Today we’d like to introduce you to Eva Campbell-Morales.
Hi Eva, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Wow. It’s a long and winding road. You said “briefly,” but you also said, “include as much detail as you’d like.” Buckle up.
I was blessed to have been born into a bilingual family. My dad is an Anglo from Illinois with a Ph.D. in Spanish linguistics. My mom was a talented writer, singer, and painter from Guadalajara, Mexico. My parents decided early on that we kids should be bilingual. They decided that my dad would speak English only to us and my mom would speak Spanish only to us so that we would learn both languages simultaneously, and we did. I can’t remember a time when both languages were not used at home. It was a huge blessing to be bilingual in the sixties. People did not yet recognize the value of immigrant and bicultural children retaining their native foreign language. Like my mom, I always wanted to be an actress or singer, but my parents were not very supportive of my wanting to engage in a “hobby” as a living, so I got no support in that area. Eventually, it also became clear I would not have the necessary support for going to college and would have to enter the workforce. I knew one thing: I was committed to retaining my Spanish. I knew that if I got swallowed up by the English-language work environment, I would lose my Spanish. I decided to seek out a bilingual career; I just didn’t know what form it would take.
I graduated from high school with little more than average grades, minimal direction, and the natural gifts I had. I was a talker and bilingual, so I worked in sales positions here and there for several years. My drama and public speaking background allowed me to talk to just about anyone and easily learn sales pitches. One day, one of my middle school drama teachers called me to ask if I wanted to be an extra in a commercial. I jumped at the chance! That would be my first acting job. I fell into it naturally and before long, the advertising community discovered I was bilingual. I began doing Spanish-language and English/synergistic Spanish radio and television voiceover commercials.
I plodded along, doing sales and talent work for many years. I was barely eking out a living, but I got by. At one point, I left a sales position at a local gym and spent about a week sitting around, watching late-night TV until the Star-Spangled Banner came on, and eating ice cream in my bathrobe, not quite knowing where I was headed next. Then one day I saw a news report. A red-headed radio DJ complained to a reporter that all of the station’s DJs had been unceremoniously dismissed that morning. She worked for a country music station that was an absolute institution in San Antonio. The station had changed format overnight to Spanish International.
I didn’t know how, but I immediately knew this new radio station meant opportunity. The talent industry in San Antonio was in its infancy. I knew the radio station would need “someone to record their commercials,” so I asked my brothers, who were already working in radio (The Campbell Brothers, Z-Rock San Antonio), how to get into the station. They told me I needed to put together a demo, and told me how to do it. I took it in that very same day.
After not hearing anything for a few weeks, I returned, only to discover that the station management had completely changed. I was introduced to the new program director. His name was Santiago Nieto. He interviewed me for about 30 minutes. We walked around the radio station, where he showed me the production room; asked me if I knew how to operate a reel-to-reel tape recorder, if I knew how to edit the magnetic tape, and if I was experienced in copywriting. Being bilingual and having been with my dad on so many of his language studies, I was familiar with reel-to-reel recorders, even though I did not know how to edit. I had been doing radio and television commercials for years and translating my whole life. Santiago wanted to hire me as production director. The position sounded a little daunting, but I told him I was willing to do the work to learn what I needed to. By the time I got home after the interview, I had a call on my answering machine asking if I could come back and start the same day. I said I could start the following Monday; and so began my baptism by fire into the world of radio.
Santiago worked the morning show for the next two months from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM. At 10:00 AM, after he got off the air he would work with me and train me in my new job until nine or 10:00 PM; every single day, no days off. He was tough, but he taught me everything I needed to know to build a career for the rest of my life. I am eternally grateful to him and his selfless dedication. Santiago taught me how to write copy, do formal translations for advertising, use my voice, and edit; he taught me how to run the production department. But there was more. After I had been at the station for about two weeks, he told me he wanted to put me on air with him in the morning as his sidekick. I had never done radio and had no idea he was talking about live radio. I said, “Sure, when do we record?” I was used to doing “take one,” “take two,” and so on. He said no, this is live. I was terrified. I asked, “What if I mess up?” He said, “You just make fun of yourself and move on.”
For the next year and 1/2 or two, Santiago and I the morning show team on KZVE, “Qué Suave” FM in San Antonio. He gave me complete freedom to invent characters and take the conversation wherever my mind wanted. We created a 4-hour party every morning for our listeners. All good things come to an end, and one day, Santiago accepted a position with a radio station in Houston. The morning party was over. They replaced Santiago with a guy who just didn’t have Santiago’s energy and innate spark for improvisation. The magic was gone. It was time for me to seek out a new challenge.
KZVE did a lot of business with a groundbreaking Spanish-language Advertising agency called Sosa and Associates, which would later become Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates. I reached out to them, and one day the call came. I had no idea the magnitude of the change I was about to experience. I started in the creative department as a translator under the relentless Rosie Pratts. Rosie was key in pushing me to polish the linguistic skills that would become the hallmark of my work and reputation.
