Today we’d like to introduce you to Bengy Cid.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I loved dancing and singing from a very early age. I would stand by the mirror dancing and creating music videos in my head. It was the 80s so MTV music videos were big at the time. During high school, I would join the talent show every year and loved creating skits and choreography dance shows.
I was never a so called “trained” dancer but I loved it and dancing was my life. After graduating High School, I got married, had a baby then got divorced within 2 years! I was a single mom by the age of 22 and had to hustle to make ends meet. I began college, worked full time at an office job and then found I could make extra money go go dancing. I then joined a very well-known go go dance entertainment company and worked almost 10 years doing something I loved and was able to eventually buy my own home and take care of my daughter. In 2001, I was lucky enough to audition for a singing duo group named “2 Sweet” and was chosen as one of the singers. I was then signed to Universal Records France and did a lot of traveling abroad doing shows and even did a music video for our first song “Bomba Latina”. It was my 15 minutes of fame. When 9/11 happened, they pulled the song from the radio due to the name of the song and the group was done. It was a wonderful growing experience which also helped me feeling confident enough to open up my own entertainment company in 2004.
Zhantra was born July 15, 2004. I wanted to create an entertainment company in where I was able to show my creativity and my vision. With the right people, I was able to create a new look and get away from the typical go go dancers with short colored bob wigs, bra and shorts to a more dramatic modern chic look. We had a wonderful designer who evolved us to the next generation of go go dancers. We began hiring models that were very tall and dressed them up not only in costumes but we did their make-up and they wore natural hairpieces. It was more like runway models dancing in latest trends rather than colored wig dancers. This started in 2006. By 2012 we were recognized in Miami and everywhere and we even got a story segment on E! channel and was named #1 sexiest entertainment company in Miami. This took us to another level.
The rest is history.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was really all by accident. I never wanted to own an entertainment company. It just kind of happened.
I had all the knowledge, I knew a lot of people, and did everything slowly. I would never in a million years would have thought Zhantra would become as big as it became. I was truly blessed.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Zhantra Entertainment Inc. story. Tell us more about the business.
Zhantra Entertainment is a full-service entertainment company. We provide talent to nightclub venues, corporate events and parties from Miami to NYC. We are mostly known for having the most beautiful talent in high end costumes. We began a dance trend in the world of go go dancers in the US. I am most proud of the many emails we get from young girls around the world wanting to come work for us.
Getting emails from the other side of the world is amazing. So many girls know of our company and that makes it all worth it.
What sets us apart from others is the professionalism we carry along with having so many beautiful talented individuals working for us.
We have a sister company in Chicago and also a local branch in NYC.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t think anything happens by luck in our business, its earned. You always have to be networking with your clients and hustle for more work and more clients. It’s a lot of hard work. It’s been 13 years for us and I still never stop marketing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.zhantra.com
- Phone: 3054230432
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zhantra/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZHANTRA/?ref=br_rs
Image Credit:
Max Reed
World Red Eye
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