S4 Episode 19: Karen Jacobsen - the GPS Girl on her serendipitous role as the original Australian voice of Siri

Digitally Curious

Our guest is world-famous and while you may not heard of her, you may have heard her voice!

Aussie-born and now back in Australia, Karen Jacobsen’s speaking voice is in over 1 Billion GPS units and smartphones worldwide giving directions.
From a single voice-over booking, she created her empowerment brand “The GPS Girl”, teaching the five directions for “recalculating" in business and life.
An award-winning Singer and Songwriter, Karen's musical career highlights include sharing the bill with Norah Jones, Neil Sedaka and Christopher Cross and singing the national anthem at major sporting events including 80,000 people at the Giants Stadium for the New York Jets.

A TEDx speaker, Karen has enjoyed wide media coverage including the NBC Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Early Show, The New York Times, NY Daily News, Glamour magazine, being named one of People Magazine's Most Intriguing People and she hosted her own web series "Navigating New York with The GPSGirl".
Karen's voice is in demand in the studio as a Voice-Over artist recording customised voice systems and advertising campaigns and in-person as an entertainer and speaker for Corporate events around the globe.

As an Author, Karen’s book "The GPS Girl's Road Map for Your Future” gives direction for getting more of what you want in business and life.
We covered a range of topics including

• Karen's Hero: Olivia Newton-John
• How Karen became "Aussie Karen" in Siri
• How the recording process worked
• How Karen uses voice interfaces in real life
• Will AI replace the human voice assistant completely?
• The time Karen found out she was the voice behind "Aussie Karen"
• Karen's Son's reaction to his mummy being in her phone
• Karen's most interesting voiceover job
• The GPS Girl and corporate audiences on recalculating
• Transferrable skills from a signer to a corporate presenter
• The new reality of performing in a post-covid world
• Advice for people wanting to perform as a singer or speaker and how to build confidence
• Tips for improving your public speaking
• How Karen recalculated in March 2020
• Karen's new life in The Whitsundays, Australia
• The blueprint for a real ambassador
• The magic about The Whitsundays
• Three Actionable tips for recalculating your next destination

Resources mentioned on the show
A Passionate Life - Ita Butrose
Tourism Whitsundays
Olivia Newton-John

More on Karen
Karen on LinkedIn
Karen on Twitter
Karen's Music Website
The GPS Girl

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order
Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill
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Chapters

1. S4 Episode 19: Karen Jacobsen - the GPS Girl on her serendipitous role as the original Australian voice of Siri (00:00:00)

2. Karen's influences - Olivia Newton John (00:01:55)

3. Karen's reaction to meeting Olivia (00:02:29)

4. Karen's move to New York (00:04:06)

5. How Karen became "Aussie Karen" in Siri (00:05:13)

6. The recording process (00:06:35)

7. How Karen uses voice interfaces in real life (00:07:35)

8. Siri doesn't understand Karen (00:08:23)

9. Will AI replace the human voice assistant completely? (00:09:37)

10. The time Karen found out she was the voice behind "Aussie Karen" (00:10:28)

11. Karen's Son's reaction to his mummy being in her phone (00:11:22)

12. Karen's most interesting voiceover job (00:11:59)

13. The GPS Girl and corporate audiences on recaulculating (00:14:31)

14. Transferrable skills from a signer to a corporate presenter (00:16:58)

15. The new reality of performing in a post-covid world (00:18:20)

16. Advice for people wanting to perform as a singer or speaker and how to build confidence (00:20:27)

17. Tips for improving your public speaking (00:23:55)

18. How Karen recalculated in March 2020 (00:25:52)

19. Karen's new life in The Whitsundays, Australia (00:28:45)

20. The blueprint for a real ambassador (00:31:21)

21. The magic about The Whitsundays (00:32:40)

22. Quickfire round (00:36:16)

23. Three Actionable tips for recalculating your next destination (00:37:38)

24. More on Karen (00:38:24)