Against a backdrop of a 10,000-sticker collage in his studio, voiceover artist Kris Brown’s radio-perfect voice resonates deeply across the airwaves. He explains that his journey to this career didn’t come early – in fact, it took years of hearing compliments about his voice before he decided to make a career of it and start his own business: Kris Brown Voiceovers .
Today, Vermonters can hear Kris’ voice exclaiming the merits of a variety of products, depicting unique character and cartoon voices, and even narrating audio books. He has worked with the Department of Marketing and Tourism for the state of Vermont, Cartoon Connect (YouTube), and many overseas companies and agencies.
Kris’ business journey has taken many turns and overcome many hurdles. Born and raised in Virginia, his childhood years were spent playing in the woods with his dog and living the country life. Eventually Kris joined the Army where he met his wife. When their service ended in 2013, they made the move to Vermont.
At first, Kris aspired to own his own food truck, graduating from the New England Culinary Institute with a bachelor’s degree in food and beverage business management. But with those compliments about his stirring voice still coming his way, he listened to a friend and joined Such a Voice, a voice over training center based in South Burlington. Kris Brown Voiceovers was born in 2020.
“Starting my own business has had its challenges,” Kris explains. “I am not someone who easily asks for help, and I am used to doing things by myself. It took me awhile to start to get over that, and to reach out to other businesspeople and networks.”
In 2021, Kris connected with Community Navigator partner Vermont Professionals of Color Network (VT PoC) where he met Weiwei Wang, Co-Founder and Director of Operations & Development, and Krystal Sanchez-Williams, Project Manager. Krystal recounts a few memorable moments:
“I first met Kris at a VT PoC listening session focused on understanding the challenges and successes of BIPOC small business in Lamoille County. From that initial meeting, VT PoC connected Kris to various spoke organizations to support his small business as well as technical assistance on certain grants. My favorite ‘full circle moment’ is when Kris attended CVOEO’s Lunch with Lenders event and fostered a connection with a lender as a result of attending the event. I had a meeting scheduled with Kris to talk about upcoming grant opportunities which happened to be after his meeting with the lender – it was wonderful to hear Kris share his experience with the event, the lender, and VT PoC as it came full circle at that moment. VT PoC is enthused that Kris is part of our community.”
Taking place in Winooski last February, Lunch with Lenders: Exploring Funding Opportunities for Small Business was pivotal for Kris, as it was for many of the other attendees. Hosted by CVOEO, SBA-Vermont, and VtSBDC, the event celebrated Black History Month. Small business owners and those in the start-up phase were invited to come together for a conversation on accessing capital for their business. The event offered networking opportunities with traditional and non-traditional lenders and allowed the space to share challenges and ask questions. And of course, there was lunch.
“I really appreciated going to that event,” said Kris. “After so many nos from so many banks, it was refreshing to learn that there might also be yesses out there.”
For Kris, building upon these relationships has opened the door to new opportunities and a world of possibilities beyond the soundproof walls of his sticker-clad studio. He looks forward to expanding his business with additional voice and narration services, and reaching even more people. One can hear the excitement in his perfectly toned voice.
“It’s so much fun just to do it. Like they say, if you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life. You can’t match the feeling of owning my own business and being able to express myself in this way.”
FOOTNOTES
To hear Kris’ voice, listen to this video from a report by the Burlington Free Press.
And about the stickers, Kris created a collage of more than 10,000 stickers as a creative outlet in his studio, another example of his many talents.
CNPP is funded (in part) through a grant with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Learn more at www.vtsbdc.org/find-cnpp/.
