Gary Vaynerchuk’s Growth Accelerator Program: My Experience and Key Takeaways (So Far)

0:0010 years ago, I made the decision to build my personal brand that was elevated, yet approachable, and reflected who I was, not just what I did. I created my website with ShowIt because it's true drag and drop freedom so you can easily build and update your site. Plus, their real human support team, game changer. Want to try it for yourself? Head to jasminestar.com forward slash ShowIt for a 14-day free trial and first month free when you subscribe. Welcome to the Jasmine Star Show. And today we are talking about business, marketing, and leadership. And the time that I invested in Vive, a leadership and growth accelerator provided by Wiener Media and Gary Wiener Chuck.

0:40Now, I'm going to start at the beginning of the story because I promised that when I made this investment, I wanted to share every last bit of what it meant for me to be a part of a high-level accelerator. Now, I have to say, I have to say, I've always known that when I am the poorest and the dumbest and the least experienced in a room. I'm in the right room. And I have to just start here. Boy, was I in the right room. There was no reason for me to be in this room. But you want to know what? I'm already in. You can't kick me out. Sorry. I'm here and I'm doing the dang thing. So how did I get in the room?

1:16I received an email from a gentleman by the name of James Orsini. Now, James is the president of business development at VaynerMedia. And he and I have stayed in contact over the years. James is like soft and kind and really brilliant. So it's like he's like a soft shark, right? Like he's like a shark who you would think would eat people out of business. And what he's done is he just eats you to be the better part of you. That analogy got totally lost. We're just going to keep on running with it. He had sent me an email because back in 2017, I made an investment to go to an event called the four D's provided by VaynerMedia.

1:50It was a one-day event where we got to go through the workings of the agency itself. And then Gary came in for a Q &A and everybody got to ask him a question. And over the years, James had stayed in contact with me. And whenever on social media, he would see I'd be in New York. He's like, hey, come by Hudson Yards, hang out at the office. Let's have a conversation. So he stayed in contact, aka cultivated a relationship. So when I got an email from him, and I'm going to read a bit of the email. The email, which piqued my interest from the get-go, So Vive, this growth accelerator program, is for high performers designed to answer, quote, what's next, end quote, for your life, your future career, rub shoulders with the accomplished, create your legacy, and make your mark.

2:30And I thought to myself, wow, this is the time that I need to be in the room because I am working on developing what's next. So why not be guided through this? So I hopped on a call, was walked through what the offer was. He said how much it was going to be. I said I would get back to him. And then the next day I said I was all in. Now I have a plan. Anytime I go to an event, I go in with a plan, a very loose plan. But I'm going to tell you that me going into Vive, I already knew that I shouldn't be in the room. For all intenses, like on paper, I shouldn't be in the room. But physically, emotionally, spiritually, I felt I was already in the room.

3:09So there's this quote that I heard. It is best to be perceived a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it. So knowing going into this room that I am most likely the most foolish of all fools that ever walk in such a room like this, I decided my plan was to stay quiet. Stay quiet and be listening. My mantra was stay quiet, be listening. And a few podcast episodes ago, we did a podcast with a woman by the name of Fawn Weaver. She is the CEO of Uncle Nearest. And she said that every time she walks into a room to develop her confidence, she says, I'm here to only do one of two things. I'm to share what I know, or I am to withdraw.

3:48And what I said walking into this room is like, I am so wildly outmatched walking into this room that if it was any chance that I could deposit with somebody, I would focus on that because I knew I was gonna be taking a lot of withdrawals. There was so much knowledge, so much experience, so much joy de vivre in the room that I knew I was just gonna be like, be quiet and soak it up. But whenever you have the opportunity to make a deposit, make it worth your time. Make it worth their time. So the event was on a Wednesday. So JD and I flew in on Tuesday and we go to this restaurant there in Heads and Yards and it's called Milos.

4:24And it's a Greek restaurant. And I'm telling you, the first time we went to Milos, it was like three years ago. And we walk in and I have never experienced a restaurant like this. Now, I know that Milo's isn't unique, but I have to say just the layout, the views. You're at the top of Hudson Yards and you're seeing beautiful views of the skyline and of the water. And as you walk in, before you get to your table, as you go to your window side table, they walk you through all the fresh fish of the day. They literally catch fish in Greece and fly the fish in from Greece every day to New York City.

