Say YES! with Voice Over Artist Shelly Shenoy (Part 1)

Larry Samuels 0:02

Hello and welcome to No Wrong Choices, a podcast about the adventures of life that explores the career journeys of successful and interesting people. I'm Larry Samuels, soon to be joined by the other fellows Tushar Saxena and Larry Shea. If you've been enjoying the show, please support us by giving No Wrong Choices a five-star rating on your podcasting platform and by pressing follow or subscribe. You can also learn more about us at NoWrongChoices.com and by looking for us on social media. This episode features the talented, creative, and award-winning voiceover artist and coach Shelly Shinoy, who has done countless commercials, video games, and animations. She has also been the coach of Larry Shea, so I guess, Larry, in a way that makes you a disciple of Shelly. So you are undoubtedly the right person to lead us into this conversation.

Larry Shea 0:51

That's right. Spreading the gospel of Shelly Shinoy is apparently what I'm doing today. Yeah, Shelly's great. Our paths crossed so many years ago doing acting work. We would be invited to the same table reads for different plays and movies. And I think that's how our paths crossed. But she's special. You know, you meet people in this industry, and sometimes they just have that it factor, that thing that you're like, oh my God, this person's gonna be a star with whatever they do. And when I get in the room with Shelly or talk to her, that's what I feel because she has that spark. She has this intuitiveness of creativity that allows her to do things with her voice that mere mortals like myself can't do. So she's super impressive. I'm super excited to get to talk to her, to hear her journey, and um, and hear her story because I've never heard it myself, so I'm curious.

Tushar Saxena 1:43

I'll tell you what. First of all, she's got the best name I've ever heard in my life. Shelly Shinoy. From Shiboy. Exactly. That is the best name you can possibly have. If if anything, it's memorable. Second, I'll you know what? I am always in awe of voiceover artists because it is not an easy thing to do. Because you're not just, it's not just you or me speaking, right? I mean, we all in one way or another, the three of us, we make a m- we make a living with our voices, right? But we don't make a living having to having to try and contort our voice into, you know, a dozen a dozen different ways, you know, having put on dialects, all these other things, that is a real skill. And we know we have plenty of our friends who are also actors and comedians. None of them have to do these things in one way or another, especially not in the way that a Shelly Shinoy has to. So that is what I'm really fascinated to hear. Because I'll be honest, I love to put on goofy voices too. But you know, when you're in the midst of an art, when you're in the presence of an artist, then you're just a potzer. So I want to speak to this Shelly Shanoy.

Larry Shea 2:40

Yeah, it's impressive what she does. Because don't forget, these are just words on a page, right? And then the the the voiceover artist is the one who brings them to life and embodies them. They're just words on a page, so it's super impressive what she does.

Larry Samuels 2:55

For sure. And uh, you know, doing our research, uh, I heard many, many different creative examples that that kind of blew my mind and were very impressive. So, with that, here is Shelly Shinoy. Now joining No Wrong Choices is the award-winning voiceover artist and coach, Shelly Shinoy. Shelly has been working in commercial, narration, and animation for over 20 years and acting for what seems to be her entire life. Shelly, thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Thank you so much for I'm sorry, I had you made me sound so old.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

I had to I was like, over 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

It probably doesn't sound old to other people, but it sounds like a long time to me. So I'm like, oh yep, it's my pleasure.

Tushar Saxena 3:36

First question, Shelly. Are you from Sheboygan? No, you're obsessed. But she wishes. She wishes she was from Sheboygan.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

You love my name, right? Shelly Sheboygan.

Tushar Saxena 3:49

Sheboygan. I'm not kidding, it's a great name.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

I love it. Yeah. Yes. Then the answer is yes.

Larry Shea 3:53

It's an entertainment name for sure. Um Shelly, it's so good to talk to you. We were trying to figure out where we've met along the way, and we think we think it was a million years ago doing some acting work at a table read or something like that. But it's so good to have you on. You've also been my teacher, so full disclosure of voiceover work. But let's start with what voiceover is and the various types of voiceover and your specialty. What is it that you do on a day-to-day basis?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Sure, sure. That's a great question. So um, and yes, we've, I think it was a million years ago that we met. At least. Um, and but like our relationship was on the microphone almost right away. Like I think we did table reads, but then next thing you know, we were at Sirius XM using the equipment.

