Brandon Thorn

Sales and revenue leader with 17 years of progressive experience across hospitality, luxury events, and national political and nonprofit fundraising — including 5–6 years building and running sales operations in the New Orleans market. Proven at founding and scaling sales functions from zero: recruiting and coaching teams, building CRM infrastructure, and converting pipeline into record-breaking revenue. National track record raising $100M+ across 1,000+ campaigns at an 80%+ win rate with a perfect record of meeting or exceeding goals.

Equally strong on strategy and execution — comfortable setting a regional sales vision and personally closing the deal.

Founder, Managing Director & Venue Sales Director at Crimson Quarter Brands & Reverie & Riot (2023-12 – Present)

A design house built for the unconventional — giving couples a judgment-free space to plan and execute the wedding and ceremony they actually want, no matter how far it strays from tradition.

• Founded & Scaled the Business: Built a boutique luxury events and design firm from the ground up, now managing 100+ luxury events annually across premier New Orleans venues.
• Team Leadership: Recruited, trained, and managed a 40+ person team of sales coordinators, day-of staff, and creative personnel.
• Full-Cycle Sales Ownership: Own the complete sales pipeline — inquiries, proposals, site walkthroughs, tastings, and contracts — from first touch to signed deal.
• Strategic Partnerships: Built recurring business and long-term referral pipelines with Race & Religious, Jewel of the South, and multiple boutique French Quarter hotels.
• CRM Architecture: Built and maintained HoneyBook and Tripleseat workflows to optimize lead tracking, booking pace, and forecasting accuracy.

Director of Corporate & Group Sales at Mardi Gras School of Cooking (2026-03 – 2026-06)

Culinary-experience & corporate team-building venue

• Record Revenue Growth: Generated the most profitable spring in company history ($470,408), setting three consecutive monthly revenue records in 90 days and beating the prior all-time record by ~$127K (+69% YoY).
• New-Business Development: Booked 30+ new corporate and group accounts from a zero base in under three months, including growing a $9,750 inquiry into a $21,050 signed contract via consultative upselling.
• Sales Infrastructure: Authored a 47-page Sales Operations Manual and led a company-wide CRM rebuild, compressing lead response from 48+ hours to under 30 minutes and closing ~50% of active proposals in a single month.
• Signature Experiences: Secured off-campus venue partnerships that tripled guest capacity, and helped design a custom spice-blend activation for 600 attendees at the NACPA national convention.

Wedding & Venue Sales Director at The Temple (2025-01 – 2025-12)

Event venue owned by Tony Award winner John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

• Program Launch: Built and launched the venue's wedding sales program from zero — the first formalized sales pipeline in the property's history.
• Sales Pipeline Management: Oversaw venue sales and coordination end-to-end, supporting a high-conversion pipeline from inquiry through signed contract.
• Industry Representation: Represented the venue at CVB events, venue showcases, and hospitality industry activations to build referral relationships and visibility.
• Officiant Services: Served as ordained officiant for select client ceremonies, crafting personalized experiences aligned with each couple's overall event design.

Senior Fundraising Consultant & Event Strategist at Dark Horse Campaigns (2009-04 – 2021-10)

National political and nonprofit consultancy delivering fundraising, general campaign consulting, communications strategy, and voter mobilization to campaigns from grassroots budgets to multi-million-dollar races — including a purpose-built model that made professional fundraising accessible to smaller campaigns.

• National Revenue Leadership: Raised $100M+ across 1,000+ campaigns nationwide — including Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets — at an 80%+ win rate and a 100% record of meeting or exceeding revenue and budget goals.
• Virtual Call Room System: Engineered a remote fundraising model pairing video conferencing with NGP VAN's CRM, letting finance staff run donor outreach across multiple campaigns simultaneously; the approach has since been adopted industry-wide.
• Talent Pipeline: Recruited, hired, trained, and mentored fundraising staff and interns — several of whom went on to work presidential campaigns — building accountable, repeatable sales structures.
• Electoral Results: Helped elect hundreds of candidates across Congress, mayoral races, state legislatures, judgeships, district attorney races, city councils, and other local offices.
• General Consultant Role: Served as General Consultant on client campaigns — hiring and directing staff, media consultants, and vendors.
• Budget & Compliance Oversight: Built and managed campaign budgets while handling fundraising compliance and state/federal financial disclosure filings across every client account.
• Sponsorship & Relationship Selling: Sold sponsorships and underwriting for high-profile galas and events featuring national figures, managing client accounts, contracts, and multi-location logistics across a network spanning 30+ states.

B.A. in Political Science & Music Education – University of Alabama

Doctoral Studies in Political Science & Public Administration – University of Alabama

Graduate Teaching Assistant – University of Alabama