Brand Partnerships
Hi! I’m Jessica Festa, but you can call me Jessie.
I'm an NYC-based content creator and speaker who is passionate about storytelling.
My mission: To empower my community to stop putting off their big travel dreams and actualize them *now*, whether that's taking that solo trip, becoming location-independent through travel blogging, or no longer waiting for that two weeks of annual vacation to explore a new place.
Through my content, I provide the resources people need to confidently go #BeyondTheGuidebook to find their own path in this world, even if it's unconventional.
Jessie on a Journey has a Domain Authority of 52 and receives over 140,000 pageviews per month from 210 countries (mainly the USA) with over 68,000 followers on social media like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. I also have over 15,000+ email subscribers.
Additionally, I host The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast, which shares strategies that help creators grow their traffic, community, and income. The show has over 66,000 unique downloads and many of the show note pages rank on the first page of Google.
I’m also the founder of the responsible tourism and culture magazine Epicure & Culture, which has a Domain Authority of 56. This site receives over 16,000 pageviews each month, and my brand partners have the added benefit of having content shared across this platform, as well (as an optional add-on). Epicure & Culture won the Bessie Award at the Women In Travel Summit 2019 in the "Ethical Travel" category.
During our brand partnership, you can expect:
professional
imagery & 360 video
As a professionally-trained photographer who also owns a photo tour company in NYC, I understand the difference between thoughtful composition vs taking a quick pic without intention. I’m constantly seeking out interesting actions, important details and moments that tell a story. Additionally, I love creating travel videos (example here) as well as eye-catching 360 videos (example here).
A Dedicated
Audience
Because I’ve been travel blogging since 2011, over the years I’ve formed a solid relationship with my readers. I know which topics interest them (and which don't), so I’m able to take a campaign goal and turn it into an organic story that will genuinely interest readers.
A FOCUS ON SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
One of my greatest skills is my knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and my ability to create content that has the chance to rank in organic search engine results. I put the same amount of effort into optimizing my sponsored content as I do my non-sponsored content, and have many sponsored posts that rank on page #1 of Google.
Ways to
Partner
There are many ways we can work together, such as press trips, sponsored blog and social media stories, sponsored podcast episodes on The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast, giveaways, photo and video asset creation, and email campaigns. Have your own idea? I’m always open to new partnerships!
Hot Topics
Solo (Female)
Travel
I travel solo 85% of the time, and create guides focused on these experiences to help others hit the road solo.
Adventure
Travel
From cycling through India to swimming with sharks in the Galapagos, I love getting my adrenaline pumping.
Life-altering
Experiences
Reflections, perspectives, and inspiration from life on the road. These typically take an interview format and often include a Facebook Live component.
Offbeat
Guides
These guides take you #BeyondTheGuidebook to have quirky and lesser-known experiences.
Responsible
Tourism
Ethical travel is woven into all travel content on both of my blogs. Epicure & Culture won the Bessie Award for Ethical Travel at WITS 2019.
New York
City
I’m a native New Yorker. While I roam globally, I have a particular love for NYC and is an expert (and tour guide!) in the destination.
Health &
Wellness
My readers enjoy learning about experiences that enhance both their vacations, and their minds and bodies. Hiking, cycling, wellness retreats, and yoga are a few popular topics.
Travel Blogging
Part of my goal of helping people make travel a part of their lifestyle is teaching them strategies for creating a profitable blogging business with more joy and less stress. I also run The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast.
Sample Campaigns
I’ve worked with prestigious brands like Marriott, Qantas, South Africa Tourism, Microsoft and more!
Success Stories...
We are pleased that she continues to find ways for South Australia to fit in additional story opportunities—even years after she completed the press trip.
We’ve been very impressed with the creative approach to Jessica’s storytelling, especially in capturing such a diverse region as South Australia. The diversity of angles, as well as the number of stories produced, has exceeded our expectations. From only a handful of days of touring in South Australia, we are delighted that Jessica had found many ways to produce thoughtful stories and capture the personalities and companies involved whom she visited.
- South Australia Tourism Commission
What an amazing journey it has been since we had the pleasure of hosting Jessie at Adventurous Hikes and Tours. I must say, I am extremely grateful that Jessie wrote about our experience, as we have gotten quite a few hikes booked from it.
From her caption of the picturesque trail to the descriptive piece of Antigua’s flora and fauna, her eye for detail has brought a positive slew of interest which has been a boost to our business. We love that her travel blog has given other businesses and interested parties access - which at the time was in its start-up phase. More importantly, Jessie shares her unscripted opinion, which is a much-needed component in honest business ventures. We are grateful that her journey led her to us. Until next time, keep trailblazing!
- Rodney Baltimore, owner of Adventurous Hikes and Tours
In fact I’ve never received as much coverage from one writer in my entire 14-year career in travel media relations!
