A Lesson in Listening to my Inner Child

Do you remember the moment you figured out what you wanted to be “when you grew up?” 💭

I vaguely remember wanting to be a GP for a hot minute when I was about 6 as I thought handing out prescriptions for banana medicine seemed like a pretty cushy job…but I DEFINITELY remember the moment I realised I wanted to be a voiceover.

Along with a dedicated mass of other kids growing up in the 90s, I was obsessed with Nickelodeon. And what a time it was for cartoons: from Ren & Stimpy to Rugrats, I watched them all religiously, and spent an inordinate amount of time recreating the voices for the stop-frame animations I forced my friends to make with me on the weekends.

One day, in between the cartoons, there was a ‘behind the scenes’ diary of the voiceover artists from Ahhh! Real Monsters, (another Nick classic)... **Cue image of an 8 year old girl with a spoonful of Cheerios poised to be eaten and not taking a bite for 10 minutes** THIS was my little lightbulb moment for what I wanted to be when I grew up 💡Could I take all those weird voices and characters I'd created and actually turn it into a job!? 🤯

Although I was encouraged by my parents to pursue it at the time, for one reason or another I didn’t look into it any further. Life as an 8 year old is too full of other possibilities and more pressing matters like building tree forts and starting bands; I had a lot on my to-do list! But for some reason that little BTS video stuck with me for years after and I always came back to that thought of “what if…’

Psychologists always talk about listening to your ‘inner child’, and how over the years, we start to disregard the values we once held and the possibilities we foresaw for ourselves. When I was struggling with the pressures of ad agency life back in 2014, I read Ken Robinson’s ‘The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything”, where he talked a lot about reconnecting with your inner child and I’m pretty sure that’s what led me full circle back to that BTS video, and in turn, to the path I’m on today.

So what did your younger self see you doing down the trail?! I'd love to know what your lightbulb moment was! ✨