[00:00:00] Safrianna: There's, I, I know now that we're going to be doing a special promo with this dance and I'm so excited because only the people that watch our video podcasts get to see our dancing. So it's always, it's always a good time. Welcome back to another episode of Living Luna, season two, season two,
[00:00:18] Ikenna: last episode of season two.
[00:00:21] Safrianna: episode of season two. So we have really focused in season two on having wonderful guests on and today we're super excited to have our finale guest on Amanda Sal-cow and she is like
[00:00:35] Ikenna: Salchow (Sal-co).
[00:00:36] Safrianna: Salchow. Did I? I still said it wrong. Yeah.
[00:00:38] Ikenna: Company of Sally. Sally Co. Sal Co.
[00:00:43] Safrianna: Everyone's going to remember it because I messed it up.
[00:00:45] Ikenna: It's okay.
[00:00:46] That's what we're going to do. Okay. I did it wrong. So you can do it right. And she is also known as Amanda Leigh Cobb, a actress and audio book. Like I'm so into this. I can't wait to ask questions. Audiobook artist, narrator, narrator. There we go. And she's done all of this incredible professional work.
[00:01:10] out there in the world. But now she is launching this incredible company that is really about bringing families together and like allowing them to have this deep heartfelt memory. And so that is just magic. We're all about uplifting people here and bringing people together in love. So we are so excited to talk to Amanda about This project.
[00:01:30] So welcome on board. Amanda.
[00:01:36] Amanda: Hi, everybody. Hi. Hi. Hi. So happy to be here. Great introduction. Name right or wrong. Great introduction.
[00:01:44] Safrianna: Thank you. Thank you for your graciousness. I am so bad with pronunciation and You know, my name is mispronounced all the time. Safrianna, I get Safira and Safarina and yes, saffron
[00:01:57] Ikenna: I get, I get called
[00:01:58] Ikea,
[00:01:59] Safrianna: Ikea
[00:02:02] But names are important and like, that's why I think it is so important to try and get people's names right and so, yeah. It's well
[00:02:11] Amanda: conversation. I appreciate that. And don't worry. Everybody gets it wrong. So I'm always saying it's, it's Salchow. It's Sal-co, but however you want to say it is fine with me. As long as I know you're talking to me.
[00:02:21] Okay,
[00:02:23] Safrianna: so thank you so much for coming on to living Luna, you know, we are all about uplifting the others of the world and just uplifting the voices of different people and you are one of Um, one of our few features that has actually gotten to use her voice in a public way before because you've put your literal voice out there.
[00:02:48] So how did you get into acting and just using your voice as like a professional tool for you?
[00:02:56] Amanda: That's a great question. Well, I mean, I think like a lot of us kind of in those middle school years, I kind of felt like a misfit and I couldn't really figure out where I fit. Right. Right. Right. You know, you think about school back in the day and there might have been these little cliques, right?
[00:03:11] Or, you know, you had the jocks and you had the, you know, different people or whatever. And I just never really fit. And when I found, um, acting classes and I took my first kind of drama classes, I was like, Oh, these are my crazy people. This is where I fit. And I always felt like acting was a way for me to.
[00:03:28] You know, express myself and express my feelings and emotions in a way that I couldn't really express in real life, right? Um, I felt like I always had a lot of big emotion inside me and sensitivity and I needed a place for that. So like when I found acting as an outlet, it was magical for me. Like it just fit right in and I loved it from the first minute I did, you know, some melodrama in sixth grade when I was 10 years old, you know?
[00:03:55] Um, and I stuck with it, but I never thought I could make it a career. You know, like I, I don't come from an artistic family. It wasn't like, I didn't know any actors. I, it never crossed my mind that I would be doing this in any kind of professional way whatsoever. Well, flash forward to college and, um, I'm still majoring in biology, something else, and I'm taking acting classes on the side because I love it.
[00:04:21] And my acting teacher said, listen to me, you love this. You happen to be pretty good at it. Why don't you consider. Auditioning for graduate school, you know, what's the worst that can happen? You know, you don't get in fine. You continue on your path of. Whatever you want to do, if you do get in, like, that may show you, like, you know, could open some doors for you.
[00:04:41] So I said, okay, like, I'll try it. I'm not expecting to get in. Um, but then I did. And so then I went. And, like, the rest is history. So when I finished, um, when I got my master's from Yale in 2005, and when I graduated from the Yale School of Drama, I knew, like, I wanted to pursue theater with everything I had, so.
