subject: The Voice Heard Around The World [print this page] Year before last, Dan Hurst was fired from the job he had been doing for over 20 years morning show host on Kansas City's 98.1 KUDL. The good news is he's doing quite well, thank you very much.
Several years ago Hurst realized that the radio industry was in trouble and guys like him were dispensable as far as corporate owners were concerned. So, while the corporate entities began to squeeze down the budgets and limit what morning radio had been, Dan developed a plan.
No wonder. Dan had been fired before in radio. The first time it happened was back in 1984 by KCCV, Kansas City. That's when he started doing voiceovers just to try to make ends meet.
Voiceovers are the voices you hear on radio and television commercials. But voiceovers are used for much more than just commercials. Companies use voice talents for training videos, sales videos, Power Point presentations, on-hold messages, conference announcers, website messages, and on and on.
Dan vowed to himself that he would never let his family suffer they way they did back when he was fired the first time. For 20 years Hurst developed his craft little by little. He started putting together equipment for a studio. He worked at developing his fledgling business. Slowly, companies began to notice.
You see, Dan has a niche. He grew up in Honduras as the son of missionary parents. As a result he speaks Spanish as well as he speaks English. That's a rare commodity, one that he has developed into quite a business.
Hurst has his own studio with the capability of hooking up with almost any studio in the world. That means any advertising agency or recording studio can connect with him as if he were in their studio. So, on almost any day you can hear Dan in his studio doing commercials or narrations for national and international companies everywhere. Huge international companies like Ford, McDonalds, and Coca-Cola. Companies like Hallmark, Sprint and H.R. Block. Or Boehringer Ingelheim, Embrarer, or Bosch.
Now, with the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States, Dan's voice is in even greater demand. The new trend in Hispanic heavily populated areas is to create commercials and training videos that are bilingual. Knight Media in Los Angeles created a new bilingual demo for Dan Hurst for national and international clients. Who knew? One of the key bilingual voices in America is based in the Kansas City area!
You can hear some of Dan's work on his new website at www.DanHurst.com.