Larry Shea 4:38

Yes, we were in the studio that you used to use to do lessons. I I went over there for those lessons as well. So yeah, we were on the mic right away, pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah, that's pretty cool. And that was a million years ago. Uh, like honestly, like 15, maybe 10, it could, 12.

Larry Shea 4:52

It could, yeah, yeah, it could have been 2006, 7, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Oh, yeah, that was a long time ago. Okay, so the void so to answer this, um, the the voiceover world is absolutely massive. Okay, and it's best broken down into three categories, right? You've got commercial, the art of the sale, narration, long form reads, and stamina voiceovers, uh, unbiased narrations, educational or entertainment-based. I mean, the narration world is that. And then you have animation, which is performance voiceover work. It's it's wearing your heart on your sleeve and you're and you're truly acting in the game. And so for me, um I have a beef with narration. I I have done a lot of it and I don't like doing it. It's not my favorite. Like I love doing narration for film or television, but um long form stamina reads are not what I like to do. I've done some, not my fave. My career took off in the world of commercial and in animation.

Tushar Saxena 5:54

All right, so let's go back to the beginning then. Because, you know, uh Larry Samuels mentioned right when we started that you've been acting since you were a kid. So have you always had the acting bug? Is that is that it? You always wanted to be on stage, you always wanted to be seen.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah. Um, you know, we were in the Midwest, and I had a lot of siblings, and you had to be seen.

Tushar Saxena 6:15

How many brothers and sisters?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Oh, I have three older brothers and one little sister.

Tushar Saxena 6:20

Yeah, you gotta be seen. I get you.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

And you gotta be seen, and so it was um it was battle of wits, the funniest person held the floor, and this the yeah, it was it was definitely the best improviser or the funniest person got to hold the floor of the whole family. Um, and uh and it started there, but I started geez, I I asked to be a part of classes when I was four and then was doing my first commercials when I was like seven.

Larry Samuels 6:49

And and how did that happen? So when your parents took you because you asked and it was an activity, like how did you stand out and and how did you uh you know wound up getting introduced to the professional world?

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Actually, Larry, that's a that I'm I have a much more important way of answering this. So when I knew for a fact that this was gonna be my journey, my parents ended up splitting up and moving all over the country. And I was sort of ping-ponged back and forth. And so I I was born in Denver. I was raised in Columbus, Ohio, Provo, Utah, Southern California, and then I moved to New York as quickly as I could. Wow, wow, in those different states, um, even if it was the same state, like one of my parents will have moved to an adjoining town. And so then I would come back there and go to a different school. And so I went to seven schools between sixth grade and high school graduation.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

I went to it was either seven or eight schools, and so so to answer your question, when I knew this was going to be like my life, every new school I ever went to, in order not to be crucified as the new kid, again and again and again. I was like, I gotta know this game, I gotta figure out how to work this game. Like it was just figuring out how not to get crushed. You know, as the new kid, nobody knew who I was, and sometimes I would be starting school a few weeks later than the rest of them because I was just moving all over the place. And so I was extra new when they all had their first day of school a few weeks back. So right away, the first thing I did in every single school that we went to was I had my parents make sure that there was a drama department, and that was the first elective that I uh that's okay. Uh I've done this before, but uh for you guys, I keep my ringer on because I like to I like to keep it. Is it comfortable and this is a relaxed environment the way it should be? I should have answered, actually. Oh so I joined the drama department, and that's what saved my ass. Is you you make friends there. The the kids in the drama department were always so much more easy-going or understanding and less, you know, angry, bitter, bullyish. And uh, and then I I sort of rose up through the ranks that way.

Larry Shea 9:12

So the the original dream then was acting. Like what so yeah, yeah. So when did voice become part of what what you knew you were good at? Or did you not know that you were good at voices? Was it all about acting, and I'm just gonna go full boarhead on that on that plane?

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Uh I had no idea. Okay, I had no idea. I knew that I loved acting more than anything, and in some cases it was a lifesaver for me, or certainly a needed escape, right? It was everything to me, and it gave me so much and taught me so much. And so with voiceover, there's a couple different ways of answering this question. So I'll toss this back to you. Would you rather know like where I started on the mic or where my career took off?

