Gary Vee - Stop Pretending! The Whole Game Is Self-Awareness.

Key Takeaway

The whole game is self-awareness. People have happy lives making $230,000 and living within those means. Others push to a million, don't live within those means, and hate their lives. Know yourself. Live life for you, not to impress others. Make content about what you know or love—not where you think the money is. Be expert-ish or passionate, and be authentically yourself.

Episode Overview

Gary Vaynerchuk joins Ed Mylett to discuss self-awareness, AI's transformative impact, parenting with intention, and the mindset that has driven his success. Gary shares insights on building multiple businesses, creating authentic content, and living with macro patience and micro speed while staying true to one's values.

Full Transcript

Transcript of Gary Vee - Stop Pretending! The Whole Game Is Self-Awareness. from The Ed Mylett Show. Auto-generated from episode audio; may contain minor errors.

The whole game is based on self-awareness. The whole game, Ed. Friends, there's a lot of people who have a very happy life making 230,000 a year and live within those means. means. means. And there's unlimited people that push themselves from 230 to a million and they don't live within those means and they hate their life. What he just told you is a trillion percent right. You don't have to grind that thing to a million bucks doing stuff you don't love anymore, don't want to do, don't feel ethical about.

It's a There's so many people really happy at the former, not the latter that he's talking And I have friends that are true 9-to-5ers, true Budweiser at the bar at 5, softball team 6 to 7, and literally happier than friends that I have that are making 45 million a year. That's what you meant by self-awareness earlier, isn't it? Yes. That's right. You need to live life for you. Not to impress others. Imagine getting to the end of your life, bro, and you pretended the whole way there.

there. there. Almost everyone does, Ed. Oh my god. Let's just check a box on content creation. You're the guru. guru. guru. But I would tell everyone, know how you make content best and make it about things you know or or love. Know or love. The biggest mistake people make, Ed, is they try to make content around where they think the money is. Everyone listening right now, whether it's about bowling or fishing, how to be an accountant or how to be a stay-at-home dad, everyone here has the potential.

Just be who you are, expert-ish expert-ish expert-ish or passionate. Welcome back to the show, everybody. So, I want to introduce a newcomer to the program. Probably haven't heard of this guy before. guy before. guy before. Like, he's a rising star. I like to pick people when they're at the bottom before they get to the top. So, that's how I grabbed this guy today. I say that tongue-in-cheek because you don't have to introduce him. Everybody on the planet knows him. Um he's one of the great entrepreneurs, one of the great voices, I think, visionary voices for the future on Earth.

And he's had a big impact on my life. He doesn't know it cuz we've only met each other from a distance a bunch of times. We speak all around the world together and never see each other backstage, like literally 50 different times. But let me tell you my favorite thing about him. I was thinking about it. There's this list. I'd like to think I'm on it of people who have created the most free content content content to change other people's lives at no cost. And the top of that list of all time is this man.

He has helped more people, in my opinion, through this type of medium change their lives and never asked a dime or a dollar from them to do it. Millions and millions and millions of people he's helped out of the kindness of his heart and the brilliance of his big brain. So, we're going to talk with Gary V today. Gary Vaynerchuk, welcome to the show again, brother. Good to have you. That's incredibly humbling. And thank you for saying that. It's a I I Before I get any credit for it, it's all because of incredible mothering, the American dream, and many circumstances, and uh and a lot of good deposits by my father as well to not keep him out of it.

So, thank you for that. And I'm excited to chop it up with you. And um we're recording this right after the Knicks beat the Cavs. And so, I'm hot. You caught You're catching me at a perfect I was when I saw my schedule today cuz I'm very like don't know what I'm doing the next day. But I looked this morning. I'm like, "Oh, this is perfect." Cuz I'm my energy is 11 out of 10. Well, this will probably be out when it's over. But so, we'll see if you're still a visionary.

Who do you want? Do you want OKC or do you want the Spurs? I want the Spurs. I think we match up better. Though I think some of the petals are coming off the bloom for the OKC play. I think uh the the foul baiting that Shai is doing is starting to get scrutinized. And so, and the Knicks are playing well. But honestly, we you know, this was a season where it was like, "Let's just please get to the finals." So, there's a it's hard to say there's house money when you have a when you're playing this well and you got a real chance, but I don't underestimate either San Antonio or Oklahoma.

So, when this comes out, my fate will be sealed, it sounds like, but I'm very grateful. And especially I have a 13-year-old son to be sharing this journey with him is like I'll remember it forever. So, I'm grateful. Yeah, you're known for wanting to buy the Jets, and I'm known for wanting to buy the Red Sox, and somewhere over the next 10 or 15 years if both those things happen, that would just be epic. By the way, this is inside baseball stuff here, inside sports, but I should tell you this.

Greg Ginsky Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I've known Greg since the second grade. Yeah, Dad, I didn't You know what? Actually, I That has been brought up in some of our meetings. For everybody who's listening, Greg is my partner in Vayner Sports. He runs Vayner Sports baseball and has been um a really great partner and a a great baseball agent and friend. And he's a great surfer. He He He like You both You both of you guys look way too good for your age. There was something There was something in the water of that elementary school.

elementary school. elementary school. Yeah, you only hear that once you get like really old, but I love Greg, and Greg, shout-out to you, buddy. I finally got you on the podcast. We'll have you on as a guest sometime. So, all right. So, listen, I want to We got to be serious today about a few things because the world's changing so quickly. Just interviewed Peter Diamandis a couple hours ago while you're talking about this. I think you're one of the most visionary people. You saw a lot of things before anybody did.

I was thinking even like I remember I was already doing really well on social media like, "Hey, there's this thing called Tik Tok." Everyone I'm like, "No one's doing that. It's for kids." I didn't listen to you. I ended up way behind. So, I'm going to listen to you this time. What do you see now? Just uh your overall world view. Obviously, AI is here and moving even faster. Is this bigger than the internet? Is it going to change things more? What do you see? It's more internet and electricity and the automobile.

Like, it's big big, right? It's not derivative. You know, I would say the the last thing that was like this in my opinion was the iPhone, the mobile device that was a true computer. Changed everything, right? All the companies we think about all this Many of the things If you really look at the crux of where some of my foresight came from, it was betting the farm on the iPhone, that the iPhone was going to win the world. And then, as you can imagine, then when the App Store came out, it's like any app on there had a chance of being monstrous, and that kind of led to a lot of my points of view.

Um it is, to your point, it is much more like internet than social media's a is a version of the internet, a part of the internet. Matters quite a bit because it democratized, you know, communication and distribution, but I I Yeah, it's very big, brother. It's very big. I will I'll go 301 before I go 101. 301, people like yourselves and many others listening that are highly functional, successful, and continuing to build, if they're if they don't have a computer harness like an open claw open claw open claw already set up, they're already behind the 1%.

