Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Kaiser.
Hi Brandon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story actually started back in high school and college when I loved being a part of the student section. I transferred high schools my junior year and within two weeks, I was leading the student section, The Rampart Rowdies. I went to college at Grand Canyon University and went to every home basketball game with six buddies (chests painted) my freshman year—GCU’s last year as a Division 2 school. In 2013 when GCU transitioned to Division 1, I was hired on a student section leader tasked with building out the new student section, the GCU Havocs. I couldn’t believe this was a leadership role and job. I immediately became obsessed and set a goal to build the best student section in the country. Over the next three years, I grew the Havocs from 150 students at basketball games to 2,500 my senior year, every single standing and engaged every game. I grew our student leadership team from 3 students to 9, grew our online brand and social media from zero to 10,000+ followers and implemented various revenue models. My senior year, SB Nation dubbed the GCU Havocs “The Biggest Party in College Basketball” and we started to get national attention. Because of the internal systems we implemented, the Havocs have only continued to grow long after I’ve gone.
In 2017 after I graduated, Rick Pitino (Former Louisville Basketball Coach) and Donovan Mitchell (Former Louisville Player and now NBA All-Star) both said it was the loudest and toughest environment they had ever experienced. The Havocs are now the gold standard for Division 1 collegiate basketball student sections. In hindsight, the Havocs were my first business. We had to create a product (environment and culture), and market that product and get people to “buy-it” (student behavior and attendance). I had to lead other students, we ran operational and marketing meetings, we created a budget, generated revenue, reinvested, etc. I’ve now come to learn a big part of our success was my obsession to achieve my vision and relentless attention to detail. We all had a growth mindset and implemented systems to use feedback loops to improve. My senior year, I was given the opportunity to serve as President of the National Collegiate Student Section Association—a network of collegiate student section leaders around the country.
I graduated GCU and thought that was a fun and unique college experience. I knew I had a very unique and valuable knowledge base and area of expertise but didn’t think twice on how to leverage it. I moved to San Diego January 1, 2017 and started a corporate sales job at ADP selling payroll to small businesses. I started as an intern cold calling 150+ small businesses a day and ended up receiving a full-time offer. I started to succeed and make good money but was becoming ultimately unfulfilled and started to feel a continuous itch to figure out how money is made and how to make it for myself. Inspired by many of the common business or success books, I guess I was crazy enough to listen to them. I quit ADP to work part-time at a gym, part-time at a coffee roaster, part-time in a high ticket sales role and part-time as a youth pastor. I was told I was crazy because I was making good money at ADP, but I knew age 24 was the time to take risks and I wanted exposure to small businesses and to experience the day-to-day life of others my age who were pursuing their dreams.
I eventually burned out and was spread thin not making as much money as I knew I could but I learned invaluable knowledge. I was exposed to high ticket sales, small business operations and systems and eventually ended up meeting some of my business mentors and coaches to this day.
At the end of 2018, I came to a fork in the road—either go back to corporate sales or try and start a business and make money myself. I chose the ladder. Around that time a VP of a University called me to help with their student section. I asked if he would pay me and he said yes. Biggest Fan Consulting was born. I learned how to leverage my time and knowledge into a systems, which allowed me to self-start my business as a one-man show. My first full year of business (2019), I made more than I did working corporate sales. Then Covid hit, shutting down sports and fan sections.
Frankly, I wasn’t sure how to pivot or if I wanted to—knowing sports and fans would eventually be back. I hustled, grinded and figured out ways to make money by starting a couple of side projects. Then in June 2021, I was able to re-engage schools and Biggest Fan Consulting started to grow. I shut down everything else so I could have laser focus. We now have a team of four have massive vision and ambitions to reshape the collegiate athletics marketing and student section industry.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ha! Not at all. I’ve encountered many challenges along the way. Quitting jobs, trying to earn income. Starting a business from scratch with cash. Uncertain income. Getting married with uncertain income. Covid shutting down my entire industry (fan sections at athletic events) one year into business. Figuring out how to make it during Covid. Hundreds of no’s. Changing our service model. Hiring a team. Firing employees. Making payroll. Prioritizing my time. More no’s. People not believing in me.
I’ve come to enjoy the journey and be comfortable being uncomfortable. Only in discomfort and resistance comes growth. If I’m not uncomfortable, I’m not pushing. I have a long-term mindset, as I have come to realize that overnight success is not reality—at least for me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Home of the Million Dollar Student Section: 100% Capacity—Standing and Engaged—Every Game. We help schools build elite student sections and euphoric in-game experiences.
We are in an extreme micro-niche: student sections at high schools and colleges.
We’re known for building The Biggest Party in College Basketball and now replicating that model on campuses across the country.
What sets us apart is we have actually “done it”. We know what it takes to win and our process is much different than what everyone else is doing—which is why we got different results.
The thing I’m most proud of is when I see student leaders we work with post about their growth and progress their making with the student section. When I get a text from a college students about how they grew their student from 15 to 1,300 in two months and how we changed their campus culture and changed this leaders life and college career, that is what I’m most proud of… and it’s all behind the scenes which is cool.
Most people sell and want tangible products (software, apps, t-shirts).
We sell experiences. We sell passion. We sell a result.
We do the hard work ensuring three things are optimized on every campus: people, process and production.
An example since this might seem abstract to readers. If you go to a college basketball game, here’s what you might see.
Students painted up with signs cheering and chanting throughout the game. Oncourt promotions and PA reads during timeouts. We find student leaders to run those organizations and train them (we find and train hype people), we help those leaders implement systems behind the scenes to build their brand on campus to drive attendance (marketing), and we help produce games (everything you see or hear pre-game and during timeouts) for clients.
We generate tribes of lifelong fans around the country.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
If people want to learn more about my story, simply look up the @gcuhavocs on Instagram or search GCU Havocs on Youtube.
Our team loves what we do and feels privileged to wake up every morning and do something we’re passionate about and call it work.
Contact Info:
- Email: brandon@biggestfanconsulting.com
- Website: biggestfanconsulting.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRvvPbiBybEgcRDvwCPDcg
Image Credits
GCU, Dixie State, Creighton Prep
