How has Covid impacted young Asian-New Zealanders in the creative industry

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only slashed thousands of jobs from the market but also brought several established and prospective growing businesses and industries to its knees.

One such sector hit by this slump is the events sector, most of which have either been postponed or cancelled, or significantly downsized thereby bringing disruption in the lives of many artists, performers, and people working in the creative industry. 

The Indian Weekender reached out to several such artists and creative performers in the broader South Asian communities including from the Indian, Fiji Indian, Sri Lankan, Malaysian and even Chinese-descent who are talented, creative, fiercely independent and ambitious when it comes to pursuing their aspirations and dreams. 

Like everyone, these youngsters had scores of plans this year that would have taken them to the next level of their creativity, unfortunately, some of which were washed away by rampant business closures, layoffs and little to no work available in the market. 

The experience shared by these young, second and third-generation Kiwi-Asians is wide and varied, with some having a relatively positive experience, while others are coping with the new normal finding alternative options to keep their income stream steady and passion alive. 

The Generation Z has opted to use social media as a platform to reach out to the prospective audience and promote not just oneself but help support local enterprises to survive and thrive in this Covid situation.

Sabby Jey

Model, social media influencer and entrepreneur Sabby Jey had launcher her enterprise earlier this when the pandemic hit, and the country was sent into a long lockdown. 

Though her venture dealt with digital marketing, it involved working with clients promoting their brands and products on social media and in the digital world. With businesses suffering a slump in revenue, cost-cutting in place, most firms paused or stopped their digital marketing contracts with Sabby Jey Social, Sabby’s company. 

“I have had to really adapt to finding new ways of getting work and promote my business. To deal with the new normal, I needed a better and agile business and career plan- so I implemented new digital practices and marketing techniques for a start, got all my staff to work from home and meet clients on zoom,” Sabby said. 

She added that earlier, she would have been booked for the whole month through word of mouth and her social media profile, but now she has to approach clients and spread the word through online and social media platforms that she is available for work.

Actor, model, social media influencer and entrepreneur Sabby Jey (Photo: Instagram)

“Working from home during a worldwide pandemic has actually meant taking more time for my mental health and practising self-care,” Sabby added.

Sabby says ever since the lockdown and physical distancing becoming a new norm, people have moved to social media to keep themselves busy and promote oneself and other small local enterprises. 

“On Instagram, there is 'Click Kiwi' page helping businesses who have been impacted by COVID, on Facebook, there are two groups, ‘NZ Made Products’ and ‘Chooice’, which both showcase Kiwi businesses. 

“A Lot of these businesses end up getting enough enquiries, and some sell out all of their stock. There is also the ‘Girls in Business’ page which promotes females in New Zealand and Australia,” Sabby said. 

Richa Chandra

An accountant by profession and dancer-choreographer by passion Richa Chandra lost her job during the first wave of Covid-19 earlier this year and adding insult to injury, her dance workshops and event bookings too got postponed subsequently. 

Richa Chandra is a Fiji born proud Kiwi Indian who has dedicated most of her young life following her passion for dancing, graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor’s degree in Business with Information Management, is a micro-influencer on social media platforms and content creator as well. 

“After being redundant at my job and cancellations of my dance workshops, my steady income became an issue, but I was lucky enough to be living at home with my parents,” Richa says.

An accountant by profession, and by passion dancer, choreographer, micro-influencer Richa Chandra (Photo: Instagram)

Richa still had to find a way to come out of the slump and make the most of the moment- learn new skills, do part-time work, and if needed, even go digital with her dance workshops. 

“I took some time to think over my career path and have decided to change and specialise into a field that ties well with my creative work as a dancer and choreographer and a field that will always be high in demand. I told myself that I never want to be in a position like this again, and needed to focus on what makes me happy and be in a career path that will never become obsolete.”

In the last few months, Richa has been running online dance workshops, providing private lessons, and offering her talent as a creative director and choreographer for music videos. 

“I run my work (content creation and dancing) through platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Tiktok targeting mostly females in the age range from 18-year olds to 35-year olds now,”

Judy Gao

In the fashion industry of New Zealand, Judy Gao is one of the most prominent names and also being called as a self-taught fashion star. Besides being a fashionista, Judy is also a national level chess player, ranking fifth in New Zealand and has represented the country at Chess Olympians in 2008, 20012 and 2014, and held the title of Woman FIDE Master.

Judy has featured on the Project Runway NZ on TVNZ in 2018 and stood fourth in the show. She was the first New Zealand designer to take part in China Fashion Week in late 2019 and turned heads dressing Hollywood actress and stuntwoman Zoe Bell for the red carpet on the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ last year in Los Angeles. 

Fashion designer, Judy started her label three years ago working full time and specialising in evening wear and bridal gowns. Having studied commerce and science at Uni, instead of fashion gave her the edge to create her own business and run it successfully. 

The first wave of lockdown cancelled all events, postponed weddings and balls at schools, thus cancelling all dress orders eventually. 

One of Judy Gao's collections (Photo: Supplied)

“A huge part of my year is the ball season which starts from March, with school balls being cancelled, I was worried that there would be no work coming in for a few months, including weddings and private/corporate events,” Judy said. 

Judy had to find an alternative as retail was shut down for months, but she had to have a steady income to support the business and for herself. 

“With the downtime, I started creating TikTok videos as I saw the rapid growth potential it had for small businesses and I was fortunate enough to have gained traction online which kept me busy with inquiries and orders once we were out of lockdown,” Judy adds. 

Judy says that even in the second wave of lockdowns, a majority of her new business comes from TikTok, most of which are international. 

Sujata Singh

Lockdowns in NZ witnessed a fall in revenue and business for many, while some took that no-to-less work gap to upgrade themselves and their passions for any creative field. 

Such a story was narrated by Fiji Indian descent Sujata Singh who works as a full-time commercial analyst and is also a blogger, fashion and beauty content creator. Besides her full-time work, she takes time to create artistic content with products from brands to show products through photos and videos. 

A Commercial Analyst by profession, blogger, fashion and beauty content creator by passion Sujata Singh (Photo: Supplied)

With lockdown in effect, she realised content creation was not a priority for businesses, and so she spent her weekdays working from home. With all plans cancelled for weekends, Sujata created independent videos and content on her social media handle. 

“I started another venture as a product photographer for businesses and brands and as an Instagram consultant- and this was a long time plan for me, and lockdown gave me the time and calmness to pursue my new passion,” Sujata said.