I recently had the honor and privilege of sitting down and talking with Karen Jacobsen. For those who don't know, Karen is the Australian voice of SIRI and several navigation devices. She is a singer, even opening for Nora Jones, and life-coach speaker. She speaks about creating your own direction in life that leads to success and happiness. Her theory of Recalculating instructs individuals on how to recalculate throughout the day to build ones ability to operate more effectively, efficiently and enjoyable.
How did you get the SIRI gig?
I went to an audition. My agent said there was a client looking for a native Australian female voice artist living in the Northeast of the United States. So I went to the audition and got the job. It involved recording for about 50 hours and I only recorded for 4 hours a day so my voice would not get tired in anyway. They wanted me to be very consistent, articulate and calm. And that's a little bit of how it was put together.
What is it like sharing your voice with millions of people? Is it strange to hear your own voice coming out of an iPhone?
You know it is. I am still wrapping my head around the enormity of it. And people will reach out to me often and tell me stories and anecdotes. It still amazes me that my voice can be in some many hundreds of places at once. It is mind blowing.
Do you have an iPhone? If you do are you using your own voice for navigation and SIRI? Or is that too weird?
I am a fairly new owner of an iPhone. I have it on my voice, I don't use SIRI very much, my son does though. He asks it questions, which I think is ironic because he is asking his Mum. And it is also amusing, the number of times I accidentally hit the button and my voices comes on. And it asks me, "How can I help you" in my own voice.
How did you get into voice acting?
I have been working as a professional voice actress for over 20 years. Back in Australia and even before New York I got into voice acting through singing jingles. I was and am a singer/songwriter and have 9 albums on my own label. My most recent one is Take a little drive. Because of this I was doing a lot of singing in studios, which also did voice-overs and that how I managed to get into that scene.
You actually segued great into my next question. You have released several albums, your recent Take a little drive. What type of music inspires you as an artist? Which artists do you like the most?
Oh gosh. It is changing all the time. I mean, I am pretty crazy about Bruno Mars. Maybe I am bit late to the party, but i really think he is talented. True talent, nothing fake about him. I love true talent like he has, especially when he performs. I am a big Carole King fan, I grow as a big Olivia Newtown John fan. She was actually a huge influence and inspiration on my life and career. There are a lot of people I love. I love James Taylor and Stevie Wonder, and right across the board. i mainly favor artist who are strong songwriters.
Also I have to ask your opinion on something that I noticed. You are Australian and have a notable accent. Yet, when you sing, you sound American, or rather have no Australian accent. I noticed this with other artists from the UK and Australia. What is your take on this?
I think when we are singing the accent is rounded out. It just isn't as noticeable. I don't think most people or singers are trying to sound like themselves. I just think when you sing as opposed to speaking, the voice rounds out and the accent rounds out except certain vowels. It is a level playing field, or more so music is a common language.
What inspired you to create thegpsgirl.com? Is there going to be a season 2 of Navigating New York? If so are there any teasers you could give us?
I love your question Drew. After my voice was released on a lot of GPSs, I had many people come up to me and tell me their stories. People would share their stories and explain that they enjoyed taking a trip with me, and felt as if we journeyed together. People would come up and still do, and talk as if we already knew each other. It really is an amazing experience to have people be that friendly, and familiar. I really enjoy it. But that had been happening for awhile, and it became clear to me that there was a brand to develop. I made the connection between my love of personal development and direction in life and that the fact that my voice was giving directions in the car. And I created an empowerment brand. Many of the things being done over at thegpsgirl.com are to create empowering, inspiring and motivating material, for when people are stuck or want to find direction in their lives, whether personal or professional, and can then recalculate. And from that, now I speak at conferences and events and I love to speak about recalculating. I also coach and consult. I have consulting clients who may be a little lost in their life, or business, and want to do some strategic planning. I have clients I do that for, and really enjoy it. I am actually love talking about recalculating, and I am working on my second book, which talks about it.In terms of the second part of your question, Navigating New York. There is definitely going to be a second season of Navigating New York., which will start up again in the spring. I love New York, it's people, culture, and especially people's relationships with New York. I love to go out and about in the city. I've met some great people, and introduced some people to New York. I also got to write my own theme song, which I really loved. I a little bit more about thegpsgirl.com and my speaking engagements is I've been able to weave in my music, into the speaking, and my events, and that is fantastic to marry the two.
I would like to talk briefly about your theory of "Recalculating." Could you explain it to me and discuss how you came to the idea?
I look at the way I lived my life and what my strengths are, and I realized that…being in the music business and the entertainment industry it can be brutal, filled with a lot of disappointment. In addition being a person who has owned their own business for many years, I realized that i have had to continually keep going and brush myself off. I realized that I had to keep going on despite disappointment or things weren't going the way I wanted. I really think the word "recalculate" fits well here, and that sometimes we will recalculate in small ways, like being stuck and traffic and have to "recalculate our day, and appointments. Sometimes there are major life recalculations, which might revolve around healthy issues, or business, or around money or relationships. The philosophy to me really focuses around the idea that one can build the ability to let go of things that did or didn't happen on a daily basis. So we can start fresh daily, rather than carrying with us all the things that din't work. So it is the opportunity to always start a new direction but on a daily basis. It is important to always maintain that mind set, and understand that despite wrong turns we can always recalculate. The ability or skill to recalculate is great because anyone can learn it, and you don't have to be born with it. It is a concept that is built and strengthened with practice. I know in my life, there had been times were I was having a bad day, and then it maybe turned into a bad week, and then a bad month and before you know it, a bad year. I'll just ride this year out, I would say. But that is no way to live, and I am really passionate about loving my life. It is very important to me that i love every aspect of my life. And I don't want to waste a minute. So being able to recalculate, letting things go and moving through it, helps keep perspective. Practicing it allows me to grow and find the space I need to be in at the moment and the future. This allows us to have happier lives, and build momentum to success.
Is there anything else you would like to add or mention before we part ways?
There is one thing, I have coming up on April 5th, my first all day one day event in NYC. It is called, Recalculate your best year yet and it is going be at Prince Street Loft. Its an opportunity for people to come and register for a whole day to be with me, and I'll be on stage we all will be working on creating a roadmap for your life. Getting really clear on priorities, very hands on, people will leave with a real priority and focus on what they want to do the work on for the year ahead.
Karen you are amazing! Again I want to thank you for your time and answering all my questions with such enthusiasm and grace. It was a pleasure speaking to you, and I most certainly changing my SIRI voice to you. Have a great day.
If you are interested in learning more about Karen and her work check out the gps girl. She is also on Twitter andFacebook
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