Inappropriate Reefer

This YouTube channel developed very organically. I had been casually sharing videos of my reef aquarium on my [then] main YouTube channel, but as I started a new aquarium build, I decided to create a specific YouTube channel to document the build. Over time, this channel took on a life of its own and began covering other topics, such as interviews, public aquariums, product reviews, events, and opinion pieces.

Saltwater reef aquarium is a very niche part of the aquarium hobby. For example, with around 75K subscribers, my YouTube channel is already among the largest channels on the topic. As such, distinct personas have surfaced as I interact with friends, subscribers, fellow content creators, vendors, and manufacturers in this space.

While I have different internal milestones, one motto I constantly remind myself of is, 'Never trade authenticity for relatability.' This is a tough internal compass to follow, as the 'secret sauce' for Inappropriate Reefer's persona is his relatability to the everyday hobbyist. However, sometimes, to remain authentic, the content may not be as relatable. So the motto helps provide a priority pyramid when designing content.