“Sometimes you have to lose everything to find yourself,” says avowed serial creative entrepreneur Garry Yankson.

On his own last calculation, Garry had lost two years of his life, two companies with a total valuation of EUR1.5mn, over EUR40,000 in cash and 20 friends. The price of his last breakdown, according to the entrepreneur.  

His decision, the worst one yet he says, to do everything everywhere all at once came to a head with his burnout in 2022. “Starting a 360° independent label while launching a book, starting a festival and a music tech startup, all while preparing for the arrival of a second child – who does that, honestly?” he writes in a post on his Substack With Love From G.  

Very quickly, Garry found himself overwhelmed by the amount of work and constantly stressing out about his cash flow situation. “On top of that, I found myself being manipulated by a business associate, who went so far as using extortion that left me in a position where I hated myself to the point of even wanting to kill myself for it to all end. That was not the best time in my life,” says Garry, very matter-of-factly.  

It wasn’t easy or simple to get out or just walk away either. “I couldn’t give any of it up because of the projects I had committed to and all the people involved in them – collaborators, partners, artists, clients, board of directors, suppliers. And my own attachment to the companies I had started, I didn’t know when or how to just give up,” said Garry.  

Lose yourself

He did walk away, eventually, a bit late by his own admission. “I decided to stop everything, just literally stopped working for a few months, let go of my team and told everybody to move out of the office,” he said.  

Garry sold the music label to his business associate, closed the festival and sold the music tech startup to one of the market leaders in the space. “This is the same entertainment company that had wanted to acquire us just a few months earlier, but I had rejected their offer. Now I find myself calling them back and saying I’m down for the offer but of course things had changed. They acquired the company assets for like next to nothing. That was definitely not the exit I wanted,” he says with a smile, the irony not lost on him.

Regardless, Garry says that walking away was the best decision he’s made, allowing him to take the time to analyse, rebuild and educate himself. Lessons have been plenty along the way. To start with, he says he should have paused some of the projects, even stopped it, and prioritised the most profitable and simplest activity. But that’s on hindsight. Besides, he’s still proud of the fact that he had created a company that had attracted the biggest player on the scene, if there is a silver lining in this scenario.  

I got loyalty, got royalty  

Garry wishes he had listened more to his intuition, trusted his gut, in this particular case. But in the same breath he ponders on the importance of listening to others. “Finding the balance is really, really tough and sometimes I've listened and trusted only me and my vision, which led me in the wrong direction. And some other times I've only just listened to others, putting into silence my own intuition, my own feelings. And that one led me to my breakdown, costing me my self-esteem and a lot of money,” he says.  

So where does he stand? He’s listened to his intuition that says nothing is truly lost if you keep the right mindset, so find the balance to listen and integrate others feedback, especially your loved ones. Because that’s how he got back up again.  

“It was tough for my entourage when I closed that chapter in my life, and it was tough for them when I started again. They were like, ‘bro, what haven't you understood yet? Like are you stupid or what?’ because it seemed like I had learned nothing from my mistakes. But the truth is, they helped me regain confidence in myself by allowing me to be my authentic self,” says Garry.  

Hustler’s ambition

He got back up on the saddle by starting off as an employee rather than a founder, rediscovering the joys of a salary at the end of the month, vacation days whenever he wanted and the work day being really over when he shuts off his laptop. But it also just so happened that this nine-to-five company he worked for was none other than Atelier JR, the creative studios of celebrated French photographer and artist JR.  

“I worked as the head of development for him for a few months when I realised that the things I do – my business plans and strategies – has worked for hip hop, for indie labels, for some of the biggest commercial brands and now it works for the world of art, something I hadn’t explored before. They were doing great in terms of turnover, with a 20-person staff, and I was like, ok, cool, my vision and my strategies, they work. It helped me trust myself again,” says Garry.  

Now he’s setting off again, better and more prepared than he’s ever been, in his own words. “In 2023, I launched my consulting business, thereafter I started Proplyd Productions (IP producer, publisher and premium music licensor). And through it all, I have my daughter who inspires me everyday,” muses Garry.

All of this means he gets to stay true to his “serial entrepreneur” self, with his consulting business providing advisory services on growth, funding and go-to-market strategies for various micro-businesses and game-changing startups including MNGRS.ai, Blooper.ai, Claimy, Music Tech France, Vienna-based CultTech Accelerator, Creative Business Europe, Accra Impact Hub, Schoolab, and Paris Initiative Enterprise, to name a few. He also manages singer Yaya Minté and artist Robert Jaso.

Looking ahead, Garry is on a mission to connect creative and cultural industries worldwide with a special focus on accelerating Africa–EU collaboration, in a direct nod to his Ghanian roots. And what’s in his vision board? “I’m positioning myself as a Top Voice (LinkedIn’s blue badge showcasing experts and leaders) in business development advisory for the creative and cultural sector, scaling IP ventures (including my own) and cross-border partnerships in music, film, gaming and fashion,” he says. And who knows, maybe this time, his future self will actually thank him for all of this.  

This article was originally published on My Creative Networks. Feel free to share the article if you know somebody who might enjoy reading Garry’s story.  ht