4:58I mean, that alone, it's just so ridiculous. And then they come to your table and they pour you this amazing Greek olive oil. And then with small scissors, they will cut fresh oregano into the Greek olive oil and freshly baked bread. And they bring it to the table and you think to yourself, oppa. So we've always gone to Milo's every time we go to New York. So JD and I go and we don't have a reservation. So we decide we're going to sit at the bar. And what we spoke there was, JD asked for me to document how I feel. He's like, because I know you could be in your head, but let's just talk about how you feel.

5:37And he asked me this question because I'm a very high logic business partner. I'm a high logic partner. I'm a high logic woman. I depend less on how I feel. Feelings change. Feelings are fleeting. And I depend more on my logic if I can lodge my way through this. But he said, for this moment, because it's a big moment, how do you feel? And I said, I feel like I'm in a free fall, but I'm not scared in the free fall. I'm like enjoying whatever is to come. I said, I feel open, I feel excited, and I feel trusting. So those are the words that I had the night before we started the event. So we had a glass of champagne.

6:15We were talking about this. We talked about life. We talked about what we were focusing on. And then the next morning, we got up and we worked out together. together it's like my favorite thing to work out with him he is never about it he because he thinks that like I'm like hold on let's get a picture hold on let's do a video and he's just like can we just work out and I'm just like okay but what about my form like I like literally I love working out with the guy and I don't think that he enjoys it as much as I do but that's okay because we were there together and we were doing this thing and so he said go back into the room I'm gonna go get us some amazing beautiful New York coffee and you can go and journal so I was journaling my feelings Now, I have to say that as I am talking through this podcast and sharing all the tea and details, we're posting a video of this podcast like we always do.

6:58But in the video, we're showing videos and photos of the real-time experience. So if you want to get a front row seat, you definitely want to watch the video and not just listen to the audio. I have to give a shout out, Brent. And Brent, forgive me. I'm going to scrape your last name. Brent Slarzluck. Forgive me. I'm giving you a little shout out on Instagram just here in the video. he took all of these photos. He's so stinking, incredible, and amazing. Okay, so this is the first day. It is a two-day event. It's May 15th. We meet. They said, oh, in this email, they're like, congratulations, we're going to meet at 30 Rock.

7:32So 30 Rockefeller Plaza. This is for, and you guys, here I am. I'm a huge history buff. I'm such a nerd. I read all about the Rockefellers and I'm like, we're going to Rockefeller Plaza. This is like the Rockefellers owned acres. They built this whole plaza around who they are and what they're doing, their family home. So we get to meet there. And at the top of Rockefeller Plaza, there was a time in American history, there's a very famous photo. And maybe we could show it here in the video. It is an old photo of workers on metal beams building 30 Rock. And they were on this break. There's nothing underneath them.

8:06They're literally just eating their lunch, having donuts and coffee, sitting. And there's a photographer who is taking a picture with them. And Central Park is in the background. It is a famous photo. Well, we meet at 30 Rock and then they take us up in our VIP elevator and they said, we're going to recreate the photo, the famous 30 Rock photo with the members of Vive. And in the back of my mind, I'm just like, okay, take deep breaths. It's okay. You don't like heights. It's all good. It's all good. And so I just thought we're going to be taking a photo at 30 Rock, but no, there's a new installation at 30 Rock where you actually sit on a metal beam and then they suspend you in midair and then the metal beam turns so that your back is no longer to Central Park, but you are looking at Central Park.

8:49So I'm just like, oh my God, I don't want to do this. Like, I don't want, I don't want to do this. And yet I do it because I don't know, adult peer pressure. And I sat in the metal beam and I put my safety belt on and I reminded myself that I am doing new things to precisely get uncomfortable. And I was going to this event to see things in new ways. Oh, look at God in a sense of humor. I was literally doing new things and I was literally looking at things in a new way because when they raise you on the beam, you actually go over a glass partition so that you have clear, unobscure views of Central Park.

9:23And as the beam turned and I saw Central Park, I thought to myself, this is freaking incredible. This is an opportunity that so few people get and you get this moment with this group of people. And so then after 30 Rock, we went down to lunch in Rockefeller Plaza. I walked into the lunch. Now there I am. I'm on my phone because your girl is awkward. I am socially awkward. If I am talking about business, I am not so awkward because it's like the one thing I really love, I enjoy. But like socially making small talk, you guys don't even understand how difficult is for me as an introvert and somebody who's just like, so, and they're like, you know, watch sports?

