I’m a VOICELING! Being part of Tara Strong’s Inaugural Voice Acting Community
On 5.5.2025 (I LOVE number symmetry!), I was warmly welcomed into Tara Strong’s Inaugural Voiceover Community with a generous scholarship! This was a manifestation DREAM OPPORTUNITY!!
For the past couple of years, I had been watching Tara’s journey. She’s an absolutely brilliant voice actor - everything her lips touching, turning to beautiful gold. My Little Pony’s Twilight Sparkle, Timmy Turner from the Fairly Odd Parents, Raven from Teen Titans GO! , just to name a VERY few… I was hoping and dreaming of a way that I could work with her… coach with her…but alas, that opportutniy was not appearing… UNTIL NOW! My friend, it ALWAYS happens at the perfect time.
When her “Voicelings” program was first announced, I was LITERALLY one of the first 100 to apply for the “GET ME THAT INFO!” line… because I lived for her Instagram feed. Once I learned more, I was so upset at the realization that I just couldn’t afford to join the community. I WANTED to make it work… but I just didn’t have the money… anywhere.
I figured that would be the end of it. I would admire and follow from afar. But, alas, in the Spring of 2025, the Voicelings Crew began announcing that there would be Scholarship Opportunities available to a limited number of people… so please apply. I’m not sure why, but in my lifetime - SCHOLARSHIPS have been the only way I’ve afforded anything that has propelled me forward in a meaningful way. I’ve always been a “I CAN DO IT MYSELF” kind of gal. But apparently, when I signed up to partake in the adventure on this side of the veil - part of the mission constraints seems to have been “Don’t give her ANYTHING without her needing to humbly ask for assistance.”
I went to college on a full ride (which I lost in my first year due to an overload of engineering credits). I won two more scholarships in college which allowed me to barely scrape by and earn my BSEE. I was awarded a scholarship for the SOVAS and eVocation Voiceover Conferences, which propelled my career to ABSOLUTELY THE NEXT LEVEL EVERY SINGLE TIME. Thank you to Joan Baker, Rudy Gaskins, Carin Gilfry, Jamie Muffett, Robert Sciglimpaglia (my generous scholarship donor) and the myraids of people who donated to my GoFundMe to create my Animation Demo. Apparently, I am to take a VILLAGE to accomplish my dream - the Universe is not allowing me to walk alone. 😉
Tara Strong is one of the kindest, most talented, and generous people in the Voiceover Industry. She really cares about people and is one of the most empathetic, humane of the humane. When I learned I’d been scholarshipped into her community - I just about went nuclear to the moon! HOW WONDERFUL!
So… it’s been a couple of months and being a Voicelings is a lot of fun. We have auditioning contests in a meaningful context that allow her friends and working, veteran actors in the Voiceover Community to hear our reads with her blessing. We have AMA’s and virtual Meet and Greet’s with people like Greg Cipes (Beast Boyeee! and MORE!) and Richard Steven Horvitz (Invader Zim and MORE!) What is even MORE COOL is that we are collabing with an animation company called DaniMation, which offers animation classes tailored to the neuro-diverse students and is accessible to everyone. I love Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DaniMation understands how to best work with the neuro diverse students and adapts our classes to each student’s learning style.
Check out my Voiceling auditions on my Instagram feed at:
https://www.instagram.com/melissadeltoro_voiceover/
And if you are interested in joining me in the Voicelings Community, let me know and I’ll get you a REFERRAL CODE! Squeeeee!!! I will bring you along on the journey with me!
Happy Charactering!
Melissa