We were lucky to catch up with Michael Fiorellino recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?

The most common question that I get asked is where is the most dangerous place that I have filmed in. Everyone expects the answer to be Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan but the answer is the west side of Baltimore. The west side of Baltimore is extremely blighted with rows and rows of abandoned homes and vacant storefronts. There are precious few restaurants where one can sit down and enjoy their meal but there was a venue called Soul Source by the Airbnb that I renting in the Midtown-Edmonson neighborhood.
It was an early Monday morning and I decided to film my walk to Soul Source with my GoPro. I was walking down Monroe Street with no problem at all but as I made a turn onto Edmonson Avenue there was a small group of young men on the corner engaging in the sale of drugs. It was too late to hide my camera and it was obvious that I caught them on film. Needless to say they weren’t too please with my presence and I was quickly surrounded and asked who I was and what I was doing there. Luckily I had my business cards on me and I handed them out stating that I was filming for YouTube and that I wasn’t an undercover cop. They all looked me up on their phones and saw that I was telling the truth. They gave me a stern warning to never come back again and that I could go but I was warned that if I ever return my life would be over. I did make it to my breakfast unharmed but I was shaking with fear and anxiety. Needless to say that I had to delete that scene for now everyone from the corner had my contact information. I learned a valuable lesson that morning and that was to be more careful filming in drug infested neighborhoods.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

After releasing my videos on Syria, I was sent many messages on social media from Syrians thanking me for showing the positive side of Syria. Many of the messages were amazing to read for so many of them had to flee their country due to war. When we see Syria in the media it’s always for something tragic and horrible such as when ISIS was controlling large swaths of the country and they were enslaving and torturing the local population. Luckily ISIS no longer holds any territory there and the country is trying to heal but unfortunately due to sanctions put on by our government their plans to rebuild is not going to be easy. The pattern of gratitude has been repeated several times when I released my videos about the Bronx, Iraq, Lebanon, etc.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I was to film in Kabul I was supposed to meet up with other intrepid travelers who included Mark Zolo (writer) and Tom Mutch ( journalist). The plan was to meet in Kabul, I was to fly in from the USA and they were already in Pakistan so they were to fly in from Islamabad to Kabul. I got my visa approved quickly from the Afghan embassy in Washington DC but the others were from Ireland and New Zealand so they were going to get their visas from the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. Unfortunately at the last minute their visas were denied, I didn’t get the news until I landed in Kabul so I was essentially on my own there. But instead of hiding out in my hotel for several days I went out and explored on my own with the help of a local guide. It turned out to be a great episode and amazingly we all met up later in Istanbul since all of our flights to return home were routed through there. I never thought I would have explored Kabul like that but that’s how it happened.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mikenogozones.com/
• Instagram: mikenogozones
• Facebook: No Go Zones
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-nogozones-a313971a3/
• Twitter: mnogozones
• Youtube: Mike No Go Zones