Breaking the Ice with Hot Sauce

One student’s journey from MSU to Marketing 

By Joe Tougas ‘86

Brandon Jackson ‘24 is a one-person master class in networking, a skill he perfected with a few bottles of hot sauce at the University Dining Center during his first semester here.

“I would look around the Dining Center, and I would see 80 percent of people doing the same thing—staring at their phones,” he said. “And food is this thing that's supposed to bind people together, to build a community.” 

Transferring from Plymouth, Minnesota and knowing no one upon arrival at MSU, Jackson had set a goal to meet 250 new people during this first semester. And the Dining Center seemed the ideal place to make progress toward his goal.

“I thought, if I believe that meeting one person can change your life, then that could happen through me.”

So for many mornings during that first school year, Jackson would walk from table to table with a bottle of the Dining Center’s hot sauce asking if anyone would like some. The responses varied, but he focused on the positive.

“It's like, ‘Okay, this is weird.’ But if I'm offering them hot sauce, they can do it in a couple ways, right? They could do it as, ‘Oh, man, that actually sounds really good. He kind of gets me, this brand new guy. I want some extra flavor on these lovely eggs.’ 

“Or maybe they view it as ‘Oh, guy's kind of goofy.’ And that's a connection point. I'm not afraid to laugh at myself.” 

By his second semester, he reached his goal of meeting 250 people. He also, along with fellow student Cody Pithan, created a faith-based recognized student organization for students in similar situations wanting to make connections. And from his list, Jackson invited contacts to various events using a standard he adheres to today as a marketer: Being genuine about it.

“It's such a fine line when you're inviting people to things,” he said. “Are you inviting them? Or are you inviting someone to sit in the seat? Every single person’s desire is to be known and seen and cared for. And if we just forget the most important thing, then we're going to grow, but it's going to be shallow grow. And I want to be a little bit more like Lake Superior than Lake Mille Lacs. Lake Mille Lacs is shallow in the whole lake.”

Ten days before graduation, he was contacted by a recruiting company, and he wound up taking the job they offered him for a year.

And he found himself once again feeling alone on a new adventure. To address it, he along with fellow MSU business grad Sam Christenson created NEW Minneapolis, a group of young professionals new to their market or environment (NEW standing for Newly Entering the Workforce). They meet regularly, with Jackson creating presentations and topics—such as the art of invitation.

“They want to connect. They want to grow, and they want to be honest,” he said of the club’s members. “This is a difficult stage of life that we're all in. And even though I met a lot of great people who were 40, 50 years old in my previous role, they don't know what it's like to be 20 or 25 in 2025.”

Since January 2025, Jackson has worked at Rise Innovations as a marketing and sales executive for a company that provides audio-visual technology, security, and lighting for both residential and commercial construction.

“It’s good. I love my job. I love the technology, and working with people and helping to build really cool things with technology. So that's where I've been at.”

Looking back, the MSU experience was ideal.

“One of the most awesome things for me about MSU was there's so many different ways you can get involved with the community, whether you want that to be in line with your vocation or more just on a relational level with other people,” he said. 

“The reason that I interact with people in that way is because I love to build relationships and connections and invite them into community and whatever that might look like. That has to start somewhere. The reality is we’re all walking into this life, having similar experiences. And the only reason we don't talk to people that we walk by, that we pass by, is because no one has broken that ice. Someone has to melt that barrier. And what better way to melt the barrier than hot sauce?”