About Us

Dealing with the challenges of today requires artists who bring different perspectives and are willing to take risks. The Professional Audiobook Narrators Association emerged out of a pursuit to inspire and support the community, and a desire for actions to speak louder than words. Established in 2021, we’re an organization driven by progressive ideas, bold actions, and a strong foundation of support. Contact us to learn more and get involved.

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Committees

At PANA, our top priority is to achieve results for the narrator community, and we know that our success depends on the quality of our campaigns and partnerships. Our approach is to build strategic networks and promote programs that will help advance our work. Learn more about the activities we’re passionate about and get in touch with us to see how you can get involved.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The Advocacy Committee is in charge of narrator advocacy, including publicity campaigns to raise awareness in the audiobook-listening public and the creation of deeper connections with authors/producers/publishers.

CELEBRATING EACH OTHER

The Recognition Committee is in charge of planning, managing, publicizing, and executing our association’s annual audiobook awards show, which will celebrate narrators, production staff, recording studios, and casting directors.

COORDINATING OUR VOICES

The Communications/Media Committee is in charge of coordinating, managing, and implementing our website and social media strategy, as well as keeping all members updated with the activities and efforts of the association.

DOING WHAT'S NEEDED

While anti-racism is every member’s individual privilege and responsibility, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee manages additional efforts from mentorship opportunities to BIPOC support groups to casting advocacy.

GROWING AS ARTISTS

From classes and workshops to certification opportunities, the Education Committee continually assesses the needs of the association and helps to provide and coordinate opportunities for growth, edification, and connection.

CONNECTING WITH EACH OTHER

The Events Committee conceives, manages, and executes a variety of local and national events, including meet-ups, workshops, retreats, and conferences, to enable narrators to support and learn from one another.

MEETING NEEDS

Making sure your voice matters, the Membership Committee handles all of the aspects of membership, including welcoming and orienting new members and connecting with, supporting, and listening to veteran members.

GATHERING SUPPORT

The Sponsorships Committee is in charge of sourcing, coordinating, and managing relationships with organizations and entities looking to support our network of audiobook narrators.

Board of Directors and Administration

Rhett Samuel Price, Chair, Board of Directors

Rhett Samuel Price is an Audie Finalist who is described by acquaintances as “decent, fair, caring and educated.” AudioFile Magazine says, “His sonorous voice takes the listener on a unique historical journey” and “Rhett Samuel Price offers a solid narration of the power of education.” Rhett has always loved telling stories since his childhood days spending weekends at the Coskey family home in Encino CA, thrilling his friends, Kevin, Jill and Jay with his retelling of “The Chicken Heart That Ate New York City”, “I Started Out As A Child”, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” myriad ghost stories and other thrilling tales. Watching the faces of his friends around the campfire is the main reason Rhett loves telling stories, especially Horror and Thrillers.

While attending USC to attain his BS in Public Policy and Management, he started voicework as an announcer for the baseball team and the men’s and women’s volleyball teams. Rhett decided to serve the community by becoming a California Highway Patrolman. With 22 years as a motorcycle officer and motorcycle Sergeant among other positions within the Department, he possesses an intimate knowledge of law enforcement, courtroom policies & procedures while serving with one of California’s and the world’s most distinguished law enforcement agencies. During this time, he began his 7-year run as the traffic reporter for KABC TV channel 7 Los Angeles and for numerous English and Spanish radio stations with one of the highest “Q” ratings for Los Angeles reporters.

Rhett currently serves as a Commissioner for the Los Angeles County Highway Safety Commission having been appointed by then, now former, 2nd District Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke, continuing his tenure with former 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, and now serving 2nd District Supervisor Holly Mitchell. During his time as a Commissioner, Rhett has Chaired the Highway Safety Commission and was appointed by unanimous vote by the LA County Board of Supervisors to Chair the then newly formed Los Angeles County Pedestrian Highway Safety Task Force comprised of myriad city, and county agencies including police, fire, Departments of Public Works and School Boards. Rhett has also volunteered his time serving non-profit agencies like the “Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club” and numerous First A.M.E. Church groups.

