The Bossticks - Gary Vaynerchuk: The Truth About AI, Social Media, & How to Think Clearly in a Digital World

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

#926: Gary Vaynerchuk aka Gary Vee returns for a powerful conversation about how to think clearly in an increasingly noisy digital world. As one of the most forward-thinking voices in business, culture, and the internet, Gary breaks down the real impact of AI, social media, and algorithms on how we think, parent, and live. In this episode, Gary gets honest about attention, mental health, generational trauma, and why so many people feel overwhelmed and stuck right now. He shares practical ways to curate your content diet, protect your mind, raise emotionally healthy humans, and stay grounded as technology accelerates faster than ever. This is a timely, thought-provoking conversation for anyone looking to reset their mindset and live more intentionally in the year ahead.   To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM   To connect with Gary Vaynerchuk click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at [phone].   To learn more about Gary Vaynerchuk visit https://garyvaynerchuk.com.   This episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential Your skincare routine, reimagined. Shop The Skinny Confidential Face Towels today at https://shopskinnyconfidential.com/products/face-towels.   This episode is sponsored by FRE Nicotine Try FRE Nicotine Pouches today at http://FREpouch.com.    This episode is sponsored by Paleovalley Head to http://paleovalley.com/skinny for 20% off your first purchase.   This episode is sponsored by Kion  Visit http://getkion.com/skinny for 20% off.   This episode is sponsored by Just Thrive Get your health in check and save 20% on your first order at https://justthrivehealth.com/SKINNY with code SKINNY.   This episode is sponsored by Fatty15 Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to http://fatty15.com/SKINNYand using code SKINNY at checkout.   This episode is sponsored by Ka'Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code SKINNY. New customers get $20 off an order of two bags or more, January 1st through 31st!   This episode is sponsored by Veracity For up to 45% off your order, head to http://VeracityHealth.co and use code SKINNY.    Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Skinny Confidential, him and her show. Today we have one of our favorite recurring guests. honestly one of our favorite people as well. Gary Vaynerchuk back on the podcast, also known as Gary Vee. He is the founder of VaynerMedia, creator and CEO of Vee Friends and a six-time New York Times bestselling author. And he's a leading voice in business, culture, media, marketing, consumer trends, many things, how to be self-aware, all sorts of stuff.

Gary has become a friend over the last decade, a mentor, and I love getting the chance to talk to him. With that, Gary Vee, welcome back to the Skinny Competential, him and her show. This is the skinny confidential, him and her. All right, I don't know how we're going to top the last one we did with you. Because that was probably one of our favorite shows we've ever done. You make it easy. You're very sweet.

Welcome back. Thank you. So we have you in the hot seat today. Is this the hot seat? Yeah. Okay. It does get hot in the studio. I think we just hop right into it.

First, I have to say congratulations. Thank you. On marriage, Mona. Yes. I love Mona. I know. She loves you, too. it. AI. Yes. Everyone's freaking out about it. I like your positive spin on it. What's your positive

spin? My positive spin is practical. I don't know if it's so positive. I think it's, this is actually nice. There's a lot of electricity in this room, very good lighting. You guys are good at that kind of stuff. I'm horrible at that, by the way. Mono always makes fun of me. She's like, you look so horrible but these crazy, I'm like, I don't care. Do you know that when electricity was invented and like kind of like available that most people would not bring it into their home, even though they could afford it and could because they demonized it because the word on the street was if you brought electricity into your home, it would bring demons. This is literally like five minutes ago. This is like the literally early 1900s. You know, like humans are scared of everything. It's what we do. Do you remember

when MySpace came out and they said, don't go on it because you're going to get kidnapped at the mall? like we demonize everything. Now look, this is a profound technology. Like, there will be AI influencers that are not real people that are owned by entrepreneurs that are going to get brand deals that a lot of people that are listening right now make their money that way, and that's real life.

But there was also almost 100,000 people that sold advertising in the yellow pages before Google put them out of business. Like things are always happening in our stuff. society. And I think it's the same thing as always. There will be people that will learn how to use AI and that will be good and many great things will happen with AI. God forbid someone you two love has a disease that a normal human being doctor could not figure out, that AI will figure out and you will be very happy in 17 years that AI was invented. There will be things that people don't like,

right. I'm very empathetic to people like the robots and like this and like a police state or you know, I'm an influencer. I make my money like this or something like like it's just I don't know if people understand like you two are building a podcast network. That is taking money away from people that work at radio stations. Right. This is called life. Evolution. There's yin and yang to everything. And more importantly, and I need everyone to hear this, it's not. gonna not happen. Like this is not a strategy for life. Right.

Like AI's coming and everyone who's listening has a couple of decisions. Like, okay, let's go back to the influencer because I think it's contextual to this. You're listening right now and you're like, fuck. Like, you know, Gary B's been right a lot, so he's probably right. Like I'm in trouble.

You might not be in trouble. You might be a fitness influencer who happens to be attractive who has 500,000 followers and has built this micro business. But if you're listening to me, maybe you decide to spend 30, 40 hours, 100 hours getting educated

on how to create AI influencers, and you might create your AI puppy, Roof Roof, and start integrating Roof Roof Roof, the AI dog, into your content, and Roof Roof Ruff might go crazy, and you might make a million dollars a year from pet brands because of Roof Roof,

instead of $80,000 a year from supplements. It sounds like the ones that are going to win are the ones that use it as a tool to enhance what they're already doing. Yes. I feel like... Like the computer, like the internet.

Like social media. I think it sounds great, honestly. It's like an assistant. It sounds like your main point. It's not going to stop or slow down. So you might as well just make peace of this company. That's my big thing. It's kind of like life.

I don't know if you guys know this. Like everybody in the room, all six of us, we're going to die. I don't know if you know this, but we're gonna die. Good morning, Gary, good morning. Yes, good morning. We are gonna die at some point. Yes, it's stunning.

My big thing is, if you know that, why not like try to like live a joyful life? And like, can we get out of all this materialistic and keeping up with the joke? Like, you're gonna be 90 and I promise you how many likes and how many verified accounts and how many zeros in your bank to count and how many watches and like how many sneakers

and handbags you have, it's not gonna be it. And so like for me, and you guys have known me a long time at this point, I've always been uncomfortably detached from all of the Gary V of it and the success. Like, I just want to live a happy life and, like, be nice and you can, like, enjoy it and, like, watch my jets lose and, you know, hang out with friends and just like,

and I just, that philosophical point of view on life is kind of how I'm trying to get everybody to understand AI. This is going to happen. It's happened. And you can sit there and be crippled right now, listening to the world and saying, like, Robots are going to kill me and like, I'm going to lose my job or something I believe in, which is that bothers people. I believe that someone in this room's grandchildren are going to marry an AI human.

Really? Yeah. I think that lovely baby you just had the other day likely could marry an AI robot. I feel like I would sabotage that. I think you try until you realize the robot was way more power. I mean, listen, maybe I'll have a second act. You know, it could be me. It could be me.

What I'm saying is the world is going to change. But I will say this, if your great, great grandmother, if AI created a potion that you could put into graves and people start popping out of them and they're alive and your great, great grandmother, you were like very excited about this. I'm like, here it is, this new invention in 20 years. If she popped up and looked around, she'd be like, what the fuck is going on?

Yeah. Right? Like, the world changes. Like, cavemen lived once. Like, we used to not have planes. No one had a television just 150 years ago. Like, it's like, I don't know how people don't understand evolution and like technology. Like, what do you think?

