In short
Live social shopping as a path to large profits (up to $1M in 24 months), plus mindset/accountability and how to use AI for business.
Key claims
Buy products at wholesale with clear retail markup, then sell via TikTok Shop and Whatnot (compared to “QVC of social media”). Live social shopping is described as a massive industry already proven in China; Whatnot is predicted to reach $7–10B US sales and $10B gross merchandise value. For AI, the advice is to spend 100 hours learning tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok) and stop dwelling on fear/regulation.
Notable examples
selling plants, glasses, mugs, ties; using ChatGPT to find wholesale sources; referencing past tech shifts (Google vs yellow pages, Uber vs taxis, Amazon vs bookstores).
Guest(s)
No specific guests are named in the transcript; “Andrew” appears as a host/participant, but no background is provided.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Potential of Live Social Shopping
0:37 to 3:08
Gary discusses how anyone can make money through live shopping and the trends in China.
“I'm like motherfucker, I made it because I was this happy and like the whole way.”
How to Get Started with Wholesale
3:08 to 4:01
Gary explains the steps to buy wholesale products and sell them online.
“Whatnot, and how many people have Whatnot on their phone right now?”
Challenging Limiting Beliefs
4:01 to 4:46
Gary encourages the audience to overcome mental barriers to success.
The Power of AI and Overcoming Fear
4:46 to 6:04
Gary emphasizes the opportunities presented by AI and challenges negative narratives.
“Take that 2 ,000 bucks from him, you might die, but but if you listen to me, you'll pay him back and you'll be on your way.”
Accountability and Taking Action
6:04 to 8:01
Gary discusses personal accountability and the importance of taking ownership of one's life.
“and make videos on TikTok and fucking cook.”
Taking Control of Your Life
14:00 to 16:42
Learn about the importance of self-awareness and taking accountability for your choices.
“Like when is it time for you to be like, yep, bad neighborhood, yep.”
The Dangers of Jealousy
16:42 to 19:00
Understand how jealousy and envy can hinder your progress and success.
“You gotta get on that AI kick physically, like that was good, like that, but your mindset needs to be 1939, but your activities need to be 2039.”
Building for the Future
19:00 to 22:48
Discover the value of hard work and patience in building a successful business.
“So how many people here have worked in an immigrant family business?”
Finding Joy in the Process
22:48 to 28:01
Learn how to prioritize joy and creativity over financial success in your endeavors.
“Like, this is the point of my career where I'm supposed to be in the country club and all that.”
Maximizing Joy in Life
28:01 to 28:31
Learn about the importance of joy and happiness over money in life.
“The world has been going around for a very long time and you all just got here.”
Show all 16 chapters
Understanding Historical Context
28:32 to 29:28
Discover how history informs our current challenges and emotional well-being.
“you come back as a squirrel, I get that shit, but putting that aside, this is it.”
The Weight of Responsibility
29:29 to 30:21
Explore the emotional and financial burdens of entrepreneurship and leadership.
Mindset Shift on Success
30:22 to 31:58
Reframe your understanding of success and financial achievement.
“You lose a client, this this shit is warfare.”
Self-Awareness in Business
31:59 to 36:39
Highlight the need for self-awareness and personal understanding in career choices.
“But for someone like me, I was born to be a firefighter.”
Opportunities in Niche Markets
36:40 to 39:05
Identify business opportunities within niche markets and the importance of alignment.
“I mean it, you can make money in everything, especially now with the way niche marketing is and brand deals and sell merch.”
Embracing Live Shopping Trends
39:06 to 41:10
Learn how to leverage live shopping and social media for business growth.
“or an Amazon dropshipping site, go and build a TikTok shop and go on Whatnot and sell it and in 24 months you will make more money than you can ever imagine.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Buy anything at wholesale that people buy. Anything. Shirt, hat, toothpaste. Go on TikTok shop and on whatnot and start selling it. Go hard and every single person here can make a million dollars in profit a year in 24 months. Dead. But I'm telling you, live social shopping, it's a half a trillion dollar industry in China. This already happened. Every single person in this room, if you're willing to work, will make one million dollars in profit selling plants, glasses, mugs, ties. Tell me why not one person in this room in 24 months is gonna do what I just said You're looking to figure yourself out how to put you in a position to do what I just said That is what I'm here for.
0:37This is the Gary Vee audio experience If someone believes that money is freedom, they're already enslaved to money What you're looking for is freedom from money From money, not that money will provide you freedom Correct, my favorite that I get oh Gary, but you're all happy and like this now because you made it. I'm like motherfucker, I made it because I was this happy and like the whole way. You know, it's always these things and it's only this. There's a million ways to make money. I'll do it right now. Buy anything at wholesale that has a higher retail value and go on TikTok shop and whatnot, the app and sell it on live shopping because the QVC of social media is now here.
1:23buy anything that people buy. Anything. Shirt, hat, toothpaste. Buy it at wholesale. Oh, Gary, how do I get it at wholesale? Use chat GPT and be like, I want to buy toothpaste wholesale.
1:40Take it in. Go on TikTok shop and on whatnot and start selling it. Go hard and every single person here can make a million dollars in profit a year in 24 months. Dead ass. Now let's stop. Play with me here. Who here would like to make a million dollars for themselves? Not the business makes a million. I'm talking the business makes three million. You make a million. Who would like to, who would it be better for in this room to make a million dollars, take home in 24 months than what you're doing now? Please stand up. Stand up. I want to see. Might not be for everyone. I just want to see who. Sit down.
2:24Thank you. Okay, now let's keep playing. 75, 80 % of this room stood up. I'm gonna say it slow. Buy any, obviously the more work you put into what I'm saying, more research, with chat GPT for free, the more upside you'll have. But buy anything at wholesale, meaning you have to buy, like, if you buy something for 10 bucks, but then you Google it or go to Amazon and it's nine bucks, you're out. You have to buy something for five that you can't find anywhere else for less than nine, you need to have profit. But I'm telling you, and I think some of you have been following me long enough that you know I'm good at this trends thing.
3:03Live social shopping, it's a half a trillion dollar industry in China. I'm not Nostradamus, this already happened. Just in a different part of the world. Whatnot, and how many people have Whatnot on their phone right now? Raise your hand. Not bad. Nine, 12, right? Probably, how many have Whatnot because of me on your phone? and raise your hands. Right, okay. The same nine. Whatnot is going to do 10 billion in sales in GMB, gross merchandise value. $10 billion worth of stuff this year is gonna sell on Whatnot. In the US, 7 to 10 billion. It's a private company. We're all trying to figure out what it is.
3:43It's gonna do 7 to 10 billion in sales on an app that no one in this fucking room ever heard of. so I'm gonna we're gonna keep chopping some wood here I'm telling all of you that every single person in this room if you're willing to work 9 to 7 9 to 8 like I can't have you work 9 to 1 will make 1 million dollars in profit selling plants glasses mugs ties now Andrew tell me why not one fucking person in this room in 24 months is gonna do what I just said that is what I live for that is why I'm here that is what I'm curious about and that leads me to you're not looking for information how to make money
4:39you're looking to figure yourself out how to put you in a position to do what I just said that is what I'm here for does that make sense right I just told you I'm right I am right now listen there we can get very detailed someone's like Gary I'm$13 ,000 in debt how do I like even start like I don't have the money like go$16 ,000 in debt credit card companies love to fuck you so get that first$3 ,000 that way I don't know fucking go to that shady the fucking city who will loan shark your ass. Take that 2 ,000 bucks from him, you might die, but but if you listen to me, you'll pay him back and you'll be on your way.
5:26There is always a way until you've decided there's not. And that's actually my biggest concern right now. The biggest concern I have right now is the mechanism. I don't believe in this matrix shit and all this, but human culture right now has all of you believing that it's hard. My favorite, Gen Z. All day long in social, they're getting fed propaganda. You have it worse than your parents. This is the most fucked up generation. Fuck the boomers, they fucked it for you. I know 40 ,000 23 year olds making a million dollars a year. You can literally now sit in your fucking bedroom and make videos on TikTok and fucking cook.
6:11this is the greatest era for a 22 year old who's over 45 raise your hands could you imagine if we had this shit we had to work at fucking kmart and burger king and pay our dues motherfucking kids are going into corporations right now thinking they should be senior vice presidents everybody who just raised their hand over 45 we didn't say a fucking and word for the first five years. This is the greatest era to be a kid. And now AI is here, are you kidding me? So cool, you can read some chart that says something about the macro financial system in the world. The fuck does that have to do with you?
