Team

Award-winning filmmaker, songwriter, author, and founder Tess Cacciatore brings a passion for compassion, friendship, and peace to everything she creates.

Her mission to make education accessible to children around the world began in 1993 when she founded World Trust Foundation and continued through the Global Women’s Empowerment Network in 2012. In 2001 she spoke at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where she shared the words that still guide her work today: “Education is a necessity… not a privilege.”

Today, that mission comes to life through the imaginative world of Yumi’s Universe, where stories, songs, cultural discovery, and meaningful lessons inspire compassion, friendship, and peace.

Wynn Waggoner brings a lifelong passion for creativity, color, and storytelling to Yumi’s Universe. Her career began in fashion in New York City and on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where she hosted Wynn’s View of Fashion for twelve years and the live audience talk show Off the Cuff for four years.

After moving to Colorado, Wynn founded Wynn Interiors in 2005 and established the Rocky Mountain Design Collective. Her work blends artistic vision with a thoughtful understanding of people, creating spaces that reflect their individuality and bring them together.

As a partner in Yumi’s Universe, Wynn brings that same collaborative spirit and imaginative perspective to a world rooted in compassion, friendship, and peace. She and her husband, artist Douglas Waggoner, share a commitment to eco-friendly design and sustainability—values that connect naturally with Yumi’s invitation to care for one another and the planet.

The Naturally Fallen Timber Corporation was started in 1996. The unique nature designs of artist Douglas Waggoner became a bridge between the environment and our modern lifestyle. Each creation enables us to lovingly observe, admire and interact with the subtleties of nature that otherwise would be unavailable to us.

Douglas makes periodic sojourns into the natural environment and handpicks each element that will become part of his art. He says, “Nature is our source of abundance. Each piece I create is enchanted by the spirit of the forest and reflects my appreciation for its abundance. My presence in the forest is a privilege and by using the gift of the woods to create art, I am able to joyfully share that privilege with others.”

Waggoner is also the creator of the Birdscape™, nesting boxes and bird feeders. Each is created as an arrangement of natural elements to accommodate the needs and characteristics of specific birds. Waggoner explains them as “returning to the birds what is fundamentally theirs: a natural environment where they can successfully nurture, protect and raise their family.” People see them as art with an everchanging window into nature.

Waggoner’s work has been featured in over a dozen publications including Garden Center Magazine and the cover of Garden Décor Magazine. A native of northern Minnesota, the artist makes his home in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado where he creates some of the finest pieces of natural sculptured art available today, through Naturally Fallen Timber, Ent. a company created by Waggoner and his wife, Wynn.

Joel Christopher Payne brings more than three decades of experience in animation, film, video games, and immersive attractions to Yumi’s Universe. His career includes creative contributions to Disney’s Virtual Jungle Cruise and Atlantis, Steven Spielberg’s Sky Pirates VR attraction, and the animated television series Max Steel. His game credits include Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and a lead artist role on The Elder Scrolls Online.

An artist, designer, and composer, Joel combines imaginative character creation with the craft of building worlds that invite exploration. As Yumi’s Universe’s lead character creator and animator, he brings Yumi and her friends to life, helping shape the visual storytelling behind their adventures in compassion, friendship, and peace.