[00:05:03] I moved to New York and I started acting regionally and then started doing some Broadway. I was lucky enough to, to do some Broadway stuff. I wanted to, um, stop being on the road because I wanted to try to have a family and like maybe meet someone special. And when you're, when you're doing regional theater all the time, you're never in one place for long enough, right?
[00:05:21] So, so I started doing luckily some understudying on Broadway. And that was really my, my sort of bread and butter for almost a decade. Um, and I did meet somebody and I did get married and I did have a child and, um, at that time I knew I needed to shift because that kind of a Broadway schedule with eight shows a week wasn't sustainable for, um, a mom, right, or a family, or at least it wasn't for me.
[00:05:47] I know some people can do it. I could not do it. So I was really starting to move more of my eggs over into the audio basket. And that's how I kind of became an audiobook narrator, is I wanted to take my acting skills, but I wanted to use it in a way that was a bit more flexible and that I could potentially work from home because I was going to have this young child and I wanted to spend more time.
[00:06:08] at home. So yeah, that's kind of how it happened. I started doing that and now, um, the theater thing doesn't make sense. And I primarily have done, uh, audio book, audio book work and continue to do that, um, every day as sort of my main career paying the bills situation at this time.
[00:06:28] Safrianna: Yeah.
[00:06:29] Amanda: So that's kind of how that played out, how that unfolded.
[00:06:32] Safrianna: Well, that's so cool. Like the flexibility there that you found a way to keep using this creative power of your voice in a way that worked for you. You didn't give up on like the dream of continuing to use your voice. You just found a new method that would fit your lifestyle better.
[00:06:49] Amanda: Yeah. Right. 100%. And, you know, at that time there were, um, there, there was a new platform where you could, called ACX, where you could sort of, uh, you didn't have to have an agent.
[00:07:01] You didn't have to. You could have a relationship with the publishers. You could directly reach out to authors, and they could directly reach out to you. And it was this wonderful sort of symbiotic relationship where you could literally put your voice out there and people could find it and search for you and you could make these relationships that, um, you know, throughout books and series and things.
[00:07:19] So, yeah, it's been a real, it's been a real joy. And it's, it's a wonderful, I'm very lucky, I'm very blessed to have, you know, the career that I have. Yeah.
[00:07:30] Safrianna: Yeah, but I mean, it's so cool to see artists of all kinds find success in it in their own way, because, you know, as you were talking about your experiences, I was thinking about something that's been coming up a lot for me lately, which is creative wounds, you said you didn't really have that family background of artists, right?
[00:07:53] Very unexpected for you. Did you ever face Like people tearing down your creativity or tearing down your acting and like you had
[00:08:01] Amanda: all the time.
[00:08:03] Safrianna: Yes. Tell us about that.
[00:08:05] Listen, girl, when I finished graduate school, I was the only one in my class who graduated without an agent. Okay. And I remember my parents, my sisters coming to my graduation dinner and I just broke down sobbing like at dinner because I was like, I have no idea what I'm going to do.
[00:08:26] Like, I didn't know where to start, I didn't have any connections, I was like, without an agent, like, this is the whole point, right? You need somebody to like be getting you auditions. I had no idea how to do it or where I was starting from. And my, my poor little family couldn't help me. You know? So, um, I mean, in the end it became a blessing because I learned how to do a lot of stuff on my own.
[00:08:48] And I learned to say yes. And I learned to hustle like you would not believe. You know, I was doing stuff for free. I was working for beer. You know what I mean? Like someone was like, do you want to go? Actually, that's a good story. A good friend of mine was a writer and he said, listen, I can't pay you, but I wrote this thing and it's small.
[00:09:04] And they're doing a reading up here at New York stage and film. Can you get up to Poughkeepsie? Can you do this thing? Sure. I go up there, I do this reading. It was super fun. And it just so happens that Daniel Swee's boyfriend was up there with a different show that he was doing. So the casting director of Lincoln center was just up there with his boyfriend and saw my show.
[00:09:25] And that's how I got my first Broadway show, which was my first show in New York, full stop.
[00:09:29] Ikenna: Oh my gosh.
[00:09:30] Amanda: Yeah. So like, do you know what I'm saying? I mean, there's so much hard work and there's also so much chance and fate and just like being at the right place at the right time. Um, but yeah, I mean, and of course you audition all the time for things that you don't get, you know, right.
