Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriella Lester.
Hi Gabriella, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in South Africa and moved to Vancouver when I was around 5.
I’ve been driven by passion my whole life. Every single one of my hobbies growing up quickly became everything. I’ve always known I wanted to create the biggest possible wave out of whatever I chose to do in life… without ‘exactly’ knowing what it was. I was deathly allergic to the idea of 9-5 and have only ever known how to do what I love.
I became interested in magic as a young kid, as most do. But it had its way of sticking around. I traveled with my parents lots growing up and often ran into street performers, waiters, strangers, etc., that did magic. It was all around me. Like it knew it was ‘for me’ before I even considered it being there. But it became apparent by the age of 11 or 12. I loved it more than anything. I fell asleep with a deck of cards in my hands while watching old magic videos online. I used to eat with one hand and practice with the other. It was everything. In many ways, it still is.
I did my first Vegas show at the age of 14, and later that year became one of the youngest performers to ever do Houdini’s upside-down straitjacket routine.
I finished high school at the age 16 to fully pursue my career, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since (with a short detour through this thing called Covid…)
While I do want to make as big of an impression on the industry (and the world) as I possibly can, I’ll never let the drive to succeed override the value of my passion. I want to get as high up the mountain as I can, but I want to build it too. To be able to look around and love the people I’m surrounded with and how I got there in the process. I love the glory of the chase. The company, the unexpected, the good/bad/hard/what the fucks. All of it.
Currently, I’d say I’m living my dream while still constantly dreaming about what’s next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ahah. So. Many. Potholes.
It was hard. Being the only person I knew to truly chase their dreams. Especially while being young, I was surrounded by people who didn’t know what their “thing” was. What it was like to need it. Which makes sense… I was really just a kid. But I knew, and always just did my best to block out the ‘background noise.’ But what I was doing wasn’t normal. I could see that. It was shown and told to me many times.
I remember a moment from the first time I ever performed the suspended straitjacket escape. While mid-air, upside-down, doing this ‘serious’ escape for the first time, I heard one or two kids in the audience laughing. It cut through me like a knife. I don’t remember much about that performance… the music, the lighting, the escape, none of it really. I remember the feeling of hearing that. But there was a part of me that knew what I was doing was bigger than the weight of that feeling. A few years later, that routine landed my first spot on national TV, and I’ve now done it all across the continent.
That TV spot was huge for me. It was my first performance post covid, and on the biggest stage of my career, nonetheless. I was 18. I hadn’t performed in years. And it was a remarkably hard circumstance for me too. I was in a relationship with someone, and the day before I flew out to film, he passed away. It was one of the most earth-shattering, awful experiences/moments/feelings of my life. But in many ways, I’m so grateful to have had something so deeply important to do right after. As crazy as it sounds, my passion saved me. I think if I didn’t have something I truly ‘needed’ to do, I’d still be on the floor in my room now. It was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it added so many new colors to my life, and I learned so much through it all. Most importantly, I understood that you can live and grieve at the same time. You can go through terrible things and still move forward. You don’t have to wait until things are ‘perfect’ again before continuing. It doesn’t mean you have to juggle it all either. It just means life happens, sometimes in beautiful ways, sometimes in unpredictable, impossible ways, but it’s what you do with them that gets you to where you’re meant to go.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a performer at heart. Magic has always been my tool for doing that. But I have a deep passion for music, film, and motorsports. If I could do my life in increments and pursue each of them (and more) to their fullest extent, I would.
Motorsports play the second biggest role in my life. I got that from my father. Some of my favorite moments are spent riding or working on the bikes in the garage.
In regard to performing, I think the thing that sets me apart the most is who I am on stage. It’s really just a larger version of me as a person. Sarcastic, playing, having a conversation with the audience. That’s where I’m most at home.
I’ve definitely got a big place in my heart for adrenaline… racing, fire eating, escapes/stunts, all of it. But it’s far more about the creativity and uniqueness involved in it rather than just the danger.
And when I think about creating my brand, it’s not just about being badass and doing these insane daredevil feats. It’s also about being the kind of person that little kids can look up to and say, “That’s something I could be” and “That’s possible.” Finding ways that I can be the kind of person I wish I had to look up to when I was younger.
More than anything, I love being a beginner. I hope that never changes. I have a thousand hobbies that come and go. I love learning new things. The whole process sets my soul on fire… being terrible, seeing slow progression, the frustration, the reward, and the moving on.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Determination, persistence, creativity, and maintaining your passion. Those are all just as, if not more, important than skill. While I do believe I have talent, I’m most proud of my work ethic. If you can’t get things done, it doesn’t matter how good you are at doing them. You need to be creative; you need to be looking at every angle. You need to study the paths the people you admire have gone down and then pave your own; don’t just trace behind them. Be inspired, but be new. Learn and apply but also create your own cookie cutter to leave your mark with.
Acknowledge failure. You’re going to mess up a million times. It doesn’t make you bad at it. It doesn’t make your career ugly. And it doesn’t mean it’s not what you’re meant to do. You’re going to make so many mistakes as a human being. But you really could fail at anything in life. So, pick the thing that you love the most. And even though it’s going to hurt more when you fail, it’s better that you’re doing something that you love with your life rather than just picking something random or tolerable and going, “If I fail, I don’t care.” You should care. You’ve got one life. You should care.
Contact Info:
- Website: gabriellalester.ca
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegabriellalester
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thegabriellalester
Image Credits
Nicolas Del Castillo
Taylor Wong
Martin Nguyen
Stu Cooke
Emma Young
Hayden Rivers
