40 under 40 — Andrew Brain

Beta Tau, 2013 — Recognized in: 2018

Andrew Brain is another Beta Tau brother, graduating from Tulane University in 2013. Upon graduation, he quickly made a name for himself in the real estate development world in his hometown of Kansas City, MO. It all started with Brain Group, which over the past three years has grown to over 10M in AUM and 35K square feet currently under development with 250K more square feet in the pipeline. Most notably, with the cooperation of other partners, Andrew advised on the acquisition of a vacant middle school and its subsequent redevelopment into the world’s largest coworking space. On the side, he runs a private multifamily fund with additional partners that has grown to over 50 units and includes the first smart apartment building in Kansas City. He also runs a small family office with his parents where they invest in local startups from FinTech to whiskey distilleries.

In addition to this array of professional experience, Andrew has also given back to Zeta Psi in a number of ways, most notably as a current member of its Board of Directors.

“Zeta Psi has been and continues to be a great influence on my life. Not only was joining it a great experience, but being an officer was the first time I had any real responsibility and reporting requirements. I learned a lot from being Alpha Sigma. It was a really great experience for me and helped instill in me that I was a part of something larger. Sure, I had been on many sports teams, but that was different. Being a part of a professional organization really made things click for me. I also began to learn how to balance work and social life. While I admit the balance was tilted way towards social life in college, the scales started to tilt the other way afterwards.

In addition to that, being a part of the board has given me invaluable experience. I had never been a part of a board before, but now I serve on several and am looking at a couple more. It has also helped me focus on big picture items and leave committee work to staff. As a small business owner, I got so used to doing everything myself and everything my way. That is not a sustainable model, and that has been a valuable skill that I have learned.”