Even with this busy 1st career, Rhett has found time to enjoy Scuba Diving and is a certified Divemaster for NAUI, having completed more than 3,500+ dives around the world while feeding moray eels out of the palm of his hand. Rhett began narrating audiobooks after taking a class with Pat Fraley and Scott Brick and has never looked back. Having been raised by a single mother, whose business was mainly supported by the Jewish community and the early LGBTQ community and was a supporter of equal rights before it was fashionable, Rhett has been a longtime supporter of equal rights and inclusion for all.

Hilary Huber, Board of Directors

Multiple Audie Finalist, Earphone Awards and SOVAS winner, Hillary Huber has
narrated over 600 audiobooks spanning a variety of genres. In addition to narrating,
Hillary also directs audiobooks, coaches new narrators and produces audiobook demos. She has a BA in English Literature and is a voracious reader and listener of audiobooks. Hillary splits her time between Santa Monica and NY. Most of that time is spent in a small 4x5 cell… er booth.

Soneela Nankani Batch 2 photo by Jody Christopherson-41.jpeg

Soneela Nankani, Board of Directors

Soneela is an award-winning narrator with 300 titles in many different genres including Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi and Nonfiction. She has garnered 16 Earphone awards, Audie and SOVAS nominations and was recently awarded AudioFile magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. Her audiobooks have been featured in Best Audiobooks lists by AudioFile Magazine (2016, 2019, 2020) and The Washington Post (2018, 2020). Additionally, she is a coach and a mentor who is passionate about lifting up South Asian and Black voices and supporting cross-cultural engagement as part of her work both in and out of the studio.

Vikas Adam, Board of Directors

In addition to the over 400 genre hopping audiobooks Vikas Adam has recorded, he's an actor, director, and faculty at the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television. His audiobook catalog includes prominent works from diverse authors including Salman Rushdie, Paulo Coelho, C. Robert Cargill, Andy Warhol, Yann Martel, and youtube sensations Rhett and Link. In addition to audiobooks, he records for Audm/NYT and Apple News and co-hosts “Ask An Audiobook Pro” on Clubhouse with Hillary Huber. Vikas has won the Audie Award, a SOVAS award, 15+ Earphones awards, is on several “Best of the Year” lists and has the distinction of being an inaugural inductee into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. Twitter/Instagram/Clubhouse: @vikasadam

Robin Miles, Board of Directors

Actor/Director, Robin Miles, has garnered top honors, including the Audible Hall of Fame, Booklist Voice of the Year, and Audiofile’s Golden Voice, with over 40 Best of the Year and Earphones awards. Robin was 2010 Grammy finalist for directing The Lincoln Douglas Debates. Her chameleon-like acting ability wins accolades for its nuance, variety & depth, and spans over 400+ audiobooks in multiple genres including; Hidden Figures, Hugo winners The Fifth Season Trilogy (NK Jemisin), Binti (Nnedi Okorafor), and The Mueller Report, documentary films, museum installations, and commercials. Her clients include every major US publisher, NYC’s American Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, Chicago Art Institute, and Seattle Art Museum. Her acting credits include Broadway’s The Violet Hour, Law & Order, several regional theater classics and premiers, and the coveted Collected Shorts from Symphony Space/NPR Radio. She attended Yale University, Yale School of Drama, the British American Drama Academie, studied with visionary, Uta Hagen. She owns Voxpertise, Inc. production & training studio, and teaches Acting at Pace University in New York City, and the University of California, San Diego.

