Podcast Summary

Podcast: Everyday VOpreneur® with Marc Scott

Episode: How Tim Heller Built Two Voice Over Businesses With ADHD, Creativity, and the Right Help
Air Date: January 22, 2026
Host: Marc Scott
Guest: Tim Heller

Overview

This episode features an insightful and humorous conversation between host Marc Scott and guest Tim Heller. They delve into Tim’s multifaceted journey from musical theater to building two successful voiceover businesses, his unique creative process (including a popular 1980s German alter ego), the challenges and strategies of entrepreneurship with ADHD, hiring help, and finding personal and professional fulfillment in VO. The episode is rich with advice for VO talents looking to scale and systematize their business while staying true to themselves.

Episode Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Tim Heller’s Background: From Musical Theater Kid to VOpreneur

• Childhood Roots:
  • Tim shares his progression from improv and musical theater as a child through high school and college.
  • Quote:

    "I started out doing improv as a kid and doing that all the way through, up through high school... Quit the soccer team freshman year to go do the musical instead. And that’s what it was really. The end from there on out." (03:56)

• Influence of Classics:
  • Inspired by old school movies and musical icons:

    "I so vividly remember seeing Singing in the Rain for the first time and just being like, wow, somebody can do that with their feet." (06:40)

• Transition to VO:
  • Back injuries halted his musical theater career, leading to the discovery of voiceover:

    "Health issues came in and literally took my legs out from underneath me and found the mic and a 3x3 closet in our apartment in Queens. And Dar. She blows." (05:56)

2. Creativity in VO: Fun, Persona, and Virality

• Dieter Untz, the 80s German Alter Ego:
  • Originated as part of a creative branding experiment at a retreat:

    "His name is Dieter Untz... I put on the vest... and turned off all the lights in my studio and just tried to see what I could come up with. And he just kind of came out." (16:34-18:41)

  • The character became a community favorite at VO events, used for marketing and even landed him paid gigs.
  • Quote:

    "I’ve been really trying in the creative process to just like, not take myself seriously. But whatever I do put out there, let it be polished, let it be a cohesive thing." (20:05)

3. Building and Scaling Two Businesses

• Entrepreneurial Spark:
  • Inspired by watching Broadway friends create side hustles, but feeling like an ‘accidental’ entrepreneur at first:

    "I started feeling this sense of agency... missing over my own creative career and my own income." (21:40)

• Strategic Opportunity:
  • Landed a major audiobook production client by offering management and outsourcing, not narration:

    "I can build a machine of people that would help do this... What if I build the system and you guys white label it?" (24:20)

• Key Quote on Leadership:

  "Hiring somebody will show you the gaps in your systems and show really... I have learned so much about time management, communication, learning how to really streamline things..." (36:13-40:16)

• People & Delegation:
  • The importance of hiring the right team, exemplified by his collaboration with Sam Damiano and later his wife Jasmine.
  • Moving from “in” the business to “on” the business—the crucial entrepreneur’s pivot.

    "Learning how to shift what my duties are day to day and learning more so how to let go and get out of the business and just be like not in the business but on the business..." (21:40-26:37)

4. The ADHD Factor: Strategies and Mindset

• ADHD in VOpreneurship:
  • Tim speaks candidly about challenges and tools for managing ADHD in solo business:

    "Setting timers for yourself. Productivity timers are really great... Setting these anchor points for yourself throughout your day." (50:10-50:59)

  • Importance of flexible routines, prioritization matrices, and external support.
  • On mental health and process:

    "Trying, failing, learning, trying, failing, learning over and over and over. And you’re never going to get further away from success if you’re stepping up to the plate." (54:10)

5. Growth, Failure, and Resilience

• Reframing Failure:
  • Encourages accepting failure as learning, not catastrophe:

    "It’s not going to tank my business if I make a mistake... Being willing to take some of those chances and try new things, to try to figure out better ways, better systems, better processes." (57:57)

• Core Philosophy:
  • Prioritizing people, sustainability, and real connections over profit maximization:

    "I am going to figure out how to build a business the way I would want a business to treat me." (47:49)

6. Finding Fun & Community

• Connecting with Others:
  • Building real relationships, hiring friends, and bringing positivity to the business—such as organizing Mario Kart tournaments at conferences.

    "What makes those tournaments is how much people lean in and how excited they are to just... have an opportunity to not be worried about, like, the work side of things." (59:55-62:26)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the intersection of skill and entrepreneurship:

  "The creative and the entrepreneur... they’re like opposite sides of the brain. So to have both of them and put them together, where did that start?" (21:08 – Marc Scott)

• On hiring and letting go:

  "I knew that if I wanted to grow things, I could not be handling every single task and every single email and every single step of project management that it takes to get an audiobook done." (42:20 – Tim Heller)

• On building a human-centered business:

  "We want to make high, high quality stuff so that we all keep getting more work. But also if you’re sick, you’re sick. Don’t worry about it, don’t stress. This is flexible." (24:20)

• On creative marketing (Dieter Untz origin story):

  "This is Dieter Untz. And we’re going to speak in German. And I don’t know how to speak German, but we’ll take a couple words... Now it’s a whole thing in our little vo, this, our corner of the VO world." (18:41)

• On hiring help and team dynamics:

  "Sam has actually had to give me the feedback of, like, hey, I got this. Like. Like, you stepping in is actually muddying this up. And I was like, oh, right, I just need to be the fly on the wall." (43:48)

• On the spectrum of VO genres and new opportunities:

  "The natural evolution of the industry... is staying open to new opportunities that present themselves." (30:54)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:56 | Tim’s musical theater roots | | 06:40 | Influence of classic musicals and film | | 12:57 | How back injury led to voice over | | 16:34 | Origin and evolution of Dieter Untz persona | | 21:40 | Entrepreneurial beginnings and first audiobook gig | | 24:20 | Scaling through systems and hiring | | 36:13 | The decision to hire help (and how it changed his business) | | 49:34 | ADHD in the voice over business | | 57:57 | Embracing failure and learning | | 61:49 | Building community through fun—Mario Kart tournaments | | 65:14 | How to connect with Tim Heller |

Actionable Takeaways

• Don’t be afraid to delegate: Systematize and let go of tasks that slow you down or don’t serve your core strengths.
• Embrace your quirks and creativity: Building a recognizable, authentic persona (even a goofy one) can be a professional asset.
• Structure helps ADHD brains: Use anchor points, prioritization, and boundaries on distractions, but allow for flexibility.
• Seek outside input: An external perspective can reveal blind spots and speed up growth.
• Real relationships and a positive community matter: Whether hiring friends, mentoring others, or organizing fun after-hours events, heart and connection pay long-term dividends.

How to Connect with Tim Heller

• Website: timhellercreative.com
• Audiobook Bonanza: audiobookbonanza.com
• Social: @timhellercreative (LinkedIn, Instagram)

"If you see me at a conference, please come say hi. I love just talking to people." (65:52)

This episode is an encouraging, value-packed listen for anyone in voiceover or creative entrepreneurship, especially those who want practical strategies from someone real, relatable, and still on the journey.