1. Your name, as you would prefer it to be stated?
Steve. I am on the phone for business alot whereas I am called Mr. Brahney at which point I usually pause on the phone with the opposing counsel asking “Are you still there Mr. Brahney?” at which I reply, “Yes, I just had to put the phone down for a minute to see if my Dad walked in behind me”
2. Your current location?
Woolwich Twp, NJ
3. Your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn account links (or other websites as well)?
Facebook: Steven Brahney
Twitter: I am going to be honest here, I have no clue what Twitter is even used for.
Fraternity Stuff:
4. Badge Number?
#7 I assume I got # 7 after I was measured and they added 1”
5. Pledge Class Name?
Founder
6. Fraternity Nickname, if you remember it?
Screwdriver
7. Story behind how you got your nickname, if you remember it?
It was pretty easy, it is the only type of alcohol I consume
8. Your fondest memory of being a Phi Psi?
When I moved back to NJ in April 2001 to start my business everyone rallied around to help me get started. The first two years of business during the summers I employed at different times Joe Gillies, Armanda Sorchini, The McDermott Twins, Ryan Duca, Shane Walsh, Rich Farally, Jeff Pratz, John DiStefano, Russ Pocaro, Justin Lelie, Eugene Bayawa and Greg Folsom.
9. Your most embarrassing moment as a Phi Psi?
I had just moved back from Florida in 2001 and was at a party at the house trying to pick up 2 girls in the basement when all things were going great and I told them I had just graduated the previous semester and that I was 22 (I looked very young when I was in-shape and had hair) when Shane Walsh walks over after trying to creep on them and says in front of them “Uh Brahney, I thought you were 26? You are one year older than me and I am 25…”
Waking up in a twin bed next to Joe Gillies in Daytona Beach during Spring Break and not remembering how I got there or why he was wearing cologne.
Getting cited by Glassboro PD in the Acme parking lot for having an open container of alcohol in the car (The other Brothers in the car will remain anonymous) As we were told by the police officer they received an anonymous tip from someone at a WaWa pay phone. As we exited the Acme parking lot to head back to WaWa to “have a chat” with the tool who called the police I was talked out of it by an older Brother who will remain anonymous.
Armando Sorchini for pulling me back into my truck at Triad after a mixer while a female was trying to pull me out thereby saving me from a lifetime of Valtex prescriptions.
All the family barbecues at the Sorchini House where I was welcomed as “Family” while telling Armando’s 17 year old neighbor Jenna that when she turned 18 I was going to marry her. If “To Catch A Predator” was only around back then, I could see Chris Hanson jump out of the bushes next time I showed up for a barbecue.
Pulling my jet ski around behind my Dads house in Florida during Spring Break telling the guys how we are going to swim 100 yards across the Intercostal Waterway to the beach on the other side to have the other guys start swimming and Mo Bah pull me to the side and say “Hey Brahney, I got a small problem. I am Black and Black people can’t swim”
Gillies and I making a “break for it” out of an unnamed sorority house down Main St 70 MPH as DiStefano tried to get into the back seat leaving him behind as the “Lone Survivor” only for Joe and I to get into the drive thru at Taco Bell and find Shane Walsh in a car behind us with DiStefano and the two females Joe and I were breaking away from.
10. Your proudest moment as a Phi Psi?
Our chartering
11. Any unique memories from your time as a Phi Psi?
Spring Break 2001 at my place in Florida.
12. When was the last time you visited Rowan or the chapter?
I drive through Rowan a few times a week. Whoever in the engineering department pushed for the cross walks and pedestrian signals should be stabbed with a butter knife. It is now 10 minutes to drive ¼ mile during class changes. When I went there if someone wasn’t hit by a car 3 times a semester you would wonder what was wrong. Was enrollment down? Were people skipping classes?
13. What is favorite event the chapter holds?
Homecoming
14. Whose the 1 brother you want to reconnect with / see interviewed here?
Who was the 1 brother in the Fall 99 that went AWOL that we would always joke about where he was during meetings and functions? “Oh crap, where is __________”
15. Name 1 friend you made in NJE you still keep in touch with...
With Facebook I try to keep in touch with as many brothers as possible. Thank God Cassino accepted my friend request because every time I post some negative thing about lazy people on Facebook Chris is there to correct me and edit the post to be politically correct with statistics I think he pulls out of his ass.
16. What do you think is needed for alumni relations to be strong between the chapter.and alumni?
I feel there should be, I hate to use the word mandatory, but somewhat frowned upon to miss functions between the alumni and undergrads 2-3 times a year whether they be functions around campus to help Rowan or the community like litter clean up or helping underprivileged children in the community. I know not all the alumni live close to the campus but if you are with-in 1 hour of the campus you should be expected to help.
