On the record.

Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur, builder, innovator, and mentor based in Sebastopol, California. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from California State University, Chico, and began his career in residential construction — including building his own home on land his family has owned since the 1930s.

Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur, builder, innovator, and mentor based in Sebastopol, California. He began his career in residential construction — including building his own home on land his family has owned since the 1930s.

Today, Brandon manages his family's vineyard, mentors entrepreneurs and individuals navigating reentry, and is creating new stealth startup technology's. He is the father of two sons.

Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur, builder, innovator, and mentor based in Sebastopol, California, where he lives on his family ranch that has been in continuous family ownership since the 1930s, when his great-grandfather emigrated from Italy and purchased the land.

Brandon earned a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from California State University, Chico in 2002. He began his career working for Centex Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, before transitioning to entrepreneurship. He designed and built his own home on the family property — a project he planned for four years and completed in 2008 — and later founded and operated multiple franchise locations before entering the financial services industry.

In 2011, Brandon founded Ameritech Financial and related companies to help borrowers navigate the federal student loan system — a process millions of Americans find confusing and overwhelming. The companies assisted borrowers in preparing documentation and accessing programs such as income-driven repayment plans, consolidation, rehabilitation, and loan forgiveness. At its peak, the operation employed several hundred people across multiple states and served tens of thousands of customers nationwide.

In December 2019, Brandon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering arising from his leadership of those companies. The case did not involve violence, organized crime, or concealed funds. Rather, it arose from the operation of a lawful business in a complex and evolving regulatory environment—a failure of leadership that Brandon has consistently and publicly accepted as his responsibility. He was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison, served his full sentence, and fulfilled all obligations imposed by the court.

During his incarceration, Brandon devoted significant time to mentoring fellow inmates — helping men prepare for reentry through resume writing, business planning, interview preparation, and practical frameworks for rebuilding their lives after release. That work became foundational to how he now approaches mentoring and leadership.

Today, Brandon manages his family's vineyard, oversees operations for a technology stealth startup, and mentors entrepreneurs and individuals navigating career transitions.

Brandon is the father of two sons and lives on the same land where four generations of his family have built their homes. He writes about entrepreneurship, leadership, and resilience at brandonfrere.com.