Maria Baltazzi

Maria Baltazzi is a Los Angeles-based television producer, known for her work in unscripted programming, particularly in adventure and documentary series. Her career has been marked by both critical acclaim and commercial success. Additionally, she is a wellbeing teacher, transformational travel designer, and author. Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want In 2023, Baltazzi published Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want. This book blends insights from science and spirituality to help readers achieve greater happiness. It offers practical steps and immersive activities that combine phone photography and journaling prompts aimed at fostering self-reflection and personal growth. Maria's approach to exploring happiness has been recognized for its creativity and innovation. Book Awards Maria Baltazzi's Take a Shot at Happiness has been recognized by several organizations: The Eric Hoffer Book Award: This is a prestigious annual literary prize that honors excellence in independent publishing. Established in 2007 to commemorate the American philosopher Eric Hoffer, the award recognizes outstanding books from small presses, academic publishers, micro presses, and self-published authors. #1 Amazon Bestseller in Creativity Self-Help: This is awarded to books that achieve high sales rankings within their category on Amazon. Rankings are determined by sales performance, which is updated hourly, reflecting recent purchases. Independent Press Award: This category recognizes books that motivate and empower readers to grow, overcome challenges, and improve their lives. "Take a Shot at Happiness" won in the Self help: Motivational Category, highlighting that you can create a healthier state of being and have fun doing it. Even when your world turns upside down, you can still be the writer, director, and producer of the life you want. National Indie Excellence Awards: Celebrating excellence in independent publishing, "Take a Shot at Happiness" won in the Wellbeing category and was a finalist in Personal Growth, highlighting its impact on mental and emotional well-being and personal development. New York City Big Book Award: This prestigious award recognizes exceptional literary works that inspire and uplift. Take a Shot at Happiness was the Winner in the Wellbeing category, celebrated for its empowering guidance on creating a fulfilling life through self-discovery and purpose. Best Book Awards: Celebrating excellence in literary achievement, this program honored Take a Shot at Happiness as the Winner in the Nonfiction: Creative category and a Finalist in Self-Help: General. The book was recognized for its unique and inspiring approach to personal growth and creative living. Nautilus Book Silver Award: This award honors books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living, and high-level awareness. "Take a Shot at Happiness" guides readers toward a more fulfilling life grounded in self-discovery. Best Holistic Life Magazine: Recognized as Best Personal Growth Book of the Year, Take a Shot at Happiness was celebrated for its transformative insights, guiding readers toward greater self-awareness, purpose, and a fulfilling life. Paris Book Festival: This festival celebrates literary works that resonate with creativity, originality, and cultural depth. Take a Shot at Happiness was honored as the Runner-Up in the How-To category for its inspiring approach to personal growth, offering readers a meaningful journey toward crafting a life filled with purpose and joy. Hollywood Book Festival: Wild Card (Anything Goes!) Honorable Mention. This festival typically recognizes creators in the media whose books have potential for film and TV adaptation. Royal Dragonfly Book Awards: Received Honorable Mentions in both the How-To/Prompting and Self-Help/Inspirational categories for promoting originality. Personal Transformation and Philosophy Baltazzi began her journey in the television industry as one of the original supervising producers of the Emmy Award-winning series Survivor on CBS. Her work during the show's early years helped shape its innovative storytelling and audience engagement, contributing to Survivor becoming a cultural phenomenon. In 2001, she received an Emmy Award for her work on the first two seasons of Survivor and was nominated for an Emmy for Eco-Challenge: Borneo. After seven seasons with Survivor, Baltazzi moved on to developing and showrunning other television series. Witnessing the high-pressure environment of the entertainment world led her to question how people can achieve success while staying true to themselves and finding genuine happiness. This question inspired Baltazzi to seek a more meaningful life, leading to her earning a Ph.D. in Conscious-Centered Living. She has also studied happiness, mindfulness, meditation, and positive psychology with teachers such as Tal Ben-Shahar, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Rick Hanson, and Deepak Chopra. The Happiness Explorer Today, Baltazzi is known as the "Happiness Explorer." She combines her experience as a television producer, wellbeing teacher, world traveler, and transformational travel designer to help others on their journeys toward happiness. Her approach includes journaling and phone photography as tools for self-discovery, making the reader's happiness journey more personal and profound. Baltazzi is also committed to philanthropy. She has walked over 8,500 miles, participating in marathons on all seven continents to raise funds for various causes. Her other adventures include summiting Kilimanjaro twice, trekking to Everest Base Camp, leading treks in Africa, and walking the last 100 km of the Camino de Santiago several times. Professional Affiliations Baltazzi is a member of the Producers and Directors Guilds of America, The Explorers Club, and the Transformational Travel Council. Her enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion for human potential inspire others to pursue their dreams and find fulfillment. She believes that true success is found in self-discovery and the pursuit of authentic happiness.