Company offers quirky tours in San Francisco and beyond

By: Alexis Terrazas | 11/06/11 10:03 PM
Special to The Examiner

Jamie Wong, the founder and CEO of Vayable, a site that allows people to book and sell local tours ranging from how to be a hipster to living like the homeless for a day, launched her company in April.

What’s the underlying goal of Vayable? Our goal is to enable entrepreneurship and promote cultural understanding, and really provide people with a new way to explore their world. Part of it is being part of this generation who are not following mainstream careers.

Do you consider yourself to be an entrepreneur? I do. I’ve always been entrepreneurial. My passion has always been travel and cultural immersion. I’ve been to more than 30 countries and I speak four languages, but I never had the money to do it because I worked in media and journalism.

Is there one local tour guide who stands out? Russell Howze, who is our guide for Scout for Street Art in S.F. Our team met him on another Vayable tour. He was touring his own family and friends because he was so passionate about it. Then he realized by meeting us that he could monetize this. He works at a nonprofit art gallery in the Mission, and he’s using his [Vayable] money to help restore their murals.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/3-minute-interview/2011/11/company-offers-quirky-tours-san-francisco-and-beyond#ixzz1d68YHM6Q