Gary Vaynerchuk!

Summary

Are You Garbage? – Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee)

Episode Date: September 15, 2025
Hosts: Kevin Ryan & H. Foley
Guest: Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee)

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Episode Overview

In this entertaining episode, comedians H. Foley and Kevin Ryan dive deep with entrepreneur, media mogul, and "garbage baby" Gary Vaynerchuk. The Are You Garbage? lens is turned on Gary, who’s more than willing to dissect his immigrant roots, scrappy New Jersey upbringing, family quirks, and his transformation from Soviet Union refugee to multimillionaire. Along the way, Gary reveals the personal philosophies, “dirtbag” habits, and gratitude that fuel his success, in a conversation packed with humor, candor, and blue-collar sensibility.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Gary Vee's Origin Story & Immigrant Roots

• Soviet Union Beginnings: Born in the USSR (1975), emigrated to Queens, NY as political asylum refugees in 1978 (02:23).
  • “Real immigrant shit. Born in the USSR in 1975… moved here in ‘78 to Queens.” (Gary, 02:23)
• Family Hardship: Lived in a packed studio apartment with extended family, parents worked menial jobs, both lost a parent young (03:19).
• Childhood Anxiety: Fear of losing parents shaped outlook:
  • “The fear of my parents dying was the soundtrack of my life. Which is why I am who I am.” (Gary, 03:59)
  • “For the last 30 years, I’ve been in full house money.” (04:13)

2. Soviet Mentality Meets Jersey Grit

• Extreme Adversity: Grew up in a tough mix of Soviet discipline at home and gritty, diverse, lower-middle-class New Jersey outside (05:50).
  • “Growing up in a Soviet household and then outside your door is lower middle class New Jersey in the 80s. That’s a tough like...” (Gary, 05:52)
• Immigration Trauma: USSR likened to North Korea in lack of freedoms; America was a shock (04:41–05:41).
• Cultural Melting Pot: Experienced racial, cultural, and economic mixing at Martin Luther King elementary. Early bullying, ball-busting were rites of passage (08:14, 09:09).
  • “My best bud...lived in like a ranch that was much more a trailer.” (07:44)

3. Early Entrepreneurship & Hustle

• “Garbage Baby” Sister: Nicknamed because her bassinet was literally a car seat found in the garbage (11:43).
• Lemonade Stand Mentality: Always hustling—shoveling snow, converting neighborhood snowball fights into side businesses (09:01).
  • “All my buddies are like, let’s throw snowballs...I was like, fuck that, let’s all get shovels, ring doorbells and make five bucks.” (Gary, 09:01)
• Influence of Comedy: Comedians shaped his presentation and hustle. "Keynotes" inspired by stand-up rhythms (09:24).

4. Family Climb Through Hard Work

• Father’s Grit: Started as a $2.25/hour stock boy in a liquor store; due to twists of fate and deregulation, eventually became part-owner (12:23–16:32).
  • “My dad catches that wave as the manager...and the business explodes.” (Gary, 16:20)
• True American Assimilation: Eventually, the family moved up to lower-middle, then middle-class, but vacations (Holiday Inn Orlando!) and treats were rare, and nothing was taken for granted (20:00–21:03).

5. Low Expectations, High Gratitude, & No-Frills Living

• Proud “Dirtbag” Roots: Red Lobster was fine dining (“wore a $10 Kmart suit to Red Lobster for my 10th birthday”—24:43), “warm Coke on the nightstand” was a treat (26:31).
• Life Philosophy: The hardship and lack of materialism breeds gratitude.
  • “This is literally why everything for me is gratitude…and I’m completely unaffected.” (Gary, 25:03–25:10)
  • “We now think a necessity is a $9 coffee and taking an Uber. A necessity—suck.” (Gary, 12:46)
• No Milk with Dinner: “Strictly for cereal. Cereal was religion. My mom’s one splurge—Frosted Flakes.” (13:13–13:27)

6. School, Social Life, and Adolescent Hustle

• Culture Shock in High School: Moved to rural Hunterdon County, NJ in 8th grade. “Stick kids” and deer season were new territory. Stacy Johnson, the “hottest girl in school,” crushes; rapid rise and fall in social standing as “late bloomer” (32:19–35:03).
• Teen Tycoon: By high school, was making “thousands” buying and selling baseball cards.
  • “I had $1,000 in cash in my pocket in high school, every day...it was as if I had a billion.” (36:16–36:30)
  • Mom’s Nancy Reagan-style parenting: Never tried drugs (36:41).
• Work Ethic: Started working weekends at dad’s store at 14, barely spoke to his father due to both working nonstop (37:35–38:19).

7. Domestic Habits & House “Garbage” Check

• Sleep Setup: California King, two pillows, snuggling with wife Mona; TV in room, but she prefers power/wifi off and scent-free everything (43:10–45:49).
• Dirtbag Tests:
  • Pees in the shower, brushes teeth there sometimes (44:34).
  • Eats in the car (55:35); used tires for his first car—a ‘76 Monte Carlo for $680 (50:16).
  • No trophy displays, not into bling—valuing time and utility (55:26–48:30).
  • White Castle obsession: “White Castle, eating six burgers quickly that make you shit your pants, I think is an American pastime.” (Gary, 55:58–56:04)
• Snacks & Food: Rotisserie chicken is a go-to. Vacation = doing “absolutely nothing” on a beach, eating three times a day instead of once. Loves coleslaw “all versions...even the $3 deli version” (53:00–54:50).
• Hygiene & Cleanliness: Scent-free home, organic everything; wife’s influence (45:35).
• Preferred Water: Only glass bottle, sparkling or still—plastic is banished (67:00).

8. Success, Money, and Showing Out

• Full-Time Driver: Believes it’s the best “rich guy” perk, way better than fancy watches/cars—“time is everything” (47:54–48:27).
• No Flashy Purchases: Mac Weldon t-shirts, no expensive bling, prefers simple, functional clothing (49:05).
• Wedding Gifts: “2-5K” in the envelope—knows his reputation depends on it (46:53).
• Restaurant Routine: Eats out every night for social/business (58:56), owns restaurants (Flyfish Club).

9. Humor, Attitude, and Lasting Lessons

• Comedic Influence: Grew up on Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Jerky Boys—attributes a lot to humor for survival and success (62:28–62:36).
• Humility and Legacy: Fame and success are fleeting; his self-worth is measured by character and how he treats people, not by his titles or wealth (62:08–62:59).
  • “I live with humility. I don’t think I’m anybody. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished, honestly.” (62:01–62:08)
  • "The shit that we're, you know, these followers, these dollars—it's not fucking real anyway." (62:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On House Money Mentality:
  “The fear of my parents dying was the soundtrack of my life...for the last 30 years, I've been in full house money.” (Gary, 03:59–04:13)

• On Soviet/Early American Adversity:
  “Between the Soviet shit...and then outside your door is lower middle class New Jersey in the 80s. I don’t know...what’s below G?” (Gary, 05:52–06:27)

• On Early Hustle:
  “It's not confusing, you understand?...the comedy thing was in you...some of the best comedians have told me my keynotes are like stand-up.” (09:26)

• On American Materialism:
  "We now think a necessity is a $9 coffee and taking an Uber...the poorest fucker you know has a Lexus." (12:46–13:13)

• On His First Car:
  “My first car...1976 Monte Carlo with a massive dent in it. For $680 at a garage sale.” (50:16)

• On Scent-Free Living:
  “I don't have a single scented item in our home...my deodorant...my wife transferred me to this new deodorant three years ago, I smelled like a fucking maniac for the first week.” (45:32–45:50)

• On Vacation:
  “Beach, doing nothing. That is a vacation for me.” (51:33)

• On Picking Up the Check:
  “I have picked up every check since I was 13...except for my father. He would deem it disrespectful.” (54:15–54:39)

• On Humility and Fame:
  “When Prince died...Richard Pryor…24 hours of love and everyone moves on…that shit isn’t real. This what? These followers, these dollars, it’s not fucking real anyway.” (62:28–62:47)

• On Belichick/Patriots Rivalry:
  “I hate Bill Belichick. And you know why? Because he hated me first—the way he treats Jet fans. Fuck him.” (59:46–60:26)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Gary’s Immigration/Early Life: 02:23–07:44
• Entrepreneurial Drive/Hustle: 09:01–09:47
• Materialism & Gratitude Philosophy: 12:35–13:30, 25:03–25:19
• First American “Luxuries": 20:00–21:03, 24:43–25:03
• High School Hustle, Social Life: 32:00–36:39
• Working in Liquor Store: 37:35–42:52
• Garbage Lifestyle Q&A: 43:10–50:59
• Full-Time Driver & Rich Guy Purchases: 47:54–49:11
• White Castle Love: 55:52–56:04
• Wedding Gifts & Money Etiquette: 46:53–47:19
• Humility, Fame, & Legacy: 62:01–62:59
• Water & Final Questions: 67:00–68:03

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Final Takeaways

Gary Vee not only passed the "Are You Garbage?" test—he did it with flying colors, highlighting the gritty, resourceful, blue-collar roots that are foundational to his drive and humility. He mixes candid immigrant stories, raunchy honesty, and an appreciation for the simple things with the trappings of his modern wealth, always coming back to gratitude and hard work. Whether chugging warm Coke as a kid, running a baseball card business as a teen, or tipping hundreds at hotels, the “garbage” and gratitude both run deep.