[00:09:47] So. TV shows, TV parts, series, sitcoms, this and that. You're constantly being told no. So, it's, it's really hard in that way. You have to, um, you have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and... Get back in the game, you know, and it's not for everybody because it's it's a hard business. It's a hard profession in that way, and I got tired of it.
[00:10:10] So being on the audio book side of it, I much prefer quite frankly, like I've really sort of changed and shifted as I've gotten older, what I want out of life and my priorities and what my day looks like and what I can control and not control. And that's a big one. So for me, it. Over the years, I've sort of let that go and, you know, that's part of not only the audio book stuff, but also the starting my own business, um, this year, which I'm really excited about.
[00:10:39] Safrianna: Yeah, I'm like so excited to talk more about your business because it's such a cool idea. And I want to, I want to save it for like the special treat at the end because I want to keep getting to know the genesis here. Like,
[00:10:55] Ikenna: well, I also want to know like. Some, some of the details in terms of like, um, in terms of the acting career and the audio book career of like, um, do you have any sort of like, uh, favorites in terms of like the favorite Broadway show or like favorite role that you had, um, favorite, uh, co star famous person that you ran into by doing this job.
[00:11:24] Oh, totally. Audio book.
[00:11:26] Amanda: Totally. All right. Give it Um, favorite role I ever did was playing baby and dirty dancing. It was the first national tour. I had never done a musical and I had never danced in front of anyone in my whole life. So...
[00:11:41] Ikenna: The musical
[00:11:42] about dancing.
[00:11:43] Amanda: I was freaking out.
[00:11:45] Safrianna: I could imagine.
[00:11:46] Amanda: I was so excited, but I was like peeing myself.
[00:11:48] I was like, how, how am I going to do this? Can I do this? Like, it was insane. And I remember the audition, like I had, they had me come in movement clothes. Okay, fine. And they were showing, because I never thought I would get it, right? So for me, it was just fun. Why not try? So they're showing me this dance.
[00:12:07] And I remember just like laughing out loud because they expected me then with this partner to then like step away for 45 minutes and learn that dance and come back. And it was like, they were like lifting and bending and bowing and girl, I was not flexible at that time. Okay. I was an actor. I was not a dancer.
[00:12:25] And I had tears coming down my face and all I was saying was like, sorry, sorry. Like the guy was like trying to turn me and did me and I was having a great time, but I'm sure I look absolutely ridiculous. And, um, you know, the fact that I was hired for that was amazing and hilarious. And I learned so, so much because the run was a year.
[00:12:46] We did over 250 shows, eight shows a week, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles. Um, living on the road, doing a show that was three hours long, where I was on stage, I think 90 to 95% of the time, just the. The stamina that took was completely new to me. Like, it was really like being an athlete and training in the gym for all those hours and learning all those dances.
[00:13:13] And it was incredible. Like, I look back on it now and it seemed like it didn't even happen to me. Like, it seemed like it was a different person. Um, but it was extraordinary. And then my partner, uh, gorgeous, gorgeous Joseph Brown from the Australian ballet. Who'd been playing the Patrick Swayze character, uh, for a few years, um, was just a godsend, you know, so he, he was a rock for me, he really helped me get through it, he was an amazing dancer, so of course he, he made me look better than I was, um, but yeah, I mean that was one of my favorite experiences, but also one of the most difficult, like absolutely, um, Like I said, the stamina for that, you know, and when, and when the rest of the cast would be going out and having fun, getting a cocktail, I was like, I can't, like, I'm, I'm done.
[00:14:06] I have to do this tomorrow and I have to do it twice on Saturday. You know what I mean? Like that stamina like really forces you to. Put your priorities in a row and be like, I am the show, like the ship cannot go down like, so you
[00:14:24] have to, you know, you've got to really take care of
[00:14:28] yourself. So I learned a lot from that.
[00:14:30] And I also learned a lot watching other people in that show, the dancers specifically, because I mostly do plays. And so I'm not surrounded by singers and dancers most of the time. This was the one time that I was in this big, full scale musical production and got to see what they do and like, what they put their bodies through and how they warm up and how incredible these, these dancers and singers are.
[00:14:56] I mean, forget it. It was, it was mind blowing. It was joyful. It was difficult. It was all the things. Um, and then you asked me about like famous people. I mean, I've, I've met a lot of famous people because like I said, you know, I understudied on Broadway for a long time. And so there's a lot of famous people, as you know, that can kind of, that can come in and out of that revolving door.
[00:15:20] Um. Gosh, I'm trying to pick which one I should tell you. I mean, there was a time that I got to sit on Morgan Freeman's lap. And that was pretty cool.
