Robert Lane - Episode Audio
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[00:00:00] Welcome
back to the Gen X Remix, Life Laughs and Next Acts. I'm your host, Tabitha Jones. And my question for you today is, do you love listening to audio books where authors like Mel Robbins, Brene Brown, and others tell their own story in their own voice? If so, you're absolutely going to love our guest today.
Today, we're talking to Robert A. Lane. He's an audiobook coach and producer, as well as a transformational speaker. He spent more than 30 years working in the entertainment industry in various roles, including on and off camera, post production, and corporate management. 14 of those years were spent at 20th Century Fox, working on the studio lot in LA as their feature [00:01:00] project manager.
He also has over 22 years of experience as a recording mixer. Sound designer and music composer for many films, TV shows, and industrial videos after finding his Gen X remix and leaving the entertainment world in 2020, Robert founded Robert Lane coaching first as a career and life coach, then expanding his business to audio book coach and producer after publishing his number one bestselling book, Lights Action U.
Based on his experience in the Indu entertainment business, he created the your book, your Voice audio book coaching program, a one-on-one program helping nonfiction authors narrate and publish their own audio books on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books, as well as other distribution platforms. In only six weeks, Robert has taken the career slash life coaching aspect [00:02:00] of his business.
On the road as a transformational speaker, inspiring audiences from big corporations to community groups all around the country, showing them how to live a better, fuller, more productive life and make a true difference. Robert is also an award winning filmmaker and he resides in Sedona, Arizona. Let's jump in.
All right. Well, thank you so much for being here today, Robert. I cannot wait to dive into our conversation today. Yeah, it's great to be here. Oh my gosh. So for our listeners, Robert and I met at a conference early on in our coaching careers and we became fast friends. We kind of learned that we had so much in common as corporate escapees.
We were both navigating that similar kind of challenge while building our business. We'd both invested money into programs that were. Not exactly a great fit. Um, and some that were [00:03:00] amazing and we both become authors as part of our journey. So Robert, the first question I want to ask you today is, can you tell us a little bit about your biggest remix and what inspired you to make that kind of remix change at Midlife?
Well, you know, it's funny. I think that a lot of people, especially when you have corporate jobs, because that's where I was at in my entertainment career, you know, the last 14 years or so I spent working at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles, and sometimes you feel trapped, and then you don't know what to do.
How to get out like you love your job, or maybe you don't like your job, but you want to make a change you have these feelings, uh, and and sometimes I felt like that when I was at Fox is, you know, I want, you know, I, I had, um, back in 2009. I had purchased my home, which [00:04:00] is here in Sedona, Arizona, but I still have my job in Los Angeles.
So, yeah, It was a lot of back and forth. And I felt like I couldn't leave the job because I needed the job, you know, to pay mortgage and do all this other stuff. But, uh, sometimes life happens to you and choices are made for you. And then you have to make some decisions and that's what happened to me. So a few years ago, I forget if it was in 2017, 2018, whenever that was when Disney.
bought Fox. Big deal, big corporate deal. And we knew that we would be affected some way or another. And the way that worked was if Disney wants to keep you, they'll keep you. If they don't, they'll just fire you, let you go. And part of the deal is that they have to give you a decent severance. That was part of the deal that they made with Fox.
So, uh, when it came time, uh, [00:05:00] for our department to go through the rigors of this, this big changeover, uh, I was on the first round of firings. So, there it was, but you know what? Blessing in disguise. Um, I did get a decent severance and I'm glad that I, uh, was, uh, let go at that time because there are many people that they kept that they promised, you know, Oh, your, your job is secure.
And then a year later, they were all let go. And so it's, you know, it's a bad thing that happens in the corporate world, which I know that you've experienced and your clients have experienced with, with these types of things. But, but that was obviously a very pivotal change because now I had to make a decision.