Just because you're alive right now and listening to this podcast, the world stops during your life. Shit's going to change. The rules constantly get rewritten because of technology. And here the fuck we are. Why do you think people are so afraid of uncertainty? Because most people are insecure. Why? Because most people are not parented well.

You think that's the root of it? I do. I think parents. is uncomfortably important. How do you think about parenting? By trying to realize I was remarkably parented around optimism but accountability. And I try to reenact those kind of behaviors

with my children while understanding their circumstances are very different than mine. Right? My kids live a very different life than I did. Yeah. You know, forget about the wealth and the technology and just like the parenting, you know, like every dynamic is different. you know, the sibling count.

How many cousins, I had no cousins. They have unlimited cousins. Like, you know, they have a dad who is like publicly known. My son thinks it's cool. My daughter hates it. Like, life. Like, you know, like, I don't know. Like, but what I focus on is definitely what my mom did well,

which was unconditional love. But not this fucking delusion shit. Like parents overreact. Like, your parents, your kids can't do everything. Telling a child, you could do anything. you could be anything actually makes them not believe you eventually. Michael can't be a basketball player.

Nor can I. But he can be a male model. Look at this fucking face. Look at this motherfucker's face. I might have missed my colleague. No, you know I find your husband very attractive. He's a good looking dude. Hold on for me.

He's a good looking dude. What do you like? And so, and by the way, a lot of other people can't be a male model. Like, and other people can be like, you know, an Olympian or a cook. Like, I, you know, anyway. parenting has over corrected. Most parents, listen,

the world is at its best. Companies are at their best, relationships are at their best. The world is at its best when it's purple. And the world has gotten remarkably good in being extremely red and extremely blue. And that is why shit's fucked up. I wanted to talk, like you said,

we've known you a long time now, and you know this, we've admired you for our entire careers and just love everything you put out there. But one of the things that we admire most, and I almost don't even need these no cards, is you have always had a perspective of focusing on the positive, even when a lot of the world and a lot of what's online focuses on the negative, to your point, red and blue. And I would love

for you to share how you came to that perspective, is that a parenting thing? And also, why you think it's so much more productive to think that way, even though so many people are drawn to focus on bad shit. I'm, it's funny how I'm like smiling. There's not one person listening nor in this room right now that is confused by the concept of like why it's more productive to focus on positive versus negative like when you're laying in your bed doom scrolling and like tearing up and being scared like you think you're doing anything like like what good is coming of that um yes it's fully parenting in the luck of DNA like my mom my sister's only three and a half years younger than me my mom parented i watched my mom parent both of us i'm much more positive to my sister

so what do you think is that three and a half year different i think that's just DNA. Like I think my sister has a little bit more of my father and my grandma and her and I have more of my mother and so like DNA is real. Like DNA is real. Like it's part of it. Now what I don't like is when people use the excuse of DNA to not work on making it better. In my DNA I had from both of my parents and everyone in my family the complete lack of interest of working out in any shape or form. My family, I never saw anyone in my family in my life. physically. Yes, go to the gym. I at 38 and a half, I love that I always say half. It's like I'm six and a half. At 38 and a half,

I just had an epiphany of like, oh fuck, if I don't address this, I will not live to 100. I still might not. I love when people are like, well, a tree can fall in your head. Yes, a tree can fall in your head. But what is guaranteed is if you eat like shit

and never go to the gym and never build up muscle, that bad shit will happen. And I took it on me to some, brother, I missed my workout this morning. Literally texted Mike at 6.30. I was like, I'm gonna sleep in because I felt like I needed sleep,

but that's my excuse. That's how much I hate the gym. Even though I've been crushing it, Lila, I'm pretty happy. And I'm a seven days, because if I miss a day like I did today, like now tomorrow's gonna be harder. So you don't want to schedule three days,

miss a day, and then you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do that too. I schedule seven days because then if you miss a day, then you have a little... I'm seven. Yeah, I'm seven.

But I'm not, you know, for all the health and wellness nerds, like, you know, one day's a stretch day. Like, I'm doing, like, you know, fascia work. Like, it's not seven days of weights because your body can break down. You're just doing something active. Yes.

But I, even though my DNA, like this morning, it wants to be a puss when it comes to going to the gym. I have worked hard for 12 years, and now it's a real part of my life, and I have massively felt the benefits of it. I am so thrilled that I did this. Forget about, like, the vanity, your physical, like how you feel.

Just like, I'm so much healthier. I had QL issues, my blood pressure. And now with Mona, like, completely changing. Like, I don't eat like Mona. She's a, Mona is the most disciplined eater on earth. On earth. On earth. Actually, I've met a lot of disciplined eaters.

She's the most disciplined eater on earth. No, no, you don't understand the things we do. Like, give us, can you tell us some things that you do? We go two hours out of our way on the way to the airport and have to wake, up at five instead of seven to get like parsnip-based cream cheese in some random neighborhood where some like psycho, like hippie lady makes it

and you have to show up at like six, like, our life revolves around Mona's access to clean. But she also, I think too, and I think you've talked about this before, doesn't she like turn your Wi-Fi off at night now? Oh yeah, clean, like the deodorant I'm wearing right now has no scent. Yeah. Like I go, like when I travel right now,

to a hotel and like have the shampoo that's in there. Like now it smells like insane to me before it wasn't even on my mind. That's crazy. That happened to me too. Because she does the same thing. Because when you clean up the environment, you start to notice how many toxins there are in it. You know what's so funny to me out of all the people in the world to like have this happen to them. It is so fucking funny that it's happened to you because she cleaned up your entire environment

and now you're sensitive to shampoos in a hotel. Yeah. That's amazing. But I'm also. not as disciplined as her. Like, I happily ate every little appetizer that was given to me last night at this bougie private equity event I went to.

And like, all of it would make Mona's head spin of like anger. Like, meaning like, I'm so much better. But anyway, long-winded way to say, my DNA is my DNA, but I've put in real work on the things that have not come natural to me, eating discipline, gym, candor.

Like, I've talked a lot about that. We think we talked about that in the last time. I can now be candorous with my employees in a world where I used to hate that. It doesn't come natural to me to tell people what they're not good at. I try to go around it and make it better.

So like I'm now in a place of my life where I've won over things that don't come natural to me, which then makes me passionate to go on podcasts like this and put out content saying you can change. Like if you're laying right now and you're cynical and negative, if you recalibrate what you listen to, who you hang out with, what you do, over a course of a year, five years, 10 years,

you can change. People change. If people didn't change, I would not make content. Oh, actually, I've never said that before. That was, that actually just, I felt, that was cool, that's right. If people did not have the ability to change,

I would not be known in any shape or form because I would not be intoxicated like I am to say something that can change the course of someone's like. Do you know what it feels like every time I see you? It's probably cool because I literally started this blog reading your book. It feels very much the same. It's emotional to me. For us on our side, maybe in a different way.

Correct. In the way that I feel about my mom when I see her, which is like, you are the architect of all of this. I get all the flowers, but the reason I'm completely detached from Gary V. Or that I use humility as my superpower is because I actually don't believe I'm anything other than what my mom created. Like one of the reasons I like getting flowers is in my brain and my soul. It's like, Gary, you're the best.

And I'm like, Tamara, you're the best. It's probably cool, too, to see people who have applied your formula and the formula works. That's probably the coolest thing. Well, let's get into the real stuff. What about on a weekly basis, people that are telling me about how deep they were into drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicidal thoughts? Do you know how many men over the last 10 years have told me? They've stopped physically abusing their woman because of my content.

