What’s Really Keeping You From Achieving Your Dreams? | Joan Baker #42

What if rejection is not the end of the dream, but the test that proves you want it? In this episode of *Ego Was Here*, voice artist, performer, educator, and SOVAS co-founder Joan Baker shares a deeply personal conversation about rejection, healing, performance, and the strength it takes to keep going. Joan reflects on growing up as the only biracial child in her environment, the loneliness and shame she carried, and how performing became the first place where she felt free. Acting gave her a space to escape pain, express herself, and reconnect with who she truly was. She also talks about her years in New York, the emotional work that helped her heal, and what rejection taught her about creative careers and self-worth. For Joan, voice acting is not just about having a good voice. It is about turning a script into a real moment, with no set, no costume, and often no one else in the booth. Together with her husband Rudy Gaskins, Joan created SOVAS, the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, a platform dedicated to recognizing voice actors and the wider voiceover industry. SOVAS is also behind the Voice Arts Awards, which celebrate the people behind some of the voices we hear in animation, commercials, narration, audiobooks, and more. At the center of this conversation is Joan’s belief in dreams fulfilled. For her, that means not only pursuing her own dreams, but helping other artists believe that their work, their voice, and their story matter.