What is it that I wanted to do? And I knew number one, I did not want to go back to the corporate world. You know, I spent 30 plus years working in the entertainment business, and it was time for a change. And I wanted to do something that I felt would be, uh, much more fulfilling, uh, for [00:06:00] myself and for others.
And, you know, I've always loved coaching. And, uh, I've, I've been an audio guy for most of my career. Um, So when I started my coaching business, you know, I was dealing with, you know, life coaching, career coaching, all that stuff. Um, and then people were telling me, Hey, you know, you should write a book, you know, you should write a memoir.
Oh, you have all this experience. You must have tons of stories about working in entertainment. So I gave that some thought and like, Hmm, maybe I should, but I wanted to take it one step, uh, farther further. Um, and that is not just share entertainment stories, but also have. Some kind of tool or life lesson or a technique or something that I can share.
So here's an experience. This is what I learned from it. Here are some tools and techniques that you can utilize to help you through a similar situation. So that's why I wrote my book and put it [00:07:00] together. And there it was. So of course, being an audio guy had to turn into an audio book. Of course. Of course you did.
That's so amazing. And you know, it's funny. One of the things I've been sharing lately is when we get to that space where it's time to make the leap or we want to do something different, what we go into initially, isn't always the thing we stick with and that's okay. You will eventually find exactly where it is that you belong.
And I know that what you're doing now on the auto audio book side is so beneficial and so needed and. Oh my God, I love audio books. So. You know, one day I'm going to get mine done. I keep saying one day, we'll talk about that later, but it's just, it's so good. And the other thing that you said is the, you know, sometimes it happens to you, the decisions made for you.
And I commend you on making that change and thinking outside the box of what is it that I really want to [00:08:00] do? Because so many people I'm 50, I always laugh. I'm 54 and a half. Um, but what happens is we're at this certain point in our lives and it's like, this is all I know. This is all I can do. I've got to keep doing the same thing.
And even if we're miserable, even if we're not happy, it just kind of keeps us stuck. So I love, I love that you were brave and you, you took that bold action. Yeah. I mean, I, I remember the day where I made, like I made the definite decision, you know, where I said, Thank you. I'm going to go for it. I'm going to go for doing a coaching business.
I'm going to create something from scratch, be an entrepreneur. As we know, it's tough to do. It's a tough business, but I, you know, I, I made that decision and that's what I was going to do. And you just do it. Um, yeah, you know, and it's scary. You know, it's scary to make to make these changes. But again, you have to believe in yourself, have [00:09:00] confidence in yourself, know that you have what it takes to accomplish the goals that you've set, the career changes that maybe you have to make.
And you just do it and you be resilient and you, and you have tenacity when you go out there and, and, uh, for us as entrepreneurs, you know, create our business and just ride through the ups and downs and, but you're right. It is a journey. It is a journey. And I didn't start off doing what I do now. And that took the journey, you know, uh, two, three years, at least, uh, of.
Finding my way and experiencing the things that I need to experience going through the coaching programs that we went through, uh, were part of the experience because again, everything is a learning experience. So you, you learn from, uh, these experiences, what worked, what didn't work, you know, and then it's funny because.
Sometimes your niche finds [00:10:00] you and I didn't even really think about it. Instead of, you know, we're all seeking and trying to find this and find that. And it's like, when you step back, you know, the whole thing about authors approaching me saying, Hey, you did an audio book. How did, how did you, how'd you, I wanted to do one.
And that just built up into, you know, enough to where it was like, wow, there's a, there's a real need for this, not only just for a company, just to produce an audio book, but to actually coach. Authors on how to do it and how to and I know you talk a lot about this with your your coaching as well about mindset about how important your mindset is.
And I tell the authors that I work with, you know, you have to be in the right frame of mind before you even hit that record button because that's going to come out in your delivery. If you're not confident, if you don't like your voice, if you don't believe that you have what it takes. Thanks. Thanks.
Guess what? That energy is going to come out in your narration and maybe somebody who's listening to your audiobook will go, I [00:11:00] don't know, something just doesn't seem right. That's what it is. It's those intangibles. So that's why it's so important. You know, again, mindset is definitely a huge key in narrating an audio book.