Whoa. Do you know what that feels like? You guys know me. I have no interest in the Rolex, in the Lambo, in the private jet. Like as the entrepreneurs go, and as one of the OGs of them all, and so many derivatives of what happened,

most are different than me. Most want the stuff. Most need the stuff. I don't judge, the way, God bless. I'm pumped for people that get off on having a Porsche or a Lambo. I always tell those friends, why do you want it? Which by the way, you know, like, are you using it because you're insecure with girls and you think you need it to get them? Are you insecure with the world and you want to show the world? Fuck you. I made it. Or do you just genuinely like the horsepower of your

Porsche and that's your toy the same way I like Jet's jerseys? Like, I don't know. But I wonder why. As a man, you are one of the people that got me as a young guy to stop thinking about that kind of stuff in that kind of way for sure that is true 100% that is true because that is true thank god I mean I mean I didn't have a midlife crisis I had a quarter life crisis and I had to go through it and you did help him through it but I think a lot of guys especially men they you know you get enticed by the thing because you think it's a flex that is then going to help you get the girl or the accolades or the attention or whatever it is and so you chase those things and you quickly realize that there's no fulfillment in those things it's short it's short it's short and it's a vulnerability

And to me, I want to get to the crux, which is it's a pattern you'll keep repeating unless you understand what's really in there. And the answer is it's insecurity. And I do think it's parenting. I do think it's societal. Like, you know, America, for example, is a very mature empire.

You know, mature empires get vulnerable because we start worrying about dumb shit because we're not worried about basic shit. When you're a third world country, you're worried about food. You know, like I'm on the board of pencils and charity. water. Those are my two foundational

nonprofits. You just drank that Saratoga. There's 880 million people. I really need everyone to like really lock in here if you're on the podcast like slow down your treadmill. There's 880 million people on Earth that do not have access to clean water. There's 10% of the humans that walk Earth

right now cannot get to clean water within four hours. Literally as we sit here right now there is a woman, a 60 year old woman with a fucking ceramic pot. Do you know heavy a ceramic pot? on her head walking for four miles in the heat to get clean water because she has a 13 year old daughter

who's gonna have her period and she needs clean water so she doesn't fucking die and we're worried about like what milk went into our fucking Starbucks or how many followers we got this week or like this is how I'm structured like I cannot complain if my if the algorithm like our world like Gary like the algorithm's fucking upshadow band I'm not getting as many views

You're not shadow banned. Your content is tired and stale and you fucking suck at social right now and you once were good at it. No one's shadow banned. China and Mark Zuckerberg are not worried about you fuck faces. It's that you are not interesting

to people right now. And that's okay. I've gone through that. I've gone through, like, I laugh. Do you know how much I laugh when people come up? Like, strangers will walk up to me

at the airport and be like, I'm 80, I'm still young. Like, I've made my points on a lot of stuff. I appreciate the people that skipped this podcast, your podcast, your fans, when they see my name on here because they're like, well, I've heard the other two and like I've seen his, like, I don't need to listen to it. That doesn't bother me, right?

Like, it's not how I think about things. It's not outside validation. It's not these vanity metrics. We've become incredibly materialistic. And again, I love when people appreciate things. Like I really love my baseball cards, right? Like I love them. I know them.

Fashion, right? Like, Mona, like, well, look at shit. She's fascinated by the craftsmanship or like what it would look like. That's fine. But needing a fucking prada bag to make people think you're that person, that's what I'm worried about. It's the thinking that the thing is going to convince people that you are a value of that thing.

And that your value is tied to whatever material thing. Everyone's stuck in middle school. Forever. Everyone's stuck in fucking middle school. Who gives a fuck if someone doesn't like you? That means, now, a couple things. Let me break that down. Who gives a fuck if someone doesn't like you?

If you know you're a good person and many others like you, then you're good. Now, if no one likes you, you've got a problem. It means you're bad. It means you're insecure. It means like, it's not the world. I said something yesterday that made me laugh. I was like, if you've been fired four times in a row now,

like, you're the problem. Like, like, because, you know, people love a good blaming the boss. I mean, I've had people literally steal for me. And then all the employees just think I was bad for firing them because they made up some bullshit story and I didn't want to put their fucking stealing on blast. Quick break to talk about free nicotine. It is no secret that from time to time in my life,

I have used nicotine as a tool, as a stimulant, as something to use for focus, for energy, and to get shit done, to be honest. Many people are turning to nicotine now, especially nicotine pouches. And the one that we like to talk about on this podcast is called free nicotine. And here's why. What we like about free nicotine is it has industry leading strengths that range from a wide variety of strengths from three milligrams to 15 milligrams, depending on what you need to get done.

If you're riding a bull, you might need that 15 milligram. If you're doing a podcast like this, the three might work. What I like about free nicotine is free exists for the ones who want to stay sharp when it counts, and it comes in a discrete slim pouch for anywhere smoking can't, vaping won't, and dip shouldn't. I'm always looking for that edge, and free nicotine is the edge that I'm looking for a lot of the time. And with free nicotine, you don't have to worry about smoking it. You don't have to worry about vaping it. It's just a clean delivery system from a pouch that's so much better than those other alternatives.

I like having products like free nicotine in my toolbox of things that I use when I need to get things done. Just like any other supplement or stimulant, I use this in moments when I need more clarity, when I need a lot more focus. When I know I'm going to have hard days with that 3 p.m. slump, free nicotine is something that can help you focus and get through those days with energy and excitement. And I like that I can control the dosage and know that I'm going to always get a consistent effect. If you've been trying to quit smoking, if you've been trying to move away from vapes, free nicotine could be a great solution for you. Like I said, so check them out. Try free nicotine pouches today at free pouch.com. that's F-R-E-Pouch.com. And also as a warning, this product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical. I am someone who has to have electrolytes, like an electrolyte water, like an electrolyte lemon water, specifically, and protein before coffee. So I'll either do eggs. I like them over-easy with a little bit of salt, or I'll do a protein powder. And one of the only protein powders that I use that I swear by is a bone broth. chocolate protein. It is the best protein I have ever had, and I'm very excited about it because the ingredients, too, are amazing. Most protein powders are not 100% grass-fed, and this is 100% grass-fed

beef bone broth protein. And it's by the best brand. The brand is called Paleo Valley. We've talked about it a lot on our podcast because I also eat the meat sticks. But their bone broth is my absolute favorite. They have other flavors. They have like a turmeric ginger or a salted caramel. They even have vanilla. But I like the chocolate one. And the best part is, is I tell my kids that they can have chocolate water. And chocolate water is the protein. So they're getting 20 grams of protein with me in the morning. So it's a really great hack and it tastes absolutely delicious. There's no hidden ingredients in it. I'm such a fan of Paleo Valley. Don't sleep on their meat sticks. I like the beef ones. They also have an organ complex if you're looking to get into organs like me and then they have the bone broth protein

get the chocolate just trust me head to paleo valley.com slash skinny or use code skinny at checkout for 20% off at first purchase that's paleo valley.com slash skinny or use code skinny at checkout. I habit stack my aminos. I have learned through the podcast that aminos are one of the most important things that you can get in every day. And what I like to do is I like to take my aminos. So I do two scoops of Keon's mango aminos. And then I put a scoop of their creatine in my cup every single day before the gym. And I froth it up and I put a lot of ice in there. And it is the best. I've gotten so many of my friends hooked on this concoction. And what I do is while I'm lifting weights, I drink my aminos and the creatine. I know there's other flavors from Keon Aminos, but the

flavor that I go to that I have like a weird, weird tick about is the mango. My kids call it mango water. They love it too. I got these little bear cups for them and I put their mango aminos in there every day. I'm particular about my aminos and I like Keon because they have all nine essential amino acids. I really go hard on those aminos and I think it's one of the reasons that my hair has been growing so fast. If you're looking for an enriched EAA formula that supports muscle and metabolism, definitely try their aminos. I personally think like every single person should look into aminos. It's really, really important. Their products, sugar-free, third-party tested, non-GMO, vegan. I know the founder. He is so into what is in his products. I even drink their coffee,

too, because it's a no-mold coffee. Visit get ki-on.com slash skinny for 20% off. That's getkion.com slash skinny for 20% off. Try their mango aminos. You won't be sorry. to talk about Just Thrive Probiotics and Just Thrives gut essentials. We are entering a new year. We've probably been abusing our bodies more than we should in these holiday seasons with Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's and all the holidays. Now it is time to get back on track and what better way than to jump in with Just Thrive's gut essentials bundles. We've been talking about Just Thrive on this podcast for years. We've had the founders on this podcast multiple times. What we love about Just Thrive is we know we can trust their quality always. And they have two clinically proven gut super-sup.

