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Our Story
Hi, I’m Michaela Guzy and I’m a midwesterner living in NYC. For over a decade I had a corporate publishing career, but was increasingly frustrated by the lack of content dedicated to why I thought travel important. I believe that the more you travel, the more your perspective shifts outwards and allows you the opportunity to see how others perceive you. Travel lends to a new found understanding, an acceptance of cultural differences and it opens our eyes to just being human. Deeper connection leads to true transformation, which is why I love to travel and what inspired me to make a change.
In 2012, I had my Jerry Maguire moment, left my big corporate job and started a travel, food and philanthropic content site called OhThePeopleYouMeet (OTPYM) which explores the intersection of travel, adventure and connecting back with your local community and set off for Africa by myself for three months. While I was away, my stories and photos started getting picked up by other blogs and started radio call ins from Africa. When I returned to NYC in June 2012, I was asked to audition for a TV show. The show itself wasn't ever picked up, but my audition video, a story that I directed, wrote, produced and hosted somehow ended up on New York Taxi TV. It just so happened that one of my former clients from my big corporate job saw the piece and before I knew it, my cameraman and I were on our way to Doha to film celebrity chefs launching a menu series with an airline. Today we have our own original editorial web video series called Michaela’s Map that has taken us across the globe to cover the special transformative moments that only connecting with a local provides and we've just started rolling out a second series called OhThePeopleYouMeet featuring all the inspiring humans we keep meeting. We need your help to continue to create high quality content to help inspire the notion that the more you travel, the more open minded and accepting you become and that you are personally responsible to give back to each destination you visit.
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We are resonating not only within our industry, but with journey seekers across the globe. Three short years later we have over 50 contributors and 60K fans on Facebook. Our content is picked up by other notable media outlets like Yahoo Travel, The Daily Meal and even Conde Nast Traveller India. Soon we will be developing content for partners like About.com covering topics like sustainability and transformative travel. For more, watch our travel trailer to learn more about OTPYM got started.
To date, OTPYM is self-funded, but we need your help to distribute the stories of these beautiful people and the good work that they do to as wide an audience as possible! We have over 20 videos in post production. Inspiring treatments that we've shot covering amazing humans in the creative and culinary scenes in Cape Town, the coastal hubs of Australia to our special piece titled, "Who are the people in your neighborhood," filmed during Burning Man this year. In order to hold true to the OTPYM brand and quality of the work that we produce, we need your help to cover pesky yet necessary details like editing, studio time, music licensing, audio mixes, additional writing and post production.
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Our Michaela's Map content themes range from the creative characters we met on the desert playa of Burning Man, hidden hot spots in Australia's coastal towns with a few notable locals, unexpected culinary tips from tastemakers across Oz, the exploding creative and culinary scene through the eyes of the artists and chefs of Cape Town, and even a surprise from Vancouver.
For our OhThePeopleYouMeet interviews, we speak with inspiring folks from across the globe, including the Prime Minister of Bhutan, the first colored Miss South Africa, celebrity chefs from both Australia and South Africa, a wildlife conservationist in Zimbabwe, an Aussie celebrity who shows us around her new home town and hopefully a woman working to end the child sex trade in Cambodia.
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What We Need & What You Get
So let us break it down for ya:
- For the 20 or so videos we have in post production, we have found creative pioneers who believe in our vision at the very lowest of rates. We've estimated our fees from editing, legal, music licensing, audio mixing, studio time and writing to be about $85,000 USD.
- Check out the exciting PERKS we have for folks that support our campaign!
- Every dollar we raise will go to getting as many of the videos as possible to final form, without compromising our quality. We will distribute our message to as wide an audience as possible to share the impact we know we are capable of making.
The Impact
True to the mission I set out with in 2012, the traveling team and I create compelling high quality editorial content to inspire people to meet people whether they are travelers, foodies or philanthropists. As content creators, it's our mission to educate. Your contribution is a necessary part of spreading the word and making a difference.
- Travel is about disconnecting and sometimes reconnecting with yourself. Sometimes it's to eat well and other times it's to break bread with a local to better understand his or her culture and traditions. It should always be about opening your eyes to how others live and paying it forward. And that's where we come in, to help us tell these important stories.
- For the past three years we've created over 70 original high quality videos. We've included several in the EXTRAS section and you can always check out our Travel Video page on OhThePeopleYouMeet or our YouTube channel, Michaela Guzy.
- We took a risk three years ago because we believed in something and we are so honored by the support we've received thus far. We want to continue to create relevant, authentic and inspiring content. We want to continue to find other content creators who care and want spread the word of our journey to connect with other awesome humans across the globe.
Risks & Challenges
We take our obligation to share true stories, of real people and places very seriously. We've never compromised our integrity. We've self-corrected and admitted to making mistakes (check out our special announcement on Lion Conservation). We need your HELP to continue to share fun, engaging and informative content from developing urban hubs like Cape Town to the dusty desert floor of Burning Man. By donating you are helping us get one step closer to spreading the word with the world and opening people's minds to new possibilities.
