BIRMINGHAM – UAB baseball alumni Matt Morse and Tyler Mims have been selected to the UAB Excellence in Business Top 25 class of 2020 by the UAB National Alumni Society for the second consecutive year. Morse and Mims previously received the honor in 2019 for their business, Kaifect, where Morse is the owner and founder while Mims is a partner.
“Being recognized by our alma mater in this manner two years in a row is humbling,” said Morse. “We had the opportunity to be student-athletes together at UAB, playing baseball for the Blazers while also attending the UAB School of Business from 2010-2015. Working side by side with Tyler has been a lot of fun, and we wouldn’t be growing as fast as we are without his contributions.”
“It is extremely humbling,” added Mims. “There are so many amazing things happening at UAB and the university has produced so many impressive companies. To be mentioned with the other recipients is an honor for us. We are so proud of our alma mater and to be recognized by the UAB Alumni Association means so much to us.”
Celebrating its eighth class, the UAB National Alumni Society initially created the Top 25 awards to identify, recognize and celebrate the success of the top 25 UAB alumni-owned or UAB alumni-managed businesses. Morse and Mims both wrapped up their UAB careers in the spring of 2015 with Morse adding an MBA to his bachelor’s degree in marketing and Mims earning his bachelor’s degree in industrial distribution.
Morse and Mims’ business, Kaifect, is a results-driven, full-service digital marketing agency that works with authors, speakers, coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs, and business owners. The agency assists its clients with branding, web development, social media, digital advertising, email marketing, online strategy and product marketing, among other specialties. Kaifect prides itself on providing fast, efficient and quality service as it works to maximize the impact of others.
“Interestingly, I never set out to start an ‘agency,’” Morse recalled. “As I was finishing my final season with the Blazers, I had some very unique opportunities in marketing and business development for a handful of authors, speakers, and businesses around the country. I strategically positioned my work as consulting and, with some positive word-of-mouth referrals, I was getting more and more inquiries. To best serve these clients, the Kaifect agency was born and quickly evolved into what it is today, a full-service marketing agency that represents some of the top coaches, authors, speakers, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs in the country.”
Approaching five years into their business, Morse and Mims have parlayed their baseball knowledge into a strong business acumen by implementing their marketing tactics for multiple athletics-based clients. The pair currently works with legendary SEC baseball coach and current UAB volunteer assistant coach Ron Polk. Morse and Mims assist Polk by marketing The Baseball Playbook, penned by Polk himself, running Polk’s social media and managing the website they built for him. The former Blazers have also assisted Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball coach Matt Deggs to help maximize his impact and reach stemming from a viral presser in 2017. Deggs now has his own website, book and Pack Video System.
Outside the realm of sports, Kaifect also works with several clients in music, real estate, fitness and professional development.
Prior to entering the business world, Morse and Mims both played five seasons at UAB finishing as redshirt seniors. Both saw significant action throughout their time donning the Green and Gold. As a senior, Mims appeared in 56 contests, starting in 52 of them as a utility player. The Hoover, Ala., native swatted 51 hits for 12 doubles and 27 RBI in his final year on the Southside. Morse was also productive at the plate with 22 hits for 10 RBI and 20 runs scored after seeing action in 50 games with 41 starts in the infield.
“There are so many life lessons learned while being a student-athlete,” said Morse. “The same skills that it takes to be a student-athlete – discipline, time management, teamwork, knowing your role, etc. – carry over into our business. We stay focused on the process, control what we can control, and understand that each day is a new opportunity!”
“Being a student-athlete at UAB has had a huge impact on Kaifect,” Mims said. “The lessons we learned during our time as UAB baseball players were integral to our development and are still very much a part of our business today. Not to mention, if it was not for Coach Shoop and UAB baseball, Matt and I’s paths would have never crossed. We came in as freshmen together and competed for five years, and to be in business together today is something I am very thankful for.”
Morse and Mims will be recognized for their success at the eighth annual Top 25 class award dinner, currently scheduled to be held at the Alumni House on June 25. Tickets to the awards dinner are $50. More information about the UAB Excellence in Business Top 25 awards program is available here.
To learn more about Kaifect, visit the official website here. Morse also has his own website that can be visited here.
Effective March 16, Conference USA announced that all spring sport competition and championships have been canceled. For more information regarding the Coronavirus, visit www.uab.edu/coronavirus.
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow @UAB_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram. -Go Blazers-
