How to Overcome Fear and Find Success

15:16Channing Clark:Yes.

15:17Gary Vaynerchuk:Straight up. 100%. By the way, electricity changed everyone's job. I did.

15:21Ryan Clark:I watched Terminator.

15:22Gary Vaynerchuk:Yeah, I get it. I get it. My belief is the following. Man, are you familiar that there's something called the atomic bomb? Are you familiar that it's been around for 70 years? I just believe in humanity, bro. Real talk. I believe in the human spirit. Straight up.

15:44Channing Clark:And so, I want to have this analogy. Please. The way you use the analogy, I want to make sure it's clear. In your mind, it's, hey, we can have these things, like the atomic bomb. Yep. But if people do the right things with it, it won't lead to the extinction.

16:03Gary Vaynerchuk:Better than that. humans have shown we do the right things in the net. In the micro, a knife is bad. Let's talk about the knife. We should ban him. Someone stabbed someone yesterday. In the macro, we're the best. In the micro, we pay attention to the.1 % of the worst. That's a bar of fuck, man. Give me something. That's real shit. I can never see you like that on the show.

16:38Channing Clark:That's some real shit. Many conversations. I adapt myself.

16:47Gary Vaynerchuk:I think about this every day. I don't know what happened. Thank you, God, for the mom you gave me, the circumstances you gave me, my inability to be confused. I walk around earth every day and I see nothing but love. Straight up. I'm aware that if you're looking for negativity or hate or you're shook, rubbernecking, the fuck are we looking at an accident for? Nosey, yeah. I get if you turn on the news. I get how the algorithms work. There's no politics in my algorithm. There's a lot of Jets football, Knicks, cards, wine, happy, joy, rainbow. By the way, I can change every, don't believe me about the algorithm?

17:31Gary Vaynerchuk:Everybody, don't believe me that you're in control of the algorithm, not the algorithm on you? Right now, everybody, stop the podcast, go to Instagram, go to search, type in rainbows, enter, like three posts, out. Go back to the search, put in happiness. Like five pieces of content, out. This is the most important part. Type in Gary VEE, follow that account, like three things, go out, put it down. Come back in the morning, show me your stream, email me, Gary at VaynerX, tell me what happened. The algorithm isn't controlling you, the algorithm is exposing you.

18:08Channing Clark:You're all one today. I am all one today. I'm clear, I'm clean today.

18:14Gary Vaynerchuk:Man, do you know why I'm so excited about AI? Because I have zero musical ability in my body, but when they make this AI music, I've got real bars. I'm gonna be the biggest rapper in the game, I just can't sing, I just can't flow. I have none of that shit. I got that white fucking man shit in me. But the AI is going to give it to me. I'm going to be like, all right, give me a Metro Boomin fucking beat and give me a little baby cadence and a wheezy on the end, prime wheezy, like hard to forward, like boom. But all my words, now play? I'm going to fucking own Spotify. I'm going to own, because the shit I've got to say is so fucking real and I'm often countercultural because I don't fucking follow.

18:58Gary Vaynerchuk:I go back and I'm like, let me think. I'm like, I would have been good like 800 ,000 years ago. I would have been that dude like under the tree and be like, I would have been a good philosopher. Like comes natural to me like, I'm not gonna rush to anything. I'm gonna stay quiet. You know, it's funny, I was a bad student, but I was good at history. I'm good at pattern recognition. You know, I'm good at that shit. That's a little bit of like the stuff we were talking about. So yeah, I'm optimistic, man. I'm really straight up optimistic. Let me say this. everyone who's scared about AI and mad about the work stuff, when they realize AI is going to save your mom's life, wait till people realize what AI is going to do to medicine.

19:36Gary Vaynerchuk:Yeah, you might lose a job, you'll get another one, but when your daughter lives because of AI medicine and she wouldn't have without it, hmm, I think you're going to have a different take on AI.

19:46Ryan Clark:Right. You've built wealth, influence, access, those are the things you talk about. and I'm sure you've also talked about failure or how many times you didn't succeed. But people kind of listen to whatever they want to listen to. So they sort of miss that. So one, give us a little bit of a game about failure but also the aforementioned portion of that. Tell us about what's overrated about success.

20:16Gary Vaynerchuk:I'm going to start there because that's a great question because that's not asked of me often. there's many things that are potentially overrated about success it's predicated on who we are individually we talk in this world now so much in the macro but everything's micro i'll give you a wild one about me one of the overrated aspects of his success is being known it's crazy what i'm about to say because i'm one of the actual most prolific content creators of the last 20 years I'm private as hell and for the people that really follow me they know that because I don't share anything about my family one of the overrated things about success is lack of privacy you know I don't mind when I'm out and about in fact I love people so I'm crazy I'm a lover boy I like strangers like they're my family I'm like I was in Radio Row I'm dapping up people like they're my boys from the 80s I like people People, it's a beautiful thing.

21:16Gary Vaynerchuk:I like it, it's easy for me. I'm not scared of people. I love people, all kinds. I grew up with such great diversity as a kid too, so it was locked in for me early. You know, going to MLK Elementary School, you know what kind of life that is, you know? And we had it good, it wasn't just black kids. Like, we had Asian and Indian and white, and it was just like this beautiful thing. So like, people are natural to me. But when I'm with my family, I have a 16 and 13 year old, they're trying to maximize time with dad. They're not about that person that rolls up and wants to tell me their business idea.

21:49Gary Vaynerchuk:They're like, it's limited to begin with given dad's life. I'm not trying to share you right now. That's a downside, right? Listen, downside comes in the pressure of being the financial beacon in your circle. I have a funny feeling y 'all know what I'm talking about. All of a sudden, everyone's looking at you. And forget about the shit we hear about like a cousin comes out of the woodworks. It's not even like, of course it's sometimes that. But it's even just true day to day. Like true day to day where you have a family member that's got good intent for you, but it's in the air. Like you're the one that will fix it if there's a problem.

22:25Gary Vaynerchuk:It's the pressure of being the guy. You know, for me that comes natural, but I've seen it really hurt a lot of my friends. For me it came natural because I was an immigrant kid and my mom from day one was like, you know, I had some real, I've had a real epiphany about my childhood. I think one of the biggest issues in the world right now is kids are getting grown too late.

22:46Channing Clark:You say getting grown too late?

22:48Gary Vaynerchuk:Yes, sir. I think kids, I think there's too many parents that are treating their 22-year-old man son like he's nine. Still on the payroll, on this fucking, you know, this whole like, let's share our location. I was out in a business meeting with a 26-year-old dude and his mom called him three times. He had to call him back because mom saw that he wasn't home yet. I'm like, you're 26, bro. I literally told him to his face, I'm like, disconnect with your mom's location now. So I think we have an issue of grown late right now. All well intended, you know this. You have kids, we all know, we all know.

23:25Gary Vaynerchuk:You don't cover something, you got something, you want it good for your kids, but that's the fuck up. I had grown too early syndrome. My mom lost her mom at five in Russia. It's tough. My dad lost his dad at 15. I was the oldest and the only one that was born in the old country, now I got siblings here. My mom, I'm getting goosebumps, my mom from the get was like, if something happens to me and dad, you're in charge. I'm nine. She was prep, exactly, I don't have judgment towards my, my mom killed it, I talk often about my mom being the greatest of all time, but like, this was, like, you know, so I was grown at like 14.

24:03Gary Vaynerchuk:At 14 I was already working at my dad's liquor store, I was already like, better businessman than him, Everyone's like, do this, dad, do this. Like, I was already making my own money. I didn't get a gift after 11. Everything was like, you want Sega Genesis? Go get it. So I'm flinging and slinging and shoveling snow. So I was grown early. It gotta be, you say, 26 is too long.

24:30Ryan Clark:Yes, sir. You're a grown-ass. Yes. I think 11 is too soon. I agree. What's that mid-ground for you? Like with your kids now.

24:39Gary Vaynerchuk:Yeah, I'm a big fan. We've been talking about it in the office a lot. 18's a watershed moment. And then I'm on some let me give grace to the kids. And actually, you're going to be surprised by this. I'm on some 20. I have an interesting relationship with 25. So I think of it in three numbers. 18, 22, and 25. 18 feels right to me, but that's me. 22 is like some on you went through college or like what the years are supposed to go to college. Fine. I'm even on some, because I'll tell you where I'm going with this. I'll give you the 25. My thing is on your 25th birthday shut your fucking mouth. I am done hearing it's mom's fault, it's dad's fault, it's Instagram's fault.

