We recently connected with Ariel Pastrana and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ariel, thanks for joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I work very hard to make a full time living off of performance art. It takes a lot more than just being a cool performer thought, I’ve learned it takes a lot of networking skills and a tiny bit of online marketing skills. Having all of those things helps me get my name out there and show I’m a professional. The hardest part is only being able to perform twice a week l due to spine injuries. It’s also hard to find buisness that can afford my rates, but when I do they always re hire me yay ! In the begining I had no idea what I was doing but traveling around and in person networking and researching my field of performance has helped me get to almost a point of living off performance art.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into fire arts about two years ago when I was in physical therapy after a car accident. They told me I can start exercising again , as reluctant I was to the gym I asked if fire dancing counted. To my surprise he said it would be very helpful to me as long as I take it from the perspective of being injured and go slow. So I began my journey seeking out local artist and asking them to teach me. I became pretty obsessed not only with the craft itself but with the flames and the feeling of calmness I got while dancing. At first I didn’t care how good I was or if it was going anywhere it just made me very happy to be moving again. One day during practice at a beach a woman came and tipped me $60 because she enjoyed what I was doing. After that I became aware that I could be in this for performance. I started off with a fire team in Naples florida. Then separated and solo traveled up the coast performing at all the kava bars and local events. I loved our of my car to sustain this lifestyle at first because I loved performance that much. I Eventually started learning about fire safety and how to market myself online. Here I am now getting hired for clubs, after party’s , festivals and much more. Performance was something I never thought I would get into because I was terrified of being on stage. Fire melted away all those fears. I perform in a way that moves the pain out of my body and I really listen to how I need to move. To my surprise that created a show alot of people wanted to see!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative, is community. I have learned through my struggles of becoming successful that my community of people have been there for me and believed in me in ways that I never receive anywhere else. Creative community is more about trade and compassion than money driven. We are there for each other and our craft can sometimes help others or artist in ways we could of never thought of.

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

I think that people who aren’t creatives might not understand that when we use our creative talent to provide income for us that we are doing the jobs of many positions. Not only are we learning online marketing we’re learning how to network in person learning how to come up with correct pricing and budgeting. And much more. We are working almost all day every day on our passion. So it’s hard to have other jobs wile working on creative passion because we’re already working so much behind the scenes.

Contact Info:

• Website: Firedaddyflow.com (not finished yet)
• Instagram: Firedaddyflow
• Facebook: Firedaddyflow

Image Credits
Megan beckler Savage photography