Larry Shea 10:02

That's a great question. Back to us. I mean, I think we want to know your journey. So let's just start with your journey and then I want you to veer off into bang, then the microphone became a presence in my life. So yeah, let's let's keep yeah, let's stay with the acting and and how that shape your world. I think that's important.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Okay, great. So I stay with the acting, and right out of high school, I have the option to enroll in a school in Southern California where if I'm enrolled in this school, I have the option for auditioning for the Young Americans, which is a national touring company where they do Broadway elite shows. They they have the rights to some of the most, you know, privileged performance stuff in the world. And you got to go on national tours and teach kids how to perform, sing, dance, choreography, everything. And then so the so when we would we would train kids for three days in a three-day workshop, and then on performance night, the first hour was the young Americans doing Broadway work, and the second hour was everything we taught the kids, which is how we got audiences of thousands in these little towns because they would invite their whole families, their teachers, their parents, their parents' friends, their siblings' friends. We had thousands of people in the audience every time, every three days when we did a new show in a new city.

Larry Samuels 11:28

That is super cool. Yeah. You know, when I look back or think back to your high school time, I'm eager to learn a little bit more about that. Meaning, you know, what prepared you for this young American stuff? So were you doing all the high school musicals? Were you doing you know work outside of uh outside of school? Like, was your whole life acting? Was it an activity? Like, what type of stuff were you doing to prepare yourself for the young Americans?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Okay, so this is a really good question because the reason why I didn't think, oh, I want to register at this school in Southern California. I said, I targeted, I want to be in the young Americans. That's what it that's what the end goal was. And the So it was a goal, you knew the reason why I knew I wanted to get my booty to Los Angeles to audition for this touring company was because when I was a senior in high school, at the last high school I attended, um, the last high school I went to was the first time since uh elementary school where I was able to go to the same school for two years in a row. And so I went to this high school, my junior and senior year was a major performance high school in Provo, Utah. And at the end of my senior year, I was able to go with the class of seniors at this, you know, advanced elite, you know, drama program that we were in. And we were able to go to Weber University and audition. And this was where I thought my life was going to go because this audition process they took the senior kids from all over the state of Utah and they auditioned them at Weber, which is a musical theater university. And oftentimes from Weber, you go to Broadway. And so, and it's a performance, you know, college and all of this. And so I got ready for for like an entire semester. I was planning on this audition at Weber, and everybody goes and auditions, and you do these, you do monologues, you do songs, you do everything that they have you do, and you sort of go through the ranks, and then that's it. And then weeks later you find out that four kids won the one-year each scholarship, two kids won two years of a scholarship, and one person won a full four-year ride.

Tushar Saxena 13:51

So that person. Yeah, which one were you? Okay, so which one was I?

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Couple weeks later, I'm at my dad's house in Provo, Utah, and a messenger, like a courier, came to the door, and this was not a thing. This is not like there was Amazon.

Larry Shea 14:06

This isn't like 1934 or something. The whole outfit of funny outfit in the happening.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

He came to the door and a horse came to the door and he knocked on it. And I said, Mother, father, I'm gonna get it. And so I entered the door, you know, it's like this this UPS guy or whatever. And I'm just saying, not like now because I'm an Amazon hoarder. Like every day, boxes are coming over. Because I mean they live in New York City, so like I don't have a car, right? If I need something, I Amazon something. Cause like, I don't know. That's that's what you do. So so anyway, so um, so yeah, so uh a courier came to the door and um and I opened the box was to me. I opened up the box and inside was like this scroll. I have no idea what I'm looking at. I'm like, what the heck is this? You know, I'm pulling off the sides and like opening it, and then you un scroll it because it was like scrolled.

Tushar Saxena 15:01

Wow. It was an actual scroll?

