I am excited to apply for the Content Creator (On-Camera Personality & Social Media Manager) position with IAG Off-Road. The opportunity immediately caught my attention because it brings together several areas that have defined my career: automotive journalism, on-camera storytelling, video production, social media strategy, and creating content that connects enthusiast communities with the vehicles, products, and experiences they are passionate about.
My background in automotive media includes three years as the feature columnist for Check Out My Ride, a weekly column in the Baltimore Examiner and Washington Examiner, with a daily distribution of 436,000. Each week, I sought out regional automotive enthusiasts and told the stories behind their modified vehicles—what they drove, how and why they customized their vehicles, and the personal passion behind their builds. The column gave me firsthand experience interviewing members of the automotive community and translating technical details and enthusiast knowledge into accessible, personality-driven stories for a broader audience.
I also contributed freelance work to Mustang Enthusiast Magazine, Corvette Enthusiast Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, among others, further expanding my experience writing for an audience that is deeply knowledgeable and passionate about vehicle performance, modification, and automotive culture. These experiences taught me an important lesson that applies directly to IAG Off-Road: enthusiasts respond to authenticity. Effective automotive content needs to understand the vehicle and its modifications, but it also needs to capture the personality, motivation, and community surrounding them. I have also interviewed such individuals for magazine and newsprint articles such as Kevin Plank (CEO Under Armour), Patrick Willis (San Francisco 49ers), Matt Stover (Baltimore Ravens), Ed Hale (owner of the Baltimore Blast), Ben Carson (World Famous Neurosurgeon), and Brian Bossone (from the TV Show Pinks). My ability to capture interviews from diverse individuals is one of my strengths. I’m friendly, approachable, and I make others feel comfortable telling their stories.
Today, I apply those storytelling skills in a visual medium as the creator and on-camera personality behind Travel with Trey, a digital brand I have developed from concept through production and audience growth. I plan content, appear on camera, shoot and edit video, write SEO-focused descriptions and promotional copy, create social media assets, engage with viewers, and analyze performance to determine what content resonates. My social media audience numbers over 25,000, and Facebook content alone has generated as many as 1.7 million video views within a 28-day period. Current analytics also show that 91% of my content views come from Reels, with over 117,000 1+ minute views, at an average of 19.4s, demonstrating that video is overwhelmingly the format driving engagement with my audience.
Travel with Trey has also given me extensive experience developing an engaging and recognizable on-camera personality. My approach is conversational and enthusiastic rather than scripted or overly promotional. Whether I am reviewing a restaurant, visiting an attraction, interviewing someone, or documenting an experience, my goal is to make viewers feel as though they are experiencing it alongside me. I believe that same approach could translate especially well to product demonstrations, installation content, vehicle walkarounds, event coverage, adventure videos, and enthusiast-focused storytelling for IAG Off-Road.
In addition to my media experience, I bring more than two decades of professional communications, technical writing, process documentation, and cross-functional collaboration experience in a Manufacturing environment. That background has strengthened my ability to research technical subjects, work with subject-matter experts, explain complicated information clearly, manage multiple projects and deadlines, and maintain consistency in messaging—all valuable skills when translating the technical capabilities of off-road products into compelling customer-facing content.
What excites me most about IAG Off-Road is the opportunity to combine my earlier automotive journalism experience with the video and social media skills I have developed through Travel with Trey. I would welcome the chance to help tell the IAG Off-Road story, showcase its products, engage the off-road community, and develop content that is informative enough for serious enthusiasts while remaining entertaining and accessible to a growing audience. I am also a custom car enthusiast, have been interviewed myself for my work on my 2003 Ford Mustang, and I currently driving a customized lifted 2023 Jeep Wrangler Sahara.
Thank you for your consideration. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how my automotive journalism background, on-camera experience, content-production skills, and demonstrated ability to build and engage a digital audience could contribute to IAG Off-Road.
Sincerely,
Trey Palmisano
This video currently has over half a million views on Facebook. It highlights my narration over video abilities.
This is part of a conversational video I did with professional arm wrestler Paul Linn over pizza as a video for my Travel with Trey channel. This is an example clip meant to highlight my on-camera social media presence.