10:06And I'm like, no. What reality shows you're watching? None at this time. And I'm like, do you like historical fiction? Boy, do I. Like, I have very, very little in common with people. So I was like, okay, okay. The goal at lunch was to listen. Listen carefully and listen to the multiple conversations that were happening at the table because I was there to learn. So two gentlemen sat across from me and they were talking about podcasting and they were talking about podcast frequency. And this was where the first time I realized I can make a deposit. Because if there's one thing that I know, one thing that I know is that the system that we've created for podcasting, the system itself works and the system itself is strong.

10:45So they were talking about like podcasting and the frequency of it. I walked them through what our project flow in Asana was to produce our podcast. And they're like, wow, I would really love to see how you're repurposing podcasts from other podcasts you're on. I said, you want to know what? Let me reach out to our project manager and I'm going to have her send you our Asana flow. What did I do? I was making a deposit to somebody who found that valuable. But the rest of the lunch, focus on listening. Now, I wanted to know how Gary was running this accelerator. Because in the digital marketing space, if somebody's doing an accelerator, it's also known as a mastermind.

11:23I'm very familiar with the word mastermind. I was less familiar with the word accelerator. It's essentially the same thing, getting a curated group of people together all around like similar businesses or ideas or acumen or skill, and then finding a way that we all can create synergies and grow. So it's not like one plus one equals two, it's one plus one equals 30. The amount of people that information that we're gathering in a short amount of time with people who all have a wild skill set, but in varying degrees in different areas, wow, we could really expand. So in the past, I've invested in masterminds based on a personal forefront person, right?

11:56A man, a woman, and around them, they become the leader. I have hosted a mastermind and I was the official host. Now with this one, Gary was not the official host. Andrea Sullivan and James Orsini are the official hosts of the event. And Gary is coming in at segmented times to do what Gary does. And I was really fascinated because I've never seen it in this way, to have a high ticket offer and having other people host it. So I started asking questions. I sat next to Andrea at lunch and I started asking, how did she get involved with VaynerMedia? How did she meet Gary? What was it like meeting Gary for the first time?

12:37How did he recruit her? What was the mechanism? What was the conversation like? How long was their first conversation? How long was their second conversation? How long did it take before she had an offer? What was it about the offer that made her? Because Andrea is wildly brilliant. She's wildly talented. She's captivating. She's like lightning in a bottle. You could just meet Andrea at Whole Foods and be like, I don't know who you are, but you're something special. She has that je ne sais quoi. And so I wanted to know, how did somebody like Gary, in the midst of a bunch of other agencies who were vying for her attention and to employ her, how did she choose VaynerMedia?

13:12And the reason I'm asking this question is, yes, because I'm intrigued with Andrea as a human. And I am also very intrigued with the qualities and the acumen and the ability that Gary possessed to attract that level of talent. Because James Orsini is just as wildly talented. And I wanted to know, I wanted to get into the mind of Gary, his approach. And I wanted to get into Andrea's mind. What did he say? What did he do? How did he behave? Why was I doing that? Because I believe in the future. I know it sounds weird. Well, look, I'm just going to say it. I feel like the more that I say it, the less that I stutter.

13:48When I first started my career, first ever as a photographer, I couldn't even say the word photographer without stuttering. Like people would be like, oh, so what do you do? I'm a fufa. I'm a fufa. And it was just like, it was like remix, spit it out. Like, what are you? And I didn't have the chutzpah. I didn't have the cojones. I didn't have the courage to actually say the thing I wanted to be. and I refuse to be that person, that version of myself. So when I say right now, it makes no sense that I see myself in the future hoarding people who are lightning in a bottle. I see it. I see my job as a CEO and a visionary of attracting the best of the best talent into the thing that I'm building is to build this vision that's so big that these other wildly talented people feel like their big vision can work together with my big vision and we can create something even bigger together.

14:41I wanted to know how that worked. And that lunch, I just sat there and I was like, listen, listen, listen, listen, take notes and see what actually can you duplicate in the future. Okay. So after lunch, we walked from 30 Rock, from Rockefeller Center to NASDAQ. And so it was going to be about, I think like 14 blocks, maybe if you're a New Yorker and you're like, it's not 14. Listen, it felt like a lot. I'm from California. We drive two blocks to the grocery store. So they're like, okay, it's going to be like a quick 14 block walk. And I'm like, what the heck? Anyway, so I was very much a New Yorker.