6:53You as a kid are fucking weaponized with your phone with a super computer and unlimited opportunity and unlimited time. But because you believe it, you're dwelling. I don't believe them, Andrew. I do not believe the people that sell fear. And I do not believe the people that sell negativity. I believe it's fully in their own self-interest. I think parents sell fear to kids out of their fear of their kid getting hurt because they love them so much. So it is their self-interest, not instilling good things for their kids. I think politicians are on a fucking historic run of selling fear on both sides of the aisle.
7:41And I think you fucking people listen to them. And I think you should stop.
7:53You got more to put on that one or you wanna go to - Let's bounce around. You wanna bounce out? Anywhere you wanna go. All right, let's go to my favorite topic right now that you talked about AI. Yes. Because you have a very unique look inside of it. Very, very, I'll even say a little bit of behind the scenes stuff that maybe other people don't get to always see. What do you see with AI happening right now with business owners right now? Who's over 50? Raise your hands. You should be winning this game, here's why. You watched in the early part of your career, computers and the internet come in and change paper.
8:30and fax machines and beepers. And so that means you've seen historically a very big technology come along and reshape everything. This is absurdly big. I cannot tell you how big this is. It is so big. But I think it's big good. And again, I know I'm by myself up here. I know everyone's like, this is bad and I'm gonna get fired and everything's bad and the robots and humanity and bad and I'm a rapper and my shit's fucked up and it's bad, it's all bad. But I'm gonna bet it's not. I think it's gonna change that. When the tractor was invented, 85 % of humanity worked on farms and that was bad until it was actually good.
9:19I think it's gonna advance us. Do I think people are gonna get caught up? Yes, but I also don't see anyone in this room, they didn't cry for the biggest salespeople of the yellow pages when Google came along and wiped them out. I don't see any of you crying for the yellow taxi cab medallions that used to be worth a trillion dollars in Manhattan before Uber came along. You're not crying for them. Oh, you're crying for you. Oh, when Amazon came and killed every bookstore, you didn't fucking rally. You didn't give a fuck because it didn't affect you. You're paying attention because you're scared it's gonna affect you.
9:53So now the question becomes, what are you gonna do about it? I have good news for you about AI. This will be historically correct. I feel it very much. AI is one of the biggest tidal waves of our time. It's coming. You know it's coming. Who here is aware that AI is brewing and it's gonna be a big deal? Raise your hands. Good. That means your excuses in 36 months of AI fucking you up by you raising your hand is now null and void. If it fucks you, it's your fault. You know. So now the question is, what are you doing about it? Many of you are shitting on it, thinking your subjective opinion on your Facebook group and in your kitchen has anything to do with anything.
10:37You like that one? I like it too. I think it's funny. Like, okay, like you think it's bad for humanity and?
10:47Stop dwelling about it and coming up with excuses because you don't want to put in the 100 hours of work to understand how to use it. Go grab a surfboard and ride this wave. That surfboard is your 200 hours of work and learnings and using it. Or do what I think a lot of you are doing. Here is your AI strategy with the tidal wave coming.
11:13Head in the sand, praying for luck, hoping the government regulates it, hoping something miraculous happens, or just hoping you're old enough and you just won't be affected by it that much. I don't know what else to say. Here's my answer on it. I believe every person here, if motivated by my words, should go home and spend 100 hours as quickly as possible, preferably over the next 100 hours. But I know people are living life, so I'll take the next 1 ,000 hours, 100 of your next 1 ,000 hours awake, and I want you to download every AI player, perplexity, Gemini definitely chat GPT I want you, all of you are on social media I want you on Twitter next using Grok, I want you to use Facebook and Instagram's search because it's AI enabled and I want you to get comfortable Hey everybody, I hope you're enjoying the podcast right now make sure you follow the podcast that's why I'm interrupting, let's keep going on this show but follow the podcast it'll make my mom super happy Here's the craziest shit about AI you don't need me You don't need me to tell you things up here.