Other Ways You Can Help
Look, we get it. We are a self funded start up. Sometimes you want to help, but can't spare the funds, but you can still support!
We'd appreciate you getting the word out. Please share our project with your friends, family, followers and fans and invite them to contribute because they care about opening the hearts and minds of people around the world, social change, independent film, female entrepreneurs, or you're a fan of our video work.
- We really appreciate all your support! Arigato, obrigada, merci, gracias, asante sana, danke and just plain thank you!
- Thanks for being a part of the traveling team!
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The Traveling Team
Michaela Guzy, Founder / Chief Content Creator. In 2012, Michaela Guzy founded OhThePeopleYouMeet a content site for travelers, foodies and philanthropists with a passion for genuine local connection. Today OTPYM has over 50 contributors across the globe and over 61,000 fans on Facebook. In June of 2012, she started Michaela’s Map, an original web video series she directs, writes, produces and hosts, which is also distributed on sites like YahooTravel, Everett Potter, The Daily Meal. She is also About.com's sustainable travel expert.
Michaela advises Travel+Social Good and serves as the Corporate Vice Chair for The New York Center for Children. In addition to speaking at various InternationalLuxuryTravelMarket conferences and Adventure Travel Trade Association Summits, Michaela curates content for T+SG during Social Media Week and NY Travfest. In a past life, Michaela, served as the VP/Global Travel and Strategic Development at American Express Publishing overseeing sales and marketing for blue-chip travel accounts for Travel+Leisure, Food&Wine, Departures, Executive Travel, Black Ink and Time Inc. brands.
Michaela hails from St. Louis, MO where she grew up with her parents and three biological sisters, their fake sister from Ecuador, no less than six dogs and two chickens.
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Nikki Pepper, Deputy Editor. Nikki is a creative living on Wall Street. As Deputy Editor of OTPYM, she oversees over 50 international contributors along with covering the amazing destinations she’s grateful to visit. From a small New Jersey beach town, she brought the sand between her toes to New York to pursue her passion for city life. She fell in love with traveling during several family trips through the Caribbean and now lives for eating brigadeiro in Brazil, snorkeling in St. Thomas and getting lost among ruins in Italy. In 2014, Nikki joined Travel+SocialGood as Content Director, refining the brand and voice of the community and overseeing the brand’s integrity as T+SG grows internationally. Aside from OTPYM, she also writes for sites like
Creator by WeWork,
TheLadders and
Wakefield Media.
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Stephanie Cirillo, Photo Editor/Social Media Manager. A dream chasing, portrait-taking world traveler with an insatiable artistic curiosity, Stephanie never wants to sit down or stop looking around. It is all part of her scope and fodder for visual narratives. Her ability to capture moments has been enhanced from work experience in the media industry and renders an aesthetic all her own, seen on her site
www.stephaniemcirillo.com.
Kaitlyn Jackson, Video Editor. Kaitlyn hails from the great state of Texas, and ended up in NYC by chance after college. She spends her days working on green screen composting and visual effects at one of the top post-houses in New York and her nights editing videos for OTPYM. She’s seen countless cities across the U.S. and hopes to expand her travels abroad very soon.
Ryan Carpenter, Videographer. Ryan is a videographer from Florida with a bachelors in psychology from USF. He plays the guitar, is an experienced bar tender, an amateur astrologer and has spent the last three years shooting and editing video. He moved to New York in the summer of 2014 to pursue filmmaking and advertising.
Stephen Venezia, Videographer. Stephen is a southern-raised, New York-bred director, cinematographer, and editor based out of Brooklyn, New York. His production company,
Nimblefox Productions, is a collective for content creation that specializes in producing branded content, short films, fashion pieces, music videos, and documentaries from initial conception through post-production.
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Uri Djemal, Producer. Uri started Madpan Productions in 2004 after several years of working in production at indie/eclectic mecca Nonesuch Records. During his time at the label, they produced works by Wilco, Stephen Sondheim, Emmylou Harris, Philip Glass and The Black Keys. A studied musician himself, what really gets Uri’s motor going is working directly with artists. After his departure from the label world, he set out to create a space where he could entertain his two passions; nerding out on sound and creating music. A sergeant of the music industry, Uri’s achievements include Grammy and Emmy nominations, four platinum records, multiple Telly Awards, and ambitious contributions in both production and performance.
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Aaron Jaffe, Audio Specialist. Aaron is an award winning composer/producer based in New York City. Whether creating sonic branding for a client list that includes L’oreal, Las Vegas, Maybelline and Toyota or composing full length modern ballets for Cuban dance companies he always strives to push his own musical envelope. He starts every day in Central Park with a coffee and his dog Siko, and it’s rumored he’ll do just about anything for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
Roger Wong, Creative Consultant. Roger manages the creative and business development side of OTPYM aside from his full time gig as a Creative Director in advertising. He has spearheaded ad campaigns on brands such as Comcast, Diageo Brands, Mercedes Benz, Audi, LVMH, and Goldman Sachs. He’s a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, GA.