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This is so important as we get into the new year wanting to feel like our best cell. I know Lauren and I are doubling down on all of these products right now, making sure that we're entering the new year in the most effective way possible. There's even 100% money-back guarantee, so you've got nothing to lose. For over a decade, Just Thrive has been helping thousands of people take control of their health, the science-backed solutions you can trust. From their award-winning probiotic to their full line of gut immune and brain health supplements, Just Thrive is ready to help you live your healthiest life. So check them out. Take the Just Thrive Feel Better Challenge today and save 20% on your first gut essentials bundle.

Visit justthrivehealth.com slash skinny and save 20%. 20% with promo code Skinny. See the difference for yourself or get a full product refund. No questions asked. That's just thrivehealth.com slash skinny. Be the best you with Just Thrive. How do you deal with managing all those employees? You have a lot of employees.

I've talked to you about this off air. What's the strategy? Intent is a big one for me. My intent is to build a good, healthy organization that rewards people that are excelling in effort or output. I also have a lot of grace. Like I'm very anti-firing. I'm into fixing,

but I've gotten better at being okay with firing. That was my weakness in my 20s and 30s. You know, everything was family. Now I call it family dot, dot, dot, business. Yeah. Not like a family business. Because, you know, at the end of day, like, you know, I don't fire my sister.

So like, you know, just all these things I've learned along the way. But like, you know, trying to build demand and top line revenue. trying to build systems of accountability, but creating a culture of kind candor. Want people to feel safe at Vayner? I love making people feel safe. I have to be careful because my big vulnerability is superhero syndrome, where I'm just going to take care of everything. So that's something I try to watch out for.

One of the things that I love most about you that I think is so attractive is that you're so comfortable with your energy and yourself. How would you tell people to get to that place? Listen, this has been the theme of this talk. This is why it's fun to continue to show up to places that are home, so it's nice to be with you guys. You never know where the combo will actually go. This is the theme of today.

Like, I don't know how to break through to all of you that are listening, but I desperately ask you deeply. I pray on you. Like, deeply I ask you, you've got to understand that everybody else sucks too. That's the, yes, that's the answer. What do you mean? Meaning, like, why are you nitpicking? Why am I comfortable with myself?

Because I like myself. And I'm very accountable that I have very many shortcomings. Because I don't know, I'm a human. Like all of you have many shortcomings. Many. And she reminds you of all of yours constantly. I don't even have to think, tell myself, because I just get told. Yes, you just get told.

And I promise all of you, everyone is short. Whoever you admire the most. My sister definitely put me on an uncomfortably big pedestal. I was a, I'm very, I'm knocking on wood, I don't know why, I'm so grateful, I was a very good big brother. I think that happens with, I have a sister three years younger,

I think that happens. Yeah, especially if you're a good person and like you really, I really did write by my sister. And we have like 13 of those classic stories of like things that I'm very proud of. But like, I'm like, I got happy in the last 10 years where my sister started to like see me for having some shortcomings.

That was like good for me. Like I was happy for her. Like, because I don't, I think the most unhappy people, and not that my sister was so unhappy, but I know her unhappiness was grounded in her putting me and my mom on a pedestal that was too high. And I ask all of you to put no one on a pedestal, even if, listen, I put people on pedestals, but not too high.

Like I, you know this, I talk about my, I already done it multiple times. I think my mom is like the single best mother of all time. And yet I'm very aware of her shortcomings. many she passed on to meet DNA-wise. And so why am I comfortable? It's because I know everyone else has shortcomings too, and I also know I have no negative intent towards others.

What are your shortcomings? Cander. Cander has been the kryptonite of my life. What do you mean? Cander in being able to tell people what you really think to their face? Yeah, which is bananas because as a public figure, it's my ultimate strength. Because when I'm on this podcast,

I'm talking to 8.3 billion people. Okay. Yeah, that's our, that's our listener base. Even you guys have now crossed over into a friendship place where it would be harder for me to tell you something real. Uh-oh, because I have, we have, I need to pick your brain after this, but it'll be- Don't say, don't say that. Don't say that. That's not the right word.

No, no, no, no. But go on. Say pick your brain. Fuck her. She says dumb shit too. Yeah, fuck you, Lauren. Um. Oh.

Yeah, you're like, uh-oh, don't build him up to you. Like, I know her so well. I know, I'm like, don't. I'm going to have to hear about it all dinner. Cander crushed me. Everything bad in my life. In my life, personally and professionally, was because I was not able to tell someone I cared for what I actually thought.

And I tried to get around it, and I tried to figure it out and put it all on me without realizing resentment was being built. and my issues in my life, you know, have been around that. And then, you know, about five, six, seven, eight, maybe eight years ago, it started to really come to a head in both my professional and personal life. I realized my company had become entitled. I want to talk to you about that, but keep going.

I realized some of my relationships were not where they needed to be. And, you know, at 42, 43, I was like, uh-oh. It was actually great Like this is why I wish on everyone I wish everyone can face Their truth Like and so candor has been massive I use kryptonite

Because I do think I was uncomfortably blessed With DNA and parenting and circumstance You know Not only did I have the greatest mother Who gave me all of her great traits And I took my dad's best traits Like this is a big joke in my family That I was first

And I just kind of rolled up on my mom and dad And just took all their best shit That's because I was first And like really, I really am. It's really wild. Like, you know, I speak about this, like, detached from it. But it is very clear if you knew everything about me. Like, if we hang out in heaven where you can get every answer,

if there was some AI graph up there that I was like, what did Gary take from his parents? His parents have good and bad attributes. What did he take? It's like 98% good. Like, I took all the good shit from both. And my dad has a ton of bad shit. And I love him.

But he has a lot of shortcomings. And by the way, I'm not mad at his. because I knew my grandma real well and she parented him and she had those same things. And you wanna hear something even crazier because everybody in Russia had kids at 20, I knew my great grandma well. And she gave it to my grandma.

So I always say this, my favorite keynote speech moment maybe of my career was at VCon, two or three, two. And my opening line to the keynote, like 10,000 people in the crowd. I'm like, I just wanna start with, fuck your grandparents.

And like the crowd was like, Shook. Everyone in crowds like, what the fuck is going on? And my point was a lot of you right now in the crowd are struggling because you're mad at one of your parents. And you don't have the grace or empathy or compassion to your parent to realize one of their parents did it to them. This is my favorite topic in the world. I actually have a meditation that I do about this every day. It's just having grace and forgiveness for the fact that you're right that there probably is something that the grandparent or the great grandparent.

Not probably. There is. What your parent did to you is what one of their, like, and you know what pisses me off is like, oh, grandma, because grandma now is on, by the way, a lot of times grandma is sweet to you because she's still fucking, you know, up her daughter. Or she feels guilty about it.

Correct. It's one of the two. It's either they're like, fuck, they're trying to make amends with you, the grandchild, or believe it or believe it or not, they're still in it. And they want you to side with, this is fucked up, but it's real.

They want granddaughter to side with grandma on this fucking 40, your debate, so they're sweet to you. So you're like, Grandma, you're the sweetest and she's giving you cookies and five bucks and she's the fucking best. Meanwhile, everything you're mad at in life is based on this thing you're mad at your mom for

and your poor mom got fucked by this grandma. But by the way, by the way, it's, you know, why I love, it's so true, right? And you know why I'm happy right now is I know someone's in a car driving and this might be the first, this is why I'm motivated to do what I do.

I know someone's driving right now, had never heard this concept and literally just had a banana's aha. And it's the seed that's going to lead to them calling their mom in six months because it's going to fester. You know, not everything's right away. And they haven't talked to her for four years.

And it's going to allow them to have amends and enjoy each other's company. They'll be rocky roads. You know, when you have a tough relationship, you know, but right now they're completely zero. And they didn't realize what grandma did. And then you're going to be like, fuck grandma. And then I'm going to be like, no, no, no, no, great grandma.

You didn't know Grant, great grandma, great grandma Gertrude, but she was the worst of the bunch. So it's about being aware of that. Correct. So when you're aware of that, you can understand it and have the other thing. Being aware and awake to everything is good. Yeah. Being aware is realizing if you're highly political, both sides are doing the same thing. That's being aware.

They're both scaring you and telling you you're not capable and they're gonna take care of you. Both of them. They're just scaring you on different issues. I think... I agree. You know, when I think about you and one of the themes of your life,

I just think that like extreme self-awareness is at the top of the heap with your qualities. I mean, there's a million great qualities, but I think like you're just... You have an honest assessment about yourself in the world, and I think that's a superpower for you. It allows you to grow and make impact, you guys know this,

including the three wonderful people off the camera, know this, when you start to get known, people have opinions of you. There are people who have full-formed opinions of me who've never met me. And I understand. If you grew up in a household where over-the-topness and cursing were demonized,

how could you possibly like me at first? If your parents taught you that self-promotion and be quiet, like you don't have to put yourself out there, which is a beautiful, like I'm literally getting, let's look at this, I'm literally getting goosebumps. I think it's beautiful to say like, your work should speak for itself and you don't have to be out. I think it's a beautiful virtue.

You know, speaking with in a respectful manner. Like, I think these are nice things. I am not that. I am very out there. I'm very Jersey potty mouth. But it's me. And I'm okay with people misunderstanding me at first in a world where everyone wants to be understood immediately.

I do not have the audacity to think that people should understand me right away. I actually enjoy the process. Many people listening right now when they first came across me did not like me and now really like me. That's my favorite thing ever is when you do get a judge, you judge a book by its cover and then you get to know the person and it's an onion.

Correct. People are complex. What happens to you too much? All the time. It's my favorite thing ever. And I let him go down the rabbit hole and see me with blonde hair and big fake tits and like let them judge that.

That's right. I'm actually fine with it. I think a little bit of part of me gets off on it. Yeah, of course, because I think you know who you are inside. Yes. Like, again, but this is an important thing. There's a lot of people listening right now who think they're rotten inside,

and I tell everyone to listen to me. You are not rotten. If your voice tells you that you are bad, someone put that voice in you. That is not your voice. Right? I said something yesterday. I'd never said out loud.

before and I'm excited to repeat it. I literally believe there's no losers in life. I really believe that. I just believe that are people that are currently losing. Right? It's like sports. Like sometimes you're losing 13 to nothing but I don't know if you've ever watched sports like sometimes you come back and win. Like no matter where you're at right now,

alcoholism, fired four times, $150,000 in debt. Like, this is what's amazing about life. Like you actually can get out of it. And then what's crazy? Like, if you show me someone, Like if someone emails me that heard this podcast ever, right now when you launch it or in 10 years, if you're a person that emails me and says, I was $150,000 that I battled alcoholism, I spent six months in jail, I, like all these things.

And now I'm here, that person's the person I most admire on earth. The people I most admire are the ones that really get out of the muck. Not the people that kind, like me, like it's kind of always been chill. Like, meaning like my adversity was my youth. Fights all the time because I grew up in bad neighborhoods, bad grades, every adult said you're going to be a garbage man loser, which was funny because garbage men make a lot of money, more than teachers.

You know, all this other crazy stuff. By the time I got to 18, I was so beat up by every grown up. I was like, I like losing. So my life from after like regular school life, childhood life, and don't forget, inside my house, I had nothing but love. and then selling and all the business stuff was showing me I wasn't a loser. But for me, I've kind of just like cruised along

like success on success on success, happiness and joy. Like, yes, I think I'm for some people that might be like, ooh, I want to achieve that. But I personally am more impressed with someone who's in a real fucked up spot right now and gets to like some sort of basic, tangible place than I am with what I've done. And I'm not kidding.

If you woke up tomorrow and you felt rotten inside, what would you do? What's your self-talk? If me, myself, with the things I know, I would immediately say that it's not true. And that somebody, especially if it's me, some, like, evil demon lord was able to manipulate my brain somehow. It must be like some weird Emperor Darth Vader-like character was able to penetrate my brain. Or somebody slipped me like some weird version. of an AI Roofie that remixed my brain because I don't understand how this happened

but however it happened someone oust, I Gary, do not think I'm rotten someone tricked me into thinking I'm rotten. So that's, if someone's listening and they feel rotten you would tell them to understand. That their mother or father likely told them they were rotten. So how did they get out of it?

By realizing their mother and father was broken and they can start the process of getting out. They have to not believe them. When your mother, there are people Maybe even in this room just six of us And definitely people listening There are people who have parents That tell them you'll never be anything

You know what fucking sad that is But I again do not get mad at that You know scene right now I don't look at that woman or man I feel bad for them They are so broke To be a parent that says that to your own child Do you know fucking broken that person is?

This is why I love negative comments In social Do you know that most people don't post because they're scared of negative comments? And I secretly love them. Why do you secretly love negative comments? Because it gives me an opportunity to DM some of them and try to help them. What do you DM them? Like, hey, man, I saw what you just wrote, like, first, sorry that you think I'm a scam artist.

But on some real shit, like, if you're taking time to write that, like, you're clearly not in good places. Is there anything I can do for you? Literally six out of ten people are like, whoa, and, like, pumped. And four out of ten people double down. Like, fuck you, Gary. You're not gonna fucking pull your shit on me. I'm like, my shit is compassion. Like, I'm right here when you're ready.

I like doing that. And you've always done that. I wanna talk to you a little bit about entitlement. That's a great segue. Thank you. And you've always done it. Now, let's talk about this. Thank you, you here.

You're welcome. It's only taking a thousand. No, but there's all these articles now about Gen Z and this. And I hate to pick on young people because I know a lot of people in that generation that are really hard working and do very well. I would actually argue to your point to double down, just to jump in, it's actually a very wildly mixed generation.

Because Gen Z has so many options. Gen Z is the most millionaires of a generation under 20 in the history of time because of technology. There's people working their faces off. I actually think they're just very split. Not a lot of in between. You have these gangster 19-year-olds who are streaming for 19 hours a day every day of their life

or building AI businesses, and then you have the ones that are like, well, the boomers fucked it up for us. Hey, politicians take care of me. As if we didn't have enough things that we don't like each other about. Gender wars, race, religion. This is how fucked up things are.