And of course, you know, doing anything, anything that you want to pursue in your career, you've got to have the right mindset. Oh my gosh, so much. And just so many things you're saying are kind of firing right now. I actually went to Las Vegas with a friend in November. She had a conference, just asked if I wanted to come.
So she wouldn't be alone at night and we were hanging out. And so I had spent an entire day trying to record a podcast episode about, I think it was about job search or something, you know, it was my original topic and she comes in and she's like. You're not having fun anymore. And it's, I need you to find fun Tabitha again.
And I'm like, wait, what? And she's like, it's, it's in your voice. It's in your, it's in your tone. It's in your, I'm like, Oh my God, that's coming across probably in my podcast, because I'm feeling a little misaligned and [00:12:00] to your point, if you're not constantly working on mindset and showing up in that right way, it comes across quickly, especially to the people that know you, and then it kind of.
spreads because as people get to know you, Oh my gosh. So one of the things you say as an audio book coach is the best person to narrate your story. is you, the author. Not AI, not another narrator. Can you tell me a little bit about that and why you believe it's true? Yes, I'm a big advocate of all non fiction authors need to narrate their own audio book.
And of course, the number one reason is it's your story. Nobody can tell your story better than you. You're the one who lived it, breathed it, experienced it, especially if it's a memoir. You lived it. This is your story. Another narrator, no matter how great they are, are going to interpret it their way. not your way.
So there are subtleties. There are nuances about who you [00:13:00] are and how you express yourself and especially what you experience that that other narrator can't really relate to, at least not on the level that you as the author can. So it's so important to tell your story. I mean, with a book that I just recently published, uh, the author shared her Journey about being pulled into a religious cult and all the mental and physical abuse that she endured and how she was able to get out and change her life for the better.
Only she can tell that story because she experienced it. And that again, the intangibles are what's really important. And that's what makes a great audio book. It's the emotion. It's the energy. Uh, you know, I talk about a lot about the author brand. What is an author brand? The author brand is Everything that encompasses who that author is, the way they were brought up, their personality, their, uh, sense of humor, their belief systems, your habits, [00:14:00] all of that encompasses who you are and your voice.
So love your voice. You have a great voice. You gotta love your voice. I mean, we all go through that when we hear our voices for the first time on a recording. Oh, what is that? So true. But you know what? It's, it's part of who you are. So love it and embrace it. And when you're confident in that and confident in your voice, you will be able to tell your story the way that it is meant to be heard.
And only you as the author can do it. And AI, forget it. It's not even a real voice. And what you're doing is you're cheapening your author brand. You're cutting corners. And I don't believe in cutting corners. You spent so much Time and effort and money and, you know, blood, sweat and tears into writing your book and you have, you were compelled the core reason of why you wrote your book and why it was so important for you to put it out there for the world to read.
That core reason is what you tap into when you do your narration. So you don't cut corners. AI is not going to be a [00:15:00] fair and, uh, you know, representation of who you are. So you have to narrate your own book because again, nobody can tell your story better than you. Oh my gosh, I love that. I actually had someone reach out to me and ask me if I'd like for her to narrate my book for me.
And I was like, nope, one day I'll get to it, but thanks. But you're absolutely right. I listened to a lot of audio books and I can't imagine someone else reading Mel Robbins. Story to me, or, you know, Brené Brown or Reshma Sajani, like they are telling their stories and it has so much impact that if somebody else was telling it, I can't even imagine that it would resonate the same way, let alone AI, right?
My husband loves YouTube. And so those YouTube videos with the AI voice drive me nuts, one after the other, I'm like, Oh my gosh, make it stop. So I can absolutely see that. Oh, wow. Well, I, as you know, and I've said it a few times, I've been putting off narrating my own book, um, just [00:16:00] time, et cetera. So, I bet other authors are doing the same thing.
