Hello, I’m Katherine Tole!
An avid gamer and tech wizard with a gender- and vocally-fluid voice range reflecting the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
What does identifying as non-binary mean to me?
I don’t identify with gender stereotypes and what’s been pressed upon me by society. I’ve never really associated with hyper-feminine or hyper-masculine things. I think of gender as a spectrum that I move around fluidly.
Want to learn more? Great, but regular bios can be so boring. Instead, I’d like to share how I became the voice actor and human I am today!
Kat Facts
- I was born in Orange County, grew up in Bend, OR, and now live in Seattle, WA
- “I take weird as a compliment.”
- I specialize in explainer videos, corporate narrations, video games, animation, and e-learning
- I understand tech terminology, so I don’t have to “fake it” when I read techy talk
- I am non-binary; I’m fluid in both gender and vocal abilities
- Cold reading is one of my specialties
- Collaboration and receiving feedback is important to me. I love to improve, learn, and get better
- I worked in tech for 9 years, mostly at startups, because I love small companies
- My husband, Matthew, worked with me at Pebble, a smartwatch startup
- I love to “give a voice” to voiceless characters in indie video games
- I have a Twitch stream, an Etsy store, and I collect hobbies
- Voice acting has made me a better person and more attuned with my own nature
- “Being a voice actor has taught me how to manage my own time and how to grow a business.”
- I started voice acting in 2016 after my dad initially got interested in the career.
- In high school I worked at Geek Squad, helping people recover lost photographs and fix their computer issues
- Attended Oregon State University and studied Chemical Engineering with a minor in English Lit
- I served as a guest instructor at VoiceOne, Voice123, and VoiceTrax
- Cissy Jones and Jennifer Hale inspire me with their kindness and legendary video game voice acting
- I believe a hotdog is a sandwich, but if we’re being specific it’s more like a taco
- I have traveled to 13 other countries, and studied abroad in Greece for 3 months
Talks Given
| PAX West 2024 | Composer Sports (PAX 20th Anniv. Edition): Game Music Ruined Quickly |
| PAX West 2024 | Voice Acting for Video Games: The Audition |
| GDC 2024 | Remotely Possible: Mental Health and Your Work from Home Space |
| GDC 2024 | Remotely Possible Roundtable: Building Your Game Audio Career from the Comfort of Your Own Home |
| GameSoundCon 2023 | Starting your Game Audio Career: Turning Strife into Success |
| PAX West 2023 | Composer Sports: Re-Scoring Famous Video Game Cutscenes (poorly)! |
| PAX West 2023 | Voice Acting for Video Games: Free 2023 DLC! |
| Emerald City Comic Con 2023 | Voice Acting in 2023: Animation, Video Games and More! |
| PAX West 2022 | Composer Olympics: Re-Writing the Music of Super Mario Bros. Live! |
| Emerald City Comic Con 2022 | Voice Acting in 2022: Video Games, Animation, and More! |
| eVOcation 2022 | Optimizing Your Online Casting Profile |
| Voicetrax SF 2022 | Booking Gigs 123 |
| Voicetrax SF 2022 | Inside The Voice Actor's Studio - Homegrown Heroes! |
| VoiceOne 2021 | Play-to-Win The Voice123 Game |
| VO Atlanta 2021 | Voice123 Tips for Beginners |
| VO Atlanta 2021 | Voice123 Tips for Experience Talent |
| VO Atlanta 2021 | Online Casting Keywording Lab |
Other Projects
Katherine is one half of the “V123 Pros”, a duo that helps other voice talent be sucessful on the online casting site Voice123. She teaches and speaks at conferences regularly along with an online training course at V123Pros.com.
Since 2016 Katherine has maintained an Etsy store with sewing projects, etched glassware, 3D printed projects, and merch for her ToleTales brand. With other 300 sales and a consistant 5 star rating she loves to make custom gifts for people as a hobby.
Starting in 2019 Katherine has streamed on Twitch under the username ToleTales (toletales.com) multiple days a week. The stream contains voice acted playthroughs of games that don’t already contain voiced characters to help her practice cold reading and character improv.
Katherine is the voice actor and dialogue editor at Plant Based Audio, a full service video game audio collective. Comprised of a network of Seattle-based game audio freelancers, Plant Based Audio is a flexible and scalable external development partner for your next game.