12:23You literally go to AI and say, AI, I'm a lawyer. What are the five best apps as of this month to use for a lawyer in AI? Enter, apps, download, play. Next, AI, ChatGPT, I am a fashion designer. What are the four best apps that have popped up in the last four months that I should know about download to make me more efficient with AI? Enter, answers, four links, click, download, play it. We have become unbelievably good at pointing fingers. We blame everybody for everything. The government, big tech, Mark Zuckerberg, fucking Trump, Biden, our parents. You don't get it, Gary, my mom was an alcoholic, no shit.
13:14We have gotten remarkable about, Like my question is, so many of us grew up with adversity. At what age are you allowed to take accountability for everything in your life? I ask all of you. What is the age? By the way, listen, I hope my tone is not lost. People grow up with some shit. Like I am not sitting here, right? Like people grow up with some shit. But you know this, your shit feels bigger because it's yours. I promise you whoever's like, man, my shit, you don't get it, Gary. I promise you probably the person either to the left or right of you had it worse. And so I ask you, when is it all your fault?
14:00Is it 18? I think so. Is it 22? Is it 30? Is it 40? Like when is it time for you to be like, yep, bad neighborhood, yep. Dad was a narcissist, yep. grew up in a bad economic time, yep. Picked the wrong industry, yep. Like got forced into a college by my parents and I shouldn't have taken on that debt. Like, yep. Like, but when is it you? Today. My man, today. So, you know, AI. You think Sam Altman invented AI? Come on. Come on, wake up. It's called evolution. Some motherfucker bought 50 ,000 horses the day before the car was invented.
14:52Oh, you want to be in business and entrepreneurship? What the fuck do you think this is? You better be lucky enough that someone like me doesn't decide to be in the business you're in. So what are we talking about? This is real life. And so I think everyone here can do it. but I think we have to get out of over coddling and pointing fingers and we gotta get back to some shit that works which is I am in control, I am capable. By the way, self-awareness too. I suck at a lot of things but just because you suck at a lot of things doesn't mean you're a loser. Doesn't mean you suck. If you suck at a lot of things, that doesn't mean you suck.
15:29It means you're a human being. We gotta get our self-esteem up. We gotta get our accountability up and most of all, we gotta recalibrate what a necessity is and what's a luxury. Everyone's like, we're all broke. I'm like, stop buying$37 fucking martinis. Gary, you don't get it, it's not affordable. I'm like, I do get it. You buy Starbucks three times a day. Like, I grew up in neighborhoods where every single person had a used car. I haven't seen a used car in 30 years. People fucking leasing new shit with money they don't have. everybody's got six handbags my friend's father when I was growing up had one pair of pants and shirt he wore the same shit every day people that are broke have closets you motherfuckers are signed up to seven different streaming services we need to talk to our grandparents that's what we really need to do you want some good advice go talk to your grandparents unless they're fucked up go find some other old people we just gotta get back to We gotta get the back to basics mentally, and we gotta get to the future physically, got it?
16:42You gotta get on that AI kick physically, like that was good, like that, but your mindset needs to be 1939, but your activities need to be 2039.
16:58Winners don't tear down people, right? They're too busy winning, and actually cheering for everyone else. it's incredible A, I am a winner but more importantly I actually believe my mother parented me so well that I don't even have it in my mind to contemplate envy and jealousy of someone else's success because A, as a rational human being no one else's success even a direct competitor is actually coming out of your pocket and B, why would you waste energy on jealousy and envy because it's clearly taking away from you putting in the work. And I say I don't like using luck because I think luck is the weapon of choice of losing players, but I did get fortunate that my natural DNA is not jealous and envious and that my mother parented me in a manner that didn't accept it or encourage it.
17:52So I am aware that I sit here in a room where a lot of people's DNA naturally took them that way or the people they looked up to, to their parents or older siblings did instill that. I have many relatives, even in my own siblings, they're different than me. But I beg on you, if you are sitting here listening to me, if you do find yourself jealous or upset of a competitor or somebody in your Instagram feed, you must curtail that energy. It is fucking you up. It is complete waste of time. everybody who hates me every hour right now on Instagram has done nothing to stop me
18:41but they've done a lot to stop themselves the fuck are you worried about me for? so anyway I laugh a lot when people I actually saw a clip today where someone's like fuck Gary V he grew up rich I'm like no no I made my dad rich I spent 22 to 34 this is why for a lot of you've seen my content a long time I talk about patience when I started VaynerMedia my biggest company right now VaynerMedia VaynerX it holds all the agencies we'll do 350 million dollars in revenue this year revenue not valuation revenue I started that company 14 years ago in another company's conference room because I had no money to pay rent because I spent 22 to 34 working 100 hours a week, including Saturdays, because that's the only way you get to that many hours, and Sundays, building a business for my father, and we were an, how many people here are immigrants?