SPEAKER_00 15:03

It was a scroll. Like I was like, what is this tubular thing? Like, is this hold on, like, is this a Nerf gun? Like, I swear I thought it was like, you know, a Nerf gun. Anyway, so I was just like, what in the world? Um, and I and it said, um, we, you know, it was something along the lines of like we, you know a Weaver University offer our deepest and sincerest congratulations to Michelle Smith, who has won the four-year ride scholarship to Weber University. That's right. All four years are paid for. Oh my god. Please accept your, you know, please accept this by way of da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, right? It was this, and I was just like, oh my gosh, like, oh my gosh, you know, and screaming, I run it to my dad. My dad is screaming. We're like, oh my gosh. And within a week of accepting of learning that I won the full four-year ride, I found out that my high school wasn't going to let me walk at graduation because I only went to that school two out of four years, and I couldn't make up the electives needed in order to be able to walk. And so these are electives I would have had to take at my freshman year or my sophomore year. And I was at two different high schools, my freshman year, and then a different high school at my sophomore year, and everybody had different elective requirements. They weren't gonna let me walk. And um, and we went down there, we even spoke to an attorney. We did everything we could possibly think of, and they wouldn't let me walk, which meant I wasn't able to accept the scholarship.

Larry Shea 16:43

Oh my wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

We uh so we you know, we talked to the the high school, we spoke to an attorney, we also spoke to Weber. Wow, they wouldn't let it happen. Wow, you had to today's world you'd spend a lot of time on Twitter and blasting these people and social media, you know, and I'm not one of those people, but God, I wish, I wish that I could have done something like that. I truly do because I was powerless.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

And so, um, so let me tell you, man, with red laser beams in my eyes, I was like, I'm going to Los Angeles. Like it was like, there's this group, this tour group. My sister had mentioned it before. You have to be the best of the best of the best in order to get, you know, in order to make it into this crew where you're suddenly doing Broadway work. Got to LA, auditioned, got in, went on, and I I auditioned and made my first national tour. I became the leader of the new kids of that of that year. Um, I went on three national tours with them and did credits in school while I was on the road. And then decided um I'm kind of done with school because I don't even know what these credits mean uh for this like college that I was like sort of attending, but I was mostly just 999% just doing the young Americans and the training and the being on the road and and working on the mic and and singing and dancing and doing all of these and training kids doing all of this. After my last tour, um I said, All right, I need to get to New York. And it was 2000 it was 2000. I got there, it was 2001, and I was like, I need to just pack my bags and get to New York.

Larry Samuels 18:27

Did you know anyone in the city that that could help you?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

No one.

Larry Samuels 18:32

So what did you do? What was the what was that process? You just showed up and started on dictionary?

SPEAKER_00 18:37

No, no, no, I had a stepping stone, and the stepping stone was my brother Ben lived in a like uh a house, they were renting a house with three of his college roomies. And he was like, I mean, we don't have any more room at this house, but like if you need this as a stepping stone to to save money to get closer to New York and save money for New York, uh, you can live on the patio.

Tushar Saxena 19:04

Wait, where was this?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Where was in Columbus, Ohio? My brother Ben was living in Columbus, Ohio, and he offered to let me live on the patio. In the back of the back of the Florida room. So I got the Florida room in the back of the house. I took on four jobs, maybe more, um, to save money. And to and I had like a I think it was exactly a one-year goal. And um, and and it it didn't work out for me, but I still moved to New York one one year later. It actually did work out very magically. It was insane. Um, and I'll tell you this this story in under 45 seconds. Here we go. My goal, my goal was um come up with an arbitrary number that you can't imagine. That's enough money to move to New York and live there to start with. And the number I came up with was $4,000. It was more money than I could ever possibly imagine. And I was like, $4,000, make $4,000 this year, just save every penny and make $4,000, and you'll be able to live in New York. You'll make it, you'll make you'll at least get there.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

And um I was I was set. Uh, I I had a lot of faxing to do to try to get this apartment. I found uh an apartment in an all women's residence that was like it was fascinating. It was like dorm rooms, it was and and it was a thousand dollars a month. It was crazy, but it was all I got. I found this place and it was all I got, and I was like, it seems pretty safe, you know. And um, and so I'll do it. And in December, at the beginning of December, I had one month left and I had made twenty three hundred dollars. Oh boy, and um and what ended up happening was I had twenty three hundred dollars and four weeks left, and I got into a car accident and totaled my car, the car I was going to sell. Yeah, and so I totaled my car, and then when my boyfriend was driving me to work, we got in an accident on the freeway that wasn't his fault, and his car got totaled.

