Maria Baltazzi

Maria Baltazzi is a Happiness Explorer, author and meditation teacher whose calling is to help people become happier and live more consciously. She holds an MFA in film and a PhD in Conscious-Centered Living, and she brings a background as an Emmy-winning TV producer, wellbeing teacher, world traveler and luxury travel designer specializing in transformative adventures.

Her path toward happiness began on Survivor, where she was one of the original producers. Watching contestants under enormous pressure behave in ways that surprised even themselves, she began to ask what it takes to succeed while staying true to yourself and being happy with who you are. After facing her own personal and professional challenges, she set out on a transformative journey and arrived at eight Happiness Essentials: faith, love, health, gratitude, forgiveness, peace, detachment and abundance.

Those essentials are the heart of her book, Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want, a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Creativity Self-Help. It blends science, spirituality and creativity, and invites readers to combine journaling, affirmations and meditative prayers with camera phone photography as a way of reflecting on what truly brings them happiness. The book has won awards including the Self-Help: Motivational category at the 2025 Independent Press Book Awards, the Wellbeing category at both the NYC Big Book Award and the National Indie Excellence Awards, and Best Personal Development Book of the Year 2024 from Best Holistic Life magazine. The U.S. Review of Books recommended it as a "dynamic treatise."

Maria has studied Happiness, Mindfulness, Primordial Sound Meditation, Spiritual Psychology and Positive Neuroplasticity with teachers including Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Deepak Chopra, Rick Hanson, Tal Ben-Shahar, Marianne Williamson and Davidji. She offers practical guidance for shifting unproductive thoughts and habits and for living with greater meaning and inner peace.

Giving back is part of her own journey. She has walked over 7,500 miles to raise funds for charity, primarily Stand Up to Cancer, including marathons on all seven continents. Her adventures have also taken her to Machu Picchu, along the Camino de Santiago, to Everest Base Camp and twice to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. She is a member of the Producers and Directors Guilds of America, a Fellow National Member of The Explorers Club, and an Advisor for the Transformational Travel Council.