So, that would be the first thing I would put out there. If you don't know what open claw is, go Google it, go understand it. This concept of agentic agents running in real time at all times, that's going to be the TikTok for you if you and Max and the rest of the team don't have that set up. That's really good summer exercise to figure out how to get your open claw. And what does it do? Does it help you make content? Does it help you manage your contacts?

Does it, you know, do shopping for your analysis? So, that's the 301. The 101 is no one listening to the Edge show should not already be actively using AI every day, whether that's Claude, whether that's Higgs Field, whether that's, you know, Runway, whether that's Nano Banana, whether that's Gemini, Open AI, ChatGPT, AI, ChatGPT, AI, ChatGPT, um Perplexity, like everybody who's listening should be dabbling. And what I mean by that is you don't need it running your world, you don't need it like, you know, doing anything too crazy.

You need it You need to be tasting. It's kind of like everybody who didn't use the internet internet internet Yep. Yep. Yep. in '96, '7, '8, '9, 2000, that were real players, they lost market share and opportunity. The difference is with AI, and you already said it, it's moving faster than the internet did. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Because it's building on top of the internet, on top of social, on top of the blockchain. When the internet came along, along, along, it it had to establish all of its foundations of websites and browsers and all this.

And so, we have a compounded, you know how those charts go, right? It's compounding. And so, yeah, I mean, listen, content creation, strategy, thinking, creative output, management, admin life, all this stuff, there's a lot of things already being slightly disrupted. slightly disrupted. slightly disrupted. And we haven't even hit the crescendo moment. So, yes, do I think every person that's listening to this should spend 10 to 20 hours researching how they can use AI using AI. Let me give you an example. You literally go to, you know, Claude or chat GPT.

I do voice interaction more than I do writing cuz I'm better at Same here. Same here. Same here. You literally just type You literally record it and you say, "Hey, chat GPT, I'm an architect. I listened to Gary on my latest show. He said I have to use this. I really don't know. What are the five apps an architect should use? Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Five AI apps an architect should use to to be better at his or her job." Using AI to get better at AI is the most meta crazy thing ever.

Right? I made a career career career of educating the masses on things. Now, a lot of people can just, you know, search that. My strategic brain is not going to outpace the collective wisdom of AI, and so I'll have to adjust. Everyone will have to adjust, but as an opener, please do not put your head in the sand. Do not use a a a political ideological point of view on this technology to really make the excuse that you don't want to put in the work cuz you're tired and finished, or you're lazy and unmotivated, or you're indifferent, or you're scared.

This is a inevitable outcome. Technology laughs at humans' opinions of it. And I just hope that everybody gets to working cuz working cuz working cuz AI is not going to kill you. A human using AI is going to kill you. Oh my gosh, that's so good. You So you have You and I are interesting. You talk a lot, especially with young people, like, "Hey, be patient." Yes. Yes. Yes. Right, you got time. Then the other side of the coin is, when you hear what you just said, people are like, I got to hurry up here.

like, I got to hurry up here. Like, I got to get in front of Like, I got to get in front of this. I got to catch up. Macro patience, micro speed. What do you mean? In the macro, and you'll This will really resonate with you. I think you're This is going to land for you as I break it down. it down. it down. When I say patience, I don't say complacency. complacency. complacency. Mhm. I'm really glad you just said that. Keep going. Yeah. When I say patience, I don't mean I'm not There's a reason there's a different word called laziness, a different word called passiveness.

They're different words in the dictionary. Patience, I think The reason I pitch it so much, Ed, is and you know this, a lot of young men, but and young women, they they they they want things too fast, and they get sloppy, and you know this, this is really up, and I'm glad people can hear this. We know people through our lives who've compromised their morals because of lack of patience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They've made a strategic over-leveraging thing that really set them back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

They've They've compromised much all because insecurity led them to wanting to have something to close the gaps of the emotional holes they had. Gosh. Gosh. Gosh. And so I talk about patience because I know everybody wants to listen. I was a 19-year-old guy. I know what a 19-year-old guy is thinking about when of the opposite sex of of of of needing validation. I get it. But I like talking about patience because you remember you're talking to a guy who was 34 years old still working in a liquor store building a business for his daddy.

Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Start over at 34 and I've been easily able because I was capable to create everything for myself. You can see why I'm frustrated when a 27-year-old is willing to borrow money on a credit card and buy a cryptocurrency hoping to hit the lottery. And I feel like a lot of people people people that that that are running around the world today are really much closer than to gambling than they are to investing. They're much more into financial over-leveraging than they are to operating and building.

And so that's why I talk about it, but that is not to be you know, confused with I just want you to off from 20 to 30 and do nothing. nothing. nothing. I want you to be high risk 20 to 30 because that's when you can really actually be high risk and you don't have the family, you don't have the responsibilities often that you have later in your life. But yeah, I think people want to take certain things I say out of context. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Because it's leveraging for them. They want to take the counter and it's and it's that's what's tough about this fast-paced world. You know this. This is why I like doing these kind of shows is you get to go deeper a lot of times in a clip. You know, it's why I write my I don't know if you know this, Eddie. You'll find this fascinating. Let me show you something right now visually. I know people at home can't see it, but let me show you something. Take a look at this.

I write the copy to every one of my Instagram posts. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Okay, you wrote that. This is with WhatsApp with me and my team sharing different content and this. you will see there's a lot of content shared and then you'll see when I am writing the copy. Yep, you're voice writing it you're saying too. saying too. saying too. I actually wrote for I actually wrote for some weird reason I haven't once in a blue moon I've gotten to voice here but I'm still doing a lot of writing I don't even know why but it just motivated me to get back to my best form but the reason I write every Instagram copy is I need to hedge the lack of context the one-minute video has.

Wow, wow, so good. That I didn't mean to I was talking and thinking out loud I mean to interrupt you like I'm so glad you gave that context. I wanted to ask you that for like 7 years. Because also observing you like you're not a calm dude, you're not a laid-back dude, you're you're wired tight, you're intense, you're fast, you're New York. Super ambitious, everything's very fast, I have an interrupting problem because I comprehend quickly if I hear it, bad reading comprehension. reading comprehension. reading comprehension.

God-given verbal and audio and visual comprehension and so yes, but and that's why I think it's so important that I stand on that patience platform because I got to nuance it here and and I know knowing our audiences there's a 27-year-old that needed to hear what I just said. Uh because I really do talk about it being when you lack the patience in the macro, you go into compromising your moral compass and you go into gambling behavior, not business building and investing behavior and that's what I'm trying to mitigate especially where I think think think we're in an era where civility and good has is really on its back foot.

