Brandon Ivan Peña is a brand humanizer – human before entrepreneur. He is the CEO and founder of 787 Coffee, a growing coffee shop business that provides a unique and human experience. At the same time, Brandon also owns his own personal brand, BrandON, which provides business consulting services and motivational conferences.
Brandon is a Mexican American entrepreneur, born and raised in the El Paso/Juarez region. He has always been a creator and has used his creativity to accomplish many of his major goals. Brandon has worked with Fortune 500 companies including State Farm Insurance, One World Alliance & Televisa and has organized events such as Social Media Week Puerto Rico, Design Shanghai, and Latinos Pa’Lante. With an Executive MBA from the University of Miami and over 20 years of experience in marketing, managing accounts, creating content, and business consulting, Brandon brings great knowledge to the table. Some of his greatest accomplishments include being one of the first latinos to be invited to a Facebook Conference, growing one of the world’s best coffees, attending and speaking in some of the best conferences in the world:Digital Shanghai, Social Media Week, SXSW, C2MTL and many more.
Brandon is passionate about people and was inspired to enter the industry as a result of his fascination for human connection. The lessons he has learned from connecting with other people have served as his motivation, and he makes it a priority to always put people first. As such, his multi dollar company continues to push and grow by only doing what’s right for its team and community. In terms of his motivation to get started with his businesses, Brandon shares:
“Making businesses grow is in my DNA. I take it very personally, I push entrepreneurs to innovate and to go to the next level. I help business owners strategize and focus on the primary objective. It seemed right to lead by example, therefore, I decided to push myself and invest in things that I truly love, humans, and coffee.”
Brandon was inspired to get into both the coffee and consulting industries to encourage human connection. Through his consulting and motivational conferences, Brandon is able to empower other entrepreneurs, including young entrepreneurs in Latin America that know little to no English. At the same time, 787 Coffee provides impactful memories through their coffee shop experience, in addition to a fresh cup of coffee directly from their farms in Puerto Rico.
“My advice to those starting a business is to invest in a PASSION. I cannot even imagine how miserable my life would be if I did not like what I do or the businesses I invest in. Once you find your passion and decide you are ready to commit to a business, become OBSESSED with your business. Focus and make it happen! WORK HARDER AND SMARTER THAN EVER BEFORE,” shares Brandon.
It is because he has focused on his passion that Brandon has been able to achieve success and keeps on growing. This year, he is continuing to grow his coffee business, opening cabins, a zoo, and coffee tours at Hacienda Iluminada, their coffee farm. Here, humans can reconnect with nature and their inner self. At the same time, Brandon is continuing to expand the number of 787 Coffee shops and will end the year with 15 coffee shops in NYC and 2 in Puerto Rico. In terms of his personal brand, Brandon is getting ready to publish his first book, in which he will be sharing key business lessons with the rest of the world.
Keep up with Brandon’s projects by following him on Instagram here and don’t forget to check out BrandON and 787 Coffee.