We recently connected with The Michigan Guru and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, The Michigan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

During the pandemic, I watched a lot of YouTube. I had a few favorite vloggers, but one really stood out to me. I really enjoyed this person’s style. It was like one day while watching him, a lightbulb went off. I could do this too. As a happy Michigander, I knew I could go out, film my state and bring it home to others to enjoy as well. Michigan has so much beauty that needs to be seen and discovered by others that have no idea what is out here. So, first I knew I had to have a name. A brand. I grabbed my notebook and started brainstorming. It took a long time to find my name. The Michigan Guru was born.
Today, I have had the Michigan Guru for 2 and a half years, all in which I full fund myself. I work a full-time job during the day and go right to work on filming in the evenings and days off. My day never stops.
The past few years have been wonderful. Not only have I had a blast traveling my state, but I learned so much about Michigan and myself. In order to fully launch this business, I have had to learn so much!
How to budget finances, buy and use new equipment, research, stay organized, keep up a full-time job, being a mother, etc.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I was young, my mother was a photographer and on weekends when the whole family had time off from work and school, my parents would take my sister and I on trips across Michigan. My father would find places to fish and my sister, and I would join my mom on adventures to take pictures. My whole childhood was spent traveling our beautiful state of Michigan. I have all this built-up emotion and love for my beloved state that I am dying others to experience.

After I hit adult years, I wasted years of my life hoping from job to job. State to state. Dead end job to dead-end job. Every time I moved away, I always ended up back in my home state. It kept calling me home.

By 2019, I was dying to travel and revisit all the beautiful places and cities my parents introduced me to years before. So, I took a small part-time job as a local waitress and began saving every penny I could, bought a small simple $25 two-person tent, and headed north. My father lives in a small town just outside of Grayling, so my daughter and I pitched our tent on his property and traveled the whole upper north part of the lower peninsula. After arriving back home from that weeklong trip, I had amazing footage and photos and nothing to do with them. They just sat on my computer, unused for almost a year. Then one day a lightbulb went off in my head. Vlogging! I could travel, film, and photograph the state I fell in love with as a child! I could bring all the beauty I see and show the world. So, in January of 2021, I began ‘The Michigan Guru’.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I am a videographer. I am a photographer. A vlogger. I find it my personal goal to SHOW you Michigan. I want to show my viewers what Michigan looks like through MY eyes. How I see this amazing state. I am not out here trying to bring you the best picture you’ve ever see. I am not out here trying to show you the best travel vlog you have ever seen. I want my art to be the raw, amazing footage to be exactly the way it is. Naturally. If I have to hike all day, in the hot sun, through rivers and thick trees, you’re going to see that. You are going to see my sweat and dirt.

If I am out filming on a Michigan beach and pier, and I get absolutely soaking wet. You’re going to see that.

That Is the “art” of The Michigan Guru. \

If I can give that gift to a viewer and that viewer decides to visit Michigan or that particular part of Michigan one day because of my vlogs.. thats rewarding to me.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I do not have a team or crew. It’s basically and one man show. Me. A lot of times you will see my daughter in a video or my family members, and that is a “team” that tags along with me and puts up with me on our trips but basically, it’s just me. I have a vision in my head as I go along and ‘ The Michigan Guru’ grows and changes. Each experience, each video, each trip, changes me. My visions. What I want things to be like, filmed, content, etc. It all changes as time goes by. I just want each video to leave you thinking to yourself – ” Wow. Thats Michigan. What a beautiful state. I’d love to see that!” Ans just being me in my videos and behind the camera. My vision. How I see it.
That to me is high morale.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_michigan_guru/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.wollet/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAGZB7m4F3SbhMptr4xIXuA

Image Credits
The Michigan Guru