I do not believe that people are conscious to what's happening. There are many people on Earth that try to make us not like each other for their self-interest, politicians. And so literally as if we didn't have enough things to not like each other about, this is the first era.

When I was growing up guys, I didn't even know I was in Gen X and I never heard the term boomer. I didn't know what that was. Neither did we. Right? Now you literally have Gen Z being like, you boomers fucked it up. And they're like pointing at some poor 71 year old lady who's just minding her own business.

She's just going to the store to buy a banana. She's like, what do I mean I ruined it? But I wanted, so to your point, I think there's just entitlement across all sorts of different demos. Correct. And I think within that, I don't want to blame social media because I don't think that's a cop out. but I think people see people with things or maybe that are further along and they say, hey, they have it,

oh, I should not. But the rise of socialism and Marxism and communism, like the 40s, the 60s, the 20s had these same dynamics. Friends, actually, here's a good one. Please, this will really make your life a lot better. You need to stop blaming social media. It's an empty pipe.

You need to start blaming yourself. Like, people are like, it's never been worse. I'm like, the Holocaust was pretty bad. Like Hitler didn't have Twitter. Like I don't understand why people don't understand what's actually happening, which is we have become incredibly non-accountable. We have become wildly judgmental.

And this is not a social media issue. This is modern parenting issue. Consequences matter. Literally, in five minutes, we went from parents actively smacking and spanking. I had a belt hanging in my apartment when I first came to America as a kid and like my mom pointed to it and said

You know the wooden spoon? A wooden spoon? I got the wooden spoon. Like literally I've been smacked, I've been spanked grounded? Do you know that? Do you know this phenomenon? You guys are young, modern parents. People don't ground. I ground. I ground. How? I ground. I say, I say, fuck around and find me.

No, no, no, that's threatening. Do, do, do. But I'll tell you, I'll say, my daughter the other day, she was misbehaving. She played the Mario card on the Wii. Yep. I said, you keep doing that. It's gone for a week.

It's gone. That's gone for a week. She comes to me two days later. She goes, where's the thing? Big guys. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone.

It's gone. For a week. You have five more days. And by the way, if you can do another, it's another week. Yeah. Like, but 30, 40 years ago, it was not just the Wii. It was no phone. No friends, no TV, no, like, like, it was real.

She's like, thanks, Dad, you took away the Wii. Yes, she wanted the next day. Now she's doing 1,700 other things. She's watching Rugrats. Correct. That's true. It's not wrong. I'm talking about when we really grounded in the 70s and 80s, 60s.

Like, you were going to jail. God forbid you heard, I'm going to go get your father. Scared the fuck. I was scared of my dad as if he was like an assassin. Same. Like, no, we don't have kids grow up. And this is why people talk so much shit. I grew up in neighborhoods where if you, like, said one thing to someone, like, it was after

school, punch, blood, fight. Like, people are saying all sorts of shit in the comment section because there's no ramifications. So what's your vibe on gentle parenting? Can't wait. Listen, I love the idea of being friendly and warm. Like, I had a gentle parent who would smack the fuck out of me when I did something wrong. I believe that we need purple. I think that we've, this concept of like,

when parents are like, I want to be friends with my child, they're hurting them. You want to be friendly, but you need to be their father or mother. Yeah. And I'm telling you the biggest issue in the world right now is lack of consequences. What keeps humans in a very nice place

is consequences. Ramifications. It's good. Like, I love when people get punched in a face. I mean it. Like, you know, run your mouth and disrespect. and get punched in the face. That's good. I like it. I know that people are like, I need to dissect it. Like, we as humans need consequences. It's why I love sports and business.

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We're 18, depending how you see this, or somewhere in that range. If you guys, because of the empire you build, are giving money to your 25-year-old child, it will be bad. Well, we've seen that. We've seen it happen, and we've seen what happens when you do that. And it is bad. That's right. And that's what's happening. You have people literally blaming boomers on TikTok whose parents are paying their rent.

It's funny because one of the best things my dad ever gave me was your book. Yeah. Not money. Yep. It was your book. Yeah. Isn't that funny? It's humbling and funny and awesome.

And like, it's how I see the world. Like, it's just very easy to see what's going on right now. Like, we are soft. We are over coddled. We've become addicted to this. People love this. You're ugly. You're stupid.

Well, you should, you should pay more taxes. Like, okay. Like, what about you? Where did this? Like, I never, I don't. I literally don't even know how to start a sentence of you should. It never in my brain do I look at someone and say you should other than the framework of like kindness and humanity.

It would be great, like not this like you, like we just, and like you suck and like you think you're so hot back to the fake tits and blah. Like what's, whose business are your tits? Like kind of mine maybe a little. Yeah, you're a maybe in the mix of little. Maybe a little bit in the house. I'm totally pulling that clip out of context.

Go ahead. You know, like, whose business is it how, you know, and by the way, this is why I don't tell people how to raise their child. I talk about parenting as a macro theme as someone who's receiving 10 to 50,000 DMs a month from people that are struggling who are saying the same themes,

which is mommy and daddy are over coddling me. It's all the same theme. So the kid is DMing you that? So let me want the weirdest one. Yeah. One of the biggest breakthroughs of my life was when I started really talking about this six, seven years ago, I was getting DMs from rich kids blaming their parents for paying for their life. I have heard this.

Yes. And I was like, my first reply ever, literally I didn't understand. They're like, Gary, I'm super depressed. You know, I read my DMs, super depressed. Let me tell you about me. My parents pay for everything. I'm 25. I live in L.A.

I remember like yesterday. They just bought me a brand new BMW and I'm deeply depressed and it keeps going and I don't remember the rest but it ends with and all of this just shows me that they don't think I'm capable.

They think I'm a loser. So it's a dog whistle from the parent saying that you're not capable and that's the self-esteem. That's interesting to me. To me too. It blew me away. Then the next part was funny.

I said I literally read this thing and I kind of like am shook because I'd never heard it. I didn't know what rich kids were dealing with, kind of. And I replied, I think I can help. And this person replies, oh my God, please, Gary, what should I do?

And I replied, stop taking the money. And that's when the combo got interested. This was like a fucking two-hour DM back in front. One of the few times I've ever done this. And literally for an hour and a half over fucking Indiana and Michigan and done my way home from the West Coast.

I convinced this person to call their father and give back everything. But most kids want to shit on their parents and do nothing about it. Yep. And I think it's, you know, on this show, I've talked about this where I actually have a little bit of empathy and sympathy for people that are rich kids

that are put in that situation because they don't actively make that choice. Their parent does for them. Yeah, but when you're seven and nine and 13, you're right. But when you're 22, you got to be software. Friends,

everybody's listening. If you're in a great situation financially where your parents have this situation, if it's bothering you, you do have control. And I agree with you. I understand that you're conditioned

to fucking have caviar on Sunday brunch. But you don't need caviar. I think there's... Unless you're rushing like me, you do need caviar. The victim mentality. That's a thing. Why is it everyone's fault by yours?

Literally everything that's wrong in my life is my fault. And it makes me happy as fuck. Well, because then you can do something about it. Yes. Because then it powers with you. Correct. If it's always somebody else's fault that puts you in a helpless position. This is why everyone's so upset right now.

They think a politician's in charge. That's what they're crippled. They're not in charge. Like, let's use America. You're upset? Like, I don't know if you know this, but Sweden and Peru, Portugal, like Australia, lovely places.

big election in New York as we're filming today. A lot of people are about to have a lot of feelings in this city. One way or another. Good news. Like, I think this is the best city in the world. But if I ever, God forbid,

thought of the mayor or governor of New York State really controlled me and fucked me up, I'd move. Connecticut's lovely. Like, I don't, like, I don't get this where, wah, wah, wah. Everyone's wah, wow, wow.

I mean, you know, We moved from California to Texas And it's not, we just said, okay. Oh, and people had all sorts of judgment on you guys early on because you were a little early And then everyone's like, you're pioneers. You went from shit faces to pioneers. And by the way, and then it goes back and forth.

Depends who you asked, we might still be shit-based. And by way, you may go back to California. Probably not, but I like being closer here. No, no, you appreciate what I'm about to say. Probably not because you're viewing it what it is today. Yeah. What if the state of California? California changes three policies in the next 18 years that you'd like.

And you might be like, wait a minute. By the way, on the record, LA has many things better than Austin. Oh, yeah. And if three or four things that matter to you change, maybe you will. We're going to move next door to you in Mona. Well, that'd be lovely. New York has many things better than both of those. New York has better things than everything.

New York's the fucking best city in the world. Let there be no confusion. I've been slowly moving longer. Okay, so let me go back to what I was asking you. When somebody comes to you, you manage a lot of people. people and their output is not matching what they actually are going to then earn or want to earn and they're but they're entitled and they want and they say Gary I'm working for you, I've been here for a year or two.

Like I want this. I tell them that unfortunately I'm making a subjective opinion. You might be right. This is very powerful. This is really work for me because I actually believe this. This may really help a lot of bosses. I say, let's just have the combo. Hey, unfortunately, brother, I have to make a subjective choice here because it's my company.

And subjectively, I don't agree with you. And not because I want to suppress you and not make money. You can go talk to other employees who've gotten raises. Just subjectively, I don't think you're up to snuff. Like, your content doesn't get views. Like, you come in at 913 when everyone's here at 9. Like, you kind of mope around when, like, someone else does well on a post and your post doesn't.

Like, you're not really living it. And so I don't think we're there yet. But good news. Like, you know me, I'm Gary. Like, I'm a good dude. Like, maybe this isn't the right spot. and I will try to help you get a spot that's better for you, or you can subjectively agree with me now

because you can tell that you're not tricking me because I just gave you three examples. And let's maybe work on it together and see if we can rectify this the next six months. And if not, let's figure out a great spot for you. It's interesting to me how much you're paying attention. When you say you get here at 9-13 and you have 8 million employees,

that's interesting to me. People think you're not paying attention because you're so busy and you've got so much going on. I wish you could interview all my employees. It literally freaks some. Like some my employees literally think I have a spy network. I'm very intuitive. Like my intuition is my great gift.

Actually, let's speak about that. This would be really good. I know a lot of ladies listening to this are going to really find this interesting. Ladies, you know how like in the last decade we've really started to talk about gut health? Really big topic. Thank God.

And men too. I mean, many, but like gut health has become big conversation. We're starting to get more educated on gut health as like a primary driver of your overall health. I have a wild one that I really hope I live to watch this clip because the world figured it out. I'm completely commenced intuitively that your intuition and your gut is your primary brain and your brain is your secondary brain and I don't think the world knows that and I think there's something big, big there. Your intuition is coming from your gut, which is is actually guiding you, not your brain.

That's right. But he's saying the first indicator of whether something's off or on or good or bad comes from here. What did I get called the other day on the podcast, Michael? Gary might be it too. What did I get called? I mean, you get called a million. No, the prolific?

Oh, no, no, no, no. She keeps trying to, you're not a prophet. No, what is it called? Because Gary is it too. What's it called? Prophetic. Prophetic. Yeah, you both have that.

Yeah. Intuition. And I think the people that are willing to lean into it, I think a lot of people listening have talked themselves out of it. And you know what sucks. is when you go against your intuition and it doesn't work out, it hurts triple. Because you knew.

Yeah, and so for me, and for me. Wow, say that again. Uh-huh. The number one thing that really fucks with people is where they used someone else's opinion that they trust for logic to make a decision versus their intuition that was really going off. So then when it fails, you're like devastated

because you're really mad at yourself for not listening, which is why I only listen to my intuition oftentimes has not worked out, but it feels nice because I died on my own sword. It's much more fun to die on your own sword than someone else's sword. And a lot of the times it does work out in your intuition, spidery senses, antenna is 100% right. Most of the time. I'm just saying a lot of times it didn't because there's something you didn't see your intuition. Like something else was a variable. You might have actually been right, but it ended up being wrong. Like things happen, but. One of my favorite things that you've

ever talked about, and I forgot where it was, I think, on Instagram, but you said that when people say social media is negative, open up your feed, open up your content page, and look at your content, you have created that. And I'm not saying it as eloquent as you said it. Can you talk to our audience about that? Every one of you that thinks social media is bad or that the algorithms are manipulating you, I want you to open your phone and go to TikTok or Instagram right now and go to search. Go to the search function. In search, I want you to do this. Like literally pause the podcast right now. Get like yourself situated. Let's see. Yeah, do it for it. Okay. Okay. It's fun. That's nice. Okay. Friends, feel free to jump in. Okay. So go to search. So I go here.

You're on search? Yeah. I really want you to do this. This is really important. Thank you, everyone. I want you to go to search. You're in search? Yep. Type in kittens. Okay. Got it? Okay. I need you to like four posts right now. I mean, I mean, you're Please. Oh no, I know what's going to happen. You know, when Ozzy Osbourne passed away, I was watching like a million things because I love Black Sabbath.

And my whole feed for weeks was Black Sabbath and Ozzy. I'm liking four votes. I know what's going to happen. I know what's going to happen. I don't care. I need. So cute.

All right. Now, back out. Okay. I want you to type in Love. Everybody who's listening to this podcast, I need you to do this. This is real. If you really believe

that social media is the devil or the algorithm, against you or things are bad. I really need you to like this one's important. Are you typing in love? Yeah, Michael's faking it. I guess I'm not. I did it, Michael.

I did it, all right. I need you to like, please everyone, follow this. I need you to like three posts and this, I know this one will hurt a lot of you. I know this will hurt a lot of you, but I need you to follow one of those accounts in the love red. I know a lot of people are very precious about who they follow.

This is gonna fuck people up, but I need you to do it. Please just pick one. Michael, go follow Louise Hay affirmation. I don't know if I want to follow that one that popped up at the top. What? It was ditty that pops up at the top of research. It happens.

It happens. Listen, he might be like, you know, learning a lot of things in his usage. Yeah. Michael, follow Louise Hay affirmations. Okay, I don't know where that one is. Look, Louise Hay affirmation. All right, back out, everyone. Back out.

This is very important. This is actually profound. This might be a, Lauren, I really mean this. This might be the thing that we're most stopped in public about this segment right now. Now I need you to put sunshine. Okay. Sunshine Okay

It makes you happy It is nice Five likes I need it I need click into the grid Pick which ones you like Like it Like it

All right I don't want to eat up the entire podcast But 15 minutes of this Actually let's do the last one This is probably the most important one You'll ever do in your life Ready? Okay

Need everybody to type in Gary VE I didn't need you to like four posts. By the way, you're all over my algorithm. So that's good. Because it's all positive. So friends,

this is super important. I believe a lot of you have done this just now. I really think a lot of people did it. I think a lot of you will continue and put, you know, hiking and things you like cooking. You know, Mona has really, in the last couple years, realize how much joy she gets from cooking.

So like cooking, like, you know, sports highlights. Now we can go a little bit less deep. You can add sports highlights fashion. I'm telling you within 30 seconds. Like tomorrow, if you really do 15 minutes of what I just said, you will and close your phone. Tomorrow morning, your feed's different. Your feed is not changing you.

The platforms are not manipulating you. They're exposing who you are. Your feed is a reflection of who you are. My, our producer Taylor's feed is all buttholes. It's all buttholes. It's all a big booty. And this is how I knew your theory was right, because I asked him to go on his feet. He was complaining about social media.

And I said, pull it up and all of it was twerking butthole. And I'm like, well, he's watching another room. This is a reflection. It sounds like he should be loving social media. Why is he upset? No, he loves it. Ariel, wait until you see his feet. But you know what's so funny.

We just did this dinner or Derminid is like, he likes big butts. Yeah. And he can't. He can't. The algorithm doesn't let you lie. We did a dinner with Adam, who the head of Instagram over there. And he was talking about this. And he said the algorithm is an interest-based algorithm.

It follows your personal interest. Friends, social media doesn't exist anymore. I've been saying this for a couple months now. We are in the era of interest media. Yes. You're not getting content from who you follow. You're getting content of the things you like. And remember one of the things you like.

I said you were in control. People are like Gary, you don't get it though. It's addicting. The endorphins. They fucking got the system. I'm like, motherfucker. I just told you had to fix it in three minutes. What are you fucking talking?

We've given up our control completely. To the algorithm, to Instagram, to TikTok, to China, to Trump, to Kamala, to Mondani, to fucking the system, the vortex, the deep state,

the Illuminati. The fuck are you guys talking about. A bunch of fucking crying. wow-wab bitches who don't want to take accountability for their actual life don't blame people

you're the one that likes buttholes I'm gonna pull that whole clip in just one segment that's gonna be the opener of this that's a teaser for the show brother that's it man

like I don't understand like can we please can this podcast please for thousands of you be the moment where you realize it's two thumbs in it's fucking two thumbs in

it's you yeah and I think you know oh you don't get it my boyfriend, break up. If your boyfriend's a fucking delusional negative fucking loser, break up. Or if like, if you like, if you like hooking up with him so much

because he's the most handsome dude, then realize you're choosing dick over happiness. I don't know. And by the way, you're allowed for a couple of months, but just get out of there eventually. Like, I don't know. Like, no judgment. But like, don't blame.

And don't choose dick over happiness. It's not worth it. Get a vibrator. This was not on my note card. Or choose it for like one week. Yeah. Like, again. Ride it for a week and then get off the ride.

Yeah, like, it's, life is not like, like, locked in forever. And like, like, I don't know. Like, accountability is the most addicting word to me. I'm obsessed with accountability. I would inject the accountability into my lips. No, I think that, I mean, like I said, it's, what we appreciate for such a long time about you is, and whether the message when you hear it sometimes

for the first time might be like, whoa, whoa, it's like a cold splash of water in your face. But what you're saying is basically, like you have as an individual the power to dictate the outcome of your life. End of story. I watch politicians right now say, you're not capable, you're not capable.

You need to be scared of this. You need to be scared of this. You're not capable. You need to be scared of this. You're not capable. You need to be scared of this. And I can help you. I live a life of, here is all this good information.

Here's how you make money. Here's how you get happy. Here's how you make money. Here's how you can make happiness. Happiness, money. Happiness, money. Happiness, money. And then I finish with saying, I can't help you.

You can help you. The end. That right there is what's going on. And by the way, I'm not special. There are other people like me. And I implore people that are listening right now to find those people and stop consuming the other people.

Mike drop, Gary V. Third time on the show. Always a charm. This one was a lot of range, Gary. Yes, we definitely, you know. It's a lot of range. Yeah, yes, that was butthole, dick, tits. Like, we definitely, it was a little bit of a sixth grade show.

I don't know if you're promoting anything right now, but I'm going to call you out and say that I actually read your book to my kids. And they love it. Me in the middle. Yes. and there's two different sides and they love how it switches over. Yeah, I think for all the moms,

if you go to VEEFriends.com slash cartoons, this whole theme, you know, I can sit and talk about it or I can do something about it. Four years ago, I decided that I was not only the byproduct of a great mom, Jersey, immigration,

like, you know, entrepreneurship, the American dream, but I was also the byproduct of kids' television, that was pushing good agenda. I used to watch He-Man, and it was super cool, and at the end, all 80s boys stand up on this one. Remember this?

You'd watch He-Man, it was cool. It wasn't virtue signaling. It was, like, beat the Skeletor and, like, cool shit. And then at the end, He-Man would show up on the screen at the end of the cartoon as Adam, which is who he was before He-Man, and be like, hey, kids, don't forget, be nice to your sister.

I was like, oh, fuck, He-Man told me to be nice to my sister. I'm like, Liz, get over here. You're in a bad. So five years ago, I started VFriends. We have 20 cartoons right now on YouTube kids. If you have kids between three and eight, I could not recommend it more. VEEFriends.com slash cartoons.

How to put that on? Please put it on, guys. We read the book, I got to go on the cartoon channel. And by the way, I've really built this IP. So it's 250 characters. It's my Pokemon meets Marvel, meets Sesame Street. But you'll like this. I really made two of the girl characters,

like the alphas of the whole world. Fearless Ferry and the ambitious angel. Cute. Or two of like the five most important characters, but also the competitive clown. So like my cartoons and parents, please watch the cartoons, you're going to laugh. The cartoons for the kids,

but it's also poking at you guys. Some of the stuff we talk, like when you watch the cartoon, it's a little bit like, yeah, I'm like, eighth place trophies lead to suicidal thoughts. Not really. But it's like, I'm really poking at it. Okay.

I'm like really poking at it. So I think it's fun for parents. Do you voice anything? I did, you know what's funny? I didn't, but AI, SORA 2. I don't know if you guys know what Sora 2 is. So everybody needs to download Sora 2. It's open AIs, TikTok, where all the content is AI.

Watch this. So you love this. Oh, your phone. So, so cute. So this, you're going to love this. This is me in AI form. What do you mean? It's like not, it's, that's him AI.

Not one. How do you want? make your, that doesn't look like you. Well, you know what? Hold on six. There we go. Well, so literally I just type. That's not you.

This one's even better. Tell them that your, can you give it feedback? Oh, they see it. Tell them your voice is a little too high. Your voice is lower. They know. Like, it's early, but the fact that it's already that good. It's insane.

Where is it going to be in two years? It's insane. That was me typing Gary Vee motivating penguins to not be scared of the sun, enter, and that was made. With Sora. With Sora, too. So you used your voice from Sora for the cartoon. So where I was going is there's a character in V-Friends called Gary B.

Okay. B-E, and I'm going to be the voice of him. Is it a B? It's a B. Yes. That's genius that you have a cartoon. I think that's so smart. You ever need some cameo voices.

Yeah, can I do a cameo? Yeah, for sure. Can I be like ambitious angel or one of the characters that's Alpha? Yes, you can't. Can I actually? Yes. I will do it for free. We will do it for free and voice whatever.

Not we. She's. I need to. I need to audition. I want to be. I know. I want to be. I want to be. I want to be.

What's a character I want to be? No. No. No. What about? Helpful hippo. I'll be helpful hippo. Helpful hippo.

I love helpful hippo. Okay. All right, Gary. Anyway, love you guys. I got to run. See you. Thank you so much. Before you go, you have to go stock the skinny confidential face towels.

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