17. You've been a member.for 15 years: why should undergraduate members commit to Phi Psi for life?
The bonds and friendships I have made at college (Phi Psi and Non-Greek) are ones I will have forever. I can remember my Mother telling me one time in high school not to cherish the friendships as long lasting because the friends you make in college are the ones you will have forever, and it is true. I still communicate with friends on FB that I had in high school, but nowhere as closely as I do with friends / brothers form Rowan. I will tell you a true story: Back in July 1998 I drove to Ft Lauderdale FL to pick up a piece of line striping equipment I purchased from an auction. When I got there, anything that could go wrong went wrong. First problem was the auction company didn’t have the title for the trailer from the guy they repossessed it from. Then the bank I financed it through wouldn’t wire the funds to the leasing company that held the security interest because the title never got mailed to the lien holder. I had to call my Father who at the time was the only person I knew who had an American Express Onyx Card so he could charge the $38,000.00 to the card till we received the title and I could reimburse him from the leasing company. I get the trailer hooked up to my truck for my 1,200 mile trek back to NJ, it is pouring rain, and it is hot nasty and humid out and guess what, the &%$# trailer lights don’t work. I am now driving on a Friday at 4:45 PM in the pouring rain, with a trailer I don’t have a title too and find a trailer repair place and pull into the parking lot at 4:58 PM (Keep in mind in 1998, In Google We Trust was not around nor was there a smart phone or GPS so finding a trailer place was a project in itself). I go inside soaking wet, sweating like a pig (Also, my A/C went as soon as I crossed the FL / GA Stateline on I-95) and the guy at the counter says “Sorry, we are closing in 2 minutes- come back Monday.” Luckily for me, I was wearing a Phi Kappa Psi T Shirt and a young kid about my age was behind the counter guy and asked me where I was a Phi Psi Brother. I explained we had a colony we started at Rowan University earlier in the year and he had told me he was from a Florida Chapter and that his parents owned the dealership. With this he yells into the shop to open the garage door at which point the counter guy says “We are closed, its Friday and no one is staying behind to fix this trailer!” The Phi Psi Brother says, “That’s fine, I will stay here to fix it”, and he did. I thanked him and he wouldn’t take any money from me.
Career Stuff:
18. Year you graduated from Rowan?
I did not graduate, I left in December 1999 to relocate to Florida to manage the largest highway striping company in the country. I was supposed to graduate in May 2000 and have 12 credits left. I know, crazy right? Before you jump on my parents bandwagon and start berating me let me explain why I did what I did and how it was the right move. Let’s start off with what classes I had left to take; 3 math classes (Algebra, Statistics & Trig), 1 science and philosophy or something like that. I am terrible in any form of math except geometry and finance. I couldn’t even grasp pre-algebra as John DiStefano and Greg Folsom can attest to. The only way I passed was because my algebra teacher at Rowan was an attorney and we use to have such engaging law discussions I think he gave me a C+ because he liked me. I remember getting tests back with a 8, 25, 14 out of 100 and don’t see how they could add up to a C + at the end of the semester. I was going to enroll in FAU but with my work schedule I would not been able to work around my classes so I decided to focus on my career instead. When I was in High School freshman year my algebra teacher told me I was so stupid I would be lucky to pump gas for the rest of my life. Luckily she didn’t do financial forecasting because that sure backfired. My sophomore year at Rowan I failed my first algebra class that I took as my teacher shook his head and told me in front of the class that “I just don’t get it” at which point I stood up in front of the class and informed him he “just didn’t get it” which is why he makes $40,000.00 a year in a dead-end job and I make that much money sealcoating driveways in the summers for 2 months work. I then withdrew from the class and enrolled in the algebra class I passed the following semester.
19. Degree(s) you graduated Rowan with?
Economics. I had so many free electives that I filled them all with management, marketing and business law classes.
20. Any advanced degrees or certifications you have?
Negative
21. Your current occupation?
Self Employed
22. Number of years in that occupation?
20+
Relationships/Family/Personal Stuff:
23. Are you currently in a relationship? If so, with who and for how long?
I have been married for 10 years to my Wife Krissy who is also my best friend. We dated on / off while we were at Rowan together and then reconnected when I moved to Florida after she relocated there for work.
24. Do you have kids? If so, how old and their names?
Hannah- 7
Rowan- 9
25. Hobbies that you are currently into? What do you like to do in your spare time?
I travel a lot for vacation. As a family we spend 2-3 weeks a year in Disney and the kids love it. We have a house down in Cape May Beach so my family stays there all summer and I travel back and forth for work.
