Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayvan Moghaddassi.
Hi Kayvan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started out in London, England. I studied music and began my career as a composer, which quickly led me to set up my own music production company in my early 20s. I didn’t have a grand plan – just a passion for making things and a drive to build something on my own terms.
Over the next 17 years, that company grew into a group of businesses with 60 employees and offices in both London and New York. We had 12 recording studios, a production music division, a digital agency, an audio-first creative agency, and a publishing arm. Our clients included global brands, ad agencies, broadcasters, and media owners. We operated across creative, production, and advertising – all fast-moving industries where things constantly shift.
Along the way, I had to figure out how to scale a creative business without losing its edge. I had to learn how to hire the right people, build teams that worked, and put structure behind the chaos so the company could grow sustainably. Most of that, I learned the hard way. Not from theory, but from real pressure, real mistakes, and real wins.
During that time, I met a Texan in New York who later became my wife. She moved to London, we started a family, and after a few years I had the opportunity to exit my business. That’s when I decided to shift gears. I stepped out of the day-to-day of running a company and started Kayvan Consulting.
Now I work with other founders and business owners, often at that same messy inflection point where things are growing but getting harder to manage. I help them build clarity, structure, and momentum, so they can lead with confidence and build something that lasts. My work is people-first, strategy-driven, and rooted in collaboration, because I’ve seen that sustainable growth doesn’t come from quick wins or outside frameworks. It comes from getting the right people working on the right things, together.
In 2022, we moved to Dallas and I brought the business with me. Since then, I’ve been getting to know the small business community here, helping growing companies navigate the exciting, often overwhelming, reality of scaling up.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think I’ve ever met a founder who’s had a truly smooth ride, especially when building something from scratch!
There were plenty of years early on where I was figuring it out as I went. Learning how to manage people while still trying to be creative, staying up all night to hit deadlines, juggling admin stress with big client pitches. I made hiring mistakes. I held onto things too long. I learned some lessons the slow, expensive way.
The hardest part, especially in a creative business, is learning to let go. When you start something yourself, it’s easy to feel like everything depends on you. But growth only really happens when you build the right structure and let others lead. That transition – from doing to delegating, from founder to leader – is messy and personal and not something anyone prepares you for.
It’s those experiences that shaped how I work today. I help other founders through that same messy middle, because I’ve been there. I know what it feels like when the thing you built starts to outgrow you – I know how powerful it is when you build the team and systems that let it thrive without burning you out.
We’ve been impressed with Kayvan Consulting, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Kayvan Consulting, I help founders and business owners build companies that are actually set up to grow.
That often means stepping in at the point where things are already going well, but the cracks are starting to show. The team’s growing, but people are unclear on their roles. Certain functions in the business aren’t working well. The founder is still involved in everything. Decisions get stuck. Things feel chaotic behind the scenes, even though the business looks successful from the outside.
That’s where I do my best work. I help businesses bring structure to their growth, so they can keep scaling without everything resting on one or two people. I do that through a mix of 1:1 coaching, leadership support, recruitment strategy, and facilitated workshops that get the whole team aligned and moving forward.
I’m known for a practical, people-first approach. I don’t use corporate strategy frameworks or hand over a thick report you’ll never read. Everything I do is collaborative and grounded in how your business actually works day to day. I put a big focus on getting the wider team within a business involved in the strategy work that paves the road for growth. If they feel invested – as co-authors of the big plan – they’re going to put in the extra effort to make that plan a reality. There’s nothing more powerful that having a team excited to come along for the ride.
For larger organizations, I get asked to come in to facilitate group strategy sessions. Where a team of people have all the insight, expertise and knowledge on a specific topic, yet lack the structure to work their way through the creation of a strategy. That might mean solving a problem, kicking off a new initiative, innovating and coming up with new ideas, or just coming together to collaboratively make a big decision.
What sets me apart is that I’ve built businesses myself from the ground up, through all the messy stages of growth, across multiple divisions and international offices. So when clients bring me in, they know they’re working with someone who’s actually been in their shoes.
What I’m proudest of is that almost all of my work comes through referrals. Clients come back, and they send other business owners my way. That tells me I’m doing something right – and it’s exactly the kind of business I want to run.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
My approach to networking is pretty simple: help first. For everyone I meet, I ask myself, how can I be useful to this person right now? That might be an introduction, a resource, a book, a tool – something small that shows I was listening. It builds trust and opens the door to real relationships, not just transactional exchanges.
I don’t go into networking expecting to meet my next client. More often, I meet people who become collaborators, partners, or referrers later down the line, once we’ve built a relationship and they know what I’m about. The best-fit clients tend to come through people who already trust you, and you can’t shortcut that process.
Since moving to Dallas, I’ve made it a point to get involved and give back. I’ve mentored founders through programs run by United Way of Dallas and Capital One, and I serve on the Small Business Committee for the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, where I was honored to be named Volunteer of the Year in 2024. It’s been a great way to meet people, yes, but more importantly, it’s helped me understand this business community and where I can make a difference.
As for mentoring, I think everyone has something to teach you. I’ve been lucky to work with clients across all kinds of industries, and I never take it for granted when a founder lets me in and shows me how their business really works. That inside look is where the learning happens, for both of us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kayvan.info/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayvanconsulting
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayvanConsulting/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayvanmoghaddassi/
Image Credits
Becky Deragon | RD Images
