episode 16: From Booth to Business: A conversation with Nina Nikolic

I sit down with actor and narrator Nina Nikolic to unpack the craft and business of voice work, from emotional performance and character choices to contracts, rates, and protecting your voice in an AI world. Along the way we swap practical systems for finding clients, tracking jobs, and turning creative energy into a sustainable career.

• balancing creative craft with small business habits
• social media as proof of life and connection
• lead sources, referrals, and asking how clients found us
• audiobook workflow, samples, pacing, and pickups
• pronunciation research and consistency across long texts
• performance choices that separate characters without caricature
• human narration versus AI, ethics, and accessibility
• adding voice protection language to audiobook back matter
• contracts, rights windows, and negotiating clauses
• owning IP and avoiding perpetual, all‑media traps
• input‑based goals versus outcome‑based goals
• pricing to a livable per‑finished‑hour rate
• reflection routines, tracking wins, and sustainable marketing

You can find the episode show notes, your free episode handouts, and my how‑to guides at amrapajalic.com/podcast

About Nina

Nina Nikolic is a Serbian Australian actor based between Melbourne and Sydney, known for a playfully gritty presence and versatility.

She brings grounded, imaginative characters and narration to life across video games, animation, film, audio dramas, audiobooks, commercial and corporate work. Audiences may recognise her as Grandma in Fruitbus, Perceval in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, and campaigns for Google and WeightWatchers.

A lifelong gamer and Twitch Partner under the handle KidKerrigan, Nina thrives in live, collaborative environments with fellow creatives. Off mic, she is also a book lover with a soft spot for cosy romances, medical dramas, speculative fiction and dogs.
 
Nina has also been my narrator on three projects, Sabiha’s Dilemma, Alma’s Loyalty and The Climb, a dual narrated young adult romance.

Website: VoicesOfNina.com 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicesofnina/