Karen Merritt
Karen Merritt is a versatile performer, educator, and audiobook professional based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With a career spanning over two decades, she works as a self-employed audiobook narrator and producer while also serving as a teaching artist with organizations like the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Her expertise spans voiceover work, theatrical performance, and simulated patient portrayals, allowing her to bring storytelling, empathy, and communication skills to a variety of audiences. Karen’s professional philosophy centers on combining her performance talents with meaningful service. She values faith, community engagement, and education, using her skills to inspire and teach both children and adults. Her teaching work includes coaching young students in theater, acting as a simulated patient to help medical students develop communication skills, and volunteering with organizations such as the Urban Impact Foundation and Toastmasters International. Karen holds an undergraduate degree in Theater Arts from Penn State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting through a joint program with Carnegie Mellon University and the Moscow Art Theatre School. She has built a home studio to produce and narrate audiobooks, enabling her to balance family life with creative work. Recognized for her excellence in acting and public speaking, she has received awards in both theatrical performance and Toastmasters competitions, reflecting her commitment to storytelling, education, and community impact.
• ACX Masterclass
• Carnegie Mellon University- M.F.A.
• Most Outstanding Actress Award at New Works Festival
• Toastmasters International
• Urban Impact Foundation, Pittsburgh
What do you attribute your success to?
I have to say, God. I know it may not be the typical answer, but I realize I'm just so thankful for all the opportunities that I've been given. I feel like I just had so many amazing opportunities, and all different, and they were coming at a time in my life when I thought one aspect of my career was falling apart, but then a new opportunity would open up. And then I would revisit older things, like right now I'm working with children again, which is how I started, but I'm just hopeful and thankful for all the opportunities given to me.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is to persevere—focus on the daily tasks, continually hone your skills, and be ready when opportunities arise.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say create your own content. The shift to audiobook narration for me began when I decided I'm going to build my own studio. It's a simple studio, but I'm just gonna build it in my house, and then I can have the freedom to create what I want to create. And now with TikTok and with other platforms, I think it's a lot easier, and I think people use AI to create that content too, but I still think it's important to find your own voice and to create your own content.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For audiobook narration, there is the increasing AI threat. You see virtual voices, and they're getting better and better with the technology, it really is. And I just have to have hope that the human voice, humanity is gonna win out. That's my hope, although I could see the uses of AI and how AI could be really helpful. Unfortunately, another job I have is being a standardized patient, where I do role-playing as a patient for medical students so they can practice their interviewing skills, and they're working on AI for that too. The auditions that I get now, more and more companies are asking and they'll pay a lot of money for me to sit down to do emotional responses. They were first collecting intonations and qualities, but now they're focusing on emotions. So eventually maybe they'll piece that apart and make it work.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Serving others is high on my list. I really want my life to have an impact on others, and I try to seek to serve others. The other main job that I have is I'm caregiver for my mom who has Alzheimer's, and so serving others is really important to me. My main goal with this is to encourage other women. When I looked at your site, I was impressed with how other women were encouraging each other to step out and to go after what they want to pursue with their dreams. As far as a brand and platform and success, I think those things have fallen by the wayside for me, because I don't consider myself a star, but I want to serve other people and I want to encourage other people, because life is short.