The Career Advice Nobody Tells You

0:00This is the GaryVee Audio Experience. we are here today for the open q a with gary the best buyer side really of the residency all right who's gonna be first that was actually so coincident because i didn't think i was gonna be the first person to go but uh um it's nice to meet you gary my name is jacob jesma i'm one of the pcs residents um so i have two questions my first question would be as a the ceo um what what was that sparking point for like i'm gonna create a residency program that's like this incubator for younger professionals that are really going to, even if we don't continue with the program, we're taking away so many things from the program.

0:38So what was that thought process? Was it like, I'm going to be the person who builds this? That's a great question, brother. Thank you. It was a really clear vision of selfless, selfish behavior. Meaning, a lot of times as a businessman, kind of the way I like to roll, and a lot of you probably have a good sense that I produce a lot of content and I'm out there. I really like the giving part of my life along with the entrepreneur. I'm a very extreme juxtaposition of opposite energy. I love being an entrepreneur and a capitalist and I want to win and all that stuff but I'm infatuated with giving back and doing right things.

1:22Most of my charitable work and non-profit boards I keep pretty quiet and then I try to mix that energy into my day to day. So as you know, Jacob, to your call and I'm like very impressed and grateful that even the way you asked it, all of you now get to put VaynerMedia in your LinkedIn regardless if you're here or you're not after this and I know already because I've talked to a lot of people that have gone through this program, it just gets people jobs. And so we're paying to train you. Like real talk. So it's like a real fucking winning move for a lot of people. Obviously, on the flip side, I also want to hire as many people from this as possible.

2:02Or we'll hire as many as we can right now. But like some of you are destined to get an email from us in seven months, even if you don't continue with us tomorrow, like right after. That's cool. Plus, some of you will meet each other. So just like it's a lot of good. And my brain's always thinking about like one plus one equals 11. Like what can I do that's good for everyone? it's why I think all of you that have been able to capture without knowing obviously if you're fully remote in the middle of nowhere you're not going to be able to feel the culture even through Zoom you can feel it to some degree but not all the way but the ones that have really whether through Zoom or physically have been able to feel it there's a reason that people are happier at this company than other companies of course amongst 2 ,000 people there's people that are unhappy the serendipity of the wrong boss the wrong account a million things can go into it But when I think about the net happiness and retention of this company, we're out of control.

2:59Good for Adland. And I'm proud of that. And I think the only way that happens is intent. And to your point, Jacob, the way this happened was intent. How do I put on more young people that have no way to get into this industry other than this program? And then our company is so hot that the second this is on their resume, they're good. Like, they're good if they put in the work to get out there. and then more importantly or not more importantly but equally importantly for me is hopefully every time we do these things ironically full disclosure this is not one of those times there's been times where we were able to hire most of the residents that was a different time that's when you know now we're not in that full place but obviously you know I know there's going to be people that go through this go work in the industry for five years and then reapply in five years to Vayner and it's going to be like super fun for us to be like, oh shit, they were in the fucking residency, like, you know, so I'm excited about that.

4:00So I'm just hoping to make it a win-win for everyone. And in general, that's how I think about business ideas. Awesome, okay, thank you. And then my second question, now that we only have, not only, but now that we have four weeks left, I guess it's going to be very important for us to continue networking with people. But I'll be very blunt. I would say that I struggle when it comes to having those one-on-one connections with people where it's not where we're just having conversations about work. So how would you suggest, like, as, again, young professionals here at Vayner or not at Vayner, how are we going to build those connections and relationships with people?

4:34By talking about shit that you like. Cool, okay. So, like, let me break that down for you. There's a reason we have Slack and we have tons of channels with different stuff. To your point, it might be difficult for you to have that combo, but you might be able to go into some of our general chats and just talk about the game last night or the restaurant you went to. People network through interests, not just through work realities, right? So, I mean, look, there's also something called like breaking through with things that aren't comfortable. So let's think that through, right? You know, to Sarah's point, as you can see, she talks about she's been working for 25 years and that's hard for her too.

