Becoming a Digital Media Machine | Aaron David Roberts (Rising Tides Creative) | DH045

How does a business become a media company? One of the first steps is by hiring a creative team to help you turn your life into digital content.

In 2019, Aaron David Roberts, the president and founder of Rising Tides Creative, was called upon by restaurant owner and podcast host Shawn Walchef to help him and his talented media production team transform Cali BBQ into a digital content machine.

By adding high-quality video footage and production value to the Digital Hospitality podcast, Aaron’s low-and-slow industry upbringing has allowed him to produce savory storytelling in new spaces.

“It was ingrained in me,” notes Aaron Roberts in an interview with podcast host Shawn Walchef on the Digital Hospitality show. “I had a camera and I’d been making movies with my friends since junior high. I figured, well, let’s start my own production company.”

A Filmmakers Journey:

Aaron Roberts grew up on film sets. The Rising Tides Creative creator said that his upbringing inspired his future career path.

“My dad has been in the industry since he was 18," Aaron said. "He got out of high school and got into the film industry. He moved his way up to be a production manager, started his own production company and that’s what I grew up knowing.”

Growing up, the young creative would watch his father produce video content at every step. Budgeting, ideating, hiring, editing and delivering, Aaron’s upbringing was a live master class on content creation.

“I was going out on those sets for these long 12, 14, 16-hour days,” recalls Aaron Roberts. “I didn’t get any time to go play video games but what I really did like was seeing how my dad ran a set. My dad’s got a crew of ten people and he’s telling everyone where to go.”

Seeing his father’s leadership skills, hard work and confidence in real time was inspiring to a young Aaron. When younger, Aaron’s dream was to play for the San Diego Padres or be in a band. Soon, he was drawn back to the sets he grew up on.

Storytelling with Video:

Only 21 years old at the time, Aaron was ready to jump in the industry he was raised in headfirst.

“We started getting into TV production,” Aaron remembers on his start. “We produced a pilot about working in a movie theater and it got like a half a million hits. That kind of launched the production company into bigger things. We were able to start with an ad agency in town and last summer we joined the Cali BBQ team.”

At the time, Aaron was aware of Shawn and his podcasting work. Aaron and Shawn’s visions matched and they transformed  version 1 of the Digital Hospitality podcast into a high-powered visual production which is unusual for the traditionally audio-only medium, let alone a podcast series published by a restaurant.

“We started covering events,” Aaron explains on the pivot into video podcasting. “At these events, we would interview the vendors and network. It kind of became like a little ad spot for all these different vendors at this one event.”

Event videos and behind-the-scenes episodes put the Digital Hospitality podcast in a whole new category on YouTube. The Digital Hospitality thesis and host Shawn Walchef's interviews translated well to video and saw synergy with each guest he encountered.

“It just started to click,” says Aaron Roberts about the Digital Hospitality episodes in 2019. “Not a lot of people are doing this and they’re not doing it this way. Every business can become a Cali BBQ Media. Every business needs to identify what’s important to them and the message that they push to their customers.”

Every Business Can Become a Media Company:

The idea that every business can become a media company is core to both Rising Tides Creative and Cali BBQ Media.

While Aaron’s soaring success has had Hollywood calling and industry insiders pushing for him to make a move to LA, he is set on trying to make San Diego a filmmaking hub much like Atlanta has become.

By building his brand in San Diego, and thus that of others,