The People Walker is a service-for-hire to walk with individuals and provide motivation through conversation and companionship.[1][2] The service was launched in Los Angeles, California in 2016 by actor Chuck McCarthy[3] when he was in-between acting jobs and needed money.[4][5] He initially advertised the business by posting fliers asking questions like “Need Motivation to walk”, “Scared to walk alone at night?”, “Don’t like walking alone at all?”, and “Don’t want people to see you walking alone and just assume you have no friends?” etc.[6] which led to people contacting him to schedule walks.[4][7] McCarthy describes the walks as “therapeutic” for both him and his clients.[4] After receiving a large number of requests, McCarthy hired staff and began offering more locations.[8]

Website edit

On their website, the mission of The People Walker is further explained. They explain why they walk, why sitting is dangerous for the body, the physical benefits of walking, the mental benefits of walking, and the personal benefits of walking.[9] The website also lists the profiles of the available walkers for hire, which includes a video of the walker introducing themselves.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ OLYA, GABRIELLE (January 13, 2017). "We Tried It: Going for a Walk with a Professional People Walker". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  2. ^ Klee, Miles (2016-05-19). "I hired an Internet stranger to take me for a walk". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  3. ^ "The People Walker Is Still Just Putting One Foot in Front of the Other". MEL Magazine. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  4. ^ a b c Carroll, Rory (2016-09-14). "'We need human interaction': meet the LA man who walks people for a living". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  5. ^ "Man Works as People Walker?". The Doctors. September 27, 2016.
  6. ^ Wattenhofer, Jeff (September 9, 2016). "Meet LA's first people walker". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  7. ^ "Chuck McCarthy is a professional people walker". Abc.net.au. September 15, 2016.
  8. ^ DIEKER, NICOLE (2016-10-03). "Job of the Day: People Walker". The Billfold. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  9. ^ "The People Walker | Why Walk". www.thepeoplewalker.com. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  10. ^ "The People Walker | Walkers". www.thepeoplewalker.com. Retrieved 2018-04-28.

External links edit