Hosting Jessica Festa on the Sunshine Coast of BC was not only a pleasure but it resulted in a ton of coverage for our region. Less then 24 hours after our press trip ended Jessica had already posted her first blog. Her second followed shortly after and then her third and fourth and over the following year they just kept coming. I really appreciate Jessica’s hard work and professionalism and I would host her anywhere, any time!
- Andrea Wickham-Foxwell, My BC Buzz
Her post resulted in traffic to our site and brought confidence to those who were curious about the unique retreat!
Finding Jessica (Jessie on a Journey) and inviting her to cover our first Goat Yoga Retreat was a blessing. Jessica was our first experience working with a professional to cover an event and she set the bar high with her professionalism, good company, and her work. She was a pleasure to host and managed to cover her experience live, while staying fully immersed in the experience. Her coverage was genuine, personal, and completely in-line with what we were envisioning. We are very proud to share her experience with our clients. We'd love to have her again as a guest and a colleague. She comes highly recommended by Gilbertsville Farmhouse.
- Sharon Boustani, Gilbertsville Farmhouse
She went above and beyond what was discussed, and access to her stunning imagery was a nice touch.
Hosting Jessica on a wellness-focused influencer FAM in Myrtle Beach was a great decision! From start to finish, she was a pleasure to work with — clearly outlining deliverables that matched our objectives, being a hassle-free team player throughout the planning process and during the trip, and staying in close contact afterward regarding results.
- Julie Ellis, PR & Communications Manager, Visit Myrtle Beach/Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
From Facebook lives to coverage immediately after trip, this girl knows how to hustle.
Jessie came highly recommended for a press trip to Dominican Republic and she did not disappoint! I was so impressed by her professionalism, kindness and unstoppable drive for promoting sustainable tourism. Jessie was enthusiastic about meeting new people, appreciating the culture and asking questions. She went above and beyond to help tell the story of Dominican Republic. I cannot say enough great things about Jessie and hope I can work with her again!
- Bridget Tishler, Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism
She respects her audience and only recommends the best. That can easily be seen with every new productive campaign that we run – more people sign-up for our service.
At Connectify, we make the Internet better with technology for travelers. Jessica makes travelers’ lives easier. It’s a perfect match! Being the new super-smart “kid” in the neighborhood can be tough, especially if you do things that others cannot do. Speedify, our mobile VPN solution, needed exposure on specific audiences, including travelers. The fact we like most about Jessica is her natural way of writing the stories based on tests and facts.
- Cristian Miculi – Performance Marketing Manager, Connectify
It is clear Jessie has a lot of experience in blogging and internet marketing related topics.
I worked with Jessie on a branded marketing exercise for Marriott International over the course of a few months last year. In that time, I found Jessie to be extremely reliable, polite, professional and hardworking. A high standard of work was always delivered and always produced within the agreed time frame. This was particularly apparent post activity, when an extremely detailed breakdown of all the activities that had be undertaken was delivered – all to a very high standard. I would highly recommend working with Jessie and would happily partner with her on future projects.
- Euan Taylor, DigitasLB
Her content was well received and her piece on the Ukrainian Cultural Village was nominated for an award at the annual Travel Alberta conference.
We had a chance to bring Jessie in for a campaign for our Explore Edmonton campaign. We would highly recommend Jessie and gladly welcome her back for future campaigns.
- Pete Heck of Hecktic Media Inc.
Jessie has been absolutely wonderful to work with. Not only does she produce beautiful and relevant content, it is clear she has a mind for marketing, which is rare to find.
Throughout our partnership, Jessie has been professional and thoughtful, bringing ideas to the table, sending in robust and clear reports, and most importantly, delivering. Our campaign with her resulted in an 8% lift in social following, her article made it in the top 10 on google for multiple relevant key word searches, and she over delivered on the content we had contracted. We are so excited to continue our partnership with Jessie!
- Katie Williams of BeachBound
Jessie was so fun and easy to work with! She represented Jase Medical professionally and her content was attention-grabbing and beautiful.
Jessie was great about communication throughout the whole process, sent content in a timely manner, and provided great feedback! We are looking forward to many, many collaborations with her in the future! Thanks Jessie!!" -Joy Pinedo Director of Marketing Jase Medical
- Joy Pinedo of Jase Medical
Our various collaborations with Jessie over the years have been a total success!
She knows her audience very well and can always help you with the right messaging and format.
Jessie is a total professional and our joint work has been a pleasure as she always meets deadlines, focuses on campaign results, and responsibly meets all the brand's requirements.
She is a great partner to have, not only for awareness advertising campaigns but for creating something valuable together, for example, educational materials and collaborations.
I highly recommend partnering with Jessie if you want to create meaningful and practical advertising campaigns.
- Lisa Chobitko of Travelpayouts