Tell me a little bit about the process and maybe how long it takes to work with you when narrating our own books. Um, yeah, absolutely. So I have an audio book coaching program. It's called your book, your voice, and I designed it to be a six week program. So you can set up your recording space, record and narrate your audio book and have it edited because you have to have it edited, that's part of the process.
I'll dive into that in just a little bit and then be published. On Audible, Amazon and Apple and any other distribution platform if that works for you by the end of the six week program so you can do it. So to make things as simple and easy and painless for the author to not be overwhelmed because again the goal is Just focus on doing a great narration.
I provide you with the recording equipment that you need, professional microphone, professional headphones. We go over how to set it [00:17:00] up, how to label your files, all the setup and prep part of the program. Then the next phase of course, is where the coaching really. comes in and that's how do you do a great narration?
How do you be compelling? How, how, you know, to be conversational. And we talk about things that you can do and, and tools and techniques to really bring out the best in you to be your true authentic self. And that is key, bringing those intangibles. So, you know, we talk about practical mic placement, body posture, hydration, all those things, but then the intangibles are what really makes a great audio book.
Those, those things you can't physically touch, but you emotionally lead. Feel that's what makes a great audio book and being consistent from opening credits to closing credits. So that's where all the coaching comes in. So after well, while you're recording, because when you record an audio book, it is done in section.
So, for example, my book has 14 chapters. Well, that's 14 separate audio files and you have opening credits introduction forward prologue epilogue [00:18:00] dedication page. All those pieces are all separate audio files, but it does make it easier to record because you're not just overwhelmed with Thinking, wow, I got to sit here for hours to try to narrate my book, because that that's not the way to do it.
So as you record, you send your audio files to me, and that's where the coaching hat comes off, the audio editing hat comes on. And I listen to everything in real time, because I want to make sure that, you know, if there's a mouth noise I can remove. I'll remove it. And I listen for things like what if there's a slurred word or a mispronunciation?
What if there's too much of a gap or not enough gap between sentences? I can fix all that. And as an editor, you have to listen to everything in real time and spend the time and spend the hours doing it right. There's some companies who just run it through some, you know, program. Oh, we'll clean it up. But you're missing all this other stuff.
And, and to me, that's not good enough. You have to. Really, you go through with a fine tooth comb and then I do [00:19:00] all the uploading for the author. So, uh, they don't have to worry about that process. So you'll your audio files will be uploaded to Audible, Amazon and Apple. And by doing that, if there is any issues, I know about it right away.
I can make any adjustments that need to be made. This is all done behind the scenes. The author shouldn't have to worry about that. And, you know, once it's done, of course, the author gets all their mastered audio files, uh, and they own it a hundred percent. I don't take any percentages because some companies do that.
But, uh, but that's, you know, the basic overview. Okay. I mean, I can tell you're passionate about what you do and why you do it. It's, it's pretty amazing. And I think that a lot of us just. Don't understand kind of what goes into creating an audio book. You know, it's definitely from what I'm hearing you say, it's not just sitting down and reading my book into a microphone, recording it and dropping it in, there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes as far as, you know.
Making [00:20:00] it sound great and making sure the tone is correct and the pace and all of that earlier. We talked a little bit about mindset. So within your program, how do you help people with mindset, especially when they can't get over that? Oh, is that how my voice sounds kind of thing? Well, you know, it's funny.
The first, uh, Video lesson that I have in my program, I do one on one coaching. So we do meet, you know, uh, every week, but I also have, you know, videos and PDF downloads and all sorts of reference material and stuff too. But so the first lesson is a mindset lesson, and that's basically just an exercise to get grounded because that is so important being in the present moment.
Don't worry about the past. Don't worry about the future. We do a little mindset exercise, a little visualization just to get you focused and grounded. And that will help you, uh, be focused and in your zone when you're getting ready to record. And then we do talk about, um, and this is what we do on the one on ones, especially if, [00:21:00] if there's an author who is hesitant about their voice or confidence, you know, we deal with that.