19:35So how many people here have worked in an immigrant family business? Raise your hand. So all of the people that just raised their hand will really understand what I'm about to say. Not only did I take my dad's business from three to 60 million in sales and a hell of a lot more profit, and I worked 100 hours a week, that man did not fucking pay me. I literally took that business from three to 25 million in the first five years and went from making 38 ,000 a year to 45. I mean this, I mean this. The thing I'm most proud of is that I had the emotional strength, the patience, and the understanding of how life actually works to devote the greatest years of my working capacity life when I was single and had nothing else to do to build a business for my father.
20:27And then I started building mine. And that is a level of pride that I sit up here with that will never be replicated no matter how many, I mean, I truly believe, I mean it, it's fun to be sitting with you, you know how passionate I am about this. I truly believe that I'm going to build Pokemon and Marvel. Do you know that Pokemon's worth$100 billion? That's right. And so, like, I know I'm gonna build it. You know I'm gonna build it. You've been there from day one. I'm going to build it. It's going to happen. And yet, it will be the biggest thing I build, it's the company that will allow me to buy the New York Jets if that plays out timing wise.
21:08And still it will be a distant second to building Wine Library for my father. I believe one of the reasons a lot of you have not maximized the financial success I assume I don't know why else the fuck you'd be at a conference at 9am on a Friday in DC I assume you're trying to build right? I genuinely believe a lot of you are struggling to get to where you want to not like struggling but like you got something but fuck I want to do 10 million instead of 1 million or I want to do 3 million instead of 400 ,000 and I genuinely believe this. I don't say this a lot and I put out a lot of content so this is gonna be a good nugget.
21:48I think it's because you care too much about that part. I genuinely believe the reason I and many people, you know, because a focus group of one is useless to all of you. I and many that I observe that really cook, really cook, I think they're detached from the success and the money. I just do. I just do think like, like I was, think about who I, how many people here have a good feel of who I am? They follow me, just by a show of hands. Thank you. That means you know I'm ambitious, I'm hungry, I'm building, I'm grinding. I turn 50 in a month and I'm waking up at 4.30 to do a speech and then run back to the Javits Center.
22:29I'm gonna be at that Javits Center like I'm at a flea market slinging shit. I mean it. And then at seven I'm gonna go and have dinner with three or four of the biggest comic book artists because I'm trying to break into comics and I'm gonna have the humility, even though where I'm at, to go, you know? And then I'm gonna go live stream tonight from 10 to midnight. Like, this is the point of my career where I'm supposed to be in the country club and all that. And I'm not doing it because of the money. I'm doing it because I love this game. I'm doing it because it's joyful. I'm doing it because I'm curious of how big can I make it?
23:03It's like a kid, you know who's one kid that always stops me in my tracks when I run through life is when I'm at a beach and I'm just walking, maybe with my wife Mona, or just like, whatever, I'm walking, and I see a kid building a castle, you know, like at 8.30 in the morning, and then later I do another walk on the beach, and it's like 1 p.m. and that kid is still building, it's like, I'm like, I fucking get you, kid. That kid is just building. He's, how can he make this castle, she make this castle before mom and dad say, knock it down and we gotta go eat. And if you've seen this kid, and I think some of you have, I assume some people have been to beaches, kid cooks all day.
23:46And then mom's like, it's dinner time. And he just smashes it, smiles, and bounces. That is who I am as a businessman, as an entrepreneur, and I believe a lot of you need to find that simplicity and joy in the game, because I think the financial thing is wrapping you up, it's making you tight, it's making you tense it's making you scared and then I realized that it got me to the next place which is why and that's what got me into my content the last seven or eight years of like insecurity versus self-esteem why are you doing it for them the reason I'm never scared is if I failed in all my businesses I really don't care what you think about me failing in the same way that I can't hear you when you all just cheered for me I can't hear you when you boo for me.
