We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Zabin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, how do you think about risk?
Risk Taking: How do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career? Every great idea over time was started with a risk, and risk has been one of the most crucial aspects of my life and career. I learned at a young age that at this point in my life I really have nothing to loose, and that has helped propel me to take chances. When thinking about risk, I try to meditate on the worst case scenario and get comfortable with the idea of the risk potentially failing, which helps give me a balanced and realistic mindset. The best part about taking a risk is that even if things don’t work out, I’ll at least learn from my mistakes. So it really comes back to having nothing to loose but everything to gain.

What habits do you feel help you succeed?
Having a healthy work/life balance is really important to me. Every day I strive to exercise my mind by reading (mostly biographies, the more I read them the more mentors I have), my body by going for both a run and a walk, and soul by I practicing Transcendental Meditation. I’ve found that even if I accomplish nothing else in a day, I will have still made progress towards my goals and growth by improving my mind, body, and soul.
Another habit that is helpful is learning how and being comfortable with pivoting and changing my mind when necessary. A lot of my job is problem solving, and considering and trying multiple routes to achieve a goal is often necessary.
And of course, the habit of approaching everything with a sense of fun is crucial.

Work life balance, how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?
My work/life balance has changed a lot over the years and I feel like I’ve tried lots of lifestyles, with both positive and negative affects on my life. For instance I’ve had months where I’m fully devoted to my work but I loose the social aspect of my life, followed by months where work came secondary to partying, followed by months where I’ve slacked off, followed by months where everything seems to be going great but I’m not happy.
However, I think I’m finally finding the balance of dedicating myself to a good ratio of the positive habits and aspects I experienced over the years. Leonardo Davinci is arguably the greatest artist of all time, but in actuality his own art was just a part of his life. He had tons of other interest- from doing cutting edge medical studies to designing military weapons, from producing theatre plays to taking long walks- and I think that balance is what helped make him the DaVinci we know today.

What is the most important factor behind your success/the success of your brand?
Ever since I was five years old and decided that I wanted to become a magician, I was raised with the mindset that pursuing a career in magic was not merely a pipe dream, but totally within in the realm of possibility. The role models, mentors, family members, and friends that helped guide me were/are critical in being in a profession where there isn’t a set guidebook.

What’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
One piece of conventional advice that I disagree with is the mindset of “Hustle 24/7” or “the grind never stops”. I’m trying to play the long game with my business, meaning I’m approaching everything with a 5-10 year mindset and perspective. That’s a long time, and working every waking hour of the day isn’t healthy or sustainable for me. I’ve found that instead of my grind never stopping, I instead prefer to work on more meaningful and impactful, albeit fewer, tasks rather than filling my days with superfluous fluff just for the sake of being busy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a magian and producer! I love producing entertainment events that give people the feeling of amazement. I started off doing magic shows at kids parties when I was 10 years old and worked my way up from there. Before the COVID pandemic, most of my professional work was doing magic shows on cruise ships or performing overseas for the US Navy. I’ve always been really interested in the business side of show business as well (and I also love cannabis), so combining my interests and creating Smokus Pocus- a cannabis themed magic show- seemed like the right thing to do. It’s had a million challenges and hurdles, but I love what I’m doing so much that even on the bad days I still remind myself how lucky I am to get to be doing what I’m passionate about.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
All of my mentors and role models I’ve had over the years have been absolutely crucial to my life! In a field and professional trajectory for which there is no guidebook or set course, I would be totally lost without the constant foundation of support and guidance from people mentoring me in all aspects of my life and career.

Website: www.SmokusPocus.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benzabinmagic/

Image Credits
Michael Benabib, Kaitlyn Taylor

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