We were lucky to catch up with Zenia Bhumgara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zenia, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes I make a full time living from my passion. I earn more than what my friends make at a desk job. It is a slow process and I feel like I am still growing and I have miles to achieve. There were many obstacles along the way. Covid was a major draw back as just when my career was about to start, covid happened and slowed down my growth process. Social Media has been a great boost to my growth. If I had to do things differently, I would have made use of social media right from the start. I entered the game late. Also I would have done alot more to market myself to the right people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Born in a magical family. My father and sister were world renowned magicians. My mother is not a performer but a big magic enthusiast and loves the art form. Hence its safe to say that magic is in my blood. I started performing magic at the tender age of 4. I was an extremely shy kid who wouldnt speak a word to anyone. So my parents never thought that shy girl like me could ever go up on stage. My elder sister Pearl however was the complete opposite. She was bubbly and charming and she took to magic at the age of 5 and mastered the art form. She achieved alot and got alot of fame and popularity being a young star kid. Like every younger sibling, I wanted to copy my sister in every way and do magic like her. I also wanted the same applause and attention she received. One major factor was that she was allowed to apply make up and put lipstick for her shows and I too wanted the same. So my mother said if you want to apply make up you need to be a magician first. Thats laterally how I got drawn into this art form. I became a completely different person on stage. My parents were shocked. From this shy timid girl I suddenly became a lion on stage.
I began performing by assisting my sister on stage and slowly slowly as time progressed I began performing my solo shows.
Magic helped me become a more confident person.
Over the years I became really good at it. I trained with some of the best in the field and competed in many national and international competitions and won many awards. I received a alot of fame being a child magician and even made appearances on TV.
Magic was always a hobby and hence I gave a lot of importance to my education. I never compromised on my studies because of magic. I was living 2 lives, one of a child star and one of a regular student. I was balancing both at the same time. After I completed my education I was a bit confused with my life and I wasnt really sure what career path I wanted to take. I had only done magic all my life and I wanted to see if I am good at something else other than magic. I was also a bit skeptical about how i could make a substantial living out of being a full time magician. So I decied to venture out into different things, I tried out a few internships and worked with a few companies and I absolutely hated it. It was torture for me to work under someone and do a desk job. I was suffering. It was at the moment that it hit me that this is not the life I am meant for. The stage is where i belong and thats the only place that gives me true happiness.
My father was a general manager of an international shipping company, He had an extremely high paying job but he never had happiness or mental peace. His work life was so stressful he could never enjoy. He missed out on spending family time as well. After working for 20yrs in the corporate life he finally decided tto quit his jobs and persue his passion full time. He became a full time magician. He enjoyed this the most and he regretted working in the corporate world for so many years. Today he loves his job and he is the happiest doing what he does cause when your work is your passion, it doesnt feel like work. You get paid to have fun.
Thats why my father always encouraged me to do something of my own and be my own boss.
I finally made magic my full time career from hobby. Today I enjoy my job the most as I get to make people smile. My job is like going to a party everyday and having fun. and getting paid for it. Every day I am at a new place, meeting new people, entertaining all sorts of people. It truly is the best feeling in the world.

I am really proud of myself that I followed my passion. In a world of male dominated magicians, I emerged as a successful female magician.

I use magic as a tool to change peoples lives. I perform magic for special causes and not just to earn money. I do alot of charity shows for cancer patients, orphanges, old age homes, under privileged children and I enjoy these shows more than the commercial ones as I get to bring smiles on the faces who need it the most. It is extremely rewarding and I feel really great when I do these shows. When cancer patienst are suffering and in pain, when they watch my show they forget all their pain and suffering and start believing in magic. It gives them hope that maybe there can be some magic in their life too.
Hence I regularly do these special shows and its my way of giving back to society.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I always believe in this strong philosophy that “do something you dont mind doing for free” As an artist when you do something that you love and make it your profession, its the best feeling in the world.
Our lives are so much fun and everyday is like a new adventure. We dont have boring mundane lives like the regular people who do jobs who do the same exact thing from Mon – Fri and only get to enjoy on weekend. . Everyday they do the same thing. For me everyday is different. I maybe even in a different city by tomorrow performing at a wedding. I can get any event anytime anywhere. I feel as an artist everyday feels like a sunday as you are enjoying what you do and you never get that feeling of oh god why do I have to work tomorrow . We never have monday blues. For me all I wish is to have a show everyday cause I love what I do and Its more fun than even taking a holiday
Also being your own Boss is the best feeling. I never have to worry about disappointing someone or having to follow instructions. I dont need to beg anyone for leave. I can take a holiday whenever I want and I can work whenever I want. My life is stress free from the work pressure.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Non creatives have a extremely strict routined life where everyday they have to do the same thing and they think thats the way it should be. For creatives like us, we can never have a strict routine and our life is chaos as everyday is different. If you ask me what I am doing 2 days from now I could never tell you as everyday there is something different happening in my life. If you ask a non creative person what they are doing 2 days from now, theyll be able to tell you exactly what they are doing to the minute.
they look down upon our type of lifestyle and even wonder how we make a living. In our job theres alot of uncertainity, we dont get a fixed salary. Sometimes we get alot of work and sometimes we can have very less work. Hence non creative people cannot fathom that as they are so used to routine and they need everything to be done in a structured way.

Most people dont understand how I make a living out of what I do. Everytime I tell someone I am a professional magician, they are pretty shocked and they cant understand how I earn money from this. What they dont know is that as an artist I make more money from one gig than they make in the entire month!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magicianzenia.com
• Instagram: @magicicanzenia
• Facebook: magicianzenia
• Youtube: magician_zenia