She may look like a wild child, but voiceover artist Christy Harst never was. “I was raised in a very strict Catholic home,” says Christy. “I was not allowed to watch MTV.” So, Christy’s upbringing was extremely controlled. “I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of programming, but on Sundays we did get to see PBS’s NATURE.” There were a very few others Christy was allowed to watch, but in general, growing up Christy was raised in an atmosphere which did not allow her to consume tv shows that her parents deemed unsuitable.
“It was in a small rural town in Norwalk, Ohio where everybody knows everybody,” Christy tells me. “And school did not come easy for me, but I wanted to be a broadcast journalist and become the next Barbara Walters.”
Christy Harst, voice-over artist.
Christy had athletic talent. At 5’9, she played volleyball and “I had a very good vertical” so she was able to get a volleyball scholarship and graduated from Baldwin Wallace University, “but I never played volleyball to go pro.”
She also spent time in community broadcasting. “I worked in college radio, and this led to an internship at MTV.” Isn’t that ironic? And while interning at music television, Christy got to see the environment of what it was like to work in network television. “I dealt with a female executive at MTV who was just a real mean person,” says Christy, “and this changed my desire to work in television.”
What she’s referring to is the chaotic and sometimes hostile environment that she and many people perceived to be intense and repelling. And “the low pay” for television was revolting. “Graduating in broadcast journalism, you’re expected to move to a very small market and work for very little money,” The guild orientation of pay and moving your way up into bigger cities Is true. To be a television reporter, you typically start in a small town and pay your dues to earn your way into a larger market where the pay is much higher. And that’s when Christy’s professional direction changed paths.
Christy in the studio preparing to do a commercial voice over.
“So, I got into PR and marketing,” says Christy, “And while doing so, I’d hear the voices used in radio commercials and think, “I can do better so much better than what I’m hearing.” Christy elaborates to say, “But I didn’t want to leave the security of a salary and benefits.” However, with her inner voice telling her to move forward, even though she felt fear in doing so, Christy did make the successful leap into voiceover. And her work is outstanding.
However, Christy was experiencing resistance because of her gender determining her casting. “I wanted to find a way for women to voice male centric brands and sports and no one was doing it.”
And to create a discussion of how women could walk through a door that has been closed to women, Christy created “BUILDING DOORS”, a forum that discusses letting women become the voice for male brands.
Building Doors is Christy’s forum to get women into voicing male sports.
Not attempting to be confrontational, Christy speaks candidly about her goal and the reaction, “I’m pissing people off and I like it,” says Christy. “I thought to myself, is it not realized that women buy the swag at athletic events or influence male brand purchases?”
I wanted to create an environment where women would be of consideration. And being a former college athlete, Christy took a special interest in opening doors for women, especially in sports. www.christyharst.com
Christy feels that women on the sideline working at an on-field athletic event “aren’t there just to appease men, but it’s definitely one of their purposes.” And research has proven that the football sideline commentator is frequently a woman and is there because that’s what men watching want to see.
But Christy’s years in the Catholic church still influence her thinking to this day. “We are all given a gift by God, and you figure out what your gift is and then you use that gift and then give it away.”
So, no question Christy believes that women should be given a fair chance at voicing male-centric brands but acknowledges, “I reap what I sow,” and to Christy, raising the issue of women being allowed in sports is an important issue to her.
Nominated for a SOVA award in 2018, here’s the demo that earned her that recognition.
The result of her present-day life is now refreshing. “I’ve never been happier in my whole life. I am in complete control of my income and environment.” And under that premise, Christy, the child who could not watch MTV, may be leading a movement, but she’s anything but a wild child.
