Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Ortega.
Monica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After working as an entertainer at a resort in Michigan, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in country music. While I was there, I began teaching line dance and emcee’ing events at the world-famous Wildhorse Saloon. After acting opportunities brought me to Los Angeles in 2010, I continued emceeing events and festivals like Stagecoach, Country 500, Jamboree in the Hills, and more.
In 2014 I read the book You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero and realized that I was happiest hosting. After one hosting class, I knew I’d found the right career. Our teacher told us to start our dream show as a way to get auditions, so I began hiking and filming the adventures on my phone. Monica Goes was born! It quickly found an audience, and I realized I was in love with the show I had created.
I also quickly realized that I am afraid of everything! Soon, Monica Goes transitioned into me facing my fears and pushing out of my comfort zones with the goal of inspiring other people to do the same. After my divorce in 2017, the show took on a new audience. As I began opening up about my journey, I wanted to show people that second chances can be amazing and that it’s never too late to start living a life you truly love!
The show has over 75 episodes and hundreds of blogs. It’s been featured on USA Today’s 10Best, Matador Network, Insider Travel and more. I’ve worked with over 20 different tourism boards and have begun speaking at conferences about what I’ve learned in the past four years of creating Monica Goes. My goal is to continue to inspire others to face their fears and live their adventure!
Has it been a smooth road?
It has NOT been a smooth road in the slightest. The biggest mistake that I made was not treating the show as a business. When I began, it was just something that I loved to do so I poured all of my savings into traveling and filming the journey.
I was coming off of some commercial success and was fortunate to have those funds to begin but they quickly ran out, and I had to find other ways to continue the show. I also knew NOTHING about filming or editing when I began. I’d only ever been in front of the camera, so there were a giant learning curve and a LOT of googling to improve the quality of the episodes over the years.
Being an entrepreneur, the show takes up almost ALL of my time. Because Monica Goes is all about travel, that also requires being on the road a lot. It can be exhausting and time-consuming and difficult to have a life outside of work but loving my work has made it all worthwhile.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Monica Goes came from a love of hosting and going on adventures but has become SO much more. I saw so many amazing adrenaline junkies making epic travel videos, and I wanted to show people that adventure can be everywhere and that if an everyday, average person like me can do it, anyone can.
While I specialize in being a live and on-camera host, through Monica Goes, I have also become a producer, cameraman, editor, social media expert, brand manager, entrepreneur, and more! The thing that sets the show apart from a lot of what’s on YouTube is that it’s a hosted travel show.
Much like you’d see on the Travel Channel or Discovery Network. I wanted each episode to be about the destination or the adventure and less about me. I didn’t want to create a vlog, I wanted to create a show. Being afraid of everything has also helped it stand out and become a way to inspire others to face their own fears.
I’m most proud of the fact that I have been able to continuously put out content for four 1/2 years; regular episodes, blogs, and daily social media. The amount of times I didn’t know how I’d keep making it work and have always found a way.
When I started Monica Goes, I knew there would not be a backup plan for me because I loved what I was doing so much. The most rewarding part of this is when someone tells me that they went on an adventure after seeing me do it even though I was afraid and how that helped them face their own fears. That is an incredible experience!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the PERFECT place to start a business like this! There is so much to do and see around here that it’s been amazing showing people that you don’t have to travel across the world to go on an adventure. When I haven’t had a trip booked or funds were running low, Los Angeles has provided so many incredible experiences and beautiful places to explore and create content around. The state of California has endless amounts of adventure, and Los Angeles has been the best home-base to come back to.
There is also a vast amount of people creating their own content and living the entrepreneur life that it’s been inspiring to be around. I think it would be hard to live this unique lifestyle anywhere else where people may not understand the unconventional choice to start my own brand. Being in an artistic city has also provided me with loads of resources to learn from when it comes to the filming and editing world as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monicagoes.com
- Email: monica@monicagoes.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/monicagoesshow
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/monicagoesshow
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/monicagoesshow
- Other: www.youtube.com/monicagoesshow
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