Memorable Closeout:
“I like being a good guy...I really identify that I don’t think any of the things I’ve pulled off professionally or publicly mean anything...no one. Everyone else sucks too.” (Gary, 62:12–63:00)

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Bottom Line:
This episode is a hysterical and heartfelt ride through Gary Vee’s “garbage” bona fides and entrepreneurial wisdom—a must-listen for fans of underdog stories, immigrant grit, and the comedy in everyday dirtbag behavior.

Transcript

[Stage Foley]

Calling Seattle, Portland, San Fran Brea, California. The boys are coming west, baby. We're taking the Oregon trail out to the left coast, and we're coming to see you. Grab the squad and come on out.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, if you're a dirtbag, we need you there, baby. All tickets [e-mail] See you there.

[Stage Foley]

Welcome to another exciting edition of are you garbage? The show where you find out if your favorite comedians are classy individuals or. Or absolute trash. Now, here are your hosts, Kevin Ryan and H. Foley. Hey, everybody out there, and welcome back to everybody's favorite podcast. This is are you garbage? Oh, yeah, it's that little show. We sit down with your favorite comedians and we find it at the group to be classy. Yeah, they're just a big old piece of trash.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Trash, trash, trash.

[Stage Foley]

I'm your host, Stage Foley coming at you on a beautiful day. We're out back here at Toady's in the new edition. She's upstairs on the computer doing a little catfishing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right, Good for her.

[Stage Foley]

Mike coast is coming at you from right next to me. He is the CEO of RU Garbage. He is an international businessman and my best pal in the whole wide world, and I love him. Give it up for KJ Kevin James Ryan.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You can't call me an international businessman in front of the only international businessman we've ever had in here. What's up, gang? Shout out to you. Make sure you rate, view, subscribe on itunes. Full video available on YouTube. Full video available over there on Spotify. Then the greatest website of all time, www.patreon.com.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you garbage?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Go over there and get all that bonus content, gang.

[Stage Foley]

Yes, sir, gang. And we couldn't be more excited to have our incred and, I mean, incredibly special guest here with us today for the first time. You can hear him every week on his amazing podcast, the GaryVee Audio Experience. He is a very successful entrepreneur, CEO, investor, content creator, podcaster, public speaker. Let's not forget multimillionaire. How you doing? And Hot Wheels aficionado. Give it up for Gary Vaynerchuk, everybody.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let's go, Gary V. Got him. I feel so uncomfortably comfortable in this setting. We literally, for everybody who's listening, me and my team said, hey, we got this hard out. Cause I actually run businesses, but I'm already in my brain. Like, fuck, man. I think I'm gonna go over. The vibe is so right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

We'll get you in and out, baby.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Honestly, I'm humbled to be here. Thank you, boys. Congrats. On everything you've been doing.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Thank you, bro.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I'm ready to rock and roll.

[Stage Foley]

Congrats on everything you've been doing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you.

[Stage Foley]

Unbelievable. We're so happy to have you here. Give us the origin story. Give us the backstory of Gary Vee. Start from childhood.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Jersey roots. Moved here. Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Jersey after the pre Roots of being born in the Soviet Union.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So real immigrant shit. Born in the USSR in 1975.

[Stage Foley]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Moved here in 78 to Queens. I mean, really, How'd you just get out? We got out because I got out as a political asylum refugee.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No shit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What happened was the Soviet Union hated Jews and just were like, fuck these people. Let's get the fuck out of here. And we're hearing that America's willing to give us some wheat. The dirty secret of. Of why the USSR failed was they spent so much money on bombs, they had no fucking bread.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, literally, the Soviet Union collapsed because they overspent on military trying to keep up with the US that literally. My parents tell me stories about waiting nine years in line for a phone, nine hours in line for a loaf of bread. It really fucking fell apart. And so, damn.

[Stage Foley]

That's how we did it over. Bet them.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let's go. Literally, literally out arms raced them. Reagan was right. He's like, let's just make more bombs. They'll follow us. They did. And it was even happening before there. Nonetheless, thank God, got the fuck out of there. And we lived in a shitty studio apartment in Queens with my great grandparents, my grandmother, my parents and I. You know, this is.

[Stage Foley]

Everybody came over at the same time.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My great grandparents on my father's side, my great grandparents, my grandmother, his mom, and then me and my mom, and then his. His cousin. So my dad's on my mom's side. My mom lost her mom at 5.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My dad lost his dad at 15.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very big foundation of my childhood.

[Stage Foley]

Gotch.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The fear of my parents dying was the soundtrack of my life. Like, real talk. I gotcha nightmares. Which is why I am who I am, because I'm so grateful they didn't. That I literally feel for the last 30 years, I've been in full house money.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Like you've won. Yeah, like, I've won.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, I'm so glad. So many people can't associate with me when I say this. And I don't talk about it often, so I'm giving you an exclusive.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's garyvee exclusive.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Guy Sweep.

[Stage Foley]

Sweet.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm happy that a lot of people can't understand what I'm saying, you know, they didn't live in an environment. Plus we were immigrants. Everything was like, we're gonna. Immigrants. Especially from that Soviet era. Like, if you live to 50, you fucking made it. That's.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, that's playing with house money.

[Stage Foley]

50.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What Americans especially don't realize is those Russians were miserable. The reason everybody fucking was an alcoholic drinking vodka was you lived in jail. Here's a fun fact. Most people don't realize the USSR was more North Korea than it was Iran. Meaning we weren't allowed to leave. If you. When I was born, I was born into a country that is more similar to North Korea.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Than it is to Iran. If you're, if you're born in Iran, you can go to places. They just don't allow you to go there, you know, but you can go to Turkey, you can go to the. You can go to places. You can get a visa to Canada. We were locked the fuck up, people were miserable.

[Stage Foley]

And it wasn't a good time.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And it wasn't a good time. And everybody went to jail and it was KGB and it was fucked anyway.

[Stage Foley]

How old are you when you. When you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I was three. It was 78. And so, you know, I was in America in 78, but my household, even when we moved to jersey in 82.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Still Belarus was so Soviet, was KGB, was at the door of that mother.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, I love talking to, like. And I grew up and it was.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Which is such a culture shock to then like go to public school in Jersey or whatever.

[Stage Foley]

Bro, it's your dad's KBG and you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bro, Bro. It's so obvious why I'm unstoppable. Like between the Soviet ship. It charges me up, but it's really real. Like, like growing up in a Soviet household and then outside your door is lower middle class New Jersey in the 80s. That's a tough like. Like, I don't know. And I, by the way, let's drop it even further. I went to Martin Luther King elementary School. I was laughing on the way here. I'm like, these fuckers are gonna be like, are you garbage? I'm like, what's below G?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure. Eh.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know what I mean? Like, what's the thing? Like, it was such adversity. But here's the point. Just like your auntie upstairs that you love so much. My mother was such a fucking monster. She was so loving. It was so good. So even though I didn't have shit, I had everything, which was complete validation, real love, but not this new modern, over coddling Bullshit. Like my mom, it was still a.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Belarus mom, but she honestly angel.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Except if you thought about being disrespectful to her. So I got super fortunate. I had all the love. You're the best. You're the fuck. You're a star. You're gonna be everything. I think that I wanna tell my mom, like, no, I wanna do this slap in the face. Like, it was perfect. So I had perfect mom and perfect environment. You can't be hungry when you're fed. I had a fend for myself from the get. I knew my parents were not buying me toys. It's just not part of the equation. We only cared about food and shelter. It was real rugged shit. And then outside, none of my friends had shit either. Everybody had nothing. Like, I fucking lived in like a neighborhood where like my Eric Godfrey, my best bud, he lived in like a ranch that was much more a trailer.

[Stage Foley]

This is in Jersey.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is in Jersey. Edison, New Jersey. 82. Okay, okay. Like. And by the way, like, every.

[Stage Foley]

That ain't laguna beach.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Every third day at Martin Luther King elementary school, it's 3:15 flagpole. Tyson versus fucking Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray versus Hagler. Like, big fights. You. I laugh how everyone's so disrespectful now on social media. Like, the thought of, like, if you see.

[Stage Foley]

Oh, yeah. You get smacked around, bro.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We fought constantly.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And everybody was bigger than me. And you had all cultures. I grew up so lucky in Martin Luther King elementary School. Black, Indian, Chinese, Asian American, white trash. Like, it was. It was perfect. So I never even thought about, like, I didn't grow up with all the kids being like me. Everybody was from all over the place. And then it was WWF 80s. So Nikolai Volkov. Everybody called me Nikolai Volkov.

[Stage Foley]

You know, I assume you had to take some heat for the Russian thing back then.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was actually the most heat I took was Russia in 82, shot down a commercial plane. It became like this crisis. Yeah. Everybody hated me. I was like, fuck.

[Stage Foley]

But you think they wouldn't you be like, boys, I got out. What do you mean? I'm on your side.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was. It was. It was that. So anyway, that was kind of the environment I was growing up in. And that led me to entrepreneurship. Yeah, right. It was like lemonade stands and shoveling. Like it snowed snow day. This is the best. All my buddies are like, let's fucking throw snowballs at each other's faces. I was like, fuck that. Let's all get shovels, ring doorbells and make five bucks. It was in me from. In the same way you got them.

[Kevin James Ryan]

All working for you guys know this.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's not confusing you today. You understand? The comedy thing was in you and then cultivated. In fact, I. In fact, some of the best compliments I've been given in my life, for me, are actually very successful comedians who like my content, who watch my keynotes and say to me, you do know that your keynote speeches have a comedic stand up, you know, context and style.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah, we've. We've used them for years. I swear to God. Literally. No, as far as, like, I remember Kevin turned me on. Yeah. Like, this guy gets it. And we can apply this to our comedy career as far as hustling and working and.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, well, it was. I mean, also, sense of humor is very valued in blue collar, poor neighborhoods. Whatever. That's like, that's what you have. You're breaking balls, you're. You're busting chops.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's like, it's also protecting.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, of course.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, the way I got my face not beat in a lot of times, people like having charisma and self and kind of making a joke. And to your point, this is what I love about, like, modern. I'm like, when bullying became everyone's radar 15 years ago, I'm like, this is bullying. Fuck. I was bullied every hour on the hour by my best friends. Like, that was all we did.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I know, I know. It's. What. So it's. That's. It's very much in. You speak the language of a comedian. It's very, very much seen for sure.

[Stage Foley]

All right, let's get into specifics. We'll start in Jersey. Okay. Okay. So what. What is it? No brothers and sisters? It's just you. Only child.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I was born in the old country. We come to America, right? And my sister is born pretty much right away.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And we called her Garbage Baby. This is not a joke. I couldn't wait to share this with you. My sister's nickname in our family is Garbage Baby. Because everything she had. Because we. Forget about 82. Edison, 83. We were already, like, on our way to upper. Excuse me. On our. We were in Lower Middle Class, 1978, 79, Vaynerchuk's in Queens. We were dirt fucking poor, okay? My sister's. What do you. What do you put a kid in a cabinet? My. This is real. My sister's bassinet in queens, Rego Park, 1979-80, was a car seat that my cousin Bobby found in the garbage put on A table. And she sat in it. That was where she sat.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Oh, shit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, it was like clothes. Like, we would take shit from garbage and give it to her in our house. She. So my sister Liz is three and a half years younger than me. Garbage baby. And then my brother was born in 87 while we were still in Edison, New Jersey. But I grew up with my sister.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha. Okay, so what's the house in Jersey when you guys land there?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So first we went from Queens to Dover, which was like a low.

[Stage Foley]

Delaware.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, Dover, New Jersey.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep. Dover, New Jersey.

[Stage Foley]

I don't know where that is.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's got to be. If it's worse than Dover, Delaware. That's a bad look. That's a bad look.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Dover, New Jersey was lower, lower middle class at the time.

[Stage Foley]

What's your dad doing at this point?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He's a stock boy in a liquor store.

[Stage Foley]

Okay. All right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He's making $2.25 an hour.

[Stage Foley]

Your mom's not working. She's taking care of you guys.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Old school. You know, this is how they. They didn't give a fuck. This whole. Everyone's like, no, you need a two income home.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, no, you just.

[Kevin James Ryan]

How my wife.

[Stage Foley]

That you live, you live.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You live less. Here's what the problem is in modern society. And I'm an entrepreneur. And I'm a capitalist. But we have become so materialistic.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We now think a necessity is a $9 coffee and taking an Uber a necessity suck.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You're crazy. I like that.

[Stage Foley]

This guy's nuts.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I like the luxuries. You know what I mean?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know what I mean?

[Stage Foley]

I like a cold, cold brewing and suv. I don't know what to tell you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But, brother, I think you guys both know this. Like, when I grew up, like, everyone had a used car.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Oh, yeah, sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, show me that now.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The poorest fucker, you know has Alexis.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I know.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We've completely got the script fucked up.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Anyway, yes, my mom stayed home because my. Because they were all. Don't forget they grew up in the 50s and 60s in the Soviet Union. That was like the 20s and 30s in America. So they're like, no, no. Like the wife, like the mom stays home and their moms. Greatest thing that happened to me.

[Stage Foley]

Right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so, no, my dad's making nothing. We're living.

[Stage Foley]

This is in Dover.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is now in Dover.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And then everybody quits the liquor store.

[Stage Foley]

Right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

On one day, there was only six people at this liquor store. And he becomes the de facto manager.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So now he's making a little bit more.

[Stage Foley]

And this was kind of just by twist of fate that he got into my dad.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, My dad had a great uncle who was born in the Soviet Union. His grandmother's brother.

[Stage Foley]

Uh huh.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

His grandmother's brother, yes. But he came to America in the 20s, okay, before the whole Soviet thing. And he made it big in America, okay. And so he owned a lot of real estate in Jersey and he owned a liquor store. He was going to take care of us when we came to America. When we came to America. When they let these Soviets out In the late 70s, you had to go to Italy for a couple of months to get your papers, right? And then come here, you know, some.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Of these Russians had to get the dust off you a little bit, you know what I mean?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They had to make sure you weren't a fucking spy.

[Stage Foley]

You know?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They had to make sure we weren't spies while we're in Italy. We get a fucking letter, the dude dies.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No shit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So now we're like, fuck, the sugar daddy's not there.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That sucks, dude. You're sitting there with your ticket to.

[Stage Foley]

America and it's trying to get back into Russia.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We really. And then we really fucked. Got unlucky because the economy collapsed. It was the Carter years. So my parents are like, we're going to fucking America. The streets are paved with gold. We get to America, My grandma gets mugged on the fourth day. I'm being dead serious. I'm being dead serious. And my.

[Kevin James Ryan]

How you doing? Go through that trash, lady.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I hate to do this because Today's my dad's 72nd birthday. Big shout out. Sasha Vaynerchuk.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Happy birthday.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That motherfucker wanted to go back. Really? Yep. I hate to do this to him. And he hates this story. And my mom loves to get him.

[Stage Foley]

This place stinks. I'm going home.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Think about that.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was so fucking rough. The first three months. He's like, fuck it, let's go back to suppression.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, that's crazy. Let's sneak back into fucking Russia.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So it's that bad. This is what's happened. We're in Dover, we're there for a year or two, and then what happens is there's this. I've been getting very nerdy. But fuck it, we're here. Yeah, my dad's in the liquor business. The liquor store. And something called deregulation happened in the 70s and 80s. A lot of the American liquor laws were still stuck.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Pennsylvania still kind of that way. So they have state stores.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

So it's loosening up a little bit. But.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But New Hampshire, Utah, Pennsylvania, still state stores. Everything was regulated mafia. You know, the prohibition, New Jersey goes deregulated. Here's what that meant. Prior to 1981, everybody who owned a liquor store had to sell a product at a certain markup. So you bought it for 10 bucks, and everybody had to sell it for at least 13 bucks or more. But because that was plenty of profit, they sold it at 13. Deregulation happens, and now you can sell that shit for $10.01. So it's good for the consumer. My dad catches that wave as the manager. He obviously was a good entrepreneur in his DNA. He teams up with some other small liquor stores. They start a co op, they start advertising in the Star Ledger at New Jersey's newspaper. And he starts to cook, and the business explodes.

[Stage Foley]

As the manager.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

As the manager. As the manager.

[Stage Foley]

Who's the owner?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The owner is the son of the great uncle. So, in essence, my dad's second cousin.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Whatever, right? That guy's a depo baby, right? He's like, fuck it. I don't like this. My rush, my long lost Russian relative starting to cook and make me even more money, okay? My dad's no idiot. He's like, yo, can I be a fucking partner? They make a deal. And now my dad owns a little bit of the store, okay? Store gets. Goes from 150,000 a year to a couple million a year, okay? He's able to take a little something now. We move to Edison. We got a fucking little townhouse, okay? We're lower middle class.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Welcome to America.

[Stage Foley]

Let's go, Kev. Let's talk about Ethos, baby.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Ethos.

[Stage Foley]

Talking about the online platform that makes getting life insurance fast and easy. You know what I'm talking about? Let's go. There's no complicated process, and it's 100% online. No medical exam required. You just answer a few health questions, go get a quote in as little as 10 minutes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, baby. Guys, if you don't know, life insurance is very important. It's very important to me now that I'm a new father.

[Stage Foley]

Don't leave him holding the bag.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I've created my family. I'm starting my family, and you got to take care of your family. Starting a family's completely changed my perspective on life insurance.

[Stage Foley]

Hopefully there's a little something there for.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Uncle Hank, and it's something. Everybody should be doing it. Listen, if. If I. If I kick the bucket, I say that, at least I know my family's taken care of.

[Stage Foley]

What about me?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Life. And listen, life insurance is more affordable. You also need life insurance. Life insurance is more affordable than you think. With Ethos, you can get a free coat and customize a rate that fits your budget quote. You can get no coats, no zero jackets. You can get up to $3 million in coverage. Some policies as low as $2 a day, billed monthly. Baby. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get a free', @ethos.com Ayg that's Ethos. E t h o s.com Ayg do it. Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

Camp. Let's talk about Bluechew.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Shout out to Bluechew.

[Stage Foley]

Let's talk about BluecheW. I'm on it right now. Look out. How you doing?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Knock, knock. Boner alert.

[Stage Foley]

Calling all you softies out there. Listen, everybody knows you get a little older, you put on a couple of pounds, the blood's not flowing away. It used to. So do yourself a favor. Get some Blue Chew when you're gonna spark up some action with the lady or whoever you're with.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Listen, you don't have to be old and you don't have to be.

[Stage Foley]

You don't.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You don't have to be old. You don't have to be overweight. You don't have to be bald. You don't have to have a, you know, whatever. That's small wiener, but it helps. Listen, even if you're a stud, put a little, you know, a little extra.

[Stage Foley]

Kick in there when they're swinging.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Send her to the moon.

[Stage Foley]

Talk about a knockout punch.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What are we doing here? What are we living for? Sure. Get really hard and have sex rock. Guys, this isn't just about performance. It's about legacy. Or third legacy.

[Stage Foley]

Give her telling the other girls what's going on.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Give her the. Give her group chat. Something to talk about, which. Listen, I've been on the bad end of that, I'm sure.

[Stage Foley]

Man. It's a good personality.

[Kevin James Ryan]

We have a special deal for our listeners. As always, get Your first month. First month of BlueChew for free. Just use the promo code garbage at checkout and pay five bucks for shipping. That's it. Join BlueChews mission to upgrade humanity one thrust at a time. Head to BlueChew.com for details and safety info. And thanks to BlueChew for sponsoring the podcast. We love you. Go get hard.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, sir.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Discover your [e-mail] Back to the show.

[Stage Foley]

All right, so what, does he open up a place in Edison?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nope, we live in Edison. The stores in Clark. Fifteen minutes off the turnpike.

[Stage Foley]

Okay?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You can literally see it if you're going down the turnpike. And that's how he cooks. From 1980 to about 1989.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And that's where I live. My Kevin Arnold.

[Stage Foley]

Right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, Wonder Years. Like fucking out of a fucking movie. Stranger Things. Everything I'm looking at here, I can. By the time I'm. Now we're poor at 5, but at 9, I can buy a Skeletor.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sick.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, Like. Like I'm starting to live. I'm American.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's the age you really get it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I know. What the fuck? Rambo now. American Rambo, Hulk Hogan, Rocky. Fuck you, Drago. Like I'm fucking in it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Uh huh.

[Stage Foley]

It's called assimilation, baby. Let's go.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Full assimilation, right? And I'm a fucking Jersey boy. Become a Jets fan. Play nerd football. Fucking wiffle ball. Fucking, you know, spin the bottle in sixth grade. All the.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All the.

[Stage Foley]

I dig it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But we start going from low. This is an epiphany my siblings and I had recently. We're like, wait a minute. We went from lower middle class to middle class. And then later when I got involved in the business and started blowing up quickly to upper middle class quickly to wealthy. But we still live. Like I went on. I went on two family vacations my whole life.

[Stage Foley]

That's what we wanted.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where were they?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What were they and when? First one was 1986.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay, so you've been here eight, ten years?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. My dad doesn't even go.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Does he go to work? You gotta work the store. You know what I mean?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's exactly. I can't go. I'm working in the store.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And no credit card. My mom takes cash. We run out of it. By the way, we go to Orlando.

[Stage Foley]

Nice.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Disney World and stay in the Holiday Inn.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Off campus, baby. That's how you do it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So off. Yeah. We didn't even know where the fuck campus was.

[Stage Foley]

You just flew down there, I assume.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Flew down there. My mom threw up. She gets motion sickness. I'm fucking taking care of my sister, you know, that's being an immigrant first child, man. You're a fucking man.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure, at 10.

[Stage Foley]

How's your mom's English?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Amazing.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like both of them, you know, train, you know this. Both my parents have heavy Russian accents, but they speak fucking English.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So they're going backwards.

[Stage Foley]

All right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

There's a big shout out to my parents.

[Stage Foley]

So you're not running the show on the vacation.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Can I do a PSA real quick, please. Mom, dad, can you stop watching fucking Russian tv? I call you now and you start talking Russian instead of English, you're going backwards. It's fucking with me, dad. You're 72 now. Mommy just turned 70. I'm starting to get worried. You're starting to like stop going fucking backwards.

[Stage Foley]

That's their show.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They like it back to the back.

[Stage Foley]

So you weren't running point that like on, on the vacation like that your mom, your mom was speaking English and handle all that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, yeah. By this point, you know, listen, one of the great things about, like if you two both move to India right now and forget about like the crazy, the AirPods that translate, that just got announced like you, what are you gonna do? Be a mute? Like, you learn the language right and kids learn it fast.

[Stage Foley]

I'm hop on a plane and head back to jfk. That's what I'm gonna do.

[Kevin James Ryan]

At least stop in Italy before I come back. Wow. Okay. Huh? Sorry.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Please.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What? Was your mom. Your mom was, Was your mom a good cook? I assume she was cooking most of the meals. You're not eating out. You're not.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you remember Eddie Murphy's bit where he talked about like, mom, I want McDonald's. And she made like the fucking like, do you know this bit? It was a big stand up that. I don't remember if it was raw or the other one, like where she's like. And my mom's like, I'll make you McDonald's and I'll make. But she's like, put onion and egg and my house was crazy. My mom literally lived the 1940s housewife life. Like, kids outside start to cook lunch. Yeah, Kids back in, do laundry, clean the house, lunch out, start cook, making dinner all from scratch. I remember my mom, my mom tells this great story of the neighbor ordering out an Italian sub and her and like the Russian aunts being like these American women looking through the window fucking ordering sandwiches for dinner. Are you fucking kidding? Like, you know, like, it was such immigrant shit.

[Stage Foley]

No kidding.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But my mom was not a passionate cook. My grandma, my mom's, my dad's, mom would come on my mom's birthday every year. She lived in Queens her whole life. When we immigrated, she would come to visit us on my mom's birthday, May 3rd. And she stayed with us until my dad's birthday, September 10th.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So I grew up with my grandma too. She was a more passionate cook. So she also chopped it up, the.

[Stage Foley]

Borscht, stuff like that, knocking that stuff real weird.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Shit like cow tongue.

[Stage Foley]

All right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, kids would come over pomegranates in the 80s. My American friends were like, it's tough.

[Kevin James Ryan]

To show a kid from Martin Luther King elementary School who thought some fucking cows.

[Stage Foley]

Well, granted, it's like alien food.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. People, this is the era of, like, the worst food, like, Wonder Bread and bologna and, like, fucking. And McDonald's was like. And Red Lobster was, like three star Michelin. And, like, I mean, literally, this is no bullshit. I wore a suit, a $10 Kmart. Kmart suit to the Red Lobster in Woodbridge, New Jersey, in the Toys R Us shopping center. Like a gentleman for my 10th birthday.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Let's go, dude.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Because that's how bougie Red Lobster was for us in 1985.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, that's great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Just. Just. I need you. Hold on, boys.

[Stage Foley]

We get it. We get it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I wore a $10 blue suit to fucking Red Lobster.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I respect it, baby.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So this is why.

[Stage Foley]

Vaynerchuk, party of 45, please.

[Kevin James Ryan]

This is.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is literally why everything for me is gratitude.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I'm completely unaffected. Because all this bougie shit I do now, it's just so ingrained who the fuck I actually am, and it's all this shit.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, no, I understand. Because when you start with, you know. You know, we started making a couple of bucks, we started spending it, and you're like, the hell this.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't need it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You start realizing, I don't need any of this. Of course, it's back to, like, black T shirts and, you know, Levi's blue.

[Stage Foley]

I haven't quite crashed that concept yet.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're spending for others.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're impressing. You're trying to impress the opposite sex. Your boys, the people that made fun of you. The people that told you you couldn't. Whether it's your parents or your boys.

[Kevin James Ryan]

He gets me.

[Stage Foley]

What was the snacks? Was there any type of Americanization as far as culinary stuff in the house?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Fast. Even though we had the hardcore borscht and fucking cottage cheese and fucking. We fucking Russians eat potatoes. Like it's fucking potatoes and all this shit. No, we were fully Americanized into junk food pretty quickly. Like the amount of Coca Cola that I consumed, okay, from 1983 to 2000.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Talk about unregulated.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Baby, here's a brain.

[Stage Foley]

Get that three liter in you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let me give you the brain fuck of Russian warm.

[Stage Foley]

Really?

[Kevin James Ryan]

The Europeans? Everybody else does that. The warm drinks.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, no, let me give it to you hardcore.

[Stage Foley]

What?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Coca Cola, two liter bottle, warm on my nightstand. Wake you wake up and you're parched. Swig.

[Stage Foley]

How old are you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nine.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's like hitting smelling salts.

[Stage Foley]

What are you, a divorce cop?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's crazy. Guys, when I tell you that was cool.

[Stage Foley]

Your mom let that fly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We thought that was the norm. That's why I would argue that Coke. My sister's gonna laugh her fucking tits off from this show. We used Coca Cola. Like Listerine.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, like Listerine. It does. It's got. The bubbles will give you a little.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Even though we ate all private label, poor shit. Soda was Coke because my dad had the liquor store and he brought it from the store. Got it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Go right to the plug.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So we were. We were. We were fucking Upper east side on the soda. And then our chips were not Doritos.

[Stage Foley]

That's okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They were Smorritos.

[Kevin James Ryan]

But.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But the. The beverages were proper.

[Stage Foley]

What were you doing as far as lunch to school? You weren't rolling in with a bowl of Borscht to school, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, no. Lunch at school was always back. So funny. MLK Grammar school, not middle school was not paid. Everything was, like, given to you. So I just ate. It was the lunch. We didn't bring lunch. It was good because a lot. Listen, we were fucking poor. A lot of the kids in MLK were even on the other side of the tracks. The kids that were beating everybody up for their money, those fuckers. I'm so glad everybody got lunch because I don't know what the fuck those kids would have come with.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know. So, no, that was the lunch scene was like, you know, a fucking pizza that probably gave us all cancer.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[Kevin James Ryan]

It's good pizza, though.

[Stage Foley]

Good pizza.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You guys grow. Did you drink milk with dinner growing up at all or strictly. So no milk. No milk.

[Stage Foley]

No milk. No milk in the house.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Milk in the house. Strictly for cereal. Cereal was religion. My mom's one splurge was Frosted Flakes. She was addicted. She was fucking addicted.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Woman after my own heart.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And it was Kellogg's. We didn't fuