Writer, Linguist, Voiceover producer
Los Angeles, CA
After completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Japanese Language and Literature at Harvard, Joan Dans spent ten years in Japan –– first as a prime-time radio host on Tokyo’s #1 FM station, then as a singer-songwriter, selling more than 1.2 million physical copies under the stage name Cara Jones. Her spoken voice was heard around the world announcing at the Nagano Winter Olympics, as well as in the world’s first GPS car navigation system… until Google Maps stole her job. But she’s not bitter. Joan currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband David and enjoys telling him where to go instead.
For the past twenty years, Joan has been running Carasmatic Productions, a multilingual voiceover production company, providing translation and voiceovers in 195 languages. The slowdown of work in 2020 brought her back to writing; her first completed manuscript is a memoir of her decade pursuing pop stardom in Japan. Her next project is a novel about neurodivergence and late diagnosis. It’s going to be a thriller.
In her spare time, Joan enjoys musical theater, yoga, and remembering when she used to salsa dance. Recently, she’s embarked on a torrid affair with weight training. (David knows all about the affair.)
Joan and David have a son in college who is better than both of them put together.