You know, the political atmosphere has created created created you know, the the rewriting of history, the false narratives have really confused the youth of what it really stands to be a sustainably successful person first emotionally then financially, and I do feel a sense of responsibility that the clarity is very real to me, and I know that I have the platform, and I know that I'm a rare breed of like, you know this, I I'm a little funny for as a personal brand in the plethora of male popular brands.

I I have some I have some off-speed pitches that are not right down the And and I believe in them, and they're authentic to me, and whether they're right or wrong is completely irrelevant. They're true to me, and I feel called to share them. share them. share them. Yeah, no, you are, and you're right about that. The other thing, too, you said something a minute ago, where we're kind of sharing a brain, we're in a good flow. flow. flow. One of the things I think that's underestimated in the digital world and internet world is like, everything's quick, everything happens in a buck, everyone's driving a Lambo, everybody's in the Caribbean on vacation, everyone's got got got And when I look at you, cuz I've done this now, this now, this now, I I want to talk to you about endurance and fatigue for you.

So, if I'm talking about you personally, right? Like, okay. So, you've been doing this twice as long as me, as me, as me, and probably three times the amount of content, okay? content, okay? content, okay? And I know the pace I've gone the last, say, eight or nine years, the amount of content I've created, yeah, and I have felt fatigue from it. My My super strength as an entrepreneur, though, has been my endurance through ups and downs, through days I didn't want to do it. Have you Do you What How about you?

Like, do you Have you Imagine the You guys imagine the amount of content this man's generated. man's generated. man's generated. Do you go through periods where you're like, I Not today, man. I don't want to do it today. I'm fatigued. Does this matter anymore? matter anymore? matter anymore? Uh This matters anymore never, cuz I'm very aware that content is at the top of the sphere of opportunity. Um Um Um post-COVID, post-COVID, post-COVID, cuz I got into a routine of not film, you know, don't forget pre-COVID, I did a five-year run where I filmed every minute of my life.

So, I was vlogging That's right. That's right. That's right. at a level that was so high. And post-COVID, And post-COVID, And post-COVID, what what one of the craziest things about me, Ed, that I don't even think you know, you know, you know, like people that are actually thoughtful and pay attention, I don't think people understand how much of an actual day-to-day businessman I am and not a content creator. content creator. content creator. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. So, So, So, I'll give you some I know your audience is is is a level up, so this is going to really hit.

I have six or seven now active businesses Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. that are generating between eight and nine figures of top-line revenue, where I am either the active CEO, active co-founder, active co-founder, active co-founder, or active chairman of the board, right hand to the CEO. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. VaynerX, VaynerX, VaynerX, VaynerMedia, VaynerMedia, VaynerMedia, Ed is a $400 million a year revenue business. business. business. Awesome. Wow. Awesome. Wow. Awesome. Wow. And I am like the actual CEO like if you look at my calendar, like that is taking up most of my time.

VFriends, my Pokémon Marvel thing, which started in NFTs and now is trading cards, comic books, coins, coins, coins, that is a hefty eight-figure business in selling physical collectibles. I am the active true day-to-day CEO, kind of like Elon was with SpaceX and at right, I'm really in those two. VaynerSports, Jeez. Jeez. Jeez. have you know, back to Greg's business, I will tell you, AJ will tell you, my brother, those guys run that business, but I'm a meaningful I mean, I'm like recruiting sophomores in high school.

Yeah. Yeah. Jeez. The restaurant group, BCR Group, Flyfish Club, K-Pons, hefty eight figures. VaynerWatt, my TV production company, will be there next year. Wow. Wow. Wow. business I still run through my best friend. friend. friend. Wow. Wow. Wow. What happened during COVID was Wow. Wow. Wow. I went Gary Vaynerchuk operator and then Gary V content creator. I mean, a switch. 2014 to 19 I was doing a lot of this stuff. Most of them were much smaller, including Vayner Media. Media. Media. VeeFriends didn't exist yet. The wine business I was still running.

Vayner Sports was small and growing. The restaurant group didn't start yet. The TV production group didn't start yet. My my sports portfolio with the pickleball team and all that didn't start yet. So, pre-COVID pre-COVID pre-COVID even though I was running Vayner Media successfully and the wine business and starting with Vayner Sports a little bit, bit, bit, they were smaller and V the personal brand was a top of spear of opportunity and I was able to go kind of all in on all. all. all. Post-COVID, I got so accustomed to operating 12 hours a day and I stopped traveling as much, Ed, which was such a big source of content.

I stopped speaking as much. I stopped doing this as much. And, you know, in a lot of ways, like probably the best chapter of of my career these last five years is interesting because, interesting because, interesting because, as you know, I was so far ahead on personal brand. personal brand. personal brand. I definitely took a little bit of a foot off the pedal last three, four years to kind of build the operating business empire, empire, empire, but I was able to really still sustain and accelerate even though I wasn't feeding my feeding my feeding my content machine with as much fresh content.

I I just became more strategic, but it was the first time in 10 years where yeah, I didn't want things that used to be filmed for the vlog, I would no longer want to film it. I was out of practice. We were also not doing the vlog. I also worried about the person that I was having the meeting with not being their full self because we were filming it. filming it. filming it. Um Um Um but but but in the macro, probably the most interesting thing when I analyze myself is is is I am far less attached to my professional career than someone would believe if they didn't know me.

What do you mean? I mean [snorts] the reason I don't think I get burnt out or like tired or fatigued or like fish is because is because is because it's not that important to me. Okay, keep going. Let me break it down further. I am truly the byproduct of so good. so good. so good. of poor immigrants where the propaganda in my home from my great-grandmother and my grandmother and my mother and father was was was everyone just died so early in the Soviet Union. My mom lost her mom at five.

five. five. Her My dad lost his dad at 15. Nobody lived 65. Everybody was drinking vodka. People don't know I And I was born in the Soviet Union at a time that it was like North Korea, not Iran. Today, if you're born in Iran you can leave Iran. Now, only UAE and Turkey and a couple places will take you for vacation or what have you, but you can leave. can leave. can leave. Like there's a lot of people from Iran in Canada right this second on vacation with a visa.

If you're born in North Korea today you're in jail. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're not I don't know if Again, I know a lot of people Americans are not geopolitically educated. geopolitically educated. geopolitically educated. You're not allowed to leave. I was born in a place where you were not allowed to leave. leave. leave. Wow. Wow. Wow. And because of that and because of socialism, this is why so many Cubans and Russians get scared when socialism gets thrown around. No one does Everyone's depressed. Everybody's apathetic. Everyone's indifferent.