24:39I don't play for you. I do not play for you. The greatest clip in the history of cinema was when Ivan Drago lost to Rocky in the Soviet Union and he grabs the mic and I speak Russian so I knew what he said before they translated it for you but he loses if you remember and he cries to the premier. He's like, motherfuckers, I wasn't fighting for Russia in this ring. I was fighting for me. And you guys have to get that mindset because a lot of you are worried about what everybody thinks about your house or your car or your chain or your bank account. And that is why it's not as big as you want it to be.
25:24That's it. It's true.
25:31I'm here. I know where I'm at and I'm posting about comic books right now on my social and I have friends like friends they're like yo like it's not a good look I'm like fuck you what do you mean it's not a good look what would you like me to post me being in a private plane does that make you happy you want me to sling a $500 ,000 watch you want me to show my Rasheed Johnson piece of art in my house like what would you like me to do to be a good look for you Johnny.
26:06When you do it for you, you become free. I'm not embarrassed to post about comic books. I'm playing for me and then the truth will be the truth. Either I'm right or I'm wrong and I'm comfortable with being right or wrong. I need you all to get there because then you will do the moves that are required to build big because the reason you're not as big as you can be is you're scared to make the moves. You want someone else's cosign. Andrew, do you know how many people I've asked for business advice in my life? Zero. Now, this is important. As I've gotten older, I'm like, maybe, you know, it's like anything in life.
26:50Anything too extreme is always wrong. I think I went too insular. I could have probably used a couple of mentors or advices along the way. but I've just stayed in my own cocoon because that's where I felt safest. It was just good in the lab. It's just good. And I don't want other people's advice because other people's advice comes from their yesterday. And I'm playing for my tomorrow. That was a good one. I've never said that before. I've never said that shit before. Yeah. I just, you know, if you notice when I talk about mentors, like when I put out advice, I'm like pretty high level contextual because I know your shit's too unique.
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27:33So it's hard for me to tell you you need to do this. Well, you might not be like me. Well, Gary, I'll give you a great example. Real estate. My friends, the tax code is written for real estate. It's good. I own none. None. I don't like it. I'm not interested in it because I am not trying to maximize financially. I'm trying to maximize creatively. Enjoyability. Fun. I don't know if you know this. You all were not born for a long time. The world has been going around for a very long time and you all just got here. And I don't know if you know this, but you're gonna die. And when you do, it's over.
28:30And I know some spiritual shit, you come back as a squirrel, I get that shit, but putting that aside, this is it. And so you're not born for a long time and you're dead forever. So what the fuck are you doing while you're here? Maximize for joy. In fact, I would argue, I want a lot of you in this room to make less money leaving here. Let me say what I mean by that. a lot of you are hurting on happiness and if you made$200 ,000 less, you'd be really happy and I think that's a trade that's worth it as long as that's like from 700 to 500, you know, there's necessities if you're at 250 and you go to 50, that's a lifestyle change.
29:15But I'm telling you, we gotta fight for joy and especially in these times, you know, I was a DNF student real bad, like the worst, but I was really good at history and as I've gotten older I've realized it's because history tells you the future and like I'm sure it's not lost all on anybody especially sitting right here in DC it's not like tomorrow culture is going to get light again for a lot of us the next 20-30 years is going to continue to be heavy it's going to take a minute for us to pendulum swing back together we're getting pulled apart which always is causing tension so in a world where the outside is even more tense than ever your inside needs to be more calm than ever and so I need you this is mindset to business business is hard entrepreneurship is lonely I wake up every morning 100 % of the world that I live is my fault my responsibility on me I got nobody else nobody else I can't turn to no one it's all on me and I have 3 ,000 employees in Vader X and fucking one of my best guys fucking had a stroke and is in big trouble and like that's just emotional let alone what I have to do to replace him leading a huge company and I have Singapore and I have fucking London and I have Latam and like every day and I'm in my shit with my people so every day someone's being diagnosed with cancer and having a miscarriage and sick and a house burnt down and like father died, I'm getting that email every day now because I want to know everything about every employee so that's heavy emotionally and then what about financially?
30:46You lose a client, this this shit is warfare. Remember when we used to travel, you'd have to fill out the forms now, it's all digital, but, and you'd have to put occupation. The last three years I did that, about five, seven years ago, every time under occupation, I wrote firefighter. Real talk, A, because I fucking love firefighters, big ups to them, and B, I truly believe that's my life, because I'm literally sleeping, but I'm prepared for my phone to ring and I gotta do something. and that's what this game is. So when it's that, why the fuck do you think it's so hard? Why do you think so few people achieve?