25:23Gary Vaynerchuk:When the fuck is it your fault? Right? Like listen, here's my thing. Again, I got lucky. I grew up in like not the best places. Most of my friends had a fucked up sitch. Dad was an alcoholic. Mom wasn't there. I was like, real shit. My thing is, if you've ever seen, man, I went to a hood college. I was such a bad student, I thought I was not gonna go and trick my parents. My mom smacked me in the face and said, you're not gonna embarrass me, you're going to college. I went to Mount Ida College. 90 % of the kids in Newton, Massachusetts were on financial aid. 80 % of the population at my college was black and Hispanic on financial aid.

26:00Gary Vaynerchuk:I'm not talking about fuckin' HBCU. this was CeeLo and Spades and guns and knives and basketball like I went like my guy my guy I went to D. Wayne's fucking D. Wayne's Spades party for the first time seven, eight years ago during NBA All-Star my first draw in the tournament was Chris Paul and his mom his mom is a gangster Spades player I caught her on a deep cut throwaway move that you have to like really play Spades like that this woman turned to me and she said and she's a player. I got her. She thought she was playing a white dude and didn't know what the fuck he was doing. I did this on her.

26:44Gary Vaynerchuk:100 % more. 100%. I did this move on her. She turned. She said, boy, what'd you know about spades? I said, way more than you think, Mama Paul.

26:58Gary Vaynerchuk:So in that culture, in that life, Like I saw my college crew, there was a lot of kids. One of our friends is in jail for life or murder. He didn't make it to the other side. The rest of my crew, everybody became a much better man than what they grew up with. If they had the strength to do it, if they found their community to help them, then everyone that looked like them can too. And so that's the excuse. I'm sorry, Brian. The excuses thing is what I'm trying to talk about. The blaming. We've become addicted in society with fingers. Everyone's throwing fingers at all times. Where the fuck is the thumb?

27:35Gary Vaynerchuk:Where's the thumb? Where's the thumb?

27:38Channing Clark:My question to that would be this. I had this conversation actually today on message. Someone put a message out on their social about racism. Yes. And this was a black man. And he was basically saying like, I feel like if you speak about racism, you're now becoming a victim. and he's like, I don't want to be around people who are victims. I don't want to be around people who are blaming others for their stuff. And my reply to him was this. If I see bullshit, I can call you on bullshit. Yeah, yeah. I don't have to believe that that bullshit can happen to me from becoming or being everything that I was made supposed to be and I would work to be.

28:23Channing Clark:That's right. But that also doesn't mean I have to allow your bullshit to give you without giving you a pass. So my question to you would be how would you

28:32Gary Vaynerchuk:What's the balance of that? It's such a great question. I think of it as this way. One man's point of view. There is systematic issues in society. But you said it so beautifully. That doesn't mean that that needs to completely impact you in a way where everything out of your mouth, your whole being is based on the excuses of why not. So I think, you know it's funny, you're saying something very important. I think things are blended. And things are easy for me to decouple. Both things can be true. There can be systematic sexism, racism, separation of wealth scares the fuck out of me. I hate it.

29:14Gary Vaynerchuk:Because, you know, Charles Barkley said, we don't have a black and white issue, we have a rich and poor issue. and there's some real things to debate in there because we know, right? Look at the enormity of black wealth that's been created in the last 40 years in America compared to before because of the rise of sport and entertainment and just the culture. I mean the culture. The culture is black culture and then it becomes culture. I always say to my brands, you want me to sell to 14 year old white girls in America? I'm going to Southside Atlanta, making it cool there and I'll see you in 24 months.

29:48Channing Clark:Did you see the SNL, the news report, and there's a young white actor, I don't know who he is, and he said, he's like, let's be real, he said, Gen Z culture is just black culture. Of course. He said black people take something and they make it cool. And then young teenagers see it and they start to utilize it and then it becomes a thing.

30:10Gary Vaynerchuk:And it's starting to blend. Adversity is the foundation of success. Black in America, because of our history, is that. But now you're starting to see it with Hispanic, right? Look what happened to music. Hip-hop was crushing. And by the way, you know what made rock and roll good? Those South boys that were poor as shit. You guys know, you had teammates from the South, white boys that were more hood than the black kids on the team, right? I'm not saying.

30:38Channing Clark:They were erratiated and quote unquote like you said.

30:40Gary Vaynerchuk:Or my favorite, you know what Northeast white and black dudes were always confused by? I was like, no, no, the kids were recruiting. I remember I was a recruiting kid for VaynerSports, a black kid, and I was like, I'm gonna go hunting and fishing with him. And like, Northeast people are like, wait, black people like hunting and fishing? Like, they didn't even know, right? Like, yeah, the Jets coach, Aaron Glenn, he's a cowboy. You know, like, there's all these subcultures, but it's adversity. Jewish culture in America. Those are people that ran from a country because they didn't want to get killed.

31:12Gary Vaynerchuk:they started from zero and they built. It's just the same game. That's why you're seeing the Hispanic impact so heavy now. Now, rigatone, who's doing Super Bowl? Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny. Right, that's not Gloria Estefan. That's a different game. So, you know what I mean?

31:31Ryan Clark:But BG, how do you sit down in all these rooms because people don't like, we'll listen to you.

31:37Gary Vaynerchuk:Yep.

31:39Ryan Clark:70 year old white billionaire will listen to you. Yep. What's different that you can sit in every room and people will listen to what you say?

31:46Gary Vaynerchuk:Because I've been in every room. That's why I tell all the people that are mad at D &I, D-E-N-I, yes, anything out of whack gets crazy. But bro, the reason I can sit in every room is because I grew up in every room. You know, my life just got, this is why I'm so driven with gratitude. I did go to Martin Luther King Elementary School. I did spend four years of college playing spades. and CeeLo, right? But I also worked in my daddy's liquor store that was literally in the middle of the tracks. One side of the daddy's liquor store was Union, New Jersey, Elizabeth, like Hood. They came to the liquor store buying$7 jugs of wine and a six-pack of Budweiser, and the other side of the tracks was Short Hills and Milburn, and they came in and bought$900 wine.

32:37Gary Vaynerchuk:You know, I feel like I can be in rooms because I, when I'm in rooms, if I was in Asian gaming culture, I come in humble, I can't be in the room. I can be in rooms because if I'm in a room that I don't know, I show respect. And I'm in a lot of rooms because I was in a lot of places by the time I was 22. I just, the luck of my draw had me in so many different places that, you know, I was an immigrant, this is a funny one, I grew up in Edison, New Jersey, that capital of the immigration of Indians to America in the 80s. So I'm the immigrant in first, second, third, fourth grade, right? Because I was the only one not born in America.

33:17Gary Vaynerchuk:Black, Asian. My second grade picture is crazy. Four Indian kids, four Asian kids, four black kids, four white kids. It was crazy. United Nations. But then here came all these Indians and everyone was like, who are all these people? But I had empathy for them because I'm like, I remember feeling not American. So I became boys with all the Indians and those kids were trying to sling and make money too. Problem is they got straight A's too. They were crazy. These Indian gangsters were crazy. I was getting F's, but that's because I was slinging and trying to make money. These kids were slinging and making money and getting straight A's.

33:47Ryan Clark:So that explains how we started. We wanted to see everybody win. Your foundation, how you get it.

33:53Gary Vaynerchuk:100%.

33:53Ryan Clark:But let me ask you, what is actually more? Building companies, building people, or building legacy, or is it a combination of kind of?

34:01Gary Vaynerchuk:It's a combination of both. Of what you just said, combination of both. I love building up people that impact the businesses I'm building in parallel. I've seen like four or five alumni on this trip. It's funny, I watch people move. People that look like me build things. Many people we would all know, they have feelings when people leave them.

34:23Gary Vaynerchuk:I'm not gonna be as aggressive as slavery, but I'm stunned how many big tycoons that we look up to have feelings when a kid leaves and goes trying to build something for themselves. I'm the reverse. I'm cheering. I want my alumni. Motherfucker, If my alumni is better than me, I want them to build shit bigger than me. I just, I don't understand this concept of not realizing the world is abundant. So I love building up people, clearly. That's why I'm sitting here right now. I'm hoping that someone that's listening hears something a little different this time and it switches. But I love building companies.

34:59Gary Vaynerchuk:I got too many companies. You know, like, because I love it. In fact, I have big companies, but they could be bigger if I had less of them. but I'd rather make less money and enjoy my game. And then as far as legacy, I think about it. I think in sports terms. My life is framed in sports. No question. That is probably the selfish part of me. I'm curious of how all-time great I can be and I'm still working on it.

