Meet Gabra Zackman

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gabra Zackman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gabra below.

Hi Gabra, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

I love this question! I pride myself on my generosity. Some of it comes from my parents, who raised me to be generous. But I was deeply guided at a young age by the entrepreneur Jonathan Fields, who created The Good Life Podcast, among other things. When I first met Jonathan he was running the yoga studio I went to, and I had just begun recording audiobooks. I told him I did not know how to deal with so many people who wanted a piece of my work — that suddenly everyone seemed to want what I had; He directed me to a beautiful book: The Diamond Cutter by Christie McNally and Geshe Michael Roach, and told me to read the book, then come talk to him again. The book is basically a buddhist approach to business, and among other things puts front and center the karmic way: the more you give away, the more you’ll receive. From that moment on I changed my approach to how I opened doors for people, and true to the theorem, I’ve never been without doors opening to me. I built an entire career on talent and perseverance and connections and perhaps on generosity most of all.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m an actress, writer and audiobook narrator based in New York City. I started as an actress on the stage, and had great success all around the country and off-Broadway, in a combination of classics and new plays. I began recording audiobooks 20+ years ago and have an award winnning and sustaining career that includes books of all genres, articles, multicasts, and documentaries. I moved to Denver for a couple of years and kept doing all the same plus I wrote my first books: The Bod Squad Series is a set of three romantic spy capers. Back in New York, I’ve continued to write and create, and this is what is most exciting to me. I currently run a company with Emily Woo Zeller called Love Bytes Originals (we can be found on Patreon and socials) where we produce byte sized romance and erotica, and with our friend Ronnie Butler are continuing to expand what we do and how we do it. In all artistic mediums I’m focused on telling great stories: I believe the world needs the strength and passion I get to engage in on stage or in audio, as well as the heart, heat and humor of my writing. In many ways I get to be a fighter for those who do not have a voice. In other ways I get to titillate and delight. Both fit within my deepest purpose, as I believe the purpose of art is to amplify and to heal.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Hmmmm another marvelous question!

1: resilience. standing back up when you are knocked down. this is a formidable skill. How best to develop this? when you are rejected, not chosen, passed over, mourn the opportunity lost. Then get up and fight for the next one. The only way to develop this is to keep getting up when you’re knocked down. But also: give yourself the time to heal. Ice cream helps.

2: charm and kindness. hugely important skill, paved the way for an entire career. Do you ask people how they are, how their day is, how their families are doing? Do you take interest in other people’s lives who may then open a door in yours? Are you walking through the world with kindness, and a wink in your eye? This has done more for me than all the other skills combined.

3: a sense of humor. laugh at yourself, laugh with yourself, make someone smile. without my sense of humor I’d be lying in a gutter. how can you bring laughter into a room? when things don’t work out the way you hope, can you laugh at some part before moving forward?

4: craft. I’m adding a 4th because I think it’s important. Today in the arts and elsewhere, I think people focus on what can go viral, how they can become “IT”, how they can build a business, without ever focusing on CRAFT. Take a class, Find a mentor. Listen/watch/read the work of those you admire. This is vital to a thriving business and a thriving soul and it is often lost in the frenzy of trying to be seen.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Overwhelm is a huge part of any artist’s life, and a huge part of anyone’s life at this point. I’m so lucky I got in to yoga, a practice that has held and sustained me many times over. When I feel overwhelmed I do something physical, or get outside into nature, even in a city. Sometimes I walk around Queens and look at all the flowers, and the beautiful old architecture I love. One of my favorite things to do is to ride my bike to the water, listen to music I love, sometimes cast my worries into the river. I also have a regular meditation practice, and am a deep lover of cooking and the delight of the senses. The best advice I have for overwhelm is this. Stop. SIt. Put your devices away. Connect with the natural world. Breathe. Listen. And if possible, and this is the very best one… DANCE. Dance in your living room. Feel music through your body. Stop thinking and let yourself feel.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

(with green shirt) Maren Searle
(with black corset) Will Marsh
(with Solo Cup) Ashley Garrett
(with motorcycle) Daniel Parvis
(on red carpet) Rob LaTour

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