By 22 years old, Holden Vaughan and Luc Breieger have already learned a lesson many people spend decades trying to understand: success does not have to look the same for everyone.

The Barrington natives know their story is not the one most people expect.

After graduating from Barrington High School in 2022, both initially followed the path that had been laid out for them since childhood — go to college, earn a degree and begin a career.

Instead, they chose a different route.

Today, the longtime friends operate Auto Haus, but their story is less about detailing cars and more about two young men who decided to bet on themselves.

“We’re not going to college, but it’s not because we don’t want to do anything,” Breieger said. “It’s because we want to get education that applies to what we want in our life.”

Their journey began during the summer before their senior year of high school.

A dedicated track and cross-country athlete, Vaughan needed a way to earn money that could fit around his demanding training schedule. Running twice a day left little room for a traditional part-time job.

Then his uncle paid him to wash his truck.

Vaughan grabbed a few cleaning supplies from his mother’s garage and completed the job in the driveway.

When it was finished, he saw an opportunity.

“It was high school money, but it was enjoyable," he recalled with a laugh. “I was like, alright, how can we leverage this?”

Soon, he and Breieger were detailing vehicles throughout Barrington. They started with relatives, family friends and neighbors, gradually building a client base one driveway at a time.

“It all starts somewhere,” Vaughan said.

The pair spent countless hours watching YouTube videos, practicing new techniques and photographing their work. What began as a small side hustle quickly became a serious passion.

The friendship that had carried them through childhood and high school now became a business partnership.

For Breieger, the passion for cars started years earlier.

He remembers visiting his grandfather, who owned a 2001 Porsche Boxster. As a child, he would sit in the garage pretending to shift through the gears while the car sat parked.

When he was 15, his grandfather finally taught him how to drive it in a parking lot.

“I think that was the difference for me,” Breieger said. “There’s cars, and then there’s cars that bring you a certain feeling.”

A personal crossroads

That feeling helped shape the future he and Vaughan would eventually build together.

Still, after high school, both followed what they believed was the expected next step.

Vaughan enrolled at the University of Rhode Island on a track and cross-country scholarship. Breieger attended college in Virginia.

Neither stayed long.

For Breieger, college never felt like the right fit.

“I liked some of it, but I couldn’t see myself there for four years,” he said. “If it’s not something I enjoy, I’m not going to apply myself.”

Vaughan faced a difficult decision of his own. Leaving URI meant walking away from a goal he had worked toward since freshman year.

“The whole goal of high school since freshman year was, how can we get free school?” he said.

But both found themselves questioning whether the traditional path was truly right for them.

“The pipeline that your parents essentially feed you through now is, you need to go to college,” Breieger said.

Rather than spending their time in classrooms, they found themselves drawn to skills they could immediately apply to their future.

“Instead of doing Spanish or math, we did communications, marketing, photography and videography,” Breieger said.

Leaving school wasn’t easy.

Both recalled the skepticism they faced from friends, peers and even strangers.

“When someone asks what you’re doing and you say you’re not going to college, people kind of give you that look,” Breieger said. “That doubt.”

Instead of allowing that doubt to discourage them, they used it as motivation.

After leaving school, both worked at automotive detailing shops in Massachusetts.

Breieger landed a position at a highly regarded detailing studio. Vaughan later joined him and saw that the operation was one he hoped to build for himself, and together they immersed themselves in the industry.

There, they learned far more than detailing.

“Nowadays, you have to do the photography, the website, the editing, the marketing,” Vaughan said. “There’s so much more that goes into it.”

The education they were seeking simply looked different from a college classroom.

Eventually, they decided to open Auto Haus.

The gamble paid off quickly.

An award-winning business

Just four months after opening, one of the vehicles they detailed earned People’s Choice honors at Newport Motor Week.

Vaughan still remembers receiving the news while celebrating his birthday with family.

A client texted him a photo holding the trophy.

“I stood up, left the restaurant and called him,” Vaughan recalled. “We were screaming on the phone. It was the coolest thing ever.”

The award-winning vehicle had been hand-built over three decades by a father and son, making the recognition even more meaningful.

For two young entrepreneurs still trying to prove themselves, the moment felt like validation.

“There are people who are 30, 40, 50 years old in this space telling us we don’t know what we’re doing,” Vaughan said. “Moments like that show us we’ve built up this skill enough for people to trust us.”

Four years earlier, they had been washing cars in driveways around Barrington.

Now, their work was earning recognition at one of the region’s premier automotive events.

Their story is not about rejecting education. Instead, it is about pursuing a different kind of education — one built through experience, hard work, trial and error and a willingness to take risks.

For some people, college is the right path.

For Vaughan and Breieger, success came from building something of their own.

“Every day when we show up, we’re betting on ourselves,” Vaughan said. “If we want to change something, we can make it happen tomorrow.”

At 22 years old, that bet appears to be paying off.