31:27Social media, mainstream media, the way the world is has you fucked up. You're overpaying attention to one 23-year-old that became a billionaire. The top 1 % of financial earners in America, the richest country in the world, make$447 ,000 a year or some sort of number like that, 600 ,000 maybe with inflation. Somewhere around four to five, 600 ,000 a year puts you in the 1%. Yet, all of us are walking around like if you don't make 10 million a year, you're a fucking loser. That does not add up. We need a mindset shift. But for someone like me, I was born to be a firefighter. I love this game. I need you to figure out what you love.
32:12In fact, some of you need to become number twos and threes, not number ones. you'll make more money and be happier. In fact, some of you need to close one of your businesses that might make 300 ,000, but it's bringing all your stress so your other shit actually goes up. In fact, you guys have to start looking at this at chess. Too many of you are playing checkers. We need to fucking change the script. I love you. Give me a hand, give me a hand.
32:40One last question is you use a lot of different words. like motherfucker shit. Sorry about that for those that weren't ready for this. But you use words like empathy and love and patience. There's a lot of words that you use and my key words for you. If you could, this is, we're setting a date with you. Normally you're one of our closing speakers where we change the term. If you set the tone for this room today for the rest of the day with one word. Self-awareness. My friends. be you. You have no idea how crazy my path was to like where I am in the business world. I came out, like came out really in 08, 09.
33:24Everybody told me to be everything I wasn't. Actually, back to the joke I just made when I signed with CAA, the big speaking bureau, they said, Gary, you could be a big speaker, but we're gonna help you right here, right now. I'm like, okay, let's do it. They're like, you have to stop cursing. I'm like, fuck you. But for a lot of you, I'm sure, and I apologize, because we all grew up different. This is my Jersey boy immigrant shit. Some of you grew up with a grandma from the South who said cursing is the devil. When people are offended or don't like my style, I respect that. They're right, not me.
34:00I'm just not capable of not being me, right? The world came to me. In 08, 09, if I curse like this, there was a lot more people offended. norms changed over the last 18, 19 years. There's a lot more shit we have to worry about than just bad words. And I think we're gonna let that one pass. What about the way I dressed? The other thing was you can't be taken serious as a businessman wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I'm like, then I'm just not gonna be serious. The world came to me. We all know, especially 40 and older, we got casual. Things got more casual, clothes wise. I don't believe the clothes represent the man or the woman.
34:40I think the substance of their humanity does. I think the skill sets they have do.
34:50You know, so I just want, like if you are a non-cursing formal dresser, go cook. Because you will. You don't need to be me for damn sure. You need to be you. and let me go to the depths of where I want to go. You're going to hear a lot of stuff. You might be like, oh, that's how you make a lot of money. If you're sitting there and be like, I can't do that, then don't. We're so, like, look, there's things you have to work on. Human things. The tactical things, if it's not fun to study collectibles, like, I think collectibles is about to go crazy. Like, crazy. La Boo Boo's, Pokemon sneakers, watches, trading, I think there's just so much business opportunity.
35:33but when I say that, if you're in the crowd and be like, yo, I used to love baseball cards, well then maybe you should look into it. But if you heard that and be like, that's stupid, then maybe you shouldn't. You understand? I win because I don't create for myself. And I need you to go to that self-awareness place. You need to know who you are. Are you out, like, you know this, like somebody might come up and be like, sales, which is real, sales is amazing. but then like if you know you're the most introverted person in your family you don't want to talk to nobody what the fuck you think you're gonna do in sales i see it all the time like some weird awkward like hey i'm johnny i'm johnny you're not selling shit you better fucking become an accountant now now you know what i mean like johnny who loves math heard on a video that sales is where it's at and gets a fucking bullshit suit and he's like i'm in sales now, he loses every time.
36:29But he goes into development or accounting or finance, he wins. And I just need you to be self-aware. Who are you? What do you like? You can make money in everything. I mean it, you can make money in everything, especially now with the way niche marketing is and brand deals and sell merch. Who likes to cook here? Raise your hands. Crazy amount of opportunity. Go to Stan's store, make a$20 cookbook, link that Stan's store URL to your Instagram profile, make cooking videos. Watch how much money you can make. Money making is everywhere. The self-esteem required for money making is nowhere. And that is what I'm working on.
