Unbiased reside leisure model Breakaway is increasing its management workforce with two new companions: Cultural entrepreneur Shaun Neff and leisure govt Nick Gross, who’ve formally joined Breakaway’s possession group, it was introduced Wednesday (Oct. 8). It’s a transfer that underscores the corporate’s ambition to scale past festivals into music, media and life-style ventures.
The announcement follows a milestone 12 months for Breakaway, which in 2025 staged its largest pageant season but: With occasions throughout 12 U.S. cities, it turned the nation’s largest multi-city touring pageant. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate launched Breakaway Tasks, a document label and artist administration arm devoted to nurturing rising expertise aligned with the model’s inventive DNA.
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“Bringing Shaun and Nick into the Breakaway household is like including rocket gasoline to every part we’ve been constructing,” mentioned Adam Lynn, Breakaway’s co-founder and CEO, in an announcement. “They perceive Breakaway’s broader strategic imaginative and prescient — evolving past reside occasions by creating new codecs and interesting audiences throughout a number of platforms. As Breakaway evolves, we’re constructing a workforce that displays that route.”
Breakaway chief income officer William Van Orsdel added, “Breakaway isn’t only a pageant anymore — it’s a motion. We’re happy with the tradition we’re constructing and much more happy with the possession group we’ve assembled to take us to the following degree.”
Neff and Gross convey a mix of inventive entrepreneurship and trade expertise that mirrors Breakaway’s cross-platform ambitions.
Neff, greatest generally known as the founding father of Neff Headwear, constructed his repute via collaborations with icons like Snoop Dogg, Kevin Durant and Wiz Khalifa earlier than co-founding Seaside Home Group, the model incubator behind movie star ventureslike Moon Oral Care with Kendall Jenner, Sample with Tracee Ellis Ross, BÉIS with Shay Mitchell and Florence by Mills with Millie Bobby Brown. He was additionally part-owner of Solar Bum, which was acquired by SC Johnson in 2019, and now sits within the possession teams of each X Video games and Los Angeles Soccer Membership (LAFC).
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“Breakaway has already constructed one thing highly effective — a nationwide platform that resonates with Gen Z tradition,” mentioned Neff. “Our objective now’s to scale that basis deliberately, and broaden in a means that deepens cultural relevance and neighborhood connection.”
For his half, Gross — via his Gross Labs umbrella — operates Huge Noise, the document label he co-founded with producer John Feldmann; Discover Your Grind, an edtech and profession discovery platform for Okay-12 college students; and Noise Nest Studios, his content material and recording facility in Los Angeles. Gross’ portfolio spans investments throughout sports activities, leisure and life-style ventures, together with Tiger Woods’ TGL Golf League, X Video games and Oklahoma Metropolis’s skilled soccer franchise. As a musician himself, Gross has toured globally with Avril Lavigne and Machine Gun Kelly.
“The mission is evident: amplify artists, empower followers, and break the mould,” Gross mentioned in an announcement. “That’s what drew me to Breakaway.”
Lynn added that increasing possession to incorporate inventive entrepreneurs like Neff and Gross is a deliberate transfer to strengthen Breakaway’s basis for the long run. “We’re not simply constructing festivals,” he mentioned. “We’re constructing a model that may reside throughout each medium — from levels to screens to the merchandise folks use daily.”
