Aaron Jay Brown dreams of becoming the next celebrity restaurateur, specifically the next Bobby Flay. Currently, Brown, a 52-year-old, lifelong barbecue enthusiast from South Los Angeles, posts videos of himself cooking on a YouTube channel with almost 2 million subscribers, making him one of the site’s most popular food personalities. He’s already bringing in enough money—upward of $60,000 a month—to open a restaurant, Elmer and Jasper’s Craft BBQ in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and to buy a house in Las Vegas on a half-acre of land. But to take his business to the next level, he needs help.
Brown wants to hire marketers and editors to distribute his videos across Instagram and TikTok. He needs people to help build out his line of cutting boards and barbecue sauce. And he would like to open a second restaurant, this time in Las Vegas, combining southern barbecue with Cajun flavors. The initial bill for the restaurant alone could amount to more than $500,000.