Sunil Malhotra, Board of Directors

Sunil Malhotra loves telling stories – in front of the camera, behind the mic, onstage, and to his two adorable hooligans. As an audiobook narrator, Sunil is the recipient of multiple Earphones
Awards, Audie
nominations, the ALSC Notable Recording and YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults awards, and the Odyssey Honor. Some titles of note include Cutting For Stone; Eleanor & Park; When Breath Becomes Air; We Are Inevitable; A Place For Us; Members Only; Don’t Read The
Comments; I Have Lost My Way; and The Moor’s Last Sigh. Some tv, film, animated, and videogame projects you may have seen or heard Sunil in include Grey’s Anatomy; The Casagrandes; Mortal Kombat 11; The Legend of Korra; NCIS: New Orleans; League of Legends; Maron; The Powerpuff Girls; Blaze and the Monster Machines; Mr. Peabody & Sherman; Fair Game; Dude, Where’s The Party?; Indivisible; Star
Wars: The Clone Wars; and Halo: Reach. Sunil will soon be appearing both as a regular and recurring in many new animated series for Netflix, Amazon, and Adult Swim, franchise video games, and of course, more audiobooks! If it wasn’t for all the NDAs, he would tell you EVERYTHING. Find him on Twitter or IG @ThatSunil and at SunilMalhotra.com

Emily Lawrence, Co-founder, Board of Directors

Emily Lawrence is incredibly proud to be PANA's co-founder and a a member of its first Board of Directors. She is an award-winning actor and writer that's narrated more than 425 audiobooks for publishers such as Macmillan, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and many more. Originally from New York, she moved out to Los Angeles after receiving her BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She also had the privilege of living in London while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Emily's greatest loves are storytelling and reading, so narrating audiobooks is a dream come true. Her other passions include traveling, LARPing, aerial cirque, fostering kittens, and chocolate.

Julia Whelan, Board of Directors

Julia Whelan is an actor, writer, and narrator of over 400 audiobooks. She has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Best Female Narrator Audie for Tara Westover's Educated and a SOVAS for the performance of her own internationally bestselling novel, My Oxford Year, which was published by HarperCollins in 2018. She is also a Grammy-nominated audiobook director as well as a certified tea sommelier.

Almarie Guerra, Board of Directors

Almarie Guerra is a bilingual actor based in Los Angeles. She was born in Puerto Rico and was raised in the U.S. from the age of eight. She grew up on amazing Latin American literature and developed a love for the spoken word through nightly storytelling rituals with her family. Now, she gets to share her passion with listeners from all over the world by narrating audiobooks as well as working in theater, commercials, TV, and film. Her favorite narration opportunities, however, occur at bedtime each night, when she reads stories to her two girls. She has also worked extensively with the nonprofit Story Pirates, producing and performing in collaborative shows for elementary schools around the Los Angeles area.

Karen Commins, Secretary

Ever since she recorded a TV PSA in 5th grade, Atlanta native and award-winning narrator Karen Commins knew she wanted to become a voice actor. After earning a BA in Broadcast Journalism, Magna Cum Laude, Karen’s career plan took a major detour. She attained an MS in Computer Information Systems and worked over 25 years in technical information technology positions. A professional voiceover talent since 1999, she now works exclusively in audiobooks and has become a leading curator of information about the audiobook industry. When she isn’t narrating, Karen is chief cartographer and tour guide for her site NarratorsRoadmap.com, THE destination for narrators of all levels. With her super power of organization, she’s excited and proud to undertake the Secretary position for PANA. Karen plays flute and piano, collects Eiffel Tower inkwells, and loves to relax with her husband, miniature schnauzer, and a good book by their pool.

Emily Ellet, Co-founder, Treasurer, & Executive Officer

Emily Ellet is a Denver-based, SAG/AFTRA, Audie Award-nominated actor, singer, and audiobook narrator and the co-founder of PANA. Her clients include Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, HarperAudio, Scholastic, and many others. She has been narrating audiobooks since 2010 with over 500 titles recorded. She has also performed as a singer Off-Broadway, regionally, and on cruise ships, and in 2017 she was crowned the winner of the Metropolitan Room’s final MetroStar Talent Challenge in New York City. Emily has spent over 20 years in leadership roles in volunteer organizations, including her current position on the Jefferson County Budget Advisory Committee of Colorado and her recent experience as the treasurer of a large church on NYC’s Upper West Side, where she managed an endowment of $6 million and yearly operating costs of over $250,000. She is excited to bring her understanding of budgets and organizations both large and small to PANA.