Narrator Spotlight: January LaVoy

An Audiofile Magazine “Golden Voice” since May 2019 and Publishers Weekly’s “Audiobook Narrator of the Year” for 2013, January has an extensive body of work in both narration and commercial voiceover.  Her voice has been heard in national campaigns for products such as Revlon, Toll House, United Health Care, Dannon, Asthma.com, Home Depot, and Obama for America. Learn more about January on her website januarylavoy.com and browse all of her Podium Audio titles here.

We asked January a series of fun questions in an effort to really get to know her, read her responses below!

Q. In the past people were buried with the items they would need in the afterlife, what would you want buried with you so you could use it in the afterlife?
My cat is going to hate this, but…my cat. (Sorry, Auggie. I need you.)

Q. What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job / jobs?
Since I became a teacher, I think I’ve learned more clearly than ever how much people yearn to be heard. To be listened to. That’s what everyone wants.

Q. What “old person” things do you do?
Nap. I love naps. Naps are the TRUTH. (I suppose that’s a Very Young Person thing, as well.)

Q. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?
Dragons, no contest. But…the How to Train Your Dragon variety moreso than the Game of Thrones variety.

Q. What was the last TV show you binge-watched?
I’m in the middle of I MAY DESTROY YOU — I know I’m late to this party, but I’m a teacher and this is the first time since it came out that I’ve had the mental space to process it — and it is truly incredible.

Q. When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not?
I didn’t, and then I decided the grownup thing to do was to eat them, and I always wanted to be a grownup as fast as possible, so I started. I have no idea if it worked.

Q. What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?
Bend it Like Beckham. The Shawshank Redemption. Zootopia. The original Ghostbusters.

Q. What food is delicious but a pain to eat?
Buffalo wings.

Q. What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?
Musical theater from the mid- to late-20th century always makes me miss my Nana.

Q. What languages do you wish you could speak?
Literally all of them. Most narrators would wish this, I think.

Q. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
I don’t know that it’s weird — I feel like a number of people enjoy this — but I always want to be experiencing sweet and salty tastes at the same time. Or a bite of sweet, then a bite of salty, over and over.

Timelapse of artist César Moreno creating this unique portrait.