[00:15:32] Ikenna: You got to sit on the lap of God?
[00:15:34] Amanda: Yeah, we were doing a production of The Country Girl that was being directed by Mike Nichols. And Frances McDormand was in it.
[00:15:40] And Morgan Freeman was in it. I mean, it was crazy. That's crazy. Crazy stars. And, you know, I was just the understudy. Um, to Anna Campbell. And, um, I got to go on and so sure enough, there I was like right in the mix of those famous, famous movie stars. Um, and it's wild, you know, when that happens, when you're suddenly like plugged in because you're not working with them during the rehearsal process, right?
[00:16:07] You're an understudy. So you're just, you're kind of on the sidelines. And nobody really knows you until they need you, right? And then, all of a sudden, it's like, oh my god, and they're seeing your face, and you're acting with them for the first time. Um, in a put in, or actually on stage, depending on, you know, what the circumstance is.
[00:16:27] And it, that's a wild, uh, career too, but.
[00:16:31] Safrianna: Well, yeah, you know, I'm just thinking about the level of, like, resilience and humanity that you have to maintain throughout it, because we were even talking about before the episode, um, I never have, like, the fangirl response. Because I'm a natural number nine, and like, our gift is that we just see everyone as completely equal.
[00:16:53] And Kenna's a natural number one, and they're all about the awe and wonder. Like, every person is like, extra special. And so like, the famous people, like, they have these people that they just adore. And I'm like, yeah, if I met them on the street, I'd be like, hi, nice to meet you. So it's just so interesting, like, to me, I'm hearing this.
[00:17:13] Wow, you've, you really had to jump in with so much bravery and courage that you were just gonna, you were gonna show up because that was your job, right? It doesn't matter who you're showing up with, you're just showing up as you and doing the thing and like, this narrative of how much you've really learned, like, I hear it back then, right, with the having to sing and dance and like know the limits of your body, but then also you, you've carried that quality through to the present because you're still recognizing like my life is changing.
[00:17:48] I am flexible and dynamic and growing and what was important to me back then isn't so much anymore. Now it's my family. Now it's, you know, raising this family. Now it's putting my own work out in the world. Without other people having a whole lot of input.
[00:18:05] Amanda: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's definitely evolved and shifted and sort of changed into different things.
[00:18:11] As you said, like based on, you know, where you are in life and how your values kind of shift and change, what speaks to you anymore may not, you know, something that made me happy that I loved doing five years ago or 10 years ago. Might not be the same thing that's bringing me joy or comfort or security or whatever it is that I need in that moment, right?
[00:18:32] Um, five years from now, we're in the present. So, yeah, it's been, it's, you know, as an artist of any kind, it's, it's challenging, even though I've had, you know, the success that I've had. Um, you know, it's still very challenging to sort of make ends meet. Um, not be in control of when you're going to get that next audition or next job and things like that.
[00:18:55] So there's a lot that comes with that kind of life that after a while just no longer worked for me where I kind of had to change things up a little bit.
[00:19:05] Safrianna: Yeah. I can't even imagine. I'm going into my brave stage of life now where I'm starting to like put myself out there more and travel for the first time in my life.
[00:19:16] And yeah,
[00:19:20] I'm already like 10 years in the future going, oh, I want to settle down. At the same time, you've lived a very exciting life and, you know, of a lot of travel and a lot of adventure. And so what is it like? This is something I know we're going to be talking a lot about in season three, so, spoiler alert.
[00:19:40] Because we're going to be talking a lot about relationships and attachment and, um, trauma bonding and just like, core wound stuff in season three. And I'm wondering like,
[00:19:55] you've had to really adapt and change and be flexible throughout your life. And what have you learned along the way with like, Changing in front of other people, and like, being willing to say that's not for me anymore.
[00:20:09] Like, what would you tell people when they're entering a new chapter of their life, and they're feeling like that tension from other people expecting, oh, well you're always going to stay the same.
[00:20:19] Amanda: Well, I mean, I think what I would say Is nobody knows what's coming around the corner and I can say that having just been through a divorce, which I never knew was coming.
[00:20:31] Right. I mean, I knew it was coming because I kind of asked for it, but I mean, right when you get married, you never know what's coming. And, um, I think a couple of things like you have to be willing to adapt and change. to the current and you're not always in charge of the current and and how that's going to go and where it's going to take you.