35:23Channing Clark:I have a question about evolution. Please. You don't become an all-time great without evolution and you continue to use sports. I'll use sports. Tom Brady, greatest career of all time. Yes. Greatest player of all time.

35:36Gary Vaynerchuk:Please don't remind me.

35:37Channing Clark:But he got me involved, right? Hell yeah. The first Super Bowl, it wasn't about Tom Brady. No, it wasn't. He had to make sure he didn't make a mistake.

35:43Gary Vaynerchuk:It was about defense. I remember that game.

35:46Channing Clark:MVP Tom Brady. They don't win at that point. And then he becomes the greatest of all time. Wins three more, goes to Tampa Bay. So that evolution of, what is it? Sir Isaac Newton, right? Whatever he said, he was like, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Yes, sir. It was like, ooh. And he was basically kind of just like.

36:04Gary Vaynerchuk:That was a real bar, by the way.

36:05Channing Clark:Yeah, he was like, you do some stuff. He's basically like, you do some stuff. He's like, you do some stuff. I do some stuff. That's what happened on the outside. A hundred percent. But that's how knowledge adds, because at that time, nobody never stated. Yeah, that's right. There are some people who may know what you know, G, but they don't state it. They don't put their brand behind it. They don't put their name on it.

36:25Gary Vaynerchuk:They're not willing to deal with the ramifications.

36:27Channing Clark:That's how I'm about to ask you. What has made you so willing to say, I believe in this. I'm willing to not only put myself in it, but put you up on it too.

36:34Gary Vaynerchuk:Complete lack of fear. You asked me a real question, what am I scared of? I gave you a real answer. So the only thing I'm actually scared of is the health of my family. I'm not scared about getting canceled on the internet for 48 hours. I'm not scared of losing money. I'm not scared of going all the way back. Ry, the thing that scares me to my bone is that my favorite Rocky is Rocky V when he loses everything and goes back to Philly.

37:03Channing Clark:What more wrong, Tommy?

37:04Gary Vaynerchuk:Bro, when he loses everything. You remember Rocky III, he's got the robot and shit before he went to Russia. Like he was rich. He was rich. And I don't know why that Rocky came out when he goes back to the Philly hood because he lost it all. And I was romantic about it. Like shook me. I'm literally straight up getting goosebumps. There's something almost romantic to me of losing everything and going to zero. Hearing the whispers from all of you You'd be like, damn, he really fucked up. He wasn't that good after all. I'm like on some, you know who I would have been as an athlete, the best, which is crazy because I love the Knicks just below the Jets.

37:43Gary Vaynerchuk:I would have been a badass fucking villain. I want everybody in the arena to boo me. Which is wild because no one does. I'm like loved, but in my reel, I'm just not scared of anything. I'm with me, I'm with myself, I'm in my cocoon. I know I have nothing but good intent. So even if I make a mistake, I have the grace to give myself because I'm a human. I will apologize if I am wrong. I will stay back. I will be vulnerable when I understand. I've been on a three-year run telling people that candor was a kryptonite for me as an operator. I'm just not scared, my man.

38:23Channing Clark:What's sexy? But you talked about Rocky going back to Philly. what's the beautiful part, romantic part, or sexy part about that? Is it the losing of it all? That it's not scary. Huh?

38:36Gary Vaynerchuk:Right, that it's not scary.

38:38Channing Clark:Okay, but I'm saying like, what makes it romantic, losing it all, or having a building? Chance to build it again? Or to build it.

38:46Gary Vaynerchuk:I do love the ride to the Phoenix, because there is a part of me that says, I'm not scared because I'll build it back up, and I'll be like, told you. But really, it's, I just, you know this. man do I know you guys know this. When you come from a place of less and then you get to a place of more most people go into defense. They do not want to go back. And I just have this weird like I can live in an apartment that has a rat in it with like a bullshit TV. Like I don't know. Like I can eat$2 fast. I don't want to for my health but like I don't know what it is but it's just I'm not trying to do dumb shit to make it happen but I'm just I'll give you one when people get the most on tilt about America like America falling I'm like alright I'll go to New Zealand and start off you know what I don't know I don't know I don't know

39:47Channing Clark:it's the story of the parable of the talents

39:50Gary Vaynerchuk:yeah I don't know it but so the parable of the talents is this

39:53Channing Clark:God, Jesus talked about people who all had talents and there was some part of it, they buried their talents and someone else went out to multiply. And in burying your talents, the fear of finally having something and being so scared to lose it, you didn't multiply to honor God. And the way that you're living life, you are saying, hey, look, I have these talents, I have this ability. Now that I've built myself into something, I'm not too scared to lose it. I'll continue to honor it by building more. And I think that's a difficult thing to do. But it sounds easy.

