Brandon Steven, President of Brandon Steven Motors,
attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. However, college
wasn't always in a priority. Brandon seemed destined for a career in business
from his early years. Business had always played an important role in the
Stevens household. His father, Rod Steven Sr., was an entrepreneur himself,
having owned 15 Little Joe's Car Wash locations, The Slope Ski Shop and Dock 44
Discount Store, and several other related business'.
Brandon learned his relentless work ethic and time management from his father.
Prior to high school and college,
Brandon had pursued many entrepreneurial endeavors including a pigeon removal
and rehoming business named Pigeon Busters. At 12 years old he would collect
and sell pigeons away from businesses. He
had many jobs from snow removal to working at his Father's car wash.
Eventually, he needed to work under someone else so he transitioned to washing
cars at a local car dealership, which eventually led him to begin selling
vehicles and making a career of helping people find the perfect vehicle to fit
their needs. After having mild success in the car business Brandon wanted to
avoid college and start forming the foundation for his career. Brandon's
Mother, Becky, disagreed and Brandon went to join his older brother Rodney at
Southern Illinois University.
During college Brandon continued to sharpen his
entrepreneurial skills starting a marketing business that published HBO TV guides and had advertisers on the other side of the
paper. He juggled school, fraternity, sports,
flipping cars and selling them, along with a small scooter sales business.
Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Brandon
opened a telephone-based car finding service that connected potential buyers
with vehicles available in the market. While this first business venture
struggled, Stevens continued down an automotive path by continuing to repair
vehicles and resell them for a small profit one at a time. Little by little,
the car sales started increasing and transformed from flipping a few vehicles a
month to a few vehicles every week. In 1996, Brandon decided it was time to go
all in and he purchased the original Brandon Stevens Motors headquarters on
West Street.
In
1997, Brandon and his brother Rodney formed Steven Enterprises, LLC, which
would become the parent company for all of their future business ventures,
including the Genesis Health Club franchise, which now operates fifty locations
in 6 states throughout the Midwest.
By
the turn of the century in 2000, the business would grow to four used car
dealerships in the Wichita area. In 2004, Steven Enterprises purchased its
first new car dealership, Subaru of Wichita. The volume of sales continued to grow through the
businesses in Wichita, Kansas and drew attention from the automotive industry
throughout the country. Brandon then acquired the longtime Wichita
franchise, Eddy's Toyota.
By 2009, Brandon Steven had developed two additional new car dealerships: Ford of Augusta
and a Suzuki of Wichita. After years of building these dealerships and raising Suzuki of Wichita to the #1 volume dealership in the
NATION for 5 years straight and Eddy's Toyota and to the #1 Volume dealerships
in the region, Brandon started rapidly adding dealerships. In 2013
Brandon converted the Suzuki dealership to Subaru of Wichita. Shortly after that Brandon Steven purchased a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
franchise from in March of 2014.
On the same exact day Brandon acquired a Chevrolet Cadillac
store and a Volvo dealership in April 2015, which was followed up in July of 2016
with the purchase of Lee's Summit Mazda in the Kansas City
suburb of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
After a million dollar renovation to the
existing building and a lot expansion the store soon became the largest volume
Mazda franchise in Kansas City, followed by the purchase of a collaboration of Manheim Wichita.
In
addition to decades of business accolades, Brandon is passionate about children
and fitness. Genesis Foundation for Fitness & Tennis (GFFT), founded in
2007 by Brandon and his brother Rodney Steven, is a non-profit organization
geared towards helping young people build character and self-esteem as they
discover the benefits of physical activity through local scholarships.
Brandon is also
a very successful fundraiser and a generous philanthropist. In 2007, Brandon
received the prestigious National Man of the Year award from the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society. When nominated for the award, Brandon knew he could make a
difference and set his goals high. With the help of many generous contributors,
Brandon reached his goal and broke the national record for a great and
deserving cause. His main platform of philanthropy is with under privileged
children. Brandon strives to motivate those around him and challenges them to
achieve more. He values health, fitness and a competitive drive.
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