By Jill A. Chukerman. Reprinted from the MCAI-Chicago Newsletter.

December 2001 — When MCAI President Tom Test attended his 20-year high school reunion recently, he found himself facing some raised eyebrows. "You’re an actor?" some of his fellow alums exclaimed. "But you were such a Poindexter in high school-- I thought you’d be in accounting or engineering!"

Much to the surprise of his former classmates, Tom has become a successful voiceover and on-camera actor. But it wasn’t a childhood dream that got him there. "Nobody in my family had ever done anything creative like performing," he said. "I originally was a psychology major in college, but I got really frustrated with the fact that there’s nothing black and white in psychology; there are 37 different theories for what personality is. So I ended up going to business school at the University of Michigan and getting into marketing, partly because it had elements of psychology and also because I wouldn’t have to go to school for 12 years to get a job."

Though a few college friends complimented his voice on his answering machine, it took Tom awhile to take them seriously. He got a job in the corporate world after graduating but didn’t enjoy it. "I had no freedom; I became a zombie. I looked at the path I was on and asked myself whether this was where I wanted to be in 10 or 20 years, and the answer was no."

He quit his job and moved to Chicago. Although he had voiceover in the back of his mind, he didn’t really consider it as a career option until he took a class at the Discovery Center (a class he eventually taught several times). "Voiceover work seemed to fit perfectly with my idea of a career–it seemed fun, I could be my own boss, and it was creative." At first this new direction seemed like a pipe dream, but then he did some improvisational work as part of a personal growth seminar and discovered he had some acting ability. So he sold his brand-new Honda Civic, waited on tables for seven years and took classes in acting, improv and voiceover.

Tom’s first professional job as a voiceover talent was a series of radio commercials for Sportmart in 1989. Since then he’s voiced hundreds of radio and TV commercials–most recently for Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Oatmeal Raisin Crisp and the AARP–as well as training films, narrations and even a point-of-purchase display promoting a Pepsi-Britney Spears tie-in.

"Among the jobs I’m most proud of is a weekly program I’m currently narrating for HGTV (the Home and Garden channel) named ‘A Place To Call Home,’" Tom commented. "Every week the show focuses on the architecture, parks and gardens of a different small U.S. city. It’s well-done and I’ve received some good feedback from it." He’s also proud of his work as the "pinch hitter" when the voice of Jewel Food Stores goes on vacation and in a fundraising video for Childserve, a division of the United Way. He’s also had his share of unusual jobs, including performing voices for Precious Moments porcelain figurines, a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers interactive robot game and half of a pair of Siamese twins for a Village Cycle Center radio ad.

Tom expanded his work into the on-camera world several years ago, but with reluctance, at first. "I didn’t know the audition was for on-camera work so I didn’t even have a headshot with me," he recalled. "I called my agent afterwards and asked her not to send me out on on-camera auditions, that I didn’t want to shift my focus. She proceeded to tell me that as it turned out, I had been the client’s first choice for the job–except that the woman they cast was slightly taller than I was so, they went with a taller guy! So I began to think that perhaps I had an aptitude for on-camera work as well." One of Tom’s earliest on-camera jobs, in fact, was with MCAI President-Elect Dan Niccolai. Since then he has appeared in a dozens of training and sales films, has a recurring gig as the spokesperson for Nebraska Furniture Mart, and, among others, has appeared on a national TV spot for Zurich International.

Tom credits his career success to three important things. "My persistence, which I learned from my father. I paid my dues by waiting tables for seven years, but I never gave up. Also taking the initiative to further my career–like calling up Screen Magazine and getting them to profile me–and being creative in the way I approach my business. I began conducting voiceover practice groups, and for awhile I was one of the only people in Chicago doing that. And I was the first person I know of to run an on-camera practice group.

"But I really owe a lot of my success to the knowledge I’ve gained from different communities–like my practice groups, which eventually led to a side business as a voiceover coach, demo producer and workshop leader. Though I’ve given that up to focus more intensely on my career as a talent, I learned so much from working with other people, and it made me better at what I do.

"Personal growth work has been essential in all aspects of my life–it helped me take a radically different career path and realize I had creative expressive ability. I’ve been part of a men’s group that has met weekly for six years. Through that I’ve become very self-aware, and my work there helps me get past the obstacles I create inside myself. I don’t know if I could have done as well with my career without the wisdom and knowledge I gained from that community.

"The MCAI is another community from which I get wisdom, knowledge and relationships that have helped me professionally and personally. It has been a wonderful way for me to get my name out in the non-broadcast production community. It’s been a confidence builder for me to be president of an organization of several hundred people with a high profile in the community and have some success with things we’ve been doing. It’s also been a lot of fun, and I’ve made some good friends.

With all of his commitments, it seems unlikely that Tom would have any so-called "free" time, but he does manage it now and then. "I most enjoy spending time with my lovely wife," he said. "We like to cook together and see theatre, movies and live music. I also have a hobby–my wife might call it an obsession–of collecting and sometimes building plastic airplane models. I probably have about 500 or 600 kits now. I built more than 100 as a kid but I stopped when I discovered girls and started up again about six or seven years ago. I find it very relaxing to work on them, and just having the collection brings back a part of my childhood that I have a deep connection to."

As for the future, Tom hopes to stay involved with the MCAI when he steps down as president next July, but he has other priorities as well: he and his wife want to start a family, and he also hopes to intensify a more recent passion–theatre. "Most actors come into my business after having acted on the stage, but I did it backwards," he remarked. "I became a voiceover talent first and only got into theatre a little over a year ago, and I really enjoy it. I’d also like to get more involved in the leadership of the theatre company. As for my career, I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I don’t at this point aspire to be a film or TV actor–maybe 25 years from now, but not while I’m trying to raise a family. I have the life that I want."

So next time you turn on your TV, listen to those commercials–the voice you hear just might be your fearless MCAI leader!

Jill A. Chukerman is owner and principal of JAC Communications, which handles writing, editing and public relations programs for clients in the performing arts, education, publishing, legal, medical administration and other industries.

[PAGE TOP]