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How Home Team BBQ Mixed Smoke, Music, and Community Into A 20-Year Brand w/ Founder Aaron Siegel
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Craving a story where smoke, music, and community share the same plate? We sit with Aaron Siegel, founder of Home Team BBQ, to trace how a fine-dining chef built a family-first barbecue brand that reimagined what a neighborhood joint can be. From the ingenious “Kid Alley” that won over parents to the creative freedom that brought tacos, nachos, and brisket into the mix, Aaron shows how you evolve a tradition without losing its soul.
We talk about the roots of the Home Team name and the manifesto that still guides the brand’s choices—live music, watch parties, easy outdoor hangs, and a menu that balances chef-driven technique with the speed people need. Aaron opens up about the early grind, the mistakes that taught him to slow down, and the leadership moves that kept talent for nearly a decade or more. If you’re building a hospitality brand, the takeaways are clear: trust your experience, design for real life, and invest in a culture that people want to stick with.
What sets this conversation apart is the impact. Holy Smokes has become a major waterfront festival that benefits Hogs for the Cause, helping fund pediatric cancer care, including a million-dollar oncology wing in Greenville. Purpose-led specials like Queso for Clayson and Tacos for Tom turn everyday orders into meaningful support for blood cancer and ALS. Add a robust catering engine, collaborations with local
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) is a public, nonprofit organization that fuels South Carolina’s innovation economy by supporting technology-based startups, academic research, and industry partnerships. Through funding, coaching, and its investment arm SC Launch, SCRA helps early-stage companies grow, commercialize ideas, and scale within the state’s key innovation sectors.
King & Columbus is a full-service marketing and advertising agency based in South Carolina that helps brands grow through a mix of creative storytelling and data-driven strategy. They offer everything from branding and content creation to media planning, digital advertising, and PR—focused on delivering measurable results across digital, social, and traditional channels. https://kingandcolumbus.com
Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Annual Sponsor: SCRA; South Carolina Research Authority
Quarterly Sponsor: King and Columbus
CAMACast Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton, Rachel Backal, Tom Keppeler, Amanda Bunting Comen,
Silicon Harbor Hot Take Host: Stanfield Gray, https://digsouth.com
Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising
Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase
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