Larry Shea 21:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

And then I had so I had three and a half weeks left and no transportation at all to get to any of the jobs that I had. And his uh I remember after the accident on the freeway with his car, his insurance called me. They were like, uh, what what's going on? You know, how what happened? I told them the whole story. I was bawling and I was just like, I can't go to work.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

How am I supposed to have enough money to go to New York?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

I'm supposed to go to New York. Like, that's really honestly. I the whole conversation, I was talking about New York, and this woman on the phone was like, uh uh okay, okay, okay. Um, no idea what to say. You didn't double as a therapist? No, she was just like, Alrighty, uh okay. Like I heard her using like corporate voice, not having they didn't have a script for that one. Yeah, no. idea what to say to this kid, you know? And it was like, oh, it was just bawling. And um and still not knowing what to do, um, I was trying to make grassroots work, I was trying to pick up babysitting jobs because no actual job would now rehire me in a closer location because I was leaving in a month. And um eight days later, a check came in the mail for the exact dollar amount that brought my total to $4,000.

Tushar Saxena 22:29

Wait, from the insurance company. That's just a rando check.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

From my boyfriend's insurance from that woman on the phone.

Larry Samuels 22:35

Oh my God. Incredible. I was waiting for the organ donor story that was gonna bridge the gas.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

That woman on the phone trying to figure out like she was like and how much work are you missing? And I was like all the work. And and meanwhile like my tips like waitressing like I was making like $12 a day in Columbus, Ohio. Like nobody's tipping you know but I still it was something and I was making nothing but she determined well this should cover her amazing amazing so that was your first break or one of your first breaks.

Tushar Saxena 23:10

Some heartless insurance company paid for you to go to New York. Can you believe it?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

And to be totally honest I probably voiced for that company later. Like if that was Geico I've got them in the bag. Like I paid I paid my dues and then they just kept sending me money.

Larry Samuels 23:26

That is great. So you've got your $4,000 and off to New York you go. You know what happens? How do you get settled and and and what do you do next?

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Yeah so um I hit the ground running um trying to find work um just counting down the exact dollar amount that I had every day right I was um you know just trying to find work it was right after September 11th. Yeah so there were there was no work frankly right right and so um and so I was just trying to make ends meet and I ended up um oh man I got I got this job um I was I was I got there and every single day for eight hours a day in my peacoat by the way because it's January it's the first week of January and I have no idea what a real winter is okay no idea. And uh from the Midwest how do you know what a real know what a real winter is oh honey boo boo there is a much different winter that happens in Columbus Ohio that happens on the ocean on the island of Manhattan okay in the metro jungle nothing had prepared me for a winter like like what it was here.

Tushar Saxena 24:39

And also in 2002 that was one of the most brutal that was a rough that was a rough winter I do remember that was a rough winter.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

It was a brutal winter and I had a peacoat man because in Ohio I mean you're driving in your car everywhere sure just get from the house to the car the car to the place you're good yeah it never occurred to me that I was going to be on foot for the rest of my life welcome to New York you know yeah I mean like I've I mean frankly I never drove again like that was the last time I drove I never drove again like I'll take the subway I'll take a cab I'll take an Uber whatever I'll take a city bike but I'm not getting in a car probably a good thing with all the accidents you were in you don't seem to have much luck with that I agree.

Larry Shea 25:22

Yeah no kidding right oh my God so what was the job you you said you were doing eight hours a day what did you do?

SPEAKER_00 25:28

So eight hours a day I was I was trying to give people my freaking resume my non-experienced resume of just like I'm a great actor and I'll babysit your kids and I'll run your cash register I'll clean your store I'll type your letters I didn't know what I was trying to get but I had my resume it looked as good as I could to have it look and I was knocking door to door to door to door every day all day finally um I went downtown I I walked into a restaurant I just was like this is the place I walked into a restaurant like with that gusto of I'm not gonna leave here without a job this place looks really busy and um and I the the the bartender looked at me when I walked in and she was like hi can I help oh yeah we don't we don't have any jobs she just this literally she made the transition on her own right she was like uh shit like we got a hungry kid another crestfallen kid here yeah yeah like orphan annie here like you know and so um she and I was like please is there anything is there anything any way just rack your brain I would never push you but I'm pushing you now as you do you guys have anything at all right I was like this is my tenth day I have to get a job right tenth day in New York and I've got nothing like I told myself I would give I would give myself five days to get a job were it 10 days guys I'm running out of money you know and I'm not spending on anything I'm trying to eat and I'm even skipping meals. Yep okay and so I'm like I'm like please you know like urgently and she was like I mean I don't know I'm I'm I'm rooting for you man but okay the owner's over there and I don't know uh you seem like the type of person he'd want to hire but I don't know what else to give you you know because he just hired five people and I was like just give me a minute with him right so he's finishing up a meeting on the other side of the restaurant he comes zooming right past me and uh and the bartender was like uh Michael you know called out to him and he was like yeah and he turned around and he saw me and he went nope and he turned on his heel wow yeah and I was like oh my god and so I was like wait wait wait wait wait um and and then I talked out of my butt better than I'd ever done in my life and I did it knowing that I was lying through my teeth I just went but I was like I I've got nothing left and so anyway so he goes I go I understand you just hired five people and he's like yeah yeah we did and I was like I'm really sorry because none of them are me and I'm the best waiter in New York. Whoa and I like and he was like I'm sorry what? And I was like the best of the entire best you name a place I'll tell you I've I've worked there I I aced it okay so immediately he can tell I'm lying like immediately because I was like name a a place any place in the world I work there and and he kind of like tilts his head to the side and he's like really so so just name a place and and you've worked there and I was like yep and I worked there so good he was like um really and he goes well well what makes you such a great waiter I got no answer I look I literally look around the room and I go I'm so fast why and I go I'm fast I'm so fast look look I can go from here to here and I literally was like shuffle shuffle shuffle shuffle shuffle I was like I was like tap tap tap a table run tap a table run like I was doing I like did sprints and I knew that with this like physical comedy at least while never breaking eye contact by the way that there was no way that he wouldn't oh my god laugh you know and he's trying not to laugh and I'm playing it so straight knowing with my eyebrows up that this is insane but I kept doing everything he said I came up with a ludicrous answer and then just and I never like I never even blinked I just stared at him like what's next what do you want me to prove or show you know and uh so this was your first professional acting job right here so maybe the most important one so long story short he he hired me how could he not right I was shuffle I was doing the the shelly shuffle the truffle shuffle shelly shuffle the shelly shuffle sheboygan shuffle and um and he hired me he was like all right he goes do you have references in a resume and that was the first time I realized I came to the I got on the subway empty handed I didn't even realize that I didn't have my resumes that day and I was like yeah I can go home and get them and he goes oh fuck don't bother just go home change your clothes your uniforms all black you start at five o'clock wow wow nice and that's what happened I ran home changed my clothes and this was the deal you work three days straight take one day off work your fourth day on none of those four days do you get paid and then on your fifth day you start earning your tips but you had to shadow for four days to prove that you were a great waiter and that you were there to hustle and make money but you had to do the first four days for free. Interesting to shadow because you were shadowing right finger quotes here you're shadowing and you're learning the ropes of the entire restaurant hey I get it by the third day all the waiters were cutting me shares of their tips. Wow like they were cutting yeah they were they were giving me they were greasing the wheels like just little bits here and there waiters started tipping me because I was hustling so much to try to make the restaurant flow really well people noticed people gave me money so on the fourth day the one day off was the day that I allowed myself to sleep in for the first time it's been like two weeks I'm in New York first time I'm able to sleep in and that was the day that changed my life that I slept in. So remember I told you I was in an all women's dorm.

Larry Shea 31:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

If you were to call me any of you were to call me you would say the front desk would answer and you would say hey I'm calling Shelly she's in 522 in my room 522 and the front desk operator would connect you to the telephone room line I had my own cell phone but the rooms the dorms they had phones and they were just kind of like a landline and at 715 a m on the one day I allowed myself to sleep in my phone rang and I stumbled to the phone and I don't want to like go on telling crazy stories but this was the game changer and this was how I ended up surviving in New York and I can keep this really quick but the magic of this was my phone rang. I was like hello and this girl was like hi Shelly and I was like yeah uh yeah and she was like hi this is the Calhoun school on 74th we're calling today to see if you guys uh if you would be able to substitute teach today silence silence right I'm like sorry this is Timmy who who's this and she goes Shelly it's Timmy from Calhoun and I'm like right and she goes um calling to see if you can substitute today and I was like yeah yeah and in my mind of trying to wake up and also like hey I need money right um I was like uh but uh uh sorry uh how do we uh and the question I thought to answer to ask her in the fog of what is happening right I said what's uh what's uh my last name Timmy and she goes um Mandelant M-A-N-D-A-H-L-A-N-T and I went Timmy don't hang up the phone and she's like I'm sorry and I go my name is not Shelly Mandelant and it's occurring to me that I moved into this apartment two weeks ago and while I was moving in the woman that was moving me in said oh that's so funny a girl named Shelly just moved out okay so that was your Shelly Mandelant but listen I'm a teacher. Of course you are I'm I'm imagining school of rock right now yes oh my God I was so jack black as a teacher right but like think of it I had just done three national tours with the young Americans I was teaching kids all over the United States on these tours I've worked I've had I come from a huge family of siblings and all of my family members are teachers. I was like I'm a teacher right here we go and you're an actor you could be anything I could be anything I was like and I'm also a doctor but we'll get to that right so she was like I'm oh I'm sorry yeah there's no chance I'm sorry no no no and I go Timmy do you need a substitute teacher today or not? And she was like how fast I can move it was 715 in the morning and anyway so she was I've never told this story on an interview by the way and she goes um she was like I'm I'm sorry can you can you hold on for one second she puts me on hold comes back like three minutes later because she who knows how she who she had to talk to she comes back on the phone and she goes and you have references and a resume correct and I go yes I do I've got them I'm actually holding them in my hands right now and she goes we are so usually more professional than this and we are going to run you through the ranks and check all of your references and all of your um everything that you've listed on your contact sheets but how soon can you get here? Yeah we'll be here in 20 minutes I go where are you I'll be there in 10 minutes and um and so I showed up I burst through the door at Calhoun school I saw Timmy immediately I knew who she was I pointed right at I was like Timmy and she was like oh my God what is happening she took my paperwork she was like you're on the third floor you're in Mrs Mrs. Deborah's class or something Miss Deborah's class or something and uh they're lining up right now doing circle lineup and I was like great I ran in the door and the teacher was like Shelly and I was like yeah she's like we're circling up over here with kindergartners I sat down a girl tapped me on the shoulder she was like I'm Dara hi Dara can I sit on your lap yeah you can sit on my lap she sat on my lap and she goes can we be friends and I was like of course we can and when she turned back around to like face the teacher I welled up with tears because I just made my first friend in New York.

Larry Samuels 36:06

Wow look at that what an incredible story that was how that went oh my did you stick?

SPEAKER_00 36:12

Did you do multiple day I worked at I worked at Calhoun for two years and working at Calhoun I immediately was like the babysitter to be had little did I know like one of the teachers approached me one day and she was like hey so listen all of the kids are talking about you so you're gonna rise through the ranks really quickly as a babysitter here and when the first parent asks you you charge $20 an hour not a penny less that's our going rate we all share it do you understand and I go $20 an hour to babysit? She goes not a dollar less and I was like oh my God and so Calhoun I worked at Calhoun for two years I were I immediately rose to the ranks as a babysitter and an opair and every day of my life get up at seven or earlier go and work the elementary school substitute teaching until uh 245 babysit the kids until their parents came home at 530 be at the restaurant by six work until midnight wow that was every day that's one hell of a lot you did that for two years and I did that for exactly two years and working as an au pair was how I ended up getting my passport when you're like meeting all of these very well to do parents and they're like hey by the way can you come with us to Mexico next week sure sure you can yeah is the dream I mean obviously you just had to survive you had to do what you had to do but where's the dream at this point? It's so on the back burner right I had a rule when I came to New York don't audition for anything for one solid year. Oh wow now why would you make that rule with yourself that you you wanted to just get your footing like what was that about I needed to survive Larry I needed to survive like I was like this is the thing money is the thing that is making people either survive or not survive. I would watch a waiter a week vanish from the rest oh yeah she moved back to Oklahoma oh yeah he went back to Nevada wherever they were from they were leaving just as fast as they were coming in. These actors weren't making it yeah these waiters actors it was really tough and I was like stay focused work a hundred hours a week for at least a year before you do your and and I started saving money and actually having security all right so one year no acting whatsoever. Does that mean that year two you started acting or was that yeah years two years no acting and then when did you start it was it was year one and then actually so I so this was all sort of transitioning over the second year. Because I say I worked at at these places for two years. It was a year and a good amount of change because by my second or so year in New York I realized I wanted to make a lot more money and I wanted to work less. How do you do that? Yeah silence none of us have absolutely ready ready you get a job in finance and this is what it was right I had friends that were assistants uh to executive assistants to you know working up the ranks in financial firms and hedge funds and they were making so much more money than I was and I was making good money but I was working around the clock. Yeah right and um and it took about seven months to get a resume that would reflect that I knew what the hell I was doing in a financial firm and to make the contacts for a recommendation for somebody to get me in the door and I started working at Citibank.

Tushar Saxena 39:50

So what did you have to do for seven months to get that resume?

SPEAKER_00 39:53

I just kept oh I just kept working and it was it was seven months to like make the contacts and try to get my foot in the door at a financial firm. Right, right because I was I was you know a friend of mine at the time said something along the lines of well I mean if you want to make real money you got to go where the real money is it's in finance.

Larry Shea 40:11

Smart.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

And I was like oh it's in finance just go to go to finance hello guys here to make money but just I'm here for the money. You know like how are you and he go and he goes I don't know Shell, are you an actor or not?

Larry Shea 40:25

Oh there you go.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

And I was like oh it was a challenge. He threw down a challenge.

Larry Samuels 40:28

Challenge accepted. So that's part one of our conversation with Shelly Chinoy which is all about paying your dues and just finding a way to I guess to set yourself up for future success. Larry Shea, what what are your takeaways from that conversation?

Larry Shea 40:44

I think this is something that we don't talk about enough on this show, right? We talk about people's dreams and achieving their dreams but you know sometimes you have to just keep the lights on, pay the bills, you know, keep a roof over your head get food on the table. And I think this is a great example of Shelly doing everything she can possibly do to keep her dream alive even if it means putting the dream on the shelf for a little while and doing what she needs to do to survive. And I I don't think we talk about it enough that, you know, here's an example of someone who hustled hard work dedication the dream's still alive but it is on the shelf for a minute.

Tushar Saxena 41:21

You know I think we talk about this a lot on the show and say and it really is it really is true that the road to success it's never ever a straight line. There are so many zigs and zags and when you talk about Shelly especially in part one here there are so many zigzags I mean literally like she literally ran off the road in this case right she literally ran off the road and had to get and you know and has to use a a an insurance check to make that dream come true.

Larry Samuels 41:50

Now I mean you know this is not going to happen to all of us in our lifetimes for the most part but hey good on her she took that opportunity and turned it into something and turned that and then turned that something into something and then turned that something into something and that's how it happens that's a really that's just how it happens absolutely you know and and there's a theme here that's come out from a lot of our different episodes and it's effectively just say yes whatever it is whatever comes up if you're anywhere near an opportunity just say yes and you know Shelly walking through her experience at the restaurant running around and in my personal favorite on her day off taking or sleeping in she gets a phone call hey we need a teacher today and she figured out a way to say yes even though it it was a little dangerous I'm not really sure how that played out anyway she had her jack Jack Black school of rock moment. Yeah she lived lived the school of rock and and it worked out I mean it's just raise your hand and and and say yes.

Larry Shea 42:55

And it's a brilliant story. How about the fact that she got just enough from the insurance company to make it exactly $4,000 which is what she had told herself she needed I mean there's just a lot of like the gods are with her you know to keep the dream alive and to keep plug-in because sometimes that's what you need to do. It's a hard road I love what you said T about the zigs and zags you know to keep the dream alive because you know you can't give up perseverance is your friend. You really have to embrace it and she's willing to do absolutely anything to keep that dream alive.

Larry Samuels 43:27

Absolutely and what we're gonna find out in part two of our conversation is how she managed to convert all of that into incredible success. So make sure you come back for that. Shelly thank you so much for joining this episode of No Wrong Choices. For everybody who wants to learn more about her before episode two you can visit her website at shellyshinoy.com. We also thank you for joining us. Please be sure to give us a five star rating and follow along on your podcasting platform if you like what you heard. We also encourage you to join the conversation by visiting our website at no wrongchoices.com and by following us on social media by searching for no wrong choices. On behalf of Tushar Saxena and Larry Shea I'm Larry Samuels thanks again for joining us never forget there are no wrong choices on the road to success we learn from every experience