I like to exercise as much as possible during the day. Some days my job is very physical where I may be helping out on a jobsite or going to meet clients. When I am not working physically I like to find a park or someplace (Where I can go to flash my headlights- just kidding) in between appointments to get exercise by walking.
I like to volunteer whenever possible to help people whether it is family / friends or strangers.
I like to spend a lot of time with my family doing fun things even if it is just taking the girls driving around to look at my jobsites.
I read a lot and try to constantly learn new things every day.
26. Anything you would like to share with other brothers through the blog regarding your relationship/family/personal life?
Where do I start…I could probably write a how to guide. In life I have done more things wrong than I have done right but only by the luck of the draw I have been blessed in life to be successful. I did not come from any money, by the time my Father hit the pay-dirt I was 20 years old and living on my own. From a young age my parents always instilled in my Brother and I to work hard and to help those who could not help themselves. From a very young age I always worked, whether it was raking leaves in the fall or shoveling snow in the winter on days school was cancelled I always worked hard but more importantly I always enjoyed helping people.
Career:
If you are a freshman or sophomore and you don’t know what you want to do for a career, don’t panic, I wasn’t quite sure either. In high school I went to military school that you needed a recommendation to get accepted into. Luckily my Great Grandfather knew a Senator who wrote a recommendation letter for me. When I was in high school I wanted to be a New Jersey State Trooper and the same Senator was willing to write a recommendation to the Colonel if I wanted to enlist as when I graduated high school was the last year you could become a Trooper without a 4 year education. I began sealcoating driveways and line striping parking lots when I got my driver’s license. When I graduated high school I decided with the money I was making that I would pursue a career in paving. To this day, one of my biggest regrets is not enlisting in the State Police as I have become successfully financially I get more satisfaction from helping people then making money.
I waited two years to enter college and as a Freshman I wanted to study Environmental Engineering but was unable to because of my weak math skills. Then I decided I possibly wanted to enter Law School because I am a socratic thinker, good negotiator and tactical problem solver. As I continued to work part time striping parking lots I began to make good money and to stay the course.
In my senior year as I was offered a very lucrative position to manage the largest highway striping company in the country I decided to move to Florida. After working there for a year, I knew I was truly an entrepreneur and would only be happy working for myself. Even though I had a cushy six figure job, I decided to leave the comfort and security of getting a paycheck every week, full benefits and other fringe to pack up and move back to NJ to start my business. My first year back in business I only made $50,000.00, but I was after the bigger picture which is what I have achieved today. With a $4,000.00 investment on April 10, 2001 I turned the business into a multi-million dollar operation which allows me to live the life style I have today.
If you don’t know what you want to do the first two years of college, don’t stress out about it, I didn’t know until I was already out of school.
If you are going to go to work for someone else as a member of the millennial generation, chances are you are going to be managed by a member of Generation X, here is the best advice I can give you:
- Be the first in and the last to leave work every day if you ever want to be promoted
- Do not spend ½ of your day at work on personal FB accounts, paying personal bills online, taking late lunches, bringing pets to work or being lazy
- Be the hardest working person in your department and make sure your superiors acknowledge it and reward it.
- ALWAYS be willing to help others and pitch in whenever need be. When layoffs come, the late, lazy, unmotivated are the first to go!
- Never fool yourself into thinking you are irreplaceable, always be humble. I had a guy who worked for me in Florida that ran a $350,000.00 highway striper and was the only one in my branch who knew how to operate it and once thought he was going to tell me in front of 25 employees at a safety meeting that he could never get fired because he was the only one who could run the truck. Well, I read the entire operators manual that afternoon and watched the videos and you could imagine the look on his face as he pulled into the yard the next morning and saw me exiting the gate with the truck heading to paint thermoplastic lines on the Florida Turnpike. The next day I fired his ass after I trained another key employee to run the truck!
- The list of career advice could go on and on. If you have any specific questions or need advice please email me.
Personal Life:
I have been through it all in life and business and would love to help you avoid any of the mistakes I have made. I have been successful and I have been not so successful and I have been successful again. I have had times where I have had $500,000 in cash sitting in the bank and days where my checking account has been overdrawn for weeks at a time while I shepherded my business through one of the worse economies since the Great Depression. With every mistake I make I learn a valuable lesson and rarely make the same mistake again. If anyone needs advice on anything from buying a car to trying to discharge $300K in debt without declaring bankruptcy or affecting your credit score just email me.
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