15:15We walked. And in the time that we were walking, I'm just listening to other conversations and talking to people about their businesses and what it is they do. Remember, this is the first time any of the 10 of us are meeting. We're all strangers. We have not done anything together quite yet. So I have to tell you, we are walking to NASDAQ and Andrea meets a woman who I found out I wasn't eavesdropping because it's not technically eavesdropping. If If you're walking alongside of them and you're listening to the conversation, I found out that the event itself had sponsors, that our lunch was sponsored.

15:48Our lunch at Rockefeller Plaza was sponsored. And I was like, oh, that's really interesting. Having a sponsor for a growth or accelerator. And I started asking myself, wait a minute, there are companies who would love to come alongside, you know, my own mastermind and sponsor a lunch for us and get some time to talk about the beauty of what that company does. And I was like, oh, lodge that away. That's important. Okay. So we arrive at NASDAQ and I have to tell you before actually arriving at NASDAQ, now let's pull back. Let's go back to Southern California where I'm talking to my husband and my dad over dinner one night and I'm explaining to them that I'm going to go to NASDAQ.

16:25And I have to tell you like very openly, my parents are not active investors. We don't come from a family of means. My father is an immigrant. My father is a pastor. And so oftentimes compensation from the church looks like a very, very solid yet meager paycheck and a lot of tamales and a lot of hugs and kisses. And so as adults, JD, my husband and business partner, we've taught ourselves what investing looks like. And so we are active investors in the stock market. We are teaching my dad and my mom what it means to invest and what they could be doing with their investments or money now. And I said, dad, I'm going to NASDAQ.

17:07And I have to tell you, it was like the coolest freaking feeling. Like my dad looked at me and he was like, man, when I came to this country, I just never thought that my children would not only like have the chance to invest in the American stock market, but to go where all of it happens. So there we are, NASDAQ. I walk in and we're taken through like this back elevator, a long white hallway. And it talks about the history of NASDAQ. And then they're having like a little like a meet and greet. So they have like drinks, they have coffee, everybody's meeting. Now, the reason we went to NASDAQ was because Gary was dropping his book, Day Trading Attention.

17:41And so he was ringing the bell at NASDAQ as part of the book promotion. So Gary was there, his book writing crew, I would say there's probably a group of like maybe 50 or 60 people. And so then they opened the doors. And as we walk in, oh, there was, okay. So I have to go back. During cocktail hour, I already said I was awkward and I don't really know how to go up to groups and be like, hey, how are you? How's it going? Let's have a conversation. I don't know how to do that. And so what I did was like, I just constantly served myself sparkling water and then I'd put the sparkling water down. I'd go back and serve myself another sparkling water.

18:13I'm just like, just look busy. They open the doors and everybody walks in. And I noticed this quote on the wall and I thought, man, I had to take a picture of it. Quote, those who question today are the ones who rewrite tomorrow. And I thought to myself, I'm in the right freaking place because I'm absolutely questioning what I am doing at NASDAQ in New York City with this group of people. I am questioning what I am building at this current time so that I can rewrite tomorrow. Now, I have to tell you, JD and I are the kind of people like we think and dwell about business all the time. We're the kind of people that when we We go to a restaurant, we'll look like, we'll count the tables.

18:49We'll see how many turnovers are they doing? How much money are they grossing? What's like the margins on this? Like when we walk, okay, so when we had our dog polo, sweet polo, we would take him to get groomed. And there was this gentleman at the front desk and he was such a good human. He was so good at customer support. And I told JD, I was like, this is the guy who I want to hire for our team. I literally tried hiring because he was so good at what he does. And so we look at everything in terms of business. Now, NASDAQ is in the business of business. I have to tell you, when all 60 of us walked into the room, there was a woman at the front and it was legitimately like she could have been performing on Broadway.

19:24And I mean this with the highest regard. Her pronunciation and elocution was absolutely beyond all capacities of true storytelling about what Nasdaq does and what they were and who they are and how they beckon in the future of America business. They gave us the whole spectrum. and I thought to myself, listen, I did not know much about NASDAQ. And now I'm like, wow, I'm a firm believer. I was marketed to while being in the room. And this was my biggest takeaway from that moment is anytime you have the opportunity to sell your story and get people to believe, use it and use it well. After we had the history of NASDAQ, Gary was ushered up and then people started taking pictures with Gary.

20:07He had his book writing team, he had his publicity team. and then we as a group for Vive, we got up to go and take a photo with Gary. Now, after he went through these group photos, they had said, okay, you can now do individual photos with Gary. Please line up in a line and so I'm seeing these people take a photo with Gary and I'm just like, oh my God, I want a photo with Gary. I want a photo with Gary, but I wouldn't do it. I was like, you're not gonna do it. There's two sides of me worrying, like get the photo. Like this is such a cool opportunity to get the photo and the other half of me was like, no, there's other way more important people who should be getting their photo with Gary and then there was a woman from Vive.

20:39she is like our concierge. She's like our point person. Her name is Julia. Julia came up to me out of nowhere. You guys out of nowhere. She comes up to me and she says, Jasmine, she's like, I know Gary means a lot to get a photo with Gary. And I said, I can't, I can't get a photo with Gary. She's like, get in line and get a photo with Gary. And I was like, okay, I'm getting in line and I'm going to take a photo with Gary. So I waited in line. I took a photo with Gary. Now here's the thing. Gary is like, they often talk about how some humans have the capacity to make another person feel like they're the only person in the room.

21:07The most oftenly cited person in recent American history would be Bill Clinton. They talk about his memory for faces, for names, for details that make people feel so entrenched with who he was as a leader. And I think that Gary possesses the same quality. He remembers just enough about people for placement, names, ideas, and things. And so I was not expecting whatsoever for Gary to make a reference. even though I interviewed him for my podcast. I had Amy Porterfield as a guest and we interviewed Gary for his book. And the podcast went, I thought, like really well. And so I'm walking up to the podium to take a picture with Gary and he was just like, hey, good to see you.

21:48And at this point in time, I'm almost like he still doesn't remember. And he's just like, so what'd you think about the podcast? Did you like the podcast? And I was like, oh my God, Gary freaking remembers the podcast. And I was like, and of course I'm sitting there like my tongue is tied. I was like, all right. It was great. I don't even remember what I said. I think I said it was great. I think I said, thank you so much. I was sweating profusely. I was so nervous. We take the photo. I walk off stage. And then one of the things that I was not expecting is that after Gary rang the bell, then everybody comes up and everybody announces we do the countdown.

22:20It was so freaking exciting. Gary rings the bell. They pop purple and yellow confetti in midair. and I happened to be standing next to Andrea and she, because remember she's lightning in a bottle, she catches a piece of purple confetti. She catches it in her hand and she just turns right over her right shoulder and I was there and she's like, here, to remember, y 'all, I have that purple piece of confetti stuck in my journal so that I always remember what that moment meant for me. And so after this, they said, everybody, we're gonna go down in Times Square. And so we're all walking down to Times Square and I'm texting my family and I text my dad and I said, Poppy, I just took a photo with Gary Vaynerchuk at NASDAQ.

22:58And my family's like, you know, we're all hyping. Like they're hyping me up. They're like, oh my God, Jasmine, like you took a photo of Gary. And my dad responds with one line. And he says, wow, Gary Vaynerchuk took a picture with my daughter. Like leave it to my dad to find what is the most important thing to him. So we were outside in Times Square and everyone's like, look around. And then we saw the group photo of Gary. They're in Times Square. And then they showed a photo of me and Gary. in Times Square. And you guys, I just have to tell you, I just have to tell you, dang, was your girl geeking out?

23:32It was one of those things you're just like, okay, is this real life? After that event, Gary did a private book Q &A there at NASDAQ for a group of people. And it was really fascinating to see how he sees this state of marketing and what businesses should be doing and why businesses aren't excelling. I, you know, when I say I'm like, oh, I felt like I was in a college class and he was like a professor breaking down things. It was fascinating, because there in the room were professors from a college. And what they wanted to use was Gary's book, Day Trading Attention, as the marketing textbook for the semester.

24:06And so when I said, oh my gosh, it feels like I'm sitting under a professor, they had said, well, we're professors and we're deans and we're admins of entire business departments and we're using this because he's so avant-garde when it comes to what we need to do for marketing. And I thought to myself, this is why you invested. You invested for access and you invested to sit under the tutelage of the people who are some of the best in the game. After we went to dinner at Little Maven and they all had assigned a seating for us. And I happened to be sitting next to a woman by the name of Hannah.