[00:20:54] And, you know, to the people who expect you to be sort of rigid, well, you know, it's a surprise, it doesn't always work that way. Um, and I, luckily I've been surrounded by a lot of, you know, caring people who, who support me in kind of anything that I do. But, you know, speaking of those sort of deep wounds and, and other things coming up for me, like, um, when I first had my son, the choice between Do I leave him for six months to do this Broadway show and never get to tuck him in at night, read him a bedside story, wake, take him to school, pick him up from school?
[00:21:38] I couldn't do it. And I'm not saying that that's right or wrong because people choose what they choose. But for me personally, those kind of choices, I didn't know what I would do until I was confronted with them. So it was also kind of a surprise to me too, to say like, I actually don't want to take this job right now.
[00:21:57] I want to be here with my kid. Um, and also things that come up with, you know, tensions between the husband and how the marriage was starting to kind of unravel in a way that neither one of us could have expected. And then suddenly you're somewhere else where you're, you're trying to figure out not only.
[00:22:19] This relationship, but then how your career is going to change or pivot around the decisions you make around the relationship, you know? So like, there's just, there's a lot. I mean, I would just say, don't be afraid of change because change is gonna come, you know what I mean?
[00:22:37] Ikenna: I, I love how you like went in, in terms of saying like.
[00:22:44] You were saying you used the term, like for me personally? Mm-hmm. , like you were like, I'm not saying this decision is right or wrong for anyone else, but for me personally, I think that's a, a huge like thing, like a, like an epidemic, at least in a lot of the clients that I'm seeing in terms of the fact that they are kind of like reaching out, trying to figure out like, They were told what to do by their parents of like, this is, this is the structure that you follow.
[00:23:16] Like society is like, you know, this is the correct way of doing things. And so like to be able to trust your intuition and like, you know, recognize in yourself, like, this is what's right for me. Is. Is, is a valuable tool that, like, is, like, I'm so glad that, like, you know, you have that tool in your metaphorical toolbox, because it's, like, it, it is a really hard thing to do when we're in that, like, rigid state of thinking that we have to do what, you know, society or parents or family are saying is, like, this is the correct path.
[00:23:56] And you're like, that's not what feels right for me. So
[00:23:59] Amanda: totally. Yeah. I remember when I was teaching at NYU for Hartman, a hot minute, I was teaching at the playwrights horizons program and I had a theater students. And one of my students was this, um, young woman who came to me in tears on this after class and said, my parents, you know, they're not going to support my doing theater anymore.
[00:24:21] Like they want me to become a doctor. Um, and Like that's what I need to do. And she was so upset and two things. One is, you know, I felt, thank God, my parents have always been supportive in whatever I wanted to do. What a blessing. Not everybody has that, but on the other hand, you know, I said to her, listen.
[00:24:43] They can't take away from you your passion for theater, right? And life is long. It's longer than you think it is. So if you go and you get your doctorate, and you're a doctor for a few years, you might end up loving it. You might end up hating it, but guess what? You have a degree. You can make that money so that you can then what you can invest in your community theater.
[00:25:04] You can figure out your own practice so that on the side, like maybe you're getting involved in the theater community there. There are other ways and other options. To kind of exercise that passion within you and like, don't panic yet because life is long and she was 19, right? You know, and when you're in college like It's well at any age those those things can be difficult But I felt so badly for her knowing that she was saying like my parents like these people, right?
[00:25:33] They're not supportive of what I feel my dream is And I said, like, I can really understand that. I'm sure your parents are terrified of you going into theater. But, like, they can't quash that dream. Just hold on to it, right? And, like, see, see how it unfolds. Um, and I still think about her. I don't know what happened to her.
[00:25:54] But I still think about her and wonder, wonder where she is and how she's doing.
[00:25:59] Safrianna: Fingers crossed that she is still following her dreams. Cause you know, speaking of the creative wounds that I was talking about earlier, like that's a creative wound, right? When we lean into our passion and our passion is something creative, whether that be visual arts or music or dance or theater, or literally any other number of things we can create.
[00:26:18] Video game design could be an artistic career, right? Anybody outside of us saying like, No, that's, no, you know, you're gonna be a starving artist, Or, no, that's not for you, that's not what this family does, Like, anything like that can, for me it was, um, Oh, you know, anime style isn't gonna get you anywhere in life, So you need to start practicing portraits, And then I was like, oh, my style's bad, right?
[00:26:43] Like, it can be any little innocuous thing that can knock us. off of our, our totally were a voice of hope.
