November Business Spotlight: Brandon Evans
Meet Brandon Evans! Brandon is a Gainesville native and is the Mentor Coordinator at Gainesville City Schools. He also teaches piano to local students in Gainesville and the surrounding areas, and is the founder of Men Alive, LLC; a non-profit mentorship program.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family and background
“I was born and raised in Gainesville, GA. I come from a music driven family which has heavily influenced my siblings and I. I graduated from East Hall in 2005 and received my bachelor’s degree from Georgia State. After graduating college, I came back to Gainesville and was the Step Team Coach at Gainesville High School. Shortly after, I was approached by the principal at Centennial, an Arts Academy and was asked to be their step teacher. This would kick off my unexpected career in education.
One day, I was cleaning up an office and found a full set of pianos that had not been touched in over 8 years. I was able to convince the principal to allow me to teach a piano class at Centennial. So, I taught step half of the day to students in third through fifth grade and the second half of the day I taught piano to students in Kindergarten through second grade. During my time there, I also started mentoring. We had kids that were good kids but just made bad decisions. In 2015 I left the school system but continued to mentor and substitute at the school. In 2018, the school district called and offered me a position created for me. The position was for the Mentorship Coordinator for the entire school district for Gainesville City Schools. My job is to seek mentors for students and connect them throughout the school system, which includes eight schools.”
Q: What inspired you to start Evans Music Productions?
“Evans Music Productions is our family business. My dad started our music business in 1995. He used to work for Chicopee Mills and when they shut down their department my dad took a leap of faith and started Evans Music Productions. He started with teaching piano and guitar and selling sheet music which was big at the time. Another part of the business was music workshops. He had workshops all around the Gainesville, Athens, Monroe, and Habersham area.
Once my brothers and I were old enough, we would work with our dad. Our weekends, especially Saturdays, were always spent working. At the time, we hated it because what middle school kid wants to spend their weekends working?
At one point in time, my dad reached up to 45 piano lessons a week! Our family is a very close family but when we were younger, my dad worked a lot so we missed out on time with him. If it wasn’t church, it was our business but I’m thankful for my dad because he really set the foundation for me to be able to pick it up and now run the business.
My dad was the minister of music for our church and always wanted me to play piano but I never wanted to. I didn’t really start playing piano until I was 15. I started playing at my church and by my senior year in High School, I started teaching piano and continued to teach while I was at college. Eventually, my dad allowed me to take over the teaching sector of our family business and I was able to really make it my own and make it what it is today.
Currently, I teach 17 kids. I teach out of my church but for most of my kids, I go to them. Becoming a “mobile teacher” was huge for my business. Going to my students' homes allowed the parents the convenience of being able to be home and cook or do whatever they may need to do during that time that I am with their child. This really allowed my business to grow even more.”
Q: Tell us more about Evans Music Productions. Are you taking new clients?
“Currently, I do not have any availability but at the end of the year we will start a new semester and I know I will have a few spots available.”
Q: Tell us about Men Alive?
“Men Alive really started during my time in Centennial, it just didn’t have a name at the time. I saw a need within the school system and decided to step up and be a mentor for the boys. I wanted to empower them, push them in the right direction and teach them the importance of respect and to aspire to do good in school. It started with a group of boys that I would check in with periodically. My goal was never to have a group that was like a bad boy’s club. All the boys that are in the program now are not behavioral. I have some boys who struggle with self-esteem, I have some boys who have had some trauma and some boys who are struggling in school and not getting good grades.
When I first started Men Alive, it was just me. About five years ago, I really wanted to create something that could be beneficial, and community and faith based. So, I started praying about what was next and what to name it. I decided to call it Men Alive because as men, we suppress a lot of things. We don’t want to talk about trauma or talk about things that we need help with. I always tell my boys that they can be walking around and be alive but really be dead on the inside and I want to start on the inside and help them reignite the fire inside of them so that they can truly become men alive.
I built a great relationship with the principal, Charlene Williams, during my time at Centennial and when I started looking into making Men Alive official, she played an integral role. At that time, she was running the Beulah Rucker Museum Mentoring Program and she took me under wing and helped me with whatever I needed. She helped by applying for grants and getting us funding and eventually helping us become a true LLC and non-profit.
The very first year we opened Men Alive for membership, we had 11 new boys come in, so we were up to 26 boys. I always asked God to increase this, and He did but now I needed help. So in 2021, I added an executive board. We currently have 4 serving on the board. These are men who are here for the cause and who want to invest in the boys and in the mission of Men Alive which is to provide empowerment, education and lifestyle training that will support quality manhood in today’s society.”
Q: What is the process to join Men Alive?
“We want the boys to want to be a part of Men Alive, not because their parents want them to but because they want to. We created a process that makes them put in some work to prove that they want this. To even be considered for the program, they must complete an application, provide two references, and go through an interview process before the board. They only have a small window to complete this and just because they apply does not mean that they will get in.
We just had a new induction in July, and it was quite the process. We brought in 18 new mentees! We did a lot of marketing prior to opening enrollment and as soon as we opened it up, we were flooded with applications. They only had 15 days to get their application and references turned in. We had 21 boys apply. We could tell that this group of boys really wanted to come in and be part of Men Alive and it was tough to narrow it down. We now have 45 mentees in our program.
We also try to really express that Men Alive is not about race. If they want to be here, they can be here.”
Q: What are some ways that someone can be a part of Men Alive either by volunteering or helping through donations?
“We have special events where we have volunteer mentors that will come and speak to our boys and pour into them. We welcome donations! 100% of donations go to our program. We are so thankful for our community, they are gracious to give to us. A big part of Men Alive is to give back to the community and we do that through community service projects. This past week we had a community trash pick-up day. We cleaned up the southside of the community by Boys and Girls Club, Fair Street, New Town. We also participated in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child and we have a “Feed the Hungry” planned in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
To donate, you can go to our website bevansalive.com and email us.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list? This can be business related or personal or both!
“Business wise, within the next three years, I want to travel and have mentorship conferences. I want to inspire people and create different chapters of Men Alive all over the U.S.
Personal bucket list, I want to go skydiving.”
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
“I love to spend time with my family. We are a very close-knit family, and we spend so much time together. I also love to take naps! This is my 17th year teaching piano and I had never taken time off until this past summer and I took so many naps!”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Gainesville/Hall County?
“Family. I would have a hard time moving away. Gainesville is home.”
Q: What is the greatest piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
“Something my late Grandma used to always tell me is love God, drink your water, and mind your business. I now tell my students and mentees this because when you do those things, you don’t find yourself in drama or a mess. Just mind your business and stay focused.”
“My brother, JJ tells me all the time that I must find the power that I have in saying no. I have always been very selfless and put others ahead of myself and then I end up suffering because I overextend myself and don’t take care of myself. So, he’s always reminding me that it’s ok to say no. People tell me no and I have to accept it, so I have to learn to say no too.”
Q: What is something good happening in your life, big or small, that we can celebrate with you?
“I feel like now at 35, I’m finally getting to a place where I’m on the opposite side of the hump. My business is doing well, my mentorship program is thriving and I have a job I love. I always want to be in a learning mindset, but I really feel like I’m in a really great place in my life right now.”
Thank you, Brandon, for taking the time to meet with us. The work you are doing within your community is inspiring. You saw a need and you stepped up and did something about it. Thank you for being a man of integrity that can inspire and empower young men to be not only successful in life but to be men who carry themselves with confidence and who are respectful and who give back to their community.
