From Snoop Dogg to Something Bigger... With Laurier

How Laurier student Brannon built a life in the music industry.

Laurier Bachelor of Business Administration student Brannon didn't go to university straight from high school. Instead, he built a life in the music industry, working long hours in the studio, running his own recording business and even collaborating on a track with Snoop Dogg.

From the outside, it looked like he was on the path to success. But on the inside, something wasn’t adding up. “A year before Laurier, I burned out,” he says. “I had to step back and recalibrate.”

What came next wasn’t quitting, it was clarity. He realized that raw talent and hustle could only take him so far—if he wanted to scale his ambitions, he needed structure and he needed the right tools to get there. He needed Laurier.

Betting on yourself looks different than you think

Brannon didn’t pick Laurier because it was the most obvious choice. He picked it because it was the right choice—for him. “Instead of chasing prestige,” he asked himself: what actually fits my strengths? For Brannon, what stood out wasn’t the program; it was the people, the community and the energy. “I knew I needed something people-oriented, somewhere I could build real connections.”

That decision takes courage—the same kind you’re being asked to have right now as you decide where to go to university. Accepting your offer isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about trusting that you’ll figure it out in university.

You don’t need to have it all figured out

Brannon didn’t come to Laurier with all the answers, he came because he was ready to learn. If you think everyone else around you has a perfect plan—you’re wrong. “In first year, you don’t need a direction,” Brannon says. “You’re just getting a taste of everything. Things change. You have to be both flexible and focused to succeed.”

That mindset led to something Brannon didn’t expect: accounting (!) “I didn’t think I’d enjoy it,” he laughed. “But being open to change changed everything.” That’s the power of putting yourself in the right environment. Opportunities don’t usually arrive as passions, they show up as possibilities. Your job is to keep an open mind long enough to recognize them.

The grind doesn’t end—it evolves

Brannon didn’t leave his work ethic behind when he came to Laurier, he refined it.

“The music grind was my whole identity,” he says. “I learned how to self-manage, push myself and do hard things—by myself.” At Laurier, Brannon sharpened those skills into something more intentional. “Now I know that if I want something—no matter what it is—I can get it with the right plan, organization and discipline.” The challenge isn’t whether you can do the thing, it’s whether you’ll commit to showing up every day.

At Laurier, Brannon found something else, too—momentum. “Being around people, new ideas, different ways of thinking—it keeps you moving,” he explains. “That kind of environment doesn’t just build your career. It fuels your creativity. It pushes you forward.”

Laurier doesn’t offer certainty, it offers possibility. It’s a place where you can learn, build, explore, pivot and grow into someone capable of more than you could ever imagine. Your next move doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be forward.