[00:26:53] Amanda: Well and you know what? We always hear people and how they were turned down. They couldn couldn't get anybody to l all these famous people f you know, any profession. So I find those stories really inspiring. So I ju
[00:27:11] I don't know, Amazon or something. It was like, uh, Judy Blume, right? It was like, uh, I forget what it's called, but it's like the documentary on Judy Blume, the famous writer who, you know, wrote all these young adult novels and stuff, but were somewhat controversial because maybe they mentioned masturbation or this or that.
[00:27:27] Um, and, and she's an incredible writer. She's one of the best selling writers of all time, and she was talking about how in the beginning of her career nobody would buy her books. She could not get published. Everyone was like, you don't have a talent for this. Nobody wants to read your material, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:27:43] And it just goes to show like, you know, if you persevere and if you love it, keep going and you may not have success. Right. But hopefully you're scratching that itch, at least within you to create or whatever, whatever that is.
[00:28:00] Ikenna: I mean, I think that's the, that's the thing too, is like in, in this like, uh, you know, capitalistic patriarchal society, we
[00:28:11] Safrianna: talk a lot about that over here,
[00:28:14] Ikenna: but it's like the, it's, it's, It's like, um, the only way for you to feel the need to follow your dreams is if there is that external validation instead of like the internal trust that you're like, I'm just enjoying what I'm doing.
[00:28:33] Like no one can, like the, the more you, uh, believe in yourself, um, like that will cause basically like whenever people are like, you know, screw the haters, like no one's gonna. Like, no one's gonna tear me down because I know that I'm, like, just following my passion, sort of thing. It's like that level of, um, you know, resilience.
[00:28:59] Cause it's, like, you're still allowed to feel bad. Like, rejection sucks. Like, it's, it, like, it's not like you all of a sudden become this, like, amazing, like, you go into all of these different, um, like, auditions, they reject you, and you're just, you just wipe it off and go on to the next one, like.
[00:29:20] Amanda: Yeah, no, you feel it.
[00:29:21] Ikenna: There are still emotions happening about this.
[00:29:24] Amanda: Totally, you're gonna feel each of those stings and each of those pinpricks, and it's just a matter of like, what do you do with those feelings? Like, how do you? How do you channel those feelings? Because you're gonna
[00:29:36] have those feelings.
[00:29:36] Ikenna: Yeah. You have to channel them instead of, like, most people try to bury them, and then that's where the real problems happen.
[00:29:43] Safrianna: And that's why... You have a stable future as a therapist
[00:29:48] because
[00:29:49] Ikenna: I love talking about this stuff.
[00:29:51] Safrianna: You love talking about feelings and there are so many people in the world that need
[00:29:54] to talk about their feelings.
[00:29:56] Amanda: It's true. You guys are very lucky. You have an awesome profession. Awesome.
[00:30:00] Safrianna: Well, it's, I'm leaving the therapy profession to go fully into Being the CEO of Living Luna and uplifting the stories of as many people as I can.
[00:30:12] Amanda: Congratulations! That's exciting! Yes!
[00:30:15] Safrianna: Wow! I did my, I did my time as a public educator and then, uh, and then a trauma therapist. And now I'm going to write books
[00:30:24] and lead a business.
[00:30:26] Ikenna: Yeah. I mean, as you say, Amanda, life is longer than you realize, like the fact that you've had a full career as a teacher, a full career as a therapist, and now you're going to, and you're not, I'm going to be a CEO.
[00:30:39] Yeah. And you're not even, you're not even 35.
[00:30:42] Amanda: Life is longer than you think.
[00:30:49] Safrianna: And flexibility, flexibility, love and trust, in the words of Garnet from Steven Universe. It's a good song. It is a
[00:30:58] good song. Uh,
[00:30:59] you know, when we're flexible and we allow ourselves to flow from thing to thing, and follow our dreams wherever they're leading us, we can, we can find the way through, right?
[00:31:11] We don't always know how, but we do. Yeah. And that is, I guess, a gift of resilience, right? A gift of resilience when we can keep going as we find these glimmers and we find these new dreams. So I want to talk about your new company that you've started because I saw this, uh, you and I ran into each other in a group, a networking group, and I saw this project you were starting and I was like, I need to get her on the podcast because it's just such a cool project.
[00:31:43] So tell us more about Sound Capsules and how this was born.
