By: Summer Chu

Outside a beautiful Palm Springs house, machinery and equipment clang and boom as they work. However, inside, Julia Whelan is in a soundproof room, unable to hear the outside world and ready to start working. Before coming into the room, Whelan had done a lot of preparation. She had refrained from alcohol the night before, had avoided dairy since waking at 6 a.m., and had warmed up her voice to a few humming and vocalizing exercises. She was prepared for her work: sending a version of a book out into the world with her voice.

Whelan is one of the most successful audiobook narrators of all time, having narrated more than 400 audiobooks. She voiced big hits like Gillian Flynn’s thriller “Gone Girl,” Tara Westover’s memoir “Educated,” and the Tik Tok Famous “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Reid is one of Whelan’s closest friends and the best-selling author of “Daisy Jones & the Six” and “Malibu Rising,” and “Maybe in Another Life,” a book Whelan narrated in 2015 that started the two’s friendship.

Two years later, Reid requested Whelan to narrate a character in “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” which greatly impacted her career. After the audiobook was out was sought after like crazy. This delighted Reid. “Who doesn’t like to see their friends in such high demand?” she said

Before she went into the audiobook narration business, Whelan was a child actress. She was 15 when she got a role in the ABC drama “Once and Again” and continued her film career in “Thirtysomething.” Only when she hit thirty did she start her career in narrating.

Now, eight years later, Whelan is one of the most sought-after people in the entire industry, and while she does like her job, there are some things she doesn’t quite like about the industry as a whole.

In a recent interview, Whelan discussed how women are often dismissed in this profession, as listeners will usually trust a man’s voice or word over a woman’s. Whelan hopes that with her narration, she can change what society thinks of as an “authoritative voice.” During the interview, Whelan was asked why this change might be challenging to achieve.

“I think an underlying issue is that male listeners will say things to female podcasters and narrators like, “Your vocal fry is really off-putting,” “Why do you have to speak so high,” or “Why do you sound so shrill?” She answered.

Despite the inequality in the industry, Whelan plans to continue her work as a narrator and use her voice to level the playing field.