Bryan Vaughan Starting Up

CEO & FOUNDER Paper Garden

Q Tell us a bit about your business?

Paper Garden is a music-centric boutique creative agency, events curator/promoter & record label. With operations in both the UK (Kingston, Greater London) and US (NYC), we are a one stop shop with services ranging from live event creation & production to strategic partnerships, brand development & creative content marketing. Our Mission is to build a community and support great artists by bringing truly unique experiences to people, changing how artists and fans interact and engage with great music

Q What gives your business the X factor?

We challenge the status quo. From offering forward-thinking brands the chance to sponsor artists’ music releases or events in unconventional spaces, to helping them forge emotional connections with new audiences, we create opportunities that are both innovative and impactful. For the Kingston community, we introduce fresh music in a way that feels natural and effortless bringing it into their everyday lives rather than requiring them to actively seek it out.

Q What motivated you to set up in business?

A deep love for truly great music and its power to transform lives inspired me to start this journey. Music has a unique way of connecting us, it’s a universal language that transcends barriers, ignites creativity, and fosters a sense of belonging. Whether it’s the thrill of a live performance, the comfort of a soulful melody, or the energy of a vibrant rhythm, music has the ability to inspire, uplift, and unite.

Q What do you like most about working for a start-up?

The ability to truly BE the change I want to see in the world!

Q What has been your greatest business success to date?

In the US, it's probably the work we do w/ Jamestown - a commercial real-estate company who wanted to both bring more awareness and traction to their spaces in a multitude of their spaces across the US through music enlivenment. So, they hired us on to curate & produce regularly recurring concert series' as well as hire us as their primary music supplier for private corporate events they were hosting such as fundraisers and holiday parties.

In the UK, a highlight has been launching A Plant-Based Music Series at The Palace Gardener, a unique garden centre and café in Fulham. This thematic series aimed to reconnect people with nature through activities like nature-themed meditations, musical performances inspired by the natural world, and a fully plant-based food and drink menu. We partnered with Forest e-cycles to offer green transport, collaborated with the local council and university to drive awareness, and even created an app-based scavenger hunt where participants explored prominent neighbourhood trees while listening to nature-inspired songs.

Q What has been your lowest moment?

Nothing—everything has always run perfectly! Just kidding... The truth is, the music industry, especially as a fully independent record label without a trust fund to fall back on, is incredibly challenging and humbling. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 was a major low point for us. We were on the verge of signing several contracts with prominent corporate buildings and brands in central London for a multi-year event series that would have secured our operations long-term. When the pandemic hit, those opportunities disappeared overnight, and our carefully cultivated event series in NYC, which we’d spent years perfecting, came to a halt as well. Despite the setbacks, we found a way forward. Out of the chaos, we developed our Paper Garden Digs campaigns—a new model that has not only helped us recover but has become a central part of our business and brand today.

Q In terms of business achievements, where do you want to be within the next year 5 years?

The immediate goal within the not-so-distant future is to bring Paper Garden into the physical world and create a society & creative hub for Paper Garden's artists & community - with a space to call our own. Paper Garden's global fanbase alike, a way to experience great music. I aim to work closely with the Kingston community, and especially the younger generation and talent being born out of Kingston University and Kingston College to turn Kingston into a true music city & cultural hot spot.

Q What would be your top tip to someone thinking of starting up their own business?

It took me way too long to take this seriously but try to not get distracted by the shiny objects or all the ideas that pop into your head. Spreading yourself too thin means not being able to achieve what you want. You may have a million great ideas - and contrary to what many say - I'm actually a big fan of encouraging you to go after those goals. BUT complete what's in front of you first. If you're able to build upon what you have in front of you, then you provide yourself MORE opportunity and resources to get to the other things.