[00:31:48] Amanda: Okay, so speaking of evolving and, and things like that. So out of the divorce, uh, suddenly I'm like, well, you know, I need to double my income. I need to triple
[00:31:59] my income. I need to think about,
[00:32:01] you know, what are my skills? What, what else can I do to add to the audio book career?
[00:32:06] Um, and there's something that I've been wanting to do for a really long time, and I hadn't known how and Sound Capsules is my idea that was born out of an interview I did with my grandmother many, many years ago, back in school. It was a school project, we had to interview someone close to us, um, and I chose my grandmother.
[00:32:25] And I had this wonderful recording of her, and she ended up passing away about two weeks after that. Wow. When that happened, it was quite sudden. Um, it wasn't anything that we saw coming. But, um, at her funeral and at the wake, my father said, Why don't you play this recording? Why don't you let it run?
[00:32:45] Which I did. And it was and has become such a treasure, uh, for us and for my family that we have this recording of her. And so my idea was, How can I get other people to do this? How can I, Get other people to understand the power of the human voice and how much emotion and personality and essence of a person that can convey, especially after that person has passed.
[00:33:13] Um, and more than that, um, I just feel like today when we're living far away, and AI is everywhere, we're just not connecting with people, real people in real time, and I thought this was another great way if they could interview somebody, they sit down, they interview their mom, they sit down, they talk to their grandfather, it's another way to find connection, which I, which I, really believe in.
[00:33:37] And so, um, this is how my idea of sound capsules was born. An audio heirloom that's like a time capsule where you record somebody. We try to make it really easy to do that. And then we kind of judge it up. You can put some music to it. We can put some sound design to it. Um, and we deliver it to you and not only an email file, but I also have this handy little box here where you have a zip drive in here and you can, you know, you can plug it in and it makes an incredible gift.
[00:34:05] And so suddenly, I just think it's a wonderful idea to have the voices of the people that you love, uh, you know, it, uh, treasured in a way that you can then pass down to your kids or your, or your kids kids. So. What I'm doing is I've created this thing and it's still a work in progress because I'm figuring out different packages and what's going to be good in the marketplace, but I wanted to have an option that wouldn't be cost prohibitive.
[00:34:36] So right now I'm thinking like, okay, I'll have a 99 option. Super easy. You can use your iPhone. You can use voice memo. You can record someone. You can send it to me. We will fix up the recording, and that just means take out all miscellaneous sound, make it sound nice, and we'll email it back to you. Right?
[00:34:54] Easy peasy. But you can add stuff on if you want. a voice introduction of some kind, you can choose that. If you want original music playing, maybe their favorite bands of your granddads or your dads from the 70s or the 50s or whatever, we can layer that in and add that. And then you have this thing that not only you have forever, but you can give to your kids.
[00:35:16] It's a file. So you can email it to the entire family, right? So someone's wedding gift, someone's anniversary gift, Christmas, whatever, I just think like, I'm getting goosebumps, not to toot my own horn, but I'm just, I'm excited, like, I want people to be close with their family, have this thing, because they're never going to regret having it once the person is gone.
[00:35:40] And I feel like. Most people understand that because I do think that most people say voicemails and things like that, that kind of understand that idea. And this is just a way that you can take a voicemail off your phone and do something a little bit more specific to it. Hold it in your hand, you know, give it to somebody.
[00:36:01] it up a little bit and that's my business, sound capsules.
[00:36:06] Ikenna: I love that so much. It's, it's so interesting. Like, um, I knew what the concept probably was. Cause, um, like the concept of just a time capsule in general is so. interesting. Like, you don't realize how fast time changes. Like, I think this past, this past year, my, yeah, this past year, I didn't attend if they had any sort of ceremony for it, but when I was in eighth grade, I was the treasurer who was, not the treasurer, the Historian, uh, for the SGA and we had to do, uh, they created that was the first time they created that role.
[00:36:49] Um, it was great. But yeah, we said that we created a, um, a time capsule and I presented it and then we had it like set up like, um, with like the different art pieces or whatever that people do and whatever. And it was supposed to be open this year because that. Yeah, 15 years.
[00:37:10] Safrianna: You're still such, such a babe.
[00:37:11] Ikenna: 15 years since 8th grade,
[00:37:13] Safrianna: yeah. Oh god. It's been way longer than that for me.
[00:37:17] Amanda: Yeah, like, you guys are younger than me.
[00:37:21] Safrianna: I'm having the cradle here a little, it feels like, some days.
[00:37:25] Ikenna: Today's final episode will be like, you know, Amanda's, uh, you know, sound capsules and also Ikenna's a baby.
