MEET CARLOS AGUILAR

Writer. Producer. Big Brown Dad.

What do you do?
I write and produce. As you know, this can mean a million things.

We know each other from our time at an independent Los Angeles TV Studio where you ran marketing and I worked as a writer and producer on our slate of TV projects. Projects included the Daytime Emmys, Bristol Palin’s reality show, travel and human interest programming, documentaries on the WWE, NASCAR and OPRAH and the list goes on. I was there for almost 10 years and spent much of my time flying around the country producing stories (even directing reenactments) and blowing my per diem.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve continued to write and produce but on the Ad Agency side, where all the cool kids actually live. I thought it was TV. I was wrong.

It’s crazy but my interests are in comedy, culture and spirituality. And today I work at a leading multicultural ad agency with the biggest comedians, artists, spiritual leaders and brands in the world. I’m fortunate.

My sites motto is Be Bold, Explore Courageously – what does that mean to you/ how has that applied to you?
Boldness is at the core of almost every exciting thing I do. Boldness impies risk and risk implies reward. I like operating at the intersection. Exploration is driven by curiosity and curiosity by openness. And, of course, an open posture needs to be grounded in some firmer commitments. If you’re too open, you might as well be closed. Courage is connected to boldness, too but seems different insofar as it’s the type of thing you say about somebody and less the type of thing you say about yourself. Often, people are called courageous when they overcome the fear of others. In that way, courage gives others assurance.

What is your work, creative outlet or passion project? Where do you find inspiration?
I publish bigbrowndad.com, the leading Mexican American fatherhood site in the milky guey. If you go to the site, you’ll not only find hilarious reflections on fathering in Los Angeles but some Zionist poetry, cultural polemics and high art–emphasis on high. Publishing my own site gives me permission to talk my shit.

In order to fund my current and future media operations (e.g., hip hop history, podcasts, books, documentaries), and as a way of cultivating my passion for top shelf coffee, I’ve launched a DTC coffee brand, Mestizo. A lot of my inspiration comes from dissatisfaction. I’ll get mad about how wack something is, think to myself, I’d do it better and then think again, well, then do it asshole, or shut up. A lot of the times I shut up. A few times I do it.

If you could have a business lunch with anyone, a mentor, (alive or dead) who would you invite and why?
I really like this idea of comedy as the highest intellectual pursuit. So it would likely be someone funny who would make me laugh hard and think even harder. I don’t know, Sarah Palin?

Favorite motivational quote?

After the pandemic, where do you want to travel first and why?
Coastal Mexico. There are so many places to choose from, many of them overrun w/ Americanos. I won’t tell you my place but not because I don’t want you there. I’m lying. It’s because I don’t want you there.

Where can we see more of your work?
Check out bigbrowndad.com and mestizo.coffee. Through the month of January, I’ll provide BraverGuide readers a discount code for the coffee. Apply “Braver” at checkout for a few bucks off.