37:16And that's why I'm building BeFriends, by the way. My whole little BeFriends world, my 280 characters, Empathy Elephant, Patient Panda, right? Tenacious Termite. I know that when I went on TikTok, I started getting 13 and 14 year old fans, and I could see that they were doing more of what, because you know, old dog, new tricks, right? And by the way, on the old dog thing, 50, 60, 70, it's just a mindset. Old dog is a mindset, not your actual age. I have a video coming out later where I pretty much proclaim that I think I'm seven years old. That's just where I'm at. You know, it's a mindset. But I noticed that the 13, 14, 15 year olds in those first years, because my audience went from like 22 to 13 with TikTok back in 18, 19.
38:01I was like, oh, these kids. And then it's just like normal. I'm a common sense man. I'm like, oh shit, I'm getting to them earlier. I can mold a little bit earlier. So now I'm like, fuck it. You know what's better than 13? Three. Who has a kid who's 20 years old in here? Raise your hands. I need you to write something down, please. vfriends.com slash cartoons. We've made 20 cartoons with the people that made Cocoa Melon, so they're high quality. Have your kids watch it, and you should watch it. You're gonna smile, because again, 80s baby, when I grew up in the 80s, those cartoons were trying to help the parents parent.
38:35I used to watch He-Man, and at the end, he'd be like, and it's like, hey kids, it's He-Man, and remember, be nice to your sister. I'm like, oh fuck, my sister, you know? I feel like kids programming has not contributed. Parenting's harder than ever, and I'm like, where is everything helping us? So I want V Friends to help, but then also I wanna win the comic crew and the nerds and all that, and so I'm building, and I believe in this stuff, and this is the real stuff. Because I literally just gave you guys and gals in black and white how to make one million dollars. Buy stuff at wholesale, and instead of going on eBay or an Amazon dropshipping site, go and build a TikTok shop and go on Whatnot and sell it and in 24 months you will make more money than you can ever imagine.
39:21So it's not, now again, back to self-awareness, like I don't wanna sell on camera, all that, but why don't you wanna be on camera? Is it because someone might say you're ugly and that might fuck you up? I'm trying to figure out why everyone's still in grammar school. Like a lot of you don't do my social media advice because you can't deal with one negative comment from JohnnyPants47.
39:46Why can't you deal with that? It's because you're insecure. When JohnnyPants47 says, um, shit, I don't feel bad for me. I worry about him. Do you know how sad of a life it is to go around the internet and leave negative comments on people's content? I'm not sad for me. I'm compassionate to him. Imagine that life. Imagine having time to do that, tearing other people down. What a sad way to live. So that's where I'm at, brother. Self-awareness. Self-awareness. I want them, like all the stuff I just said. How many people here got excited and are excited about the idea of like, yeah, I actually do wanna sell some stuff on video, on social, raise your hand.
40:31Great. Those people should really, really try hard. You really should. It's a very big deal. I made these same videos about social media in 2006, seven, eight, and definitely TikTok in 18. I know a lot of you saw that one and a lot of you wish you did and you didn't. Don't do that again. Go do it. And again, if you forgot anything I said, chat GPT. Literally, this is the chat GPT thing you type or audio. Hey, I was just at a conference with Gary Vaynerchuk. He talked about live shopping on social media, I think. What was he talking about? He will give you what I just talked about. The worst thing that ever happened to all of you is that chat GPT came along.
41:06You know why? No more excuses. Because people love their excuses. Drew. You know? So.
From the publisher
In this episode of the GaryVee Audio Experience, I talk about the biggest opportunity you have in the next 24 months: Live Social Shopping. I encourage you to do your homework and start selling on platforms like TikTok Shop and Whatnot. I also discuss how to prepare for the massive shift AI is bringing to every industry and why taking 100% accountability for your life is the only way to win.
- How to Start Selling on Live Shopping
- Why You Need 100 Hours of AI Research
- How to Deal with Judgment or Disapproval
- The Importance of Self-Awareness in Business
- Why You Should Maximize for Joy, Not Just Money
You’ll learn about:
