The Versatile Voice Holland Loves to Hate

Anyone who has ever taken the train in the Netherlands, knows the voice of Tuffie Vos, and has cursed her at least once or twice.

That’s understandable, because her public announcements usually bring bad tidings. Things like sudden platform changes, derailments, delays, and more delays.

The video in which she was exposed as the voice behind these announcements went viral, and made her the object of ridicule and vitriol. Undaunted, Tuffie went on national television to read some of the nastiest comments with humor and poise.

No matter what you throw at her, Tuffie always gets the job done. She’s been one of Holland’s top talents for years, even though VO isn’t her main thing anymore.

Tuffie’s got big plans, and that’s one of the reasons she is coming to the 2020 VO Atlanta conference (March 26 -29). A few days ago, I spoke with her. 

Tuffie, how did you get started in the business, and for how long have you been a voice-over?

I started as a voice-over when I was 15, exactly 40 years ago this year.

At that time a brand new voice agency needed young voices. There were none. My mother (Dutch Radio & TV personality Tineke de Nooij, PS) already worked for that agency as a voice. In those days, only 8 voice overs in the Netherlands were doing all the work.

Three of them were women, and they were all over 40. I was the first young female voice, and this did not change for almost fifteen years.

What do you like about your work and the business you’re in?

I love the independency of this business and the creativity of the work. I have never ever worked for a boss in my life. When I started, it wasn’t even considered to be a real business. It was a side hustle for actors, singers, and radio dj’s.

I still approach the business that way, because it’s only part of what I do, professionally. I also studied singing, and I am a spiritual teacher as well.

I truly believe that succes is always a result of putting a lot of effort in what you do, while staying focused. My voice is my talent, my gift, and I’ve always worked very hard to develop it. The same is true for my reading skills and my acting. I am good at what I do, and I love it. You may call yourself privileged if you can make money with something you really like doing.

What has changed since you made your very first recording?

The whole world? 🙂

In the eighties there were only a few big studio’s, and it all was tape-recorded. A sound engineer needed to cut the tape and glue it back again if you’d made a mistake. This would take a lot of time and everyone in the studio had to wait for him to repair it, while the client payed a big amount of money for the studio. That’s why it was very important that you didn’t make a mistake! Nailing the read quickly, became my professional trademark. If I see a text, I immediately know how it has to sound, and I can produce what I hear in my head right away.

What do you specialize in? What makes you unique?

I see myself as a voice artist. I can do any genre. I blend in like a chameleon. These days, voice-overs primarily do the same thing again and again. The same style of reading, the same accents, the same melody and rhythm, the same tricks, the same sound etc. It’s just one way of delivery. Thanks to my experience and education I can “soundshapeshift” into any role or genre. Commercials, documentaries, games, IVR, news anchoring, E-learning… There is nothing I haven’t done.

What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work, and why?

In the last ten years the business has changed so radically, that I have no idea where it will go in the future. There is an overwhelming number of voice overs at this moment in a relatively small professional field. Sometimes, they’ll do the jobs for a quarter of my fee, which already has been slashed in half compared to what it used to be.

Nobody seems to be aware of how our language or a voice over should sound anymore. As a result, quality and professionalism is not heard or acknowledged anymore. This development has frustrated me for a while now. I had to find and fight my way back, take my place, own it, and make choices. Since I did that, I’m once again very happy with the business. And with myself.

Related to this is another challenging part of my life: my medical issues. It’s the dark side of being independent, and not having a steady job. In 2003 I was diagnosed with a bone tumor behind my eye. From then on until 2014, I’ve had twenty surgeries in my eye. I was glad to have paid high insurance premiums in my twenty working years!

In 2012, I got a new, titanium eye socket. Since that time my double vision has become so bad that I can’t read long scripts anymore. To be totally honest, reading has become a cruelty. It has been quite a process to acknowledge to myself that I am no longer able to do this part of my work anymore. I’m talking about long form narration, like 4 hours of E-learning, recorded in 4, 5 hours because I never make a mistake, are history. After 15 minutes I start making mistakes in every sentence, twice. It’s not working.

What would be your dream VO job?

Well, what I’m actually dreaming of today, is to find my way back to my first love, commercials, and find a few nice clients to build up a long term friendship. To have a creative blast with them on a steady basis. 

My biggest dream is to have an account in the U.S. I want to produce something really good, and the product to be a big succes. I have experienced that a few times in my career, and I still get a great kick out of that.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

At the end of the day, I think it’s being the voice of the public announcement system of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch Railways. When we started this project, the sound engineer and I put a lot of time and effort in how this announcement had to sound and what the experience would be of people hearing it, while listening to bad news. The sound needed to be soft, high-pitched, and friendly. When all the puzzle pieces were put together (which took days of recording), it had to have a natural flow, and still sound like a real human being (even though it’s computer-generated, PS). The system still works great after 24 years.

What’s an important part of your life you want people to know about, that doesn’t necessarily have to do with voice-overs?

Much more than a voice-over, I am a spiritual reader, healer and teacher. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years now. I’m also slowly building up a new life as a jazz singer. I picked up singing three years ago after I got burned out.

I hadn’t sung since I graduated from the conservatory, 22 year ago. This is who I really am. My voice is the mirror of my soul. It brings a lot of joy to my life to make music and heal people.

Why are you coming to VO Atlanta, and what are you looking forward to most?

I’m ready for new adventures and challenges in my life! Since my children are officially grown-ups this year, I’m preparing to live in New York to dive in the jazz scene for a couple of months a year. This has been a dream of mine for a long time, particularly in my younger years. It would be nice to find connections with recording studios and agencies over there. Even information from voice-overs colleagues about how the business works in the USA, is valuable. So, a lot of networking and research I suppose, just to find out how things work over there.

When I stay in New York I don’t want to bring my Apogee travel kit and stress myself all the time in my closet being covered with blankets, but I want to rent a professional sound studio there once or twice a week. I do the same thing here in Amsterdam with longer VO jobs.

I’m looking forward most to the workshop Nail your commercial reading I signed up for. Also hanging out with you guys, and singing with Machteld on the last night jam will be fun.

We’re going to have a ball together!

Paul Strikwerda ©nethervoice

PS I’ll be at VO Atlanta for two panels and two presentations. On March 27th at 9:50 AM I present “The incredible power of words.” The next day it’s time for my X-session “Boosting Your Business with a Blog” on March 28th at 9:30 AM. Click here to register.