Everyone's stealing from the government cuz the government owns everything. And it's just a sucky life. And And that's why the cliche of like Russians drinking vodka, if you understood the deeper reason, which is the suppression is so extreme that alcohol was the escapism from your real life, and because everyone's drinking from 15 to 50, and I mean really drinking. really drinking. really drinking. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. No one's living. So, I I grew up in a household where nazdarovya, right? Like everything's for health. Everything's like pure propaganda.

propaganda. propaganda. And then I was personally scared of losing both of my parents because they both did. both did. both did. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Was the oldest from the old country, and my mom would say things like, "If anything ever happens to us, you've got to take care of your siblings." I feel like by the time I got to 18, Ed, and this is probably why I was willing to build a business for my parents, and like not resent them, and like all that. Um Um Um I was kind of I've been kind of playing with house money since I was 18, and the goal was never financial or fame.

Um the goal was really the reason I love entrepreneurship, and why I've always done what I've done, is I just want optionality. I want I I don't want someone telling me what to do. Yeah. You also seem to me Bro, I think By the way, what does surprise me about what you said is the magnitude of your business life. I knew they were big. In fact, Andy's always telling me, "Bro, if you knew how much Gary's really got Gary's this, you know, like he's always telling me." So, I do have a little insight from Frasella.

I didn't know all that. But the this second part, I I see your heart through all of it. I see your love for people for all of it. I I don't think me either. I I think it's why we both, you know, quietly got pretty wealthy, we don't talk about it because um I don't think it's your end zone. I think that there's a lot of cliches on the internet about gratitude rituals and stuff. I think you're a very grateful man, also. I think you live these things.

things. things. You You have the luxury, and the same to why I show up here is like we You know this. We know a lot of stuff that other people don't because we have access to a lot of people. Right. Right. Right. You know, what's really been fun about getting a little bit older is your reputation, you know, I think people are very confused. Like, you can only act on the internet for so long. That's so true. Yeah. You know, like Eventually. Eventually. Eventually. you can get away with it and you can even die without people really knowing you, but I've always been very big on I'd rather the 1% of winners knew the truth about me than the 99% of people that are by default cynical, envious, jealous.

Because I don't I'm not mad at them. I'm actually deeply empathetic to them, right? Like, if you want to tear down other people, if you're mad at other people, but I I do get great joy out of knowing what's being said behind my back by people that know me. Wow, I love that. That is my North Star. My North Star is knowing knowing knowing I know every For example, with us, I know every interaction I've had with Andy in my entire life. All of them, right?

Cuz I remember everything. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. I just know how I show up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a giver by nature. I I actually have probably a flaw of vulnerability or asking, right? Cuz it's that immigrant stuff, like, no complaining, do everything yourself. So, unlike a lot of people, I've I've navigated last 25 years years years incredibly built on not asking and trying to give and you know, and I'm a Listen, my mom did a bang-up job, like, deep down, like, real talk, I'm Ultimately, I'm just a good boy, you know?

know? know? This blows my mind. I have to tell you. By the way, this is side of you I don't think most people know or see. It's why I love this format, too. I um I um I um I just uh had a conversation with someone last week. I won't say who they were cuz it's not relevant, but somebody that everybody would know. And um And um And um I said to him I direct quote I said to him I said, "I just think I've been a good boy." good boy." good boy." Mhm.

Mhm. Mhm. Gary, I mean, verbatim that quote. That's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. actually where my self-confidence comes from. from. from. Mine, too. Mine, too. Mine, too. I don't I don't know that I'm any smarter than anybody else. I don't think with I'll tell you quick. I was met Wayne Dyer when I was very young. At the end of it, he gave me a bunch of compliments about what I was going to do in the world, and he said, "And it's not cuz you're talented or smart or you talk really well, although you do.

He said, "I just think you have a beautiful heart and great intentions." He goes, "Would you do me a favor? All your life, attach your confidence to your intentions, not your abilities or your results." And I've held onto that all my life. I do see that in you. In fact, this is a big shout-out to all the parents while I wear this Dad Gang hat. Um I will tell you be very careful what you cheer for in your house. My mother mother mother she grounded me with my bad grades, but she didn't make me think I was lesser than because of it.

She showed me accountability. I was in school, you can't get D's and F's and just quote-unquote get away with it. I was a really good athlete until about fifth grade. fifth grade. fifth grade. You know, that's when that's when strength, power, size Size. Size. Size. athleticism, but my hand-eye coordination's off the charts. So, I was crushing third and fourth grade, every All-Star team, all that stuff. Um My mother My mother only made a big to-do when I was being nice. nice. nice. Jeez. Jeez. Jeez. If you are If you're a parent right now and you're and you're and you're And let's Listen, I believe in pretty privilege, so I'll say it this way.

If you're at home right now and you're fortunate that your child's just really gorgeous, like good-looking guy, good-looking girl. If you constantly are reinforcing that, that is where their self-worth will come in. Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god. If you are constantly only focused on the fact that they're a great athlete, that is where their identity will mold. The great mistake most parents are making is you're putting getting good grades on a pedestal, which is why for 100 years we've created so many workers because they want to go into systems that reward them every quarter.

They They live for getting a good review and getting a raise every year, a good report card. report card. report card. But my mother, her great to do, her pom-poms came out when I opened the door for an elderly lady or when I would you know, my whole life all I heard is you have a golden heart. You have a golden heart. heart. heart. Wow. Wow. Wow. And that got so entrenched that I myself also only only resonate with who who I am as a human.

And listen, I'm a human. Like like on the record. Everyone, I'm not Mother Teresa. I've made plenty of missteps. Like what? Like what? Like what? But hey, my intent is off the charts. I've never wanted Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. needed out of insecurity to do so wrong by someone. by someone. by someone. Um in fact, most of my missteps were lack of candor because I didn't want to hurt people's feelings by telling them the truth of them not being good at work or you know, things of that nature.

And I so I would just tell everyone, please give thought to what you're putting on a pedestal in your household. Your children will find their identity in that and you need to be thoughtful about what you put on as a North Star. Yeah, I tell you man, like there's some similarities here. Success leaves clues. By the way, I've made way more mistakes than I wish I had made. But um my parents both the same way. In fact, my dad lived long enough to see me get wealthy.

Honestly, I I like literally did not care. Could care less. How are you treating people? Are you giving it away? Are you calling your sisters? Are you being kind? I got to ask you something. This is just occurred to me. My dad's been gone about 6 years. I think it's 6 years. I still I still I still try to make him I'm getting emotional. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I still try to make him proud of me. It's the only thing I live for.

The only time I get emotional is when I am being honored at a nonprofit event. And my parents will go to those things. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. And I have to speak about them with them in the crowd. Mhm. You know, there's that there's that moment when Steven Bartlett like really went there deep with my mom. Yeah, I saw that clip. And I got emotional. Like, you know, weirdly, I just want to give him flower. My best friend since I was 14 who runs the wine business, Brandon Warnocky, recently I got choked up talking about him and I'm like, "Oh my god, he's gotten so deep in my heart." Talk about family that isn't, you know, your blood.

