Women owned & Led

The Pao Story

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Pao's story is rooted in family and friends who love to travel and experience the world. In 2017, our CEO Anna graduated from UCLA and instead of pursuing further studies in forensic psychology, she convinced her mom Sara and best friend Maddie to join her in creating and launching an app that would solve the problems they faced as world travelers who also want to find the best smoothie near home.

Pao (say "pow!") means "go!" in Greek, and that's what the Pao team aims to help people do. Our mission is to get people off the couch and into the real world to find and experience the coolest hidden gems, and then share them so that others can experience them too.  Why is this important? The Pao team believes the more we go out and meet people, experience the world both near and far from home, the more tolerant we become toward those who are different from us.  We all need more connectivity!

Pao also wants to elevate small businesses; the unique hidden gems out there are often small firms operated by people who are also trying to impact the world. Pao wants to amplify their presence, help them find customers and in the process benefit the Pao community by showing them cool things to do.

The Pao app has a community over 100,000 strong, the Pao social accounts have over 600,000 followers - all who want to get out and experience the best the world has to offer.  Join us!

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Meet the team

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Anna Zervos

CEO, Co-Founder

Maddie Myall

Co-Founder

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Sara Zervos

COO, Co-Founder

Eric Georgiades

CTO

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Catalina Gibbons

Business Development Director

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Carlee Weatherby

Social Media Manager

Toula Falvey

Growth Team Operations Manager

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Novey Choat

Seattle Partnerships Manager

Caroline Waldis

Denver Partnerships Manager

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Erica Gardner

Partnerships Manager

Elise Routh

Content Strategist

Avani Kulkarni

Boston Partnerships Manager

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Amaris Garcia

Social Media Manager

Tina Nguyen

Social Media Manager

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Content Creators

Content Creators

Are you the person that everyone always goes to for recommendations? Are you passionate about finding the coolest spots, whether in your own hometown or while traveling? Utilize Pao as your own personal travel diary, while also getting experience working with businesses in the content creation/social media field!

Apply to become a content creator for Pao below!

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FAQs

Do you have an android version?

Not yet! Due to cost constraints we have not built this yet, but it’s a high priority in the coming year! You can access Pao on any Apple device.

What does Pao Mean?

Pao (say “pow!”) means “Go!” in Greek. It also happens to mean “run” in Mandarin and “bread” in Portuguese :)

Does Pao have a star or other rating system?

Nope! Pao is intended to be a place where people share gems they would recommend to their friends. In that sense, a Pao user posts places they feel is worth going to. They can indicate how much they love the spot in their tip!

How do i find cool people on pao?

On our search page, you can search for people you know OR you can see the list of all Pao users ranked by how many gems they upload. Also, if you look at our Discover page you’ll see lots of cool gems. Open one of those gems, and you’ll be able to click on the profile of the person who uploaded it!

How do I get my hands on the pao App?

Go to the Apple app store or download here:

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