care until last year when I was diagnosed with an auto-immune liver disease with no cure called Primary Biliary Cholangitis (or PBC). Suddenly, I really needed to start prioritizing my health from being sure to take my medication and vitamins to getting more sun and sleep to taking care of myself physically as much as I can.
As a successful leader with an intense schedule, what do you do to prioritize self-care, and carve out regular time to make self-care part of your routine?
Voiceover has an extremely intense schedule since there is basically something to do around the clock, 365 days a year. Without self-care, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed and burn out! Some things I have done to assist in my self-care is hire an assistant help me balance my work and stay organize, take regular breaks during the day, spend time with my two dogs, sit outside to relax and get some sun (even if it’s just for a few minutes), and try to take days off even if that means missing out on some opportunities. The biggest lesson I’ve learned on my self-care journey is: You don’t have to do EVERYTHING. And without your health, you’re no good to anyone so you have to prioritize taking care of yourself.
Will you please share with our readers 3 of your daily, or frequent self-care habits?
Some of my self-care, daily habits include: being sure to take my medication and vitamins, drinking more water, taking at least two 15 minute breaks, sitting outside for at least 15 minutes, playing video games which is my passion and a way for me to destress, spending time with my dogs and having them sit near me for extra comfort and relaxation, talking to my family and trusted friends, and trying to take at least one full day off per week.
This is the main question of our interview. Based on your own experiences or research can you please share 5 ways that taking time for self-care will improve our lives?
There are so many reasons why self-care is not just important, but crucial in your life. Self-care leads to better mental and physical health, lowers stress, helps you form and maintain stronger relationships with others, supports your ability to become a more resilient person, and increases your energy.
Sometimes we learn a great deal from the opposite, from a contrast. Can you please share a few ways that NOT taking time for self-care can harm our lives?
There was a time, not that long ago, where I was not prioritizing my health at all from the way I ate to the way I slept to the pace at which I pushed myself to even the people I surrounded myself with. I was given quite a wakeup call when I started to notice that something didn’t feel quite right with my health and in my body. It took me many, many doctor visits over a 5 year period and in the Spring of 2021, I was diagnosed with auto-immune liver disease called Primary Biliary Cholangitis (or PBC) which is progressive and has no cure. Whether I was ready to make lifestyle changes or not, my health and self-care needed to move WAY up to the top of the priority list. Sometimes the universe has a way of slapping you with a reality check to get you to make the changes you need.
What would you tell someone who says they do not have time or finances to support a regular wellness routine?
There is a large part of me that would say that a person who says that is making excuses because even with very little time or money, there’s always something you can do to prioritize your own self-care. It doesn’t cost anything to take a 15 minute break and there’s always a little time to unwind before the day is over. It may be difficult to eat as healthy as you want or join a gym, but there are little adjustments you can make that can have a big impact. If you want to change something about your life, REALLY change it, you’ll find a way.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
If I could sit down with anyone, it would be David Lyerly who is the Casting Director for Riot Games. I absolutely love League of Legends, Arcane, and Valorant and my number one voiceover goal is to voice a character for Riot. Given what a competitive industry video game and animation voiceover can be, I would love to hear more about his process when casting voices and also talk about what Riot’s games and show have meant to me.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher, and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness, and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