Blood. Blood. Blood. Um Um Um Yeah. Yeah, it's a Yeah, I I'm very It's very clear to me that I live to make my parents proud. Isn't it interesting people listen to you and I talking and, you know, we both affected lots of people and to know that our motives and outcomes are pretty simple. simple. simple. Yeah, I mean, I would I would argue that the foundation of my humility is knowing that I had nothing to do with it. Like, to me, I'm the byproduct of my parents.

I I get a lot of pride in my businesses, the employees I've shaped and, you know, the things I'm trying to build, but even that is a struggle. Though, I do feel like I had more of a thumbprint. Me? What Like, the thing that has kept me uncomfortably grounded is when, you know, that was very kind know, that you know, that was very kind of you the way you started this podcast. Literally, in my brain, I'm like, "Good job, Mom." You know, like I What did I do?

do? do? I certainly didn't have sex at that exact second. I certainly didn't parent myself. And then there's circumstance, right? The American dream, like coming from communism and, you know, growing up And then and then there's like if I wasn't lucky enough with all my chemical DNA talents, then I got lucky that I wasn't born in America to a third-generation wealthy family. I got to grow up from the dirt. I got to go to Martin Luther King Elementary School. I got to get into fights and grow up in really the lower-middle-class Jersey era of the '80s.

You want to talk about being turned into a man quick? Go grow up in the '80s in the early '80s, mid-'80s in New Jersey on the wrong side of the tracks, you become a man real quick. quick. quick. So many of you have asked how to see me speak live, and for the first time ever, you can come see me speak live in person. All of my speeches have been private events, but now I'm teaming up with Life Surge speaking all over the country. Life Surge is a one-day faith-based event where you'll walk in hungry for success, and you'll leave ready to build your resources to leave an impact on others.

We're talking faith-fueled finance, growing your resources, crushing obstacles, and then yeah, using it all for something way bigger than yourself. I'm joining Life Surge in a few cities this year, and I'd love to see you there. I'll be sharing the stage with legends such as two-time football champion Tim Tebow, star of Duck Dynasty Willie Robertson, and leadership hero of mine John Maxwell, pastor and author Craig Groeschel, and worship with artists like Natalie Grant. Tickets are on sale at lifesurge.com. And just for my listeners, you can use the code ED30 for 30% off a ticket.

There will be a link in the show notes, so click through and take some time to join us. Cities are being added all the time, so if you don't see one near you now, check back. I hope to see you there. there. there. You know, all that's true, by the way, but you also are the person who did all that traveling, who did all those interviews, who had all that vision, who who put that camera in front of his face 10 trillion times. Let me ask you this.

Let's Let's do a little for a second. Let's do a little clues of success for people listening who want to someday have a podcast where they're talking about their mom and their dad, and they've got something to honor them with, right? You were going through that your business life, and I'm like, how much of that happens without his personal brand? Without the Without the attention. So, answer that. answer that. answer that. Yeah, a lot of it. What people forget about my career is, you know, history rewrote it as like Gary built his dad's business on social media.

It's just not true. I built my dad's business on being on the floor for 12 hours a day and being a good salesman. So, literally, Ed, high-net-worth individual comes in, and hey, I need a bottle of for a gift for a boss or an employee and then an hour later Ed's going into the car with four cases of wine saying, "How did this happen?" You know, so so you know, I won I built that business for my dad on first being good salesman, then I did it on direct mail, email marketing, website, early 90 late 90s early 2000s marketing behavior, not social.

I didn't make my first video for the internet and club was 30 years old at at at Okay. Okay. Okay. There was not a video that in existence and the business had already been 40 something million a year at that point up from 3 million. So, I'm a good businessman who then happened Same here. Same here. Same here. to understand the power of notoriety and brand building and of course much you know, listen, I made a video that was titled one of the first videos that were not wine that I ever made was titled Facebook should be worried about Twitter.

It went viral and it opened up all my doors in Silicon Valley. My gosh. Do you think that How do you feel about that? Andy and I talk about this too. this too. this too. I I know So, you were a businessman first. In other words, there was some reps and accomplishment and learning and growing and development of skills, then the branding, right? branding, right? branding, right? Well, Well, Well, forget, I branded Wine Library. So, Gary Vaynerchuk was the architect. You know, I say this actually often, I have more pride pride pride in being Gary Vaynerchuk that built Gary V than being Gary V.

I get it. I know exactly what that means. means. means. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But, let me ask you this. How do you feel about feel about feel about I don't I don't have a strong opinion. Andy has a very strong one on this, but how do you feel about people who do it the other way around? So, you're encouraging people to make content all the time, but then there's the type of content where people are teaching things they've never actually done before. I mean, I think listen, I don't blame anyone from trying anything.

I don't think it's honorable to make content and say you're an ex- like if someone's lying and said I built $10 million businesses, blah blah blah. If you know anyone can do anything they want. I surely struggle with getting excited of taking feedback from someone talking about something they've never done. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But I would argue that the audience needs to be accountable to themselves, not the content creator in that scenario. Mhm. It just seems to take so long if ever where that's sort of uncovered.

That doesn't mean by the way don't create content. I just think it means create content for where you are. Well, that's right. I you know, that whole document don't create thing that I talked about years ago that went viral for me. And I also actually I'll say this to everyone. I think it's way cooler if you're making content on the path to becoming a great real estate agent, the path of becoming a good business person. I a man, I would have cried uh I'm so devastated in some ways that it wasn't around for when I was coming up because I know that first of all, I've been doing business since I was 6 years old for real too by the way.

When I'm say for real, I mean more than half of my summer starting when I was in second grade was lemonade stand, washing cars, shoveling snow, yeah. So, you know, my content at 20 would have been like first of all, if it was actually out there, the timing would have been like this is email marketing, this is who I believe in it. People are going to do email. It would have been like the same version of Tik Tok just for websites and email and Google AdWords.

But it would also have been like hey, I'm 20. Like I don't know everything. Yes. Yes. Yes. No, but I feel like I could be I would probably make a lot of comparisons to athletes of like hey, I think like I I think I might be a young Tiger Woods. Like I think I'm going to be great because I've been doing this successfully and I see things. Let's see how this works out Versus faking the funk and saying buy my course because I like like I'll teach you how to do it.

The first logical question is, have you done it? done it? done it? Yep. Yep. That's exactly right. By the way, it's interesting. Lemonade stand, auto detailing, baseball cards. Those were my businesses before I was 20. All of those businesses right that same thing. thing. thing. Ed, this is a good one to talk about. I want people to hear this cuz this is the courage of following your convictions. You know what I'm about to say. At the height of the Gary Vee brand where I was like really like really like really separating, had the credibility, but I was at a white-hot moment.

I start coming out with content in 2018 saying buy baseball cards. You did. You did. You did. And And when I tell you Ed, like people that really know me both from like the Fortune 500 CEOs or the other personal brand like agents, LA, New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo. London, Tokyo. London, Tokyo. Everyone literally reached out to me and said, "You're at this super high level of And basically the argument from my inner circle was, "You're about to explode into like which was inappropriate I thought, but like they believed I was so hot.

They're like, "You're about to be one of the five most important business like Iconic. Iconic. Iconic. And they're like, "This is going to hurt you." And I'm like, "But it's true." Yep. Yep. Yep. I said, "But it's true." I'm like, "I think sports cards are about to explode." And it was funny, they went way up. People were trying to figure out what was that me? Was that But I already saw the trend for a year before In fact, Ed, it's one of the few things I sat on for a year before talking about it.

Because I was scared I was forcing it subconsciously cuz I loved it growing up. And I'm like, "Do I want this to happen or is this Like I was checking myself cuz I didn't want to be wrong. Exploded. wrong. Exploded. wrong. Exploded. COVID boom. Then they went down. Everyone's like, "See what the Now it's like, my god. Even I went all in. I I should have put every dollar into it. it. it. That's right. I know. I should have listened to you sooner, too. And I wanted it to be true, too.

I wanted the same thing when you were talking about it. So, I waited another 2 years. Am I just loving what he's saying cuz I love the business and I love sports? Well, you were actually right. Collectibles has become a huge massive gone. Especially as we go more digital, I'm very bullish analog. Ed, one of the ideas I'm thinking about, everybody feel free to steal this cuz the world is abundant. I'm actually contemplating starting a drive-in movie theater business. theater business. theater business. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Yeah, like I I actually Here's a prediction. This is how I think about it. And I don't want predictions. You know I like to observe and then talk about it when it's happened. This is a little more in prediction land, but I think this is on. Here's how I think about it. It's 2026. I think in in in in in 14 years it'll be 2040. In 14 years, when it's 2040, I think it's going to feel more like 2065. I think the speed of technology is about to really explode.

And then I think in 14 years, it's going to feel like 2065, which means building businesses that were built in 1965 is the opportunity. I think think think I think we're about to go into a barbell. As we go more extreme AI and digital, digital, digital, the big upside is in analog. Yep. Yep. Yep. You know, You know, You know, sporting events, live concerts, running clubs, hiking, meditation resorts, hotels, restaurants. hotels, restaurants. hotels, restaurants. Experiences, is that what you're saying? That's right. Physical, not digital. Yep.

Yep. Yep. Physical experiences, more community. One of the reasons collectibles works is because of the shows. If you go to San Diego and look at Comic-Con, you realize real fast why collectibles work. It's a sense of community. It's tribalism. It's like sports. like sports. like sports. Yep. Yep. Yep. And this morning, I've run into like 10 people wearing Knicks stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's It's like we're family. Right. Right. Right. Tribalism, and that's what collectibles is. Like, oh, you collect Daredevil? We're family. We're family. We're family.

Yeah. Everybody listening, you entrepreneurs, just listen to what this man just told you. First off, those are the businesses to go into and those who either have businesses, you need to be able to create those experiences for your consumers, your customers, your employees, your vendors, whoever they are cuz everything else is going to be pretty even. It's the experience you can create, the emotions you can generate. I by the way, I know you don't like this cuz you're a New York fan. But the same thing happens.

I I I sit back and marvel. I go to a lot of Red Sox games now that I'm in New England now. And I sit back and I like marvel. It's different than other towns. New York has it too, but you sit back an hour or two before the game and you can see all these families walking down the street all in their Red Sox gear. And when you walk into the stadium together, it's it's different. is just like, you know, you're right. I despise Boston sports.

Um but Um but Um but couple fun facts. I'm so psycho, I'm actually trying to figure out if this is going to happen with the Knicks. So the Yankees won in '96 then. Yep. Yep. Yep. And I would grow up and I'm a funny I'm a '80s Yankee fan. So the Mets were more successful than the Yankees in that little weird window. We're not talking about the the Red Sox Mets series, so don't even try. No, I can't even And how old were you that year?

that year? that year? I don't know, but I cried. I think it was Oh, I could tell you I was 14 and I literally cried in my bedroom when the ball went between Buckner's legs literally for an entire day. I I've many times thought if I was a Red Sox fan and I was that age, like that was just insanity. Nonetheless, Yep. Yep. Yep. Yankees win and this is insane. Literally the next day, I didn't care about the Yankees anymore. And the same thing happened with the Rangers in '94.

Hm. Hm. Hm. So I've been a two-sport fan now for the last literally 30 years. Knicks and Jets. And so much so, I want you to hear this, that when the Red Sox won the fourth game against the Yankees that year, Yep. Yep. Yep. I was actually rooting for the Red Sox to come back from 3-0. Now, a couple things. One, that's psycho. I'm not even sure what that is. I'm not sure what it is either but I love it. love it. I think that's underdog over everything.

I think that was God actually really finally whispering to you the truth and wisdom. wisdom. wisdom. No, no, no, no, no. In fact, you know, like now now that you guys won a couple, now I'm like And if by the way, all that went By the way, no one is I I don't even know what it feels like to be a nepo fan, but if you're 37 and you're in from the Boston area, why do you even watch sports? Yeah, I know. That is true. It is true.

You grew up I mean, the Red So- And my best friend's a Cubs fan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I took him to game I When I was 14 years old, we met the first day of home room. This is Brandon who runs the wine business. business. business. Literally day one, buddies. By day four, four days in, I'm 14, I said, "Brandon, if the Cubs ever make the World Series, I'll take you." And I delivered. We went to game one. It was awesome in Cleveland and they lost.

They did lose. Thank god. Um Yeah, man, it's just I don't know. Like I I Fenway's so special. Like Fenway especially. Foxboro's in the middle of nowhere. nowhere. nowhere. Correct. No no one knows that, right? Garden once it the old one went down it this T- This thing is not the same. But Fenway is like like it's like you know when we all Americans go to Europe and we go to like the churches and the special places, special places, special places, that's Fenway. that's Fenway. that's Fenway.

It is. It is Fenway. The good news is is you may get this new things but we could do this podcast in 20 more years and you'll probably still have that thing for the Jets that you have now. have now. have now. By the way, and you know I'm probably right about it. So, um I hope I'm not right just for your own But maybe we should just wait till you own the team. Yeah, we Yeah, we Yeah, we Let me Let me ask you a couple things, by the way.

So, So, So, people would kill to get 20 minutes with you. you. you. So, I'm going to give them 10 of those 20 minutes right now. They walked in. They said, "Hey, I need help. I'm I really need help." So, first off, let's just check a box on content creation. You're the guru. Like and I'm I don't say this to be nice. I'm really good at it. I ain't at your level. This is you're just the best. What type of content Let's break it down. Okay.

Let me answer your first This is fun because you asked the question that is micro and I'm going to go macro. Hey Gary, I need help. I'm going to talk about content, but this levels up to the whole game, Ed. The whole game. And I have a As we're just jamming here and vibing, I feel like this is going to hit for you. Okay. Okay. Okay. The whole game is based on self-awareness. The whole game, Ed. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Ed, you and I, especially know I know myself inside out and knowing enough about you, meaning people like you and me, me, me, Mhm.

Mhm. Mhm. we went through a whole plethora of hypotheses and feelings in our youth, in our teens, in our early 20s. A lot of it felt like you could do anything and everything. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. [snorts] [snorts] [snorts] And and then even if you knew you couldn't, couldn't, couldn't, people like me, if you knew you couldn't, I was okay with it. A different version of me, and I don't know you well enough, Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. tried to prove that they could. That was a waste of time.

Same here. Same here. Same here. So, for me, I hope everyone's listening. I'm going to go very detailed. Both in content, so for example, many people right now are making millions of dollars a year just being on Substack. Right. Right. Right. That's writing. That's writing. That's writing. Just Substack. Just Substack. Just Substack. Wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You don't need to be in front of camera. I think there's In fact, I think a huge opportunity is to be a content creator that's off camera just talking, using your hands.

your hands. your hands. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. So, audio, video, and written word are the three, and there's drawing and [clears throat] animation, and some others, but the core three communication frameworks are written word, audio, and video. video. video. I I feel like one of the things that separates me is I do all of them at scale across every platform. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. It is for sure one of your separators. Yeah, because there's very few people on Earth that have 3 million followers plus on both Snapchat and LinkedIn, right?

I I run the whole plethora. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um and everything in between. But, I would say the first thing I would tell everyone about content, and then I'm going to level it up to life, is who are you versus who do you wish you were? you were? you were? Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. I wish I was Jalen Brunson. I'm being dead serious, Ed. Like I Like I Like I I I wish I was Joe Namath. I I'm telling you, I'm serious, right? I wish I was a professional athlete.

professional athlete. professional athlete. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But, by fourth grade, I realized I was more likely to buy one than play for one. one. one. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. [snorts] [snorts] [snorts] A lot of people are not self Here's a big one. This was a real curveball I I threw the world cuz I had the platform at the time when I started making content around you don't need to be an entrepreneur. entrepreneur. entrepreneur. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The number three and four and seven at Uber and like and at Facebook and at Google.

So, s- uh this is something you may not know about me. A weird thing about me that we touched on earlier is not only am I a CEO, not a mascot, I'm actually a COO. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. I'm very operational. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. In fact, one of the things I need to work on in these next 30 years is dropping my COO-ness cuz I like it too much. much. much. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But, it's But, it's But, it's never have known that, yeah. It's a very bad use of my time Yep.

Yep. Yep. at this point in my career and for a long time, but I'm holding on cuz I pick joy over maximizing financially. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But, I can feel that I want to move on more. So, I'm an operator by heart. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. There's a lot of people here who are operators, but not entrepreneurs. There are a lot of people here who are content creators, but not entrepreneurs. We are in the golden era of entrepreneur creator and creator entrepreneur. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. [clears throat] [clears throat] [clears throat] I am entrepreneur creator.

Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Logan Paul is creator entrepreneur. True. True. True. Got it? So, we're all going to have different paths. different paths. different paths. But, I would tell everyone know how you make content best and make it about things you know or or love. Know or love. The biggest mistake people make, Ed, is they try to make content around where they think the money is. money is. money is. Wow, that's a freaking fact. Right? You know this. You know I know so many people 6 months ago, they're the crypto guy.

4 years ago, they're the real estate guy. 7 years ago, they're the funnels guy. 13 years ago, they're the affiliate guy. Like, you know, then they're the cannabis guy, then the wellness guy, then the collectibles guy. They're just chasing. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, what do you know whether that's sports, sci-fi, cooking, travel, science, and and/or what do you love? Whether it's all those things. Now, if God forbid, which means God willing, you're both knowledgeable and passionate about the same thing, well, now I'll show you where you can win as a content creator.

creator. creator. That is really good. Yeah. Yeah, if you like really know Boston sports and really love it, you will wake up every day for 3 years making a podcast no one's listening to My god, yes. to get to the other side. Bro, I did 150 episodes of Wine Library TV, no one gave a a a Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. And by the way, it wasn't like it is today where you know that that's the cost of entry. I was pioneering when there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

I just knew I had to. Gosh. Gosh. Gosh. Can I validate just really quick? By the way, that's a master freaking class. You guys, right before we came in here, I'm scrolling. There's a dude I watch, nerdiest dude on the planet. All he does all day is does Red Sox trade, injury, and starting lineup updates. I watch this guy every single day of my life. And he did a podcast for 3 years that I guarantee you nine people never listened to. And now he's growing. And he's growing and what can happen, again, I want everyone to hear this because when you're on with us, too, I just need to say this and please validate this, Ed, cuz you've lived a similar but different life.

Friends, there's a lot of people who have a very happy life making 230,000 a year and live within those means. And there's unlimited people that push themselves from 230 to a million and they don't those means and they hate their life. Like what I love about that Red Sox thing, look, that's not the goal Wait, I want to say something. I want to say something about what you just said. It is the number one thing. I'm actually just got a little choked right there. I don't know that you and I are the only two, but we're one of the few.

What he just said, you guys, go back, rewind if they still do that, and listen to it again. What he just told you is a trillion percent right. You don't have to grind that thing to a million bucks doing stuff you don't love anymore, don't want to do, don't feel ethical about. It's There are so many people really happy at the former, not the latter that he described. And and by the way, I grew up so in the dirt that I have friends that are true nine-to-fivers, true Budweiser at the bar at five, softball team six to seven, wrestling three nights a week, and literally happier than friends that I have that are making 45 million a year.

That's what you meant by self-awareness earlier, isn't it? Yes. That's right. And so I just want everyone to take advantage of this podcast. There's a lot of versions of this. I've done a lot, Ed's done a lot, but maybe this is the moment that you were ready to hear this, which is like, you need to live life for you. Not to impress others. You need to You know, only you know you. Even as well as people know us, Ed, there's so much no one else. My mom knows me better than anyone on Earth.