40:30Ryan Clark:There's at some point when you can't lose. You get so much money you can't lose. You get so much investment that you can go and get your 10 % or 100 million. And then now, I can't lose moving forward.

40:44Gary Vaynerchuk:Yeah, it's funny you say that. Like, my financial advisor hates me. That's not how I'm playing. It's also funny that money is like the framework of the convo, right? Like, I don't know, I've had a wild relationship with money my whole life. I'm great at it, but I do not respect it. I definitely don't have, I don't like it. Yeah, it's really interesting. You know what I like? And this is real talk. I like freedom. So the reason I got D's and F's in school was like, I'm like, no, I'm not doing homework. Bro, I did not open a textbook in four years of high school. I got zeros in every book report.

41:23Gary Vaynerchuk:I did not do homework. On my Scantron, I did A, B, C, B, A, C, B. I had freedom in fucking the system. That's what I like money for. I have freedom. But sometimes, you know this, I actually think most people get money and lose freedom. So I have money. I view it as optionality. But it's not my jail. and so yeah I mean I'm detached that's another thing lately a lot of people have been giving me flowers around humility like you know as my whole thing keeps going and more people know me and I just think it's because I don't believe that I'm great either like it's just really zen shit like you know as you get older you're like I'm like damn like all this shit people are talking about how stoicism I'm like shit that's like I've been that.

42:17Gary Vaynerchuk:And that was because I lost a lot as a kid. Immigrant got picked on for not speaking English. Then sports played 24-7. Early on dominated. First, second grade, I was killing it. Hand-eye coordination, crazy. But then, you guys know this, fifth grade, all of a sudden speed, strength, agility, athleticism, all this shit got caught up. And then like business, business? I'm trying to sell shit. 900 people say no, one says yes. You start to fall in love with the micro no. I'm in love with the micro no. In fact, too much success early on, I always am scared for kids. Really good looking and really good at school and really good at sports.

42:55Gary Vaynerchuk:I'm like, mm-mm. You're about to get caught. I see a 16-year-old that just is like, that guy looks too good, he's got the girl, wins too much in sports, ends straight A, going to Penn or Harvard, tennis first. I'm like, mm-mm. This motherfucker's gonna walk into some fire at 26 and not know what to do.

43:15Ryan Clark:I didn't have that that entitlement.

43:19Gary Vaynerchuk:That's right because you guys didn't grow up in the era of all this AAU once more all the code like you guys grew up different.

43:24Ryan Clark:Right we grew up understanding not to put I always say the shine before the grind. Yeah. We grinded first and then all of that came.

43:37Gary Vaynerchuk:It's tough for these kids Fred. Fred you would have been on there would have been an Instagram of a clip of you as like an eighth grader getting offers to Alabama. Like it would have been, it's just, they got it different. Which is why it's all about parenting now and getting, we need to get in our caves with our crew and get our shit basic. Cause the world's complicated. We got to get basic.

43:58Ryan Clark:G, I need your help.

43:59Gary Vaynerchuk:Please.

44:00Ryan Clark:Man to man. Man to man. How can I stop spending money on Whatnot?

44:03Gary Vaynerchuk:I can't do it either. It's so fun. It's crazy. Yeah. Whatnot is a live shopping app that has collectibles and we're just buying cards, opening up packs. We love that game. It's our casino.

44:15Ryan Clark:It has everything. And I hear you talk a lot about TikTok. TikTok shop, AI influencers. You're paying attention, my man.

44:24Gary Vaynerchuk:Thank you. Of course. Thank you.

44:25Ryan Clark:Because we have some stuff.

44:27Gary Vaynerchuk:Oh, you guys. You guys are...

44:29Ryan Clark:You know, people buying cards.

44:31Gary Vaynerchuk:Yes, sir.

44:32Ryan Clark:Come on, man. That's crazy here. It's more than cards, Chan.

44:36Gary Vaynerchuk:It's really not.

