One of the challenges that I and many others in this industry face is the frustration of slow progress. It seems like it takes years for even the smallest step forward to happen.
I recently had a glimmer of potential hope, though. I had a meeting with a major talent agency a few weeks ago for voice over. Even though I knew it was a long shot, I still was optimistic. I went in and met with the Booth Director and got right down to it. I read from commercial, animation and promo copy that they provided and also had the wonderful opportunity to read for some characters I've been working on and sang part of a song to really show off my stuff. I brought my A game, and took every direction he gave me, and less than an hour later we were done. He said he was very impressed and he was going to package this all together and present it to the agents. That weekend he got back to me with the "thanks for your time" email, citing that I am quite talented, but needed more experience.
The unfortunate catch-22 of our industry. However, instead of a rejection I'm choosing to view this as a positive thing. While it may not mean I have representation yet, it means that I've caught the eye of a successful agency, and that I just need to keep putting myself out there until I find the right opportunity.
So here's to keep moving forward and working hard.