At Sosa (SBA&A), I quickly rose from grunt translator to copywriter, and before long, I was made chief copywriter. I was given the freedom to create and tasked with ensuring the quality of every piece of copy that left the agency. Lionel Sosa is practically a legend in the Spanish advertising field. I learned so much from him during my tenure there, and from others, including the other partners, my creative director, a wonderful producer named Deanne Bostic (R.I.P.), and of course, from Rosie. Under their watchful eyes and guidance, I was able to write, cast, and direct an award-winning radio campaign for Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Dry. I’ll always remember that trip to New York City with my team and coming home with a Gold Clio for the agency. It was a real surprise and a highlight I treasure to this day.
While I was at SBA&A, my talent business continued to blossom, and eventually, my talent income surpassed my agency salary. One afternoon, on a Friday, I was in the employee break room and looked at the cover of a weekend magazine that was part of the paper. About sixteen headshots of different professionals were on the cover, with the question, “What are the highest-paid jobs in San Antonio?” A quick scan of the top 30% of the salaries told me one thing: Everyone making real money owned their own company. I knew right then that owning my own business was the only way to break my personal glass ceiling. Eventually, SBA&A and I parted ways, and I made the seamless transition to serving my growing client list with Spanish-language translations, copywriting, and radio and television talent services. Even after I left SBA&A, the partners graciously continued to support my efforts by recommending my services to clients the agency could not serve for one reason or another.
Last year, in 2022, I celebrated 30 years of self-employment. It is the most amazing feeling. I have continued working with Lionel Sosa, Al Aguilar, and Cynthia Muñoz, just one of the many SBA alums who have created successful businesses. Sosa alums even refer to studying at “LSU:” Lionel Sosa University.
Add to this unlikely “road to success” a long partnership with one of the best talent agencies in Texas, Pastorini Bosby Talent, and I am able to look back on 30 years of fun, challenging, and absolutely joyous collaborations. I have served as emcee for one of the most prestigious Mariachi concerts and student contests in the country, I have provided spokesperson services to any number of retail companies, I have lent my voice to playing everything from an ice cube to a light bulb, a male Japanese salsa band member, and countless announcer roles.
One funny and telling story is about all the phone calls I used to get from groups wanting me to speak on “staying in school” and becoming a business owner; and then how I’d get a curt, “Oh. Thank you.” (click) when I would say I had not gone to college. One day I got a call from a Sam Houston High School teacher. His reaction was exactly the opposite. He was excited to have someone like me speak to his students, someone like them, with no chance of going to college but with natural abilities and the desire to succeed. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career to tell classrooms full of “at risk” youth that being born into a family that didn’t have the resources they saw others enjoy did not mean they could not succeed.
That’s my story: Success against the odds. I’m very proud and eternally grateful to the people who taught me, encouraged me, and trusted me with their projects, and I am still grateful every day. Anyone who has ever owned a business knows it can be a crazy roller-coaster ride, and you have to hang on for dear life. The rush is worth it.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not having a degree proved to be a minor setback, but overall, I have been truly blessed to have wonderful companies and individuals trust me with their projects. The digital world is catching up to the talent business, so my next mountain peak will be navigating the voice industry in the age of AI.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
When I first started in the voice industry, I remember hearing about Bob West. He was the original voice of Barney the dinosaur. I remember knowing right then that I wanted to be a cartoon voice. I used to go into the studio with a pocketful of accents and characters and ask clients, “Have you considered using a character voice for your project?” I got many takers, which made my work so much fun. I also became known as the go-to talent for accents and characters.
The other thing that helped my business grow tremendously is that I am a fluent bilingual. Companies frequently run synergistic campaigns in English and Spanish; with me, they get the same voice, unaccented, in both languages! This has been especially useful in television. There’s no need to change out talent or lighting. We just shoot English and then jump right into Spanish. In translation and copywriting what sets me apart is that I am a stickler for spelling and grammar, and my fluency allows me a deeper understanding of linguistic subtleties and idioms in each language. These days, even something as fundamental as the difference between the use of formal and informal in Spanish needs to be better understood by copywriters or translators. The use of accents can be a bear, even for Mexican nationals educated in Mexico.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
In general, I have always considered myself a risk taker, whether it’s climbing a challenging rock solo or suggesting production options to clients. One of my mantras in life is, “I’ll try anything once.”
The biggest risk I took was stepping out 30 years ago to run my own business! It’s a daily challenge to keep the roller-coaster on the rails. The most recent life-altering risk I took was trying my hand at stand-up comedy. It has to be one of the most challenging and naked endeavors anyone can undertake, but it helped me grow by leaps and bounds. Thanks to Gerry Katzman and a wonderful group of comedy classmates, I did stand up for a couple of years in Los Angeles.
In general, while I am a goodie-two-shoes when it comes to actually misbehaving, I was greatly influenced by an interview I read a few years ago with Tina Fey. Her meteoric rise from SNL cast member to become the super-star actress and producer she is today began with a not-so-simple “yes” to an offer she was not sure she should accept. Lorne Michaels, the producer of SNL, approached her with the offer to become a head writer at the show. She was apprehensive and unsure she could fulfill the role, but she said yes and began an incredible trajectory to the throne she currently occupies! Tina Fey reaffirmed my belief that taking even scary chances can pay off.
I don’t know what my professional future holds, but I’m excited and game for whatever surprises fate has in store for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.EvaCampbellMorales.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evacampbellmorales/
Image Credits
One is Molley Hawkey, Los Angeles
