A day in the life of Damien Zivanovic

Osteopath/DJs are few and far between, even in this age of multihyphenates. Believe it or not, these are the two unrelated activities Damien Zivanovic has chosen. Like a very specific kind of superhero, he’s a healthcare practitioner by day, and a DJ by night. How does he balance both lives, as well as his responsibilities as a father? Damien hosted us in his flat on a sunny day in Lyon to answer these questions and more.

Hello Damien, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Damien Zivanovic, I’m 32 years old, turning 33 soon. I’m a trained osteopath, it’s my day job. I share a practice with two general practitioners and a physiotherapist. We opened 3 years ago in the centre of Lyon. I also teach osteopathy to 3rd and 4th year medical students who are looking to specialise in this area. And then there’s my side job...

Which is...

Well, as a student I would organise parties and DJ at events, mostly electronic music. It took off, and I never really stopped. We launched this thing called Papa Maman, formerly known as Propagang. My partner in this venture started 11 years ago, and I came in 9 years ago. We settled for a happy medium, and we’ll be celebrating Papa Maman’s 10-year anniversary soon!

What is Papa Maman exactly?

We’re party promoters. We work in Lyon, Bordeaux, and Paris. The bulk of our activity is in Lyon these days. We organise one or two big parties per month. I mostly take care of booking artists. We’ve partnered with a media company called Make x. They started taking care of the logistics for us two years ago, as we’re getting older and multitasking is time-consuming. With the tenth anniversary coming up, I wanted to get fully involved again. We have a few large events coming up, in particular this summer. For a while, we took over Friday nights at ‘la Plateforme’ during the summer. This year, we’re switching locations and heading to the ‘Halles du Faubourg’, a 1,200m² abandoned factory, with 2,000m² gardens, every Saturday this summer. We called it ‘Été Suédois’ (Swedish Summer)! On top of these parties, I regularly DJ at other events.

How do you balance all these activities?

For a long time, I tried to find a link between both activities, however tenuous it might be. But there’s isn’t one. They are entirely different worlds. After all these years, I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I’ve got fingers in two completely unrelated pies. On the one hand, I’m doing something health-related, I’m trying to help people improve their quality of life. At night, it’s the polar opposite. It’s not really about listening to your body! I really struggled to find a balance between both. My students often come to my parties. My patients too. My secret to making all these things live together is segmentation. I’m a tough teacher at school. On weekends, I’m a nice guy, I’ve even bought beers for my students (laughs)! Segmentation is important, I’m a healthcare practitioner first and foremost.

How does that translate in terms of time management?

I’ve learned how to divide my time properly. I used to do DJ and party bookings from my practice. It made for very complicated weeks, and I sort of got lost in the excitement of it all. I separate things now. I have two breaks during my work day, where all I do is focus on the party planning. I try to fit in as much booking-related activity as possible in 45 minutes. I mean, it’s been 10 years now, I should be used to it, but the right balance is hard to find.

At what time do your days start?

I get up at 6:45. I prepare my daughter’s breakfast, and wake her up at 7am. We eat together. It’s very important. I recently started eating sweet and savoury breakfasts. I’ve added a slice of bread with ham to my usual bowl of fruit. Given the length of my work days, I have to admit I really didn’t get to see my daughter that much. It needed to change, I had to spend more time with her. She’s two and a half. I dress her then take her to the nursery on my bike. At 8:45 I’m at the practice, for my first patient of the day.

I assume you shower before that.

Yes, I shower in the morning. I use Horace products. I was pleasantly surprised by the face cleanser, which wasn’t a product I used, but has since become a part of my morning routine. I wash my hair every other day with the Horace shampoo, and once my shower’s over, I use the natural deodorant. I gave up my Narta deodorant and its aluminium. I threw it out, and I’m all the better for it. I tend to have dry skin, so I moisturise with the mattifying moisturiser halfway through the morning!

You have medium-length hair. How often do you go to the hairdresser’s?

Every three to four weeks. I always tell my hairdresser to avoid making it look like I’ve just had my hair cut. I slick my hair back. I have a big nose, and if my hair is too short, my nose is all you see. That’s what it feels like in any case.

When did you start wearing a beard?

I’ve had a beard non-stop for a long time. Maybe seven or eight years. I don’t put that much effort into it. I trim it down when it’s too long, that’s about it. The only barber I ever went to said it was a bit patchy! He said I’d be better off taking care of it myself, so that’s what I do, with clippers and a comb.

Does your busy schedule leave you enough time to exercise?

Yes. I exercise quite a bit, it helps with the busy weeks at work, and the weekends when I sleep less. I run once a week. Once or twice a week, if I can, I squeeze in a 2-mile front crawl swim. I go to the ‘piscine du Rhône’ swimming pool. It’s an open-air pool, but it’s heated, even in winter. I recently got into yoga Vinyasa. I really enjoy it, and go once a week. If I miss out on my session, the following Monday tends to be rough. I have group lessons with a teacher who spent a lot of time in India. It’s pretty intensive, some of my friends tried it out with me, but they gave up quickly! We take each pose very far. Lessons last 1h45, and are anything but easy! Yoga has become an important part of my week. When I take my breaks at work, I do some yoga for 10 minutes before looking at my emails. I meditate twice a week, for 15 minutes each time, during my lunch break, with an app called Mind.

How does exercising contribute to the balance between work and DJing activities?

I’m more mindful. I had a good understanding of what was happening in my body thanks to my training. At some point I overdid it at work, and my body gave up on me. That was an eye-opener. I burned out physically. I’ve changed quite a few things in my life since then, to take control again. My work weeks are busy, the artist bookings take up a lot of space, I have to prepare the lessons I give, and I have to take care of my daughter at home. It was a complicated time in my life. I snapped. If I hadn’t managed to balance things out by clearly separating things, and through exercising too, I probably would have had to give something up. Artist booking for Papa Maman, undoubtedly!

Does this new life balance help to switch off from work?

Yes. I used to find it extremely difficult. I’ve started to do it now. I don’t really have a choice. If I don’t switch off, I find my mind constantly racing, always thinking about something, and that isn’t super healthy. Exercising helps, as do plenty of other things. I don’t work on Fridays anymore. I take care of myself, I read. I also travel a lot, it’s crucial, all my friends can tell you how important it is to me. I recently went to Colombia and Panama. On the morning following my return I was in Morocco with my wife and daughter. It’s still the best way of switching off!