[00:37:33] Safrianna: Also Ikenna's a baby.
[00:37:35] Yes, but like, this, It's that what you're doing is so symbolic and. As a company, as somebody who's starting to do a little bit of business coaching on the side with like some local businesses and whatnot, the name of this company is killer, Amanda, because it says exactly what it is. Thank you. You know what a time capsule is.
[00:37:55] Which most of us do. Okay, it's a sound capsule. It's capturing something in sound form. Like, just genius name. But, you know, the concept, it gives me goosebumps too. That's why I was like, I really want to have you on because I strongly believe in this mission and that's part of our brand. Uplifting missions we believe in.
[00:38:16] I have had so many clients even in the last year um, who have lost somebody dear to them and they did not have a memento. of any kind and, and they've said to me and I've heard them say I wish I had a recording of her voice or I wish I had a voicemail from him or, you know, just these like heartbreaking.
[00:38:37] I wish I had that
[00:38:38] because you are so right. The power of the human voice. It's why I led this episode with this, like you're using your voice as your career. And the power of the human voice is tremendous. It holds an energetic vibration and a frequency that is completely unique to that human. And to be able to have something that captures that in a beautiful way.
[00:39:00] Can really like, yeah, that could last for generations as long as they keep keep filing, you know, sending that file along or
[00:39:07] Amanda: Yeah, well, I'm actually working on, um, trying to create a family tree and audio family tree so that if you wanted to subscribe to that, right, you could sort of start to populate that and always have access to that, um, with a password for your family.
[00:39:23] So you could Kind of, you know, get a lot of people involved, your whole family, if you wanted to do that,
[00:39:29] Ikenna: man, just get, get yourself like involved with like ancestry or whatever, and you've got a killer
[00:39:34] 20, 23 and me.
[00:39:38] Amanda: Yes. I got to get up and running and then I got to try to sell it. Yes, yes, yes. But it's amazing.
[00:39:45] Safrianna: And I imagine like, I'm just even thinking for those of us who don't have. We could even do an audio capsule of like the dog bark or the cat meow
[00:39:55] Amanda: or something. Yeah, the thing is the possibilities are endless. You can do each other. You don't have to be like, Oh, I'm going to wait until I want to do someone who's old.
[00:40:02] You can do children. You can do yourselves now. And 10 years from now, you might do another one and just like see how you've evolved and changed. Like, yeah, the possibilities are really, really endless. And they're all like their own little treasure in time.
[00:40:17] Ikenna: Yeah. I mean, I, I also really love this product. My undergrad was in audio engineering.
[00:40:22] Um,
[00:40:23] Safrianna: yeah.
[00:40:25] Ikenna: So that's been really fun. And I've, it's been just so cool because like, I remember when I did my internship, my, the person that, uh, my internship supervisor told me why he likes audio engineering so much. And he's like, it's capturing time. Like, that's how you capture a moment in time. Is your recording sound and that's exactly what you're doing is you're capturing a moment in time with the Sound
[00:40:54] Amanda: Capsule.
[00:40:55] Yeah, 100%.
[00:40:56] That's how my little, a timeless moment in time, uh, logo phrase that's under my logo, like, came about, because that's exactly how I see it too. Yeah.
[00:41:05] Safrianna: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing this with us today. Again, I just love getting people who I see doing something cool and I'm like, everyone needs to know about this.
[00:41:16] Amanda: Thank you. I was so excited that you wanted me to come on. I was like, Oh my God, that made me so happy. So thank you for even asking me to come on and be here and to like, share it. Any chance I can get to like, share it with the world. Like, yes.
[00:41:30] Safrianna: Thank you so much, Amanda Salchow. Yes. Well, I did it. I landed it.
[00:41:37] Yeah. We are so grateful for you and your time today. And all of Amanda's information is in the show notes. If you want to check out Sound Capsules, if you want to watch the shows you were in in the past, whatever, however you want to connect with her, the info will
[00:41:53] be there. Thank you.
[00:41:58] Heck,
[00:41:58] Ikenna: I'm gonna find you on Law and Order. S V u
[00:42:00] Amanda: Oh God. You can too. It's out there. I know what it's .
[00:42:03] I,
[00:42:04] Ikenna: IMDB Amanda Salchow..
[00:42:07] Safrianna: No other Better rewind find that one. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:12] Ikenna: Hidden. Hidden. All. Thank you so much. Thanks guys. Bye bye.
[00:42:19] Alright.
