Interview with Zavier Sabio

Alex: Hello Zavier!

Zavier: Hey! What’s up?

Alex: I’m doing well, how are you doing?

Zavier: I’m good, I’m keeping busy, enjoying the summer. But I’m ready for the fall. I miss wearing my leather jacket, you know.

Alex: Bundling up, yeah.

Zavier: Wearing jeans, boots, the whole deal. But yeah.

Alex: I reached out to you because maybe people have been seeing you popping up lately. Especially back in June when you were on Sesame Street, that episode you did with Troy Kotsur. That was cool.

[Clip from Sesame Street showing Troy Kotsur and Zavier Sabio on the set with two muppets, Count von Count and Rosita.]

Zavier: It’s not often you get the opportunity to work with an Oscar winner.

Alex: Right.

Zavier: And Deaf, too. It was a friend of mine who first recommended my name, and that’s when Sesame Street reached out to me wondering if I was interested in being on the show with Troy. Troy? That’s a no brainer, sure! You know, Sesame Street! It was incredible being on set. Everyone was so warm, friendly, and easy to work with. I got to see my favorite muppets, Elmo, Big Bird…

Alex: You got to meet them, yeah.

Zavier: Meeting them all, right, it was crazy you know? I grew up watching Sesame Street and now here I am meeting these characters. It was just crazy. The experience was great, and Troy was a dream to work with. I believe that was my second time meeting him, and we were able to work seamlessly together. He was just great, he was great to me, he was patient, he was very easy to work with. Very easygoing, and that goes for the whole crew on set too. Everyone was great, super nice.

Alex: So there was Sesame Street, and then another big moment for you has been a new responsibility of being the Host of ASL Slam, which was founded by Douglas Ridloff. Can you tell us more about what that’s been like? I’m sure some may not be familiar with ASL Slam.

[Screenshots of Instagram posts by @aslslam showing Douglas Ridloff announcing he is passing the ASL Slam NYC torch to Zavier Sabio as the next host]

Zavier: Douglas stopped by my place to gauge my interest in being a host. Of course, when he asked me to host ASL Slam it wasn’t like I was scared of the stage, I love the spotlight. But to take on ASL Slam and to replace Douglas, whew, he’s a legend. People know him as the face of ASL Slam. You think of ASL Slam, you think of Douglas Ridloff. So for me to take that on and for him to put his whole trust in me, that says a lot. We’ve come a long way for him to put his trust in me and I really appreciated that offer. And now, things have been going well. As for what ASL Slam is, we give a platform to performers and audience members to come up on stage and perform. It can be storytelling, ABC or number stories, poetry, the list goes on. The goal is that all performances are done in ASL. ASL is the core. So ASL Slam is a platform that provides a safe space for performers and those who are watching to get up on stage to express themselves. You know, we’re working all day, we’re dealing with so much happening in the world, and then you can get on stage and let go of all of it. So ASL Slam is where we provide that.

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Alex: Now, you’ve also been running a fashion business online.

Zavier: Yes, right.

Alex: And you’re doing that in Brooklyn, your hometown where you grew up.

Zavier: It’s my home, yeah.

Alex: So you’re still in Brooklyn now?

Zavier: Oh, yes!

[Screenshots of Instagram posts by @mistersabio showing him looking dapper in two scenes in NYC]

Alex: Can you tell us about your fashion business? I’m curious about that.

Zavier: For sure! After I graduated from Gallaudet University, I was working around at different jobs but my true passion has always been fashion. I come from a family who has always valued style, art, and fashion. I shared that fascination but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. My sister was already an FIT student at that time, that’s the Fashion Institute of Technology. It’s a top fashion school. So my sister was a student there at the time, and I remember asking my mom what she would think if I went to FIT. We figured there was no harm in applying. What’s the worst that could happen, you know? So I applied without any expectation that I’d get in because it’s very selective, it’s a top school after all. And then sure enough, I was accepted. Oh man. That caused me to realize that there’s so much to see out there in the world and outside of my comfort zone. You know the saying, good things happen outside of your comfort zone. So that’s where it all started, that’s where I wanted to hone in my passion. Once I graduated I considered working retail but I wanted to curate my own line. After some thought I wanted to become a reseller, that’s when I founded The Oxford Vault. I wanted to purchase fashion pieces for resale, like Air Jordan sneakers, selling pieces at a profit. That was my vision. But keep in mind, I had released my business two days before COVID showed up. I obviously took a hit because of that, a really really bad one. So I hit the brakes on that. I did do a little bit at the height of COVID but it wasn’t the same. In the fashion world, you have to always be interacting with people, going to different events, networking and building your brand. I couldn’t do that because of the pandemic. So I put it on pause and then I became the ASL Slam host. More opportunities started coming up and I also became an ASL consultant and Director of ASL for several theaters. People would ask if I was leaving my fashion endeavors behind, but it’s just been on hold. Just because cool opportunities were coming my way didn’t mean I was ignoring my fashion work. I’m still working on it, it’s just that I’ve been thinking about making a pivot to something different, maybe adding new services relating to fashion or doing an overhaul with a rebrand. We’ll see, I’m still in talks and I’m thinking about it. But so far so good. I still love fashion. My goal is to become a full-time creative.

Alex: Through different avenues, ASL, fashion, community, culture…

Zavier: Fashion, art, community, all of it. And what better place than New York City to become a creative?

Alex: Right. Thank you so much Zavier, it was nice chatting with you.

Zavier: For sure. Thank you for the opportunity, I appreciate it.