44:37Ryan Clark:It's really more than cards. And when I talk about what not, and TikTok shop and AI influencers. Like really I've been working behind the scenes before I bring to my people what we're trying to do with Pivot.

44:53Gary Vaynerchuk:This needs to be on TikTok more than whatnot because of the way that algorithm works. I'll talk to you about it off camera. Let me answer yours. I do it for investment purposes. Like I made real money. I bought a Super Mario. You know Mario from Super Mario? I bought his Japanese rookie card on eBay 24 months ago for$35, it sells for$3 ,500 now. That's just a good investment. Yes, sir. You know what I mean?

45:18Channing Clark:When you can do that, G, and I'm listening to you, and it's like a thing with football players, right? It's when your entire self-worth is attached to your career, what do you do when that career goes away? It's tough, man. It would be akin to you saying, I had to move back in my old neighborhood.

45:36Gary Vaynerchuk:My guy, that's why I started VaynerSports. I was so infatuated with the depression that came along with the transition. Infatuated.

45:43Channing Clark:How do you separate that, right? Because you're a builder of businesses. Yes. How do you separate your self-worth from what you've been able to build?

45:53Gary Vaynerchuk:Because my mama made me see, like drilled in me so consistently that my self-worth had to be based on how nice I was. I just got very fortunate, bro. That's real talk. my mom just, that's what it was. By the time I was 17, I fully have my self-worth based on how you men talk about me behind my back when I'm not here. That's it. Nothing else. And I get it, but it's just true. And then that's why it's so awesome. That's why I'm unstoppable. There's a great term in boxing. A fighter that has nothing to lose is a dangerous fighter. This is why someone who's like seven and 19 knocks out a kid on the come up at 21 and oh that person just said fuck it i don't give a shit like like you know what i mean and he said the glory's like it's like you know and and that's kind of i have that mentality because i'm just not attached to my 21 and oh i'm not attached to my best season in fact it really this is a weird one going on with me right now i came out out the gate hot this year.

47:02Gary Vaynerchuk:In fact, you guys said you're on one? I'm on one, actually. I actually called my brother two weeks ago and said, bro, just on some random theatrical shit, because I knew I was locked in, I said, bro, I don't usually call him in the middle of the day, we talk at night, he's like, what's up? I said, can you look up Jerry Rice's career? He was like, what? Like just, it was super left field. I was like, can you pull up Jerry Rice's career? He's like, okay, what's going on? I was like, what was his best season? He looks, he's like, 95 was kind of crazy, 1800. I go, bro, this is like two weeks ago, three weeks ago, mid-January, three weeks in the year.

47:40Gary Vaynerchuk:I'm like, bro, I might have a 95 Jerry Rice season this year. I've done more. This is real talk. I have done more. So I had a funny vacation. I usually travel warm weather. I was in New York. Me and my wife, she's like, you know what? And I just had time, right? I just started like doing stuff that I don't normally do. I was just like, and I wrote this thing called Intentionality and Impact. I'm very improv. I'm very improv. I'm very osmosis. I value longevity, continuity, vibes, loyalty. And I say, you know what? I got too much going on. I got eight or nine real businesses going crazy. And I got like 30, 40 people around me who've been with me for 10 years.

48:26Gary Vaynerchuk:and I'm not really giving them enough direction. They're just homing. They're in the family now. They're doing shit. But I was like, you know what? And I just started writing down what are the three things I want VaynerSports to get done this year? My restaurant group, which is exploding. VaynerMedia is going to do$400 million in revenue. It's a big ass company. Not in value. In revenue. You know, VaynerSports is exploding. You know, I'm pretty excited. Oh, I'm going to probably be in Pittsburgh. We have Sonny Stiles. We rep from Ohio State. He's going to be a top 15 pick. so we're excited about that.

48:57Gary Vaynerchuk:You know, V Friends is completely out of control. I'm literally actually, no bullshit, building the next Marvel and Pokemon in front of everyone's eyes but it's like the third thing I'm doing and no one can see it and like I'm building this crazy podcast network I decided this year where I'm gonna do four shows. I'm gonna build a network where I'm the Ryan Seacrest, I'm like doing all of them but I'm gonna build a network so I've got all this stuff and then I've got these incredible people. Sid on my team who's run my content. Hannah Park, my chief of staff. Justin Avello, my brother-in-law. who's in my business, and I'm like, everyone here can do more to it.

