M A J O R
M A G A Z I N E
20 Q U E S T I O N S W I T H
D O M I N I C C A L V A N I
B Y
J I M J O R D A N
Q: Tell us about your childhood growing up in Brazil and how your hometown shaped who you are today?
A: I’ll start off by saying I’m thankful every day it happened. It gave me the opportunity to contrast realities, which helped me to always be open to seeing things from a different perspective. I also certainly associate my simplicity with having grown up there. I feel that people in the U.S. require a lot in order to feel happy, joyful, or content. There’s a culture of wanting more, more, and more — not knowing how to feel satisfied. While the opposite could—and often does—lead to complacency, I feel that the mix of cultures has taught me to simultaneously feel truly appreciative of the small details in life, without requiring material things to be happy, and at the same time be able to balance that with drive and progress. It’s also gifted me friendships that have lasted my whole life and feel like family to me.
Q: Who or what inspired you early on?
A: I think I’ve always been most inspired by fighters, martial artists, and other men with a stoic, disciplined, warrior-like demeanor. I remember watching the documentary “Choke” about Rickson Gracie when I was about seven years old and thinking I wanted to be like that guy someday. I recently read his autobiographical book “Breathe” (the contradictory irony of the two titles just dawned on me, lol) and felt just as inspired and motivated as when I watched that documentary at seven years old.
Q: How many countries have you visited, and what’s been your favorite so far?
A: Good question — I never bothered to keep count. Last year, my godson did make me count how many countries I’d been to while we were on a trip together, and I feel like we finally came up with a number in the 40s after a few days of trying to remember them all.
Q: What’s your favorite place you’ve lived, and where is still on your list to visit?
A: Of places that I’ve actually lived, that might be Miami — despite all of its flaws. Madrid and Barcelona are definitely on the list of cities I need to live in at some point, though.
Q: How would you describe yourself in three words?
A: Honest, impatient, intense (probably a little too much at times).
Q: Acting, modeling, and traveling the world – how do you balance and connect all three?
A: I mean, it’s a lot, but not really. I’ve been blessed to be brought up by a woman who defies the limits of human productivity, so whenever I feel a little overwhelmed or like I have too much going on, I just remind myself of that crazy lady who’s probably already gotten more done by 10 a.m. than I am going to get done all day, which humbles and motivates me.
Q: You’ve worked on some visually striking projects. What’s been your favorite to date?
A: I’m not sure. They’re mostly all fun and I just take them in as I go.
Q: What’s been your proudest moment or accomplishment so far in your career or life?
A: I was just discussing this topic with my girlfriend yesterday — I think I may have a heavy case of impostor syndrome. Accomplishments, to me, just feel like something that should obviously have gotten done — like what other acceptable outcome is there? And bragging about them feels a little cringe. Perhaps there’s an argument to learn to relish each accomplishment a little more, but I like to just move on to the next thing. On the other hand, I’ll be climbing Kilimanjaro in a couple of months, so that might end up being one of them.
Q: How do you define success for yourself – creatively and personally?
A: I think no matter what you do, or which road you take to get there, feeling happy, connected to Mother Earth, and connected to God are the biggest — and perhaps even the only — successes one can strive for. Feeling disconnected from God/source/universe is scary. I’ve tasted it, I don’t like it, don’t recommend it, and I don’t think there is anything else in life that would be worth risking that connection for.
Q: How do you stay grounded in such a fast-paced, image-driven industry?
A: Honest answer? I don’t associate with 90% of the people in it. Since I don’t do this full-time, I get in, do my thing, keep it respectful, get out, and go back to my tribe where there is, quite frankly, a lot more authenticity present.
Q: What’s something about you people might be surprised to learn?
A: Well, how about the fact that I’m damn near blind in one eye? Not entirely, but for most intents and purposes.
Q: You have such an interesting mix of experiences – from software engineering to modeling and acting. How has your tech background influenced your creative perspective or work ethic today?
A: I worked for about five years in the field after graduating from college in computer science, and nowadays I run away from anything to do with tech work as fast as I possibly can. Funny fact: I simply cannot stand computers, dealing with tech, or any tech-related conversations. Despite my dislike for it nowadays, I will say that going through a technical, math and science based degree—especially not being innately good at it—made me work my ass off. I graduated with honors in a subject that I had no natural talent for whatsoever; through nothing else but perseverance, long hours, and pushing through. A lot of things nowadays feel like a breeze compared to getting through that degree and working in that field.
Q: What’s your morning ritual?
A: On a good day or a bad day? On the best of days: wake up, meditate, pray, jog to the beach, jump in the ocean, get a workout in, take an ice bath if it’s available, and get to work. On a bad day: wake up, unlock my phone to take a quick look at something “important”, get sidetracked mindlessly scrolling through social media and getting bombarded with negative news for the next hour, get out of bed feeling horrible for doing it, and try to make up for it. I’d be lying if I said they all start off the way I’d like them to.
Q: You’ve mentioned being passionate about meditation and self-discovery. What does your spiritual or mindfulness practice look like today?
A: There are a lot of different specifics depending on the day and how I feel. I like to keep it varied and mix it up because otherwise it becomes too repetitive and monotonous. But the one thing I think is always imperative is to start whatever the practice is from a place of gratitude and appreciation before asking for or expecting anything.
Q: How did you get into skydiving and what is it about the experience that keeps you coming back?
A: It had always appealed to me. I was spending some time in Barcelona, had the free time, found a place near Seville called Skydive Spain, and just went for it. There wasn’t much to it besides that I like to try new things — why not?
What keeps me going back: a lot of people who aren’t skydivers don’t realize this. They think skydiving is just jumping out of a plane, opening your parachute, and that’s it; every jump is the same. But getting good at skydiving is actually a very slow and time-consuming process just like basketball, soccer, golf, martial arts, racing, or any other sport. I could go on for an hour here about all of the things you need to learn to become a proficient skydiver but suffice it to say that it takes years to become a good skydiver, and there is tons to learn, which keeps the process fun and always new.
Q: Between skydiving, meditation, and your travels, you seem to live life on the edge yet with deep intention. What have these experiences taught you most about yourself and the world?
A: What they teach me is a complicated answer because each thing teaches me something different, but I know where it all stems from. It stems from a belief that even if we do come back to this world in another life or another form, this individual biological journey through the universe is unique and will never be lived again, so I might as well live it with the passion, intensity, and authenticity that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity deserves. I believe that not living is much worse than dying.
Q: What cause or charity do you most identify with or feel passionate about?
A: Uncovering the relevance of native/indigenous/ancestral traditions to modern culture.
Q: What’s your go-to late snack or guilty pleasure?
A: Ice cream definitely! Häagen-Dazs is the best by a mile.
Q: What songs do you have on repeat currently?
A: “Yawanawa” by Tonguere, “Runua Rezo” by Jardineiro do Infinito, “Strong Until I Break” by Sounds of Voss’ Life, “Blood Runs Dry” by Dead Bone, and “Nego Drama” by Racionais MC’s.
Q: What’s next for Dominic Calvani?
A: Hopefully more of what I’ve been doing: enjoying life, making money, creating freedom in my life, taking care of my peeps and my tribe, and being appreciative of the ability to do so.
