Breaking into voice acting does not always begin with drama school, years on stage, or a decision to leave an established career behind. For Eryn Andrews, it began while she was already working in one of the most technically demanding environments imaginable: NASA.
Andrews is a human performance engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where her work has included supporting human spaceflight. Outside those hours, she has developed another career as a professional voice actor, recording corporate narration, training material, phone systems, commercials, and other projects.
What began as a relatively modest attempt to earn additional income has grown into a substantial business. CNBC Make It reported that Andrews was already earning six figures annually from voiceover while typically spending between one and eight hours per week on the work. By the summer of 2025, she said her voiceover income had begun exceeding her six-figure NASA salary.
Those numbers make for an attention-grabbing success story, but the more useful part of Andrews’ journey for aspiring voice actors is how she got there. Her voiceover career was built alongside another demanding profession, gradually developing from a small side hustle into something far larger than she originally expected.
Starting Small Instead of Waiting for the Perfect Moment
Andrews did not begin with an expensive professional studio or a long list of entertainment industry contacts. She initially explored voiceover while looking for a way to bring in some additional money, eventually starting with relatively affordable equipment and creating a recording space at home.
Her early setup was decidedly practical. Andrews has described recording from a guest-bedroom closet that was adapted into a makeshift sound booth, using mattress toppers to help control unwanted noise. It was enough to begin learning the process and, importantly, begin working.
Online freelance marketplaces became part of that early development. Andrews built her first client base through Fiverr before expanding her network through conferences, professional communities, training, and relationships within the voiceover industry. She remains a highly rated Fiverr Pro voice talent today, while her professional portfolio has grown well beyond the platform.
Her work has included corporate narration, e-learning and training material, IVR and voicemail projects, commercials, character performances and other forms of voiceover. Her professional portfolio lists clients including Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Hilton, while CNBC reported projects for companies and organizations including Coca-Cola, PetSmart and the University of Mississippi. That client work has also established Andrews as a commercial voice actor, with her portfolio extending into advertising, branded content, and promotional voiceover.
The progression matters because Andrews’ current success can make the beginning seem deceptively easy in retrospect. She did not start with the business she has today. She started with what she had available and continued developing from there.
Voiceover Became a Business Without Replacing NASA
One of the more unusual parts of Andrews’ story is what did not happen as her voiceover income grew. She did not immediately abandon engineering.
Instead, she has continued working at NASA while maintaining voiceover as a second professional career. She has described the two fields as very different but also sees skills from engineering carrying into her voice work, particularly precision, persistence, adaptability and clear communication. Her NASA career has also given her considerable experience communicating with different audiences, something she considers valuable in voiceover.
That makes her story particularly relevant for people who are interested in voice acting but already have established careers. Beginning voiceover does not necessarily require making an immediate choice between a current profession and a creative ambition.
Keeping an existing job can provide something especially valuable during the early stages of a voiceover career: time. There is room to train, audition, learn the business, improve a recording setup, build relationships and discover which areas of voiceover are a good fit without expecting every audition to pay the bills.
Andrews’ eventual earnings are exceptional and should not be viewed as a typical outcome for someone entering voiceover. What is more repeatable is the way she allowed the business to develop gradually rather than expecting it to become a full-time income immediately.
There Is More Than One Route Into Voice Acting
Andrews’ engineering background might initially appear to have little connection with voiceover, but her career demonstrates how experience from another profession can become an advantage rather than something that needs to be discarded.
Someone coming from education may understand instructional material. A healthcare professional may already be comfortable interpreting medical terminology. Someone working in business may understand corporate communication, while an engineer may be particularly comfortable with technical narration. Existing professional experience can give a developing voice actor knowledge and communication skills that are valuable in specific areas of the industry.
Andrews herself has continued expanding beyond the small freelance projects that helped her get started. Her current portfolio includes commercial, corporate, e-learning, character and other voice work, while her growing professional network has become another important part of her business.
For newcomers, that may be the most encouraging part of her story. There was no requirement that Andrews first become a traditional actor or leave engineering behind. She found an entry point, learned how the industry worked, invested in developing her abilities and continued building.
Her path ultimately became far more successful than the small side hustle she originally envisioned, but it remains a side career by choice. Voice acting does not have to replace an existing profession to become meaningful, creatively satisfying or financially successful.
There are many ways to build a career behind the microphone. Eryn Andrews’ journey from an improvised home recording space to a thriving voiceover business is a particularly striking example of what can happen when someone gives a new opportunity enough time to grow.