We talk about fears and, and what is the underlying fear? What is stopping you from doing this? And, you know, there are some other tools and techniques that I give them as well. To build confidence and to be conversational, the most important thing is just be your authentic self. You don't need to sound like another person.
You don't need to sound like, like a radio DJ. You don't need to sound like, you need to sound like you, because you are the brand. Your product, of course, your ebook, paperback, hardcover, and your audio book, those are your products, but you are the brand. So represent the brand. Accurately in your own voice and be authentic because you know what?
That actually allows you to stand out in the crowd. You know, let's say you're a weight loss coach and you've written a book and there's 30 other weight loss coaches. Well, what's going to make you stand out the way that you coach the way that you do your delivery, [00:22:00] that's what makes you stand out. And that's why people work with you as opposed to the other coach.
So, you know, again, it doesn't make sense for, for a coach to have another narrator. Teach their coaching program doesn't make sense to you and all that logic. I love it. Oh my gosh. So good. All right. Well, Robert, if somebody is curious and they want to learn more about working with you, how should they reach out?
Simplest way is just to go to my website. RobertLaneCoaching. com. Pretty simple. RobertLaneCoaching. com. There's plenty of places to book a call and that is the first step because I don't believe in sending somebody to a landing page where they scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll and then say, give me your credit card.
It's very impersonal. I don't like that. I like the personal touch because you know what, we're going to be working together for the next six weeks to create an audio book and I want you to click. And we can get you enrolled, but yeah, you can go to [00:23:00] robertlanecoaching. com, uh, to book your call. There's also, uh, samples of other authors who've done their audio book that you can listen to little clips and they're not professional speakers, but I think they did a fantastic job.
So you can check those out as well. Oh my gosh. I love it. And we'll make sure that your links are in the show notes so that our audience can find you. And. You know, you've shared so much great information from making your midlife remix to, you know, kind of finding your way in the coaching world to your zone of genius, uh, this audio book coaching and mindset work you're doing.
Is there anything else that you want to make sure our audience knows before we drop? I would say, you know, the number one thing that I, that I tell people is really just to be your true authentic self. 'cause you know, nobody can replicate you. Really. You are a unique individual and you need to love and embrace that.
And that uniqueness will not only help you in regards to your [00:24:00] audiobook narration, but you know, people who work with you, Tablo, Tabitha, if they're, you know, doing career changing or, or something with their career. Just believe in yourself and just be your authentic self because that's what really. I think resonates with, with other people that, that you're trying to maybe get a job with, or just, uh, you know, when you're narrating the audio book, you got to be your authentic self.
I love that. Oh my gosh. Authenticity is key, right? I mean, it's, I always say we're not for everybody, but. It's okay. We don't have to be for everybody and just being yourself makes life a whole lot easier than trying to be someone else. So good. Oh my gosh, Robert, thank you for coming today and joining us on the Gen X Remix.
Um, I look forward to staying connected and continuing to watch your life as you continue your audio book coaching journey, which has been really fun just to see from the sidelines. And one day I am going to get that on my list. In fact, you know what? Let's just commit 2025. It [00:25:00] is happening. I said it on a podcast and now it has to happen.
So get my book done also. Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Robert. Thank you. Thank you for joining us on the Gen X Remix today. I hope you learned that your corporate escape plan can go in any direction you choose. It's never too late for a remix. Your gifts bring value in so many ways. The world is just waiting for you to start.
Robert turned his gifts and passion into a unique niche. And I love watching his business flourish as he continues to help nonfiction authors make an impact using their voices to tell their own unique stories. Remember to check the show notes for all of the important leaks. Links from today, as well as the link to my free guide that will help you start mapping your bold next act, AKA your corporate escape plan.
Until next time, friends, stay fierce, stay focused, [00:26:00] and stay you. As Robert shared, you are the only one who can be authentically you. Be well.