5:12Let me tell you something that's hard for me, Jacob. Working out and eating well. Yeah, that is, as someone who goes to the gym every day, it's very hard, especially the eating part. Yeah, so for me, I could, you know, you're a young man, but I can tell you at 38, I had never put a muscle in my body and never ate properly in my life. And so this morning when I worked out and woke up at 645, even though I worked until midnight last night, that wasn't easy. But I did it. and so you know when someone says hey I struggle with networking well if you value networking and you understand networking is valuable I'm aware you may be introverted I'm aware that it might come easier for Fernando C than you or may not people are different but just because people are different doesn't mean certain things aren't valuable and it doesn't mean that people aren't capable to do things that don't feel comfortable or come easy to them.

6:14I don't work out and eat better now for the last 10 years for kicks and giggles or because I like it. I fucking hate it. 10 years later, I hate it, but I do it. And so there's also a little bit of that element of real life, which is it may not come easy to you, but if you think it's important, you may have to learn how to get uncomfortable. And I will tell you right now, one of the biggest issues in the world, and not for Gen Z, for boomers, for anybody who's 100, and for anyone who's one, one of the great issues in society right now is people aren't breaking through and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

6:54We got real soft out here. So also another way to think about what I just said. But everything works. Life is life. Like it's going to be what it's going to be. You know what I mean? But I think finding a way to make networking easy for you and everyone here, I always think that's around common interests and tactics. I tell everybody, now we're a little bit in a virtual world, but I always tell people and anyone for these next four weeks that are in any of these offices, live in the cafeteria and just say hi. This is a nice place. Most people don't network well because they're scared of rejection.

7:31Right? They're scared of being blown off. that they're insecure but this is a nice place like people are nice here so saying hi is like a fruitful concept thank you so much for definitely putting me on there um and i guess the rest of us uh i'll definitely pass the question on to the next person but it was great to i guess officially meet you pleasure my friend uh my name is marisha i'm a pcs resident as well so nice to meet you gary i'm currently reading your book 12 and a half i'm not super basked into it but the first chapter really shocked me the chapter about gratitude honestly the stats were really humbling and low-key depressing but really good for my perspective I want to go to a quote you said when you develop perspective the timelines you set for your goals naturally shift and I'm currently in a kind of career transition I'm 30 so I'm coming from customer service and doing things that are very different from what I'm doing here at Vayner and I've been struggling to kind of get into that mind frame that I am kind of starting at the beginning and I don't need to know everything immediately and that's really hard for me because I know this isn't like anybody else but I really like to do things that I'm good at and to kind of get better at things it's really hard a hard pill to swallow so I was wondering if you could speak to kind of the grace that we can show ourselves as we enter into new phases in our lives and try I do things.

8:58So I love you for this question. I think, first of all, your wordsmithing of everything that you just asked was extremely strong. And I really, really, really took note of that. So you should know that you're incredibly articulate. Thank you. Look, grace to oneself is probably the thing I think about the most subconsciously. I talk so much about not beating up yourself. Like this just becomes, the relationship you have with yourself is literally the whole game. And so my question is actually the reverse. What's the alternative and why would you not show yourself grace? So it's really funny. You know, when you just gave your context, I'm like, ah, makes sense, right?

9:43You're hanging out with all these 23-year-olds. Even though you look 18, by the way, you really shook me with your 30. I was like, is she in high school? so look I view this as very practical I don't understand why you would beat yourself up I'm not sure why one wouldn't want to give themselves grace the rest of the world is shitting on you at all times why not be kind to yourself don't join in and really I think what works for me and I think this is going to be the biggest question you need to ask yourself is how much do you value outside validation and from whom you know I think it's really easy to give yourself grace once you don't give a fuck what people think about you including your parents and siblings and plus ones it gets really easy it gets real easy so I think one's relationship with themselves I think is directly correlated to their relationship with other people's opinions I admire my mother more than life I think she's the single best human being on earth and I give her an unbelievable amount of credit for everything that I am.

10:55Comma, I do not live my life based on her opinions or for her validation. And I think this is what you need to be thinking about. I'll give you a good one, team. When I tell you if you're like selected to get a full-time offer versus not, I'm going to say this very crystal clear to you. It is pure serendipity of a couple people's opinions. It is not a reflection that you're good or bad. If the God of good and bad came down after this process is done, I am sure that she would say to us, you were right about this person, but you were wrong about, like, it's just, that's how life works. You know what I mean?

11:31It's just serendipity. It's just serendipity. I think too many people have been trained by school and life to think there's a right way to do shit. There is no right way. There's life. Serendipity. Some people are gonna be like, yo, this is the fucking best. and they get a full-time gig here, and they have a massive career, but guess what? You know what they don't know? Is that if they actually didn't get a job here, went to a different job, that they were going to meet the love of their life in that job, and they would have married a much better person for them there than if they would have stayed here.

12:04How about that shit? Life. Yeah, that's so good. I did want to also add another question, just to follow up with Jacob and his two questions. Between you and Jacob, I'm going to be out of here and only two people can fucking ask questions. But go ahead. Go ahead. I'm joking. Go ahead. Go ahead. Just one quick thing. I know you were born in Belarus. So I know your parents are also not American. And my parents are also not American. So I was wondering from an immigrant's perspective, what you can speak to, especially when it comes to business. And I know like I was talking about having that pressure on yourself.

12:39Yeah, I think, look, a lot of, you know, there's a lot of immigrants on this call. I can tell visually. I'm making assumptions. But, you know, what immigrant kids know is, like, we have it different than American kids. And not that it's better or worse. And there's plenty of immigrants that are very American in their style. And there's very many Americans that are immigrants. This is a general statement. It is different. We live for our parents more outside the U.S. than people in the U.S. do generally. And so, but at the same token, I had a mother, again, I'm an immigrant, that didn't do to me what most immigrant families did.

13:18She didn't say that school was the only way out. She didn't think that how I acted was a reflection on her. She had her own self-esteem. Like, so I got very fortunate. But what I would say to all the immigrants here is, you're going to have to find that place that I just delivered earlier. You could admire and love your parents the most for what they've done for you and to set you up, but you cannot live for them. And the second you stop living for them and you live for your happiness, you actually deliver to your parents what they actually wanted all along was for you to be happy. They just think you being happy oftentimes is good grades, good schools, money, the right husband, wife.

13:56But when it's all said and done, they just want you to be happy. And the only way for you to be happy is to not listen to them. Not blindly. Awesome. Since this is recording, I'll just go ahead and send this over to my parents. You got it. You send them over to me. I got facts for them. I got a couple of facts. Thank you. Up next is Carlos. Hey, Gary. My name is Carlos. I'm a media resident on New Era. So like Marisha said earlier, I'm in the same predicament where, like, I know on your social medias you post about a lot, but, like, the 28 being the next, the new 21, you know, but it's hard to not think, like, I got to put the gas pedal on the acceleration and try to pick up my career because this is actually my first step into this industry.

14:40And like yourself, I'm a sports into, I love sports. So I want to get into eventually working sports. So that makes it even tougher because sports is competitive. So yeah, that's my question. What mentality approach would you take? And also, would you ever extend this program, some sort of this program into your Vayner sports industry? With VaynerSports, AJ really runs that shop and I don't know if it's gonna ever get to the kind of scale that would allow this kind of program to go there but I never say never but at the end of the day he's 1A there, I'm 1B and so I can't necessarily speak to it.

15:15As far as the first part, look, I think this goes back to like being graceful to yourself. Like what's the alternative? A couple things I want to break down in the way you asked it. First of all, everyone, when I talk about patience, I do not talk about complacency. they're two different words I am patient but I'm obnoxiously ambitious and I go hard every day so it's a balance thing Carlos you know what I mean look I think perseverance and grit and all those things are going to matter for you if you want to break through right but you know what's the mentality the mentality is you are young like I don't know what else to tell you like you can be mad at me but like you are are you as young as someone is 18 No, but I'm fucking 48.

16:00And don't forget, bro, real talk, I worked in a liquor store when I was 34. I love when kids roll up on me and being like, yo, I'm late. I'm like, late to what? I started this company, this company, in another company's conference room because I had no money. VaynerMedia started in Buddy Media's conference room for a year. And then we moved to Sunshine Suites down in Debrosis, down in Tribeca, and I bartered that rent by giving him services and like trying to do stuff for the owner. We didn't pay rent the first two years, not because I'm crafty, because we didn't have money. And that was when I was 35 and 36, Carlos.

16:40So what the fuck do you think I'm going to tell you? You know? All right, he said it like straightforward and blunt, which I appreciate actually because at the end of the day, I've been trying to, like with this program, that's what I've been taking advantage of, like just pressing the gas pedal and just not caring what people think, but just you want to think about also what's after the program like you said I'll jump over as a pitch to my next step hopefully if I can Carlos if I'm you you know I have juice and culture and sports if I'm you I just DM every single sports business on earth on LinkedIn and be like yo I just came from Vayner I stole all the secrets hire me yeah thank you awesome let's go to Andrew The question's a little more broad, but if you hoped that a Vayner employee, whether it's just like the residency, someone here for 10 weeks or someone here for like eight years, what is like the one thing you hope that they got out of it?

17:41That's a great question. That they contextualized that you don't have to work somewhere where you don't feel good. you know my favorite thing about Vayner is it's shown people either in the beginning or when they're deeper in their career that there's a way to go hard but not be in an environment that makes you unhappy or anxious I mean that's the biggest thing Andrew that I want I think the other thing is we're very good at contemporary marketing you know like I want them to learn skills a lot of people here learn skills I'm very aware I very much believe that a lot of you will learn more in these 10 weeks than you learned in four years of college because this is real shit totally and it's not only real shit it's the real current shit a lot of you have friends that work at other ad agencies that aren't learning real shit they work at PR firms the fuck you know so those are the things that stand out brother awesome thanks thank you next up we have Alexandra Hi Gary, my name is Alex Berman and I'm a PCS resident.

18:49So as I'm embarking upon my career journey, I would kind of love to know some pieces of advice or words of wisdom that you wish your younger self knew that you could kind of tell your younger self from what you know now. Alex, I think it's a very individual thing. Everybody here needs to hear some different things. For me, it was that, if I took 22-year-old me, actually I would say to him bro you're right about almost everything but you have one huge piece of kryptonite and it's a flaw and it's going to fuck you up and it's called your inability to be candorous to people because you like them too much you're so gifted verbally and you're so capable of creating money in the future you're going to be able to get away with not being candorous ish it's going to work 95 % of the time the problem is the 5 % of the time is going to fuck you up personally and professionally.

19:45So you might as well fix it now because waiting to 45 like you're actually going to do to start getting better at it left you with 23 years of a lot of pain that you didn't need to have and all you had to do was be a little bit more courageous and understanding you're not Superman and you can't fix everyone and people have to learn their own lessons and there's a kind way to deliver that. That's what I needed. Right, Alex? I don't know what you need. You know, I think a lot of professionals, a lot of you in this call, what you really need is what I've been trying to lay down in the first 30 minutes.

20:17One, do not let any company or any person dictate to you your self-worth. Two, fight for scenarios that you like going to work. If you hate Monday, that's bad. Like you can't hate Monday, everyone. Like you can, you can, like again, because this is where things are subtle. You should learn how to get comfortable with discomfort, but that's different than hate. Don't get entitled to be like, ah, 25 minute commute, this blows, that's some bullshit. I'm talking about you're anxious because your boss is a piece of shit. You can't hate Monday. And really, Alex, like real talk, work and life is a very simple game of self-esteem versus insecurity.

21:03I think people need to build their confidence at all costs. Thank you so much, that was so helpful. Alex, what do you think is like your biggest vulnerability potentially? potentially? Probably that I can be a perfectionist. So I'm always trying to do everything right all the time. Yeah, you've got, that's a good, yeah. I'm my worst enemy. Yeah. I almost like want you to like do something wrong on purpose just to taste it. Alex, no bullshit. I make like 17 meaningful mistakes a day. The end. Like you've got to get comfortable with making mistakes. Otherwise you'll always be lower middle management.

21:39100%. That's just fear, that's insecurity. Like perfectionist and people that say I'm a perfectionist or people say that they have imposter syndrome are just putting makeup on saying I'm insecure. So that's okay, we're all insecure. That goes back to like, were you a good student? Yeah. Yeah, like you just got caught in that system where it's like, you know, and that's not real life. So start practice. It's like external pressure. Correct, just start practicing now. Like, honestly, you've got to practice in like sending it in without your normal six more hours of fucking looking at it. You know?

22:21Yep. Thanks so much, Gary. You're welcome. I really appreciate that. Of course. Next we have Melody. Hi, Gary. Nice to meet you. I'm Melody. I'm a media buying resident on the Mondelez Growth Pod. My question is a little bit different but I know you've been emphasizing the importance of social and being at the forefront of that. Yep. So how do you think the social media landscape will change in the future? And what are some things that VaynerMedia is taking to continue to help their clients and brands stay relevant in the midst of it all? Melody, I'm not sure is the answer to your question. I think what we do better than anyone is we don't predict what's going to happen.

23:03I didn't know TikTok and Musical.ly were coming, right? I didn't know that stories as a feature was gonna become so important. I don't focus on knowing what's coming. I focus on moving very quickly when it came. And so what we do very well is we move very quickly once we think attention has shifted to a new platform or a new feature or a new medium. I'm aware that VR is gonna come. I believe that every one of you are going to market heavily in VR in your careers because you're all young, including some of the 30 and 28 year olds on here. And so what we're best at is we move very quickly when we think something matters, like a TikTok four or five years ago.

23:48And then because I'm a practitioner on it with my brand and my businesses, it allows us to scale the intellect and the best ways to use those things very quickly internally for such a big company like Vayner. And we're able to provide that insight and strategy and execution to our clients. Gotcha. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, Diana. Hi, Gary. I'm Diana. I am from Toronto. I'm a PCS resident. Super excited. I just want to first thank you so much for creating this program. It's been kind of revolutionary to just imagine this new generation of advertisers who are coming. It's pretty iconic, and I'm super happy to be part of it.

24:28Thank you. And also having Canada as one of the newer offices that you opened I have to tell you it's a gorgeous office and it makes me kind of think about what you were saying before in regards to how you started the first office with kind of like from scratch practically from no office to what you are creating right now it's like it's pretty crazy I'm sure you probably have had many amazing ideas and probably have had people told you something in regards like um not every idea is gonna land or like sometimes you have to like like kill your babies and not get too attached to your ideas. Yes. Is there a way that you go about it that makes it a little bit easier to not get attached to like your ideas and that kind of vibe?

25:13By recognizing that humility is the single most important trait for a leader besides conviction and that if I get stuck on my own shit that the world of merit doesn't care about my feelings. I'm just completely detached because I don't get to choose I don't have the insecurity or delusion to think that I get to vote the reality of the situation is the vote and so you know how do I get there by knowing that if I don't I'll be out of business yes I like that I also enjoy because that kind of connects to some of the maybe thoughts in regards to like allowing other people to like listen to their perspective first and allowing them to give their perspective first and then you put your perspective second but yeah thank you so much it's one quick question i know that gratitude is also like really important to you any practices that you practice like on a daily basis for gratitude uh i basically have a conversation every day of my life with myself in that i can't believe i'm lucky enough that here is another day that my parents, siblings, or children didn't die.

26:30Pretty much every day, Diana. And so I think I've gone to the ultimate state of gratitude. Because of that, I stress and I have anxiety like any human, but it's so different than most people. I just don't dwell on shit. You know, I can't sit on shit because whatever I'm upset about is so so disproportionately secondary to what I just said to you. And I think that most of the people on this call right now take that part for granted. I'm not sure it's so healthy that I think, you know, it was really challenging as a kid because I thought about it my whole life. I'm not sure it started in a healthy place, but I think it ended up in the healthiest place, which is really interesting.

27:14I believe that if I was a modern child, that my parents probably would have taken me to therapy because it was such a big thing in my life. I was petrified of my parents dying. Because both my parents lost a parent very young, I've come to realize. My mom lost her mom at five. My dad lost his dad at 15, 16. So it was just always in the air. And I think I internalized it. I loved my mom so much. And then later I got to spend more time with my dad and I loved him so much. And I think that it started off not healthy and ended up making me completely unstoppable. You know, it's pretty interesting to think about.

27:53Period. Thank you so much, Gary. Brandon. Hey, Gary. I'm Brandon Towns. I'm a PM resident of Kimberly Clark. I'm the Christian LeRexon. Matt Garcia is an SVP. First of all, I want to say thank you so much for coming to the Vendor New Hour event last month. I went together with Steph and Bree. it meant a lot with that being said as DEI is beginning to disappear in many places in the industry how are you ensuring Vayner is continuing to hold space for black and brown folks by having dinners with Brit and talking to her every day to make sure it matters as much as making sure we make payroll you know it is crazy brother it's I care about DEI for only two reasons one because I do not understand how people don't understand that different perspectives.

28:47I mean, look at this screen. It's crazy. This is amazing. Like, people are going to have different looks and different angles. It's just, it's good for business. And two, I also subconsciously got very lucky. You know, I grew up with so much diversity. I mean, I went to Martin Luther King Elementary School. I went to a 92 % black college. So, I, black and Latino college. I got lucky in hindsight that it was just around me and I didn't even see the world any different. But just effort, my man. Just effort, you know? The six hours that I've spent with Brit for the last two weeks on different things are six hours that most CEOs are spending on making money or, you know what I mean?

29:29It's very easy to prioritize it when you prioritize it. It's just like, why is our culture good? Because I cared for it to be good. And my man, you may know this, this industry does not do a good job of getting black and brown people into the industry. And so, you know, this residency program was very much knowing that I'm just taking anybody. You didn't have to go to Miami Ad School. You guys all know. People coming from all over the different angles. You all know. And so, you know, it's important. I just think it's important. And listen, it's a challenge, especially on the upper levels, because there are so few leaders in the industry.

30:06It's like, I feel like I have to build it from scratch, you know? why this shit matters. Thank you so much. I feel really welcome Vayner. I've never worked anywhere like you before. So I see your effort and I appreciate it so much. Thank you my man. And I have a second question that's unrelated to DI. If something cash-tripped had happened and social media and internet disappeared tomorrow, how would you adapt to the new normal? Well, if the internet and social media disappeared off the face of the earth, selling shit in advertising would be the last fucking thing on my mind. just to give you the preview if that shit happens there's gonna be straight anarchy like it's gonna be crazy out there like I'd first like go to my parents house and dig up my gun that I buried back there because shit's gonna get wild if that happens but if you're saying it from a different angle this agency will only forever be focused on attention not social media when social media looks like television and print in the future there'll be a day where we'll be at the forefront of VR while everyone's still trying to do social media and I'm going to be the guy at 62 yelling at all of you saying the fuck are you doing social media for?