Meet Brandon Harris | Entrepreneur & Combat Veteran

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Harris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandon, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
Relationships and the people you surround yourself with, are the most important aspect of professional growth and success. When you are trying to build a legacy and make an impact, You soon realize that so many things require your attention. It’s important as a business owner, father, friend, we prioritize what’s most important and weed out the things that take our energy or are negative.
I never want to be the smartest person in the room.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Tenacity and creativity. I had a hard time like majority of vets, post service. I tried finding my way and a new identity, and had no idea what that looked like. I went into the oilfield out in west texas as a field technician. Working long days and driving 8 hours one way home every 2 weeks wasn’t ideal at all, just like deployments, I found myself always gone from my family again. Last few months i worked out there I was living/sleeping out of my truck just to avoid 2 mortgages. I was laid off during the pandemic, tried my luck as a roofing contractor and in the transportation industry for the next few years trading time for just enough money to pay necessary bills. Throughout this time, I focused alot of my time learning from people in my network, making new connections, and really trying to impact the veteran community all while figuring out what my own strengths and weaknesses were. This is when i created a Veteran transition guide and starting helping Military/Transitioning veterans as a coach on the side at no cost. Helping them navigate what myself and so many others had to go through, giving them resources and advice to guide them on the correct path for them. Fastword some time later and I now own my own Mobile cigar lounge company, Host many veteran and small business networking events, masterminds, and teach professionals how to properly network and build lasting connections the correct way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d have to take them to places that I enjoy and spend some of my down time. I’m a foodie, and of course love my bourbon and cigars. So some of the places we would hit would likely be Blend cigar bar and Clubhouse cigar bar in the Woodlands, TX, One day would be reserved for golf on an early morning when there’s good weather. We may go to a professional sporting event or watch a UFC fight somewhere. Some of my favorite local food spots would consist of Casa Medina, an older Mexican restaraunt right off of the I-45 near research forest, First watch for breakfast, and for dinner head to a good steakhouse. If we were downtown, I’d have to take them to some of my favorite, speakeasy style bars like “Bad news bar” or Refuge with amazing bourbon selections.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There have been several contributing factors of my growth and development in the journey i’ve taken. My wife and kids have been a massive driving force. I have been involved in the Veteran community post service and have met and collaborated with some amazing individuals. Some of these folks have already began their entrepreneurial journey and were already doing well for themselves, I gravitated towards these people such as Dr. Rob Garcia who i’ve learned much about relationship building and Social Media from. My curiosity into entrepreneurship, which was I knew nothing about, sparked around the time I left the service 2018. I picked up a book someone told me to read by Robert Kiyosaki and was hooked. My creative side came out and I was fascinated by money, how it worked, and how many resources and benefits there could be by working for yourself. I knew if i surrounded myself around the right people, learned, and worked towards something everyday, that in a few years i’d go from being lost and miserable to impactful and successful.

Website: www.smokenmemories.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smokenmemoriesmcl/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=624587195