Mentorship: Ayo Peters’ Key To Entrepreneurship

Features Explainer 1:

I chose to explore this subject, first of all because one of my favourite hobbies is music (I play an instrument and write lyrics), and so is a subject I am really passionate about, and enjoy exploring.

I was also intrigued by this ongoing conversation among music lovers, industry veterans, and artists themselves on how tricky it can be to introduce your original work as a music artist without being exploited in the music industry, and whether it is actually better to strike out on your own as an independent artist using all the technology and social platforms available today.

Mentorship: Ayo Peters’ Key To Entrepreneurship.

If one wants to introduce themselves and find their place in the music industry as a young artist, are there more possibilities in owning one’s own work by going down a more independent route, than being signed up to a major music label?

In doing so, can a young artist inspire and help more people rather than trying to ‘play the game’ with already established artists? How, and can they go about it with no backing or connections?

Ayo Peters, founder of independent label Grind and Ghost, and APM Management, and I had a conversation discussing the importance of mentorship, perseverance, and organisation, in the quest of the young artist to be recognized and appreciated in the music industry, while inspiring others along the way.

Talking to me from his studio, you would find it hard to believe that Ayo’s start in the music industry was less than ideal. Having grown up in Dagenham, in a neighbourhood where violence and crime was touted as the only way to make ends meet, these negative influences did take their toll on him, though he himself had come from a good family. It all culminated in him getting in trouble in his second year at university, after he had previously shelved his dreams of music production coming out of school.

After his parents found out, Ayo decided that he had to make a drastic change, “I just knew I can’t continue in my life like this,” he reflects.

To guide Ayo along this life-change, and resurrect his dreams of starting a music label, was the hand of a manager-mentor, the same person who is still the backbone of his independent label and whose support was evident even down to the name of Ayo’s label, “My manager-mentor...showed me that it was never too late to come back on to music…” “He was very supportive. He was the first person to show support when I brought the name, and this was when I was off-track dealing with that stuff (getting in trouble at university).”

I then asked him if helping his community through his experience of finding creative ways to follow his dreams instead of resorting to violence and crime, was a huge factor driving the work of his independent label, seeing that he had previously worked in Sadiq Khan’s Violence Reduction Unit/Young People’s Action Group (YPAG) an organisation that aims to prevent violence in local communities by gleaning critical information from the experiences of young people who had grown up in such environments.

“Yeah, a 100%,”Ayoresponded, as he then narrates how through that uneasy time when he was worried about income and his education, his manager-mentor guided him through the process of applying.

Ayo’s success in getting the job, “...changed my mindset and narrative of how I see the world..” and “… really showed me that yes, we are welcome, yes that it (opportunities to move forward) are available to us, and I (kinda) bring that with my whole label; that image of making a positive world for young people, cause I want to be that person that people can see, you came from a harsh area, but you were able to come out, and do something inspiring for the youth.”

He insists that there is no need to resort to violence or crime if one, “...gets a mindset that you are able to impact others.”

He further stressed the importance of working with older mentors, “... most of my friends and mentors are older than me. I surround myself with older people because they have been through my age, they know how it was my age, they’ve experienced my age, so they’ll be able to tell me the dos and don'ts...(what) they wish they knew when they were my age...that’s the impact mentors, and having a positive mindset, and positive people around me had (an effect) on me.”

This has led to greater respect for Ayo’s work in his local community, and now armed with these experiences, successes, and life-lessons learned as a mentee, Ayo hopes to become that inspirational mentor, guiding young people to a better way of living and earning, through creative entrepreneurship.