There's still things she doesn't know. Yep. Yep. Yep. And I don't mean like something I did. I mean, in my soul cuz there are certain things a human keeps to themselves and I just need people to understand that if you lean into self-awareness, like you know what a lot of people do out of insecurity and lack of self-awareness? They peacock in front when they're not that guy or girl. [snorts] [snorts] [snorts] And the issue with that is the winners, and I feel like I'm one of them, and when I say winner, I mean emotionally intelligent people that can sniff you out, they know you're pretending and then you've already lost before you started.

started. started. My god. My god. My god. You imagine getting to the end of your life, bro, and you pretended the whole way there? way there? way there? Almost everyone does, Ed. Oh my god. That's That's why By the way, that's why we have politically unstable times like this. The only thing that's happening in the world right now, in this whole political air we're in, it's just exposing how many people are unhappy on both sides. both sides. both sides. God, man. God, man. God, man. Ed, I spend zero time trying to hurt someone's feelings because they don't see the world the way I see it.

Likewise. Likewise. Likewise. Like Like Like Likewise. Likewise. Likewise. Like so, it's most people are fronting, people are insecure, or they want outside validation. Most people are stuck in sixth grade their whole lives, and meanwhile, back to the point of the question, question, question, everyone listening right now, whether it's about bowling or fishing, how to be an accountant or how to be a stay-at-home dad, everyone here has the potential if they lock into they like it or they know it. Yep. Yep. Yep. Expert-ish. I don't mean expert, you're not the grand poobah.

Even Listen, I do think I'm at the top of my craft, and I never go there. Like just be who you are. Expert-ish are. Expert-ish are. Expert-ish or passionate. or passionate. or passionate. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. You know, that's what's made me dangerous in collectibles. I'm both. I know my know my know my but I but I but I I love Like I My friends laugh at me. They're like, "Mother you get more excited if you find a $29 item at a garage sale and buy it for a dollar than when you land $15 deals at Vayner." I'm like, "And it's not even close." close." close." I just watched a clip of you today where the guy, you'll know the clip, the guy is now cleaning out garages for $699 bucks, and you went ballistic.

Ballistic because that one, everybody [clears throat] please go find it. It's called six I think if you put $699 Gary V into search, you'll find it. That one I went ballistic on Ed because if you watched the whole thing, not just the social media clip, this guy had a real business and it was working and he knew how to run the Facebook app. Like he had it. He had it. And he was not realizing that it was a big business, not a side hustle. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And he loved it and he had it, but he was scared cuz he wanted stability and I was trying to explain to him is if you got back those 57 hours a week, week, week, Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. you would make four times your base salary salary salary and you would like it. And so yeah, that one really set me off cuz it was the most clear interaction I had on film of someone who like couldn't see what was like already had happened. He'd already built the actual business as but he because he saw it as a side hustle.

You know how I think of it like love? You know some people like, "No, no, that's my best friend." I'm like, "No, you two are in love." Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. But they can't You know how you have some Yeah, I don't know if you Yes, I do. What I'm thinking of. They're like making pretend they're friends or in their scenario cuz I knew both of them for so long, no, they really really I think subconsciously were scared to ruin the friendship. the friendship. the friendship. Yeah, man.

I know like, "You already have it." Yeah, I know one right now, actually. I know one right now. I do. By the way, in an hour, I don't think I've done I've done eight 900 of these. I don't think in an hour I've covered this much ground on this much different stuff with somebody. So like I'm super grateful for that. I really want you to know that, man. Like you and I should do this like once a year. Except we need to do it in person.

Well, I you just beat me to the punchline. I was about to break the fourth wall. Everyone Ed and I promised each other right before we hit record that the next one's in real life cuz we both agree that it's just better. You and we'll also make more time. So we'll do that, brother. And let's I look forward to that. I do, too, by the way. All right, last thing. I want to make sure when they leave here, right before we went on, you were telling me about a couple cool things.

By the way, let me tell you how good this dude is, you guys. I said, "Hey, man." And I don't even say this to most guests, but in his case, because it was him, I'm like, "Hey, what can I promote for you?" He goes, basically said, "Bro, don't worry about it. I just want to give. Whatever we got to do for everybody listening to your audience, you know them better than me. Don't worry about me." You know, it goes I'm sorry to interrupt you. It goes to the beginning, which is like, look, like, look, like, look, I think when you actually give, it means you're giving without expectation.

Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. You know this ad So many people have wanted to give to us Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that they should a deposit for the withdrawal later. Yeah, bro, they were manipulating the relationship, not giving. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, no one here will find it hard to like find me if they decided they got value here. value here. value here. But whether it's You know what I mean? Whether it's You know, I will say this. This is the one plug I'll say cuz it's actually been the thing that's really getting me off lately.

lately. lately. This VFriends thing I'm building, this Pokémon, Disney, Sesame Street. I'm starting to realize I'm much more Jim Henson than I realized. This concept of using characters to bring love into the world world world Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. while you're building a monster business, intellectual property. But But in VFriends, V E E Friends, if you want to look it up, friends, there's two characters, and they're two of the top 10 out of 280 characters. One's called Fearless Fairy. Okay. Okay. Okay. And one's called Ambitious Angel.

Okay. Okay. Okay. And And through comic books and trading cards, specifically, the amount of fathers that have reached out to me Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. and said, "You know, I went to the trading card store. I always bring my son and daughter. My daughter's always bored, but me and my son love it, and mom's out, and I bring her. her. her. We stumbled on your VFriends, and the fact that my daughter is getting self-esteem out of And listen to the characters I created. Ambitious Angel.

Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. A little brown girl. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Fearless Fairy, the strongest, powerful character in our world. Fear, you know how much I hate fear. Fearless Ferry. Um, if you're a girl dad and you love collectibles, please dig into VFriends. Go to eBay and type in VFriends, you'll be stunned on sold items. I I think I'm pulling off the greatest rope-a-dope of all time. I am so known P- People definitely don't know about my business executions as we touched on, but I literally think, Ed, there's a dark horse chance that I'm building one of the premier meaningful intellectual properties and it's going to happen and in 15 years when I open up a amusement park and when it's like this Pokémon like thing, everyone's going to be like, "How the did that happen?" Cuz it's almost like I'm like, "Look over here.

Look over here." But meanwhile, I'm in the lab over there, you know? Mhm. I don't have any doubt about it, brother. What you are, bro, like I just think I believe in the law of reciprocity. You reap what you sow. There's a passage in the Bible called the parable of the sower. When you plant the right seeds, eventually there's a harvest. harvest. harvest. And And you know what's great You know what's great about it? And if you're a planter that is okay if there's no harvest, then you're unstoppable.

Oh my gosh, bro. And that's it. I I'm aware that doing the right thing leads to the right thing, but when you're in a place where you don't need it to happen, then you're completely utterly unstoppable. This is one of my favorite shows of all time, bro. He's uh I'll tell you this, he's a force for good in the world. He's a good boy, to quote him earlier. Thank you, my man. And I'm sure your mom is proud of you for the right reasons and your dad, bro.

So, I'm proud of you. Thank you for today. today. today. Thank you, bro. This was epic. All right, everybody, I don't have to ask you this one, share this episode. This one's going. This one is going. I love you all. Max out your life.