49:29Gary Vaynerchuk:I just started writing down, what do I, and I'm just fucking locked in. And like, what's been done in 30 days on this? Cause you know, the student doesn't come out that often. Like I don't do that often. So when I did, but it wasn't the action, it was where I was at. I was ready to make 26 crazy. And it's all just so easy for me because of what, we talked about the good shit before I just got there. So the reason this is all gonna work is because I'm okay if it doesn't.

49:57Channing Clark:My question to you would be, young people who watch our show, and I love the social media posts where there's a young entrepreneur or someone who's searching, they ask you a question, you answer them. Three things, if you say, hey, these are three foundational principles of building a brand or business, and here's ways to start, what would those things be?

50:20Gary Vaynerchuk:Maybe a weird one first, that I really believe in. number one curiosity the real stuff that I'm seeing is people that are curious because there's so little friction to do shit now so number one is curiosity and the action is take full advantage of chat GPT and Gemini literally the stuff I'm doing on this thing I'm curious like why did this happen when did this happen how did this happen why did this just happen break this the fun one okay I don't understand this chemical thing Break this down in NFL terms. That does it. It really does it. So using AI in this moment where it can tell you the answers to everything and using your curiosity because it will lead you to something new and clever.

51:06Gary Vaynerchuk:Look, I think number two is some sort, I'll call it DMP. I'll say discipline and patience. It's just real, y 'all. Like if I did a push-up right now, I would not look like y 'all. a push-up is not going to get me there and I really think people are like that they're like I made a social media post like and? like in the famous words of like Chris Rock like what do you want a cookie? like you need to post 800 times all month for 13 years and then talk then we can talk like it's this level of patience and discipline that no one wants which goes to the third principle which is perspective you have to understand why you're doing things I'm telling you the reason everyone got fast is they want to impress everyone else.

51:52Gary Vaynerchuk:People are living their lives out here trying to impress people that they don't even know or like. Like living their life. Making your life to impress people on the other side of these cameras that you don't even know. People being shook when JohnnyPants19 says you suck in the comments. Like living their life. People are scared to post about their yoga interests or their startup idea. Scared because Sally Pants McGee R7 might be like, you look terrible today. Your lighting's off.

52:33Gary Vaynerchuk:I think we need a shift, but we need to stop blaming. This isn't the algorithm's fault. What's that?

52:41Channing Clark:It's blaming number three. You stop blaming number three.

52:43Gary Vaynerchuk:Yeah, accountability's over everything. To me, accountability is the oxygen needed in our society. We just absolutely default into blaming everybody but the one person that is actually capable of changing the script.

52:58Ryan Clark:I know you gotta go. But I see BeFriends. Yes, sir. Hell of a Capcom Lab with Top Scrum. Yes, sir. Congrats on that. Thank you. Just really quick before you leave though, because you said your self-worth is determined by what people say about you in rooms.

53:13Gary Vaynerchuk:Behind my back that know me based on my actions towards them as a human.

53:17Ryan Clark:Okay. And looking at a lot of times people, you ask that question about the glass half empty or half full, right? And that's perspective. Yes. I want to ask you what your thoughts are. Like, are you more of a, it's about who you know type of person or more so about who knows you?

53:38Gary Vaynerchuk:Man, it's so crazy where my brain goes, so I'll answer and then I'll answer yours. I think it's more of how you feel about yourself. Like those two things are important but like I think those things mean nothing compared to how did you wake up today and how are you talking to yourself about you? Then I'm 50-50 on that brother. I think network matters. I think people should push curiosity to meet different people, different shit happens. I think who you hang out with is real. I think optimism practical optimism circles change the perception if we sat here and dwelled that's why everyone's fucked up everyone's just in politics all day and it's important you can't put your head in the sand of injustice and shit like that but all day like you've got to you know you're going to lose every football game if the defense goes out on every play you've got to score you know but I also think having attention who knows you that matters attention is the currency you can't sell anything God trading cards energy drinks hats a different way of looking at the world you can't sell shit a pastor makes nothing happen if the church is empty so attention is the currency what you do with that attention becomes your legacy man I think they say sometimes

55:07Channing Clark:the sequel doesn't live up to the original, but this is even better than the first time. Thank you, man.

55:14Gary Vaynerchuk:Thank you, guys. Thank you. Everybody, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of this journey. See you later.