about us

Founders and Team

 

Greg Sullivan

CEO/Co-Founder, Editorial Director

Greg started his career as a corporate securities attorney and later an investment banker before launching a series of successful entrepreneurial ventures. In 1989, he started a business designing and manufacturing international arcade games, including the world’s largest selling coin-operated basketball game. After selling that company, Greg led a car retailing and finance company, growing it into a $750-million operation with 76 dealerships across the country. After selling his interest in that business in 2006, Greg began traveling the globe, searching for his next entrepreneurial opportunity.

While on a trip to India, Greg and AFAR’s co-founder Joe Diaz realized that there was no media voice for cultural explorers, those seeking to broaden themselves by going beyond the typical tourist haunts and connecting deeply with local people and places. Thus was born the inspiration to launch AFAR Media, a media company focused on experiential travel that helps people experience every destination as local residents do.

Joseph Diaz

Co-Founder, VP Sales & Brand Development

A seasoned world traveler, Joe spent his early years growing up in a bi-cultural family, with one foot in Spain and the other in California. That early exposure to the global village propelled Joe toward what he now considers his “calling”—learning about this fascinating and quirky world we live in through travel.

After graduating from Duke University, Joe spent three years working with Teach for America in the barrios of Phoenix, Arizona, before getting his masters degree and launching a successful real estate investment firm in Arizona. His travels have taken him extensively to four of the seven continents, with a goal to visit all seven.

Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio

Executive Vice President, Publisher

Ellen Asmodeo is our Executive Vice President and Publisher, based in New York. Ellen most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Weekend Edition & Luxury Group at The Wall Street Journal, where she oversaw sales and developed strategies to drive revenue in the luxury categories through all properties and strategic partnerships. Ellen originally joined The Journal to launch its successful lifestyle magazine WSJ.

Previously, she spent 17 years at American Express Publishing, the last eight of which as Senior Vice President and Publisher at Travel + Leisure. During her tenure at Travel + Leisure, the magazine experienced a 55% growth in ad pages and revenue and successfully lead the category. The Travel + Leisure brand extended to six countries, TV, the Web and ancillary products. Travel + Leisure received frequent accolades as the world’s leading travel magazine. Ellen collaborated in the development of key platforms that continue to drive revenue and differentiate the brand. Some include, World’s Best Awards, Design Awards, Marketwatch conferences and strategic alliances. Ellen has sat on the boards of: NYC & Co., Taj Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Kiwi, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, and the Audrey Palmer Hawks Scholarship Fund. She graduated from Baruch College and received an AAS in advertising from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Derek Butcher

Chief Technology Officer

Derek Butcher has over 12 years of experience in media and technology with companies such as The Industry Standard, IDG, Disney Internet Group, and Infoseek. As Vice President and General Manager of The Industry Standard, he relaunched the internet brand as a new form of online media property. Prior to that, Butcher served as Vice President and CTO of InfoWorld Media Group, where he spearheaded technology initiatives including web publishing systems, content redistribution and syndication, and web serving capacity. Derek also served as Senior Engineering Manager at Disney Internet Group, where he was responsible for the development of the Infoseek search engine portal, as well as assisting with the integration of espn.com and abcnews.com.

Jane Palecek

Design Director

Jane is the recipient of numerous awards for her magazine design work, including multiple National Magazine Awards (the “Ellies”) for her design as founding art director of the Hippocrates and Health magazines. Jane has also served as art director of Mother Jones, and created the look, logos, and design templates for a number of new and redesigned magazines, including Yoga Journal, Dwell, and Natural Solutions.

Julia Cosgrove

VP, Editor in Chief

During the last 11 years, Julia has been a writer and editor at media companies big and small, including MTV Networks, Time Out New York, BusinessWeek, and the Meredith Corporation. She last served as deputy editor of the DIY design magazine ReadyMade. During her tenure, the magazine was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in general excellence. Prior to making stuff at ReadyMade, Julia was part of the original launch team behind Time Out New York Kids, a spinoff of Time Out New York. Her obsessions include the writer Joan Didion, palm trees, and Paris in the 1950s.

Jeremy Saum

Executive Editor

After working for four years in custom publishing, Jeremy took off with his wife to travel the world for a year and a half. Having slept in the shadow of Mt. Everest, slid down a Chilean volcano on their rear ends, and innertubed with glowworms in New Zealand, they returned to San Francisco. There, Jeremy worked as the managing editor of Diablo magazine and then as the associate managing editor of Via, a regional travel publication published by AAA.

Laura Simkins

General Manager, VP Operations

Laura was a part of the original launch team for Dwell and, during her eight year tenure there, grew circulation over 500% to a rate base of 325,000. She was actively involved in the development of dwell.com and Dwell on Design conferences. Laura also served as VP, Consumer Marketing for 8020 Media and JPG magazine, helping to build innovative new web programs to tap an online community member base of over 195,000. Laura is a two-time CM Circulation Excellence award winner and was responsible for Dwell being listed in Capell’s as one of the top ten best performers in circulation, three years running. Past experience also includes stints at Health and Mother Jones magazines.