Check out the video above for our whole conversation and below for his abbreviated answers and please subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
Short bio: Robert G. Rose is a social & television entrepreneur whose focus is on developing business models that target under-served audiences while producing content and “media that matters.” Since 2000, Rose has produced over 400 original episodes of television & negotiated partnerships with major marketers and media outlets all over the world.
Rose’s love of travel surfaced when he moved from his native Tennessee to New York City to work for Univision, the nation’s largest Spanish-language TV network. It was also at Univision that Rose’s entrepreneurial spirit was revealed. Rose combined his newfound knowledge of the US Hispanic market with his knowledge of the TV industry & began developing a new business model targeted to US-born Latinos with culturally relevant English language media.
In 2000, Rose left the safety of the corporate world to strike out on his own and began Artist & Idea Management (AKA: AIM Tell-A-Vision Group®) to produce, TV in English for, from & about American Latinos. His shows would attract over 100 broadcast affiliates, a cable network deal, and millions in sponsorship dollars & tens of millions of viewers over the years as Rose received national recognition as an expert in Hispanic media & marketing.
Rose negotiated the acquisition of his Latino themed TV company to LATV Networks in 2008 and began pursuing his passion of world-travel full time.
Rose eventually lived and traveled abroad in Latin America for about a year. His travels produced life-changing experiences that inspired him to develop what he felt was also missing from the US commercial television landscape, an authentic and real travel show. He wanted to showcase travel with authentic cultural experiences in a socially aware context.
Raw Travel premiered in 2013. Today, Raw Travel is exhibited on over 170 local TV affiliates (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CW) in over 95% of the US as well as major TV outlets internationally such as National Geographic People in Asia, Fox Iberia in Europe, Amazon in India and many more. Episodes from the show can also be found on major airlines such as Delta, Air Canada, Finnair, and more.
When not working on Raw Travel, Rose reads voraciously, volunteers, blogs, and runs a small digital record label, “Punk Outlaw Records.” He is often a featured speaker or panelist at various travel, media, and tradeshows. He is a published writer & member of numerous TV, film & travel organizations.
Occupation: TV Producer & Travel Host
Website: RawTravel.tv / AIMTVGroup.com
How are you doing with quarantine? Miss my friends, haircuts and travel, but I’m still luckier than most, I realize.
Hometown: Pulaski, TN
Residence: New York City
College: Middle Tennessee State University
College major: Mass Communications / Advertising
Earliest travel memory: Family vacations to the Smokey Mountains or the Redneck Riviera (Florida Gulf Coast)
How often do you fly? 5 or 6 times monthly domestically and maybe a dozen times annually internationally.
How many countries have you been to? 75+
How many continents have you been to? 5 of 7
Favorite American city: New York City
Favorite international city: Medellin, Madrid, Seoul are tied.
Friendliest people in the world: Jakarta, Indonesia
I have no desire to go to: Back to Cuba
Country with the meanest immigration officers: China and certain USA ports of entry.
Favorite airline: Domestic – Delta / Intl – Asiana
Favorite aircraft type: The bigger the better
Aisle or window: Aisle
Sat next to any famous celebs: Hand model from Chicago and U.S. Senator & Former State Gov. Lamar Alexander (TN)
Favorite airport lounge: Asiana Airlines
Favorite U.S. airport: Detroit
Favorite international airport: Istanbul, Seoul
Favorite hotel: Château Frontenac, Quebec City
Favorite travel credit card: United Explorer (Read our Chase United Explorer review here)
Favorite island: Fatu-Hiva in the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia)
Favorite beach: Grande Anse in Bass Tier, Guadeloupe
Favorite fancy restaurant: Indochine, NYC
Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Any LA Taco Truck
Favorite fruit: Fresh Mango & Pineapple
Favorite food: Sushi
Craziest thing you’ve eaten: Cobra blood, heart and Urine in Snake Village, Vietnam.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Any Argentine Red Wine / Craft Beer
Favorite travel movie(s): The Siberian Express
Favorite travel show(s): Globetreker
Favorite travel book(s): The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar.
Favorite travel app: Kayak
What do you always seem to forget? I phone charger or eye shades
Worst travel moment: Robbed of all my valuables and 3 weeks of raw documentary footage by a fake taxi in Buenos Aires.
Most embarrassing travel moment: Pre-judging a mostly conservative Islamic neighborhood in Istanbul.
What’s your dream destination? Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Siberian Express.
Best travel tip: When in a country you don’t speak the language, take photos of your apt. or
hotel and other surroundings on your smart phone to show your taxi driver when you want to get back home. Take a photo of your room #, etc. Google Map snapshot your destination, etc.