About Lauren -Michelle Smith
(aka LMS)
Let’s start here. ..
Yes, Lauren-Michelle is my full legal first name.
Yes, there’s a hyphen.
Yes, I also have a middle name and it’s four syllables. It’s a whole situation.
At some point, “LMS” just made life easier. And honestly, it stuck.
I’m named after Lauren Bacall, which feels a little poetic for someone who ended up making a living with her voice. I grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania in a house full of women as the third of four girls. So yes, middle child energy is alive and well. Observant, a little scrappy, knows how to read a room and find her moment.
These days, I’m a Washington, DC–area voice actor and founder of LMS Creative. I specialize in commercial voiceover, corporate narration, and live event announcing, also known as VOG. I work with brands, agencies, nonprofits, and organizations to deliver messaging that feels clear, engaging, and actually connects.
Long before voiceover, I was the kid who ran around outside all day, then came inside to draw, paint, write short stories and poems, sing, and play a very out-of-tune piano by ear like I was headlining a concert.
I eventually studied graphic design, which gave all that creative instinct a little more structure. It taught me to think in terms of composition, balance, intention, and how individual elements work together to create something bigger.
My career didn't ultimately follow a straight line through the arts, but creativity never stopped being part of how I moved through the world. Looking back, voiceover feels less like discovering a creative side of myself and more like finding another place to put one that had always been there.
The other half of my brain
Being creative is only half of how I'm wired.
I've also built a successful career across hospitality, sales, live event production, creative strategy, business development and client partnerships, including nearly 15 years producing complex live experiences. My work has grown into executive-level roles where I'm responsible not only for making great things, but for understanding what clients are trying to accomplish and figuring out how to get them there.
I've written and sold proposals, developed creative solutions, led teams, managed stakeholders, built client relationships, worked within budgets and deadlines, and spent years in fast-paced production environments where timing matters and messaging has to land in real time.
I often describe myself as equal parts creative and strategic. I genuinely love both. Give me a creative puzzle and I'm happy. Give me a complicated logistical or business problem to untangle and, weirdly enough, I'm happy there too.
And being a Black woman navigating creative, corporate, and client-facing spaces has shaped that perspective, too. It's made me deeply aware of nuance, representation, how people communicate, and who gets to see themselves reflected in the work. I bring that awareness with me, whether I'm interpreting a script, solving a problem, or collaborating with a team.
That combination shapes how I approach voiceover. I'm always thinking beyond how the voice sounds on its own to how it supports the full experience: the audience, the message, the brand, the creative vision, and ultimately, what the client needs the work to accomplish.
A little bit personal
I come from blue-collar roots. My dad worked for U.S. Steel and my mom was a high school English teacher, so I grew up with a mix of hard work and a deep appreciation for words.
I’m a proud fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins, and I am completely, unapologetically obsessed with my two black cats. It’s a very co-dependent situation. They follow me around like tiny supervisors and I fully accept my role in their world.
The upside is I won’t have to pay for college. So that’s a win.
Creativity has always been the throughline
Then came the microphone
I didn't take a traditional path into voiceover or come to it through a lifelong theatre career. But once I stepped into it, I was all in.
I knew pretty quickly that having a good voice wasn't enough. Voice acting is acting, and I wanted to develop the craft behind the microphone with the same seriousness I bring to the rest of my work.
Since then, I've invested deeply in my performance through ongoing voiceover coaching, acting and theatre training, improv, voice and speech work, and continued engagement within the professional voiceover community.
My voice sits comfortably in a warm, conversational space, but I can shift depending on what the message needs. Polished and authoritative. Playful with a little edge. Grounded and emotionally connected. The goal isn't simply to sound good. It's to understand the intention behind the words and find a performance that makes them feel believable.
I'm also neurodivergent, which I don't tuck away as an afterthought. It's a huge part of how I process, perform, and stay present. When things get layered, fast-moving, or a little chaotic, I tend to lock in. That ability to track nuance, adjust quickly, and stay engaged shows up in both my performance and how I collaborate.
Community over gatekeeping
I’m a proud member of National Association of Voice Actors and created my YouTube series as a way to give back to newer voice actors and share some of what I've learned along the way.
When I was starting out, there were moments where it felt like information was being guarded or monetized in a way that didn’t always feel supportive. Now that I’m in this space, I want to be part of the group that does things differently.
There is no one “right” path into voiceover. There is room at the table. And if I can share what I’ve learned to help someone else move forward with a little more clarity and confidence, I’m going to do that.Creativity without ego
I have opinions. I have instincts. I'll absolutely bring ideas into a session.
I'm just not precious about them.
I understand that this is your project. Your brand, your message, your vision. I'm there to support it, not take it over. If my first interpretation isn't solving the problem, let's try another one. Give me a note. Push me somewhere unexpected. Tell me what isn't landing. I'm much more interested in finding the right performance for the project than proving my first choice was brilliant.
Years spent on the client and production side of creative work have made that second nature. I know feedback can come from a producer, creative director, client, executive, legal team, or someone who simply knows something isn't quite right yet. Part of my job is listening for what the note is really asking for and translating it into performance.
Think of me as the cherry on top. I'm not the sundae. I'm here to enhance what's already been thoughtfully created and help it land the way you need it to.
And if we're in a live-directed session, you'll absolutely see me using my hands, my face, and my whole body to get into a read. Physicality is a big part of my performance. It didn't always come naturally in front of other people. I dealt with a lot of stage fright early on and didn't love being the center of attention outside my immediate circle.
Turns out, once I got out of my own way, that same instinct became a strength. It helps me stay connected, present, and responsive in the momentLet’s make something exceptional
If you’re looking for a voice actor who brings warmth, adaptability, real-world production experience, and a genuinely collaborative approach, I’d love to work together.
Home Studio
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Computer Specs, DAW, Interface
2023 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max chip and 32G Ram
Audacity
Solid State Logic SSL 2 USB Audio Interface - 24 bit/192 kHz, 2-in 2-out, with SSL Legacy 4K Analogue Enhancement
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Microphone, Headphones
My studio maintains an approx. −75 dB noise floor
Sennheiser Professional MKH 416-P48U3 Shotgun Microphone
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Studio Monitor Headphones -

Connectivity
Source-Connect Standard : LMSCreative_VO
ipDTL
Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, GoTo Meeting
Gigabit speed fiber optic service with hardwired ethernet connection for the fastest, most reliable live sessions available.
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Deliverables
WAV and/or MP3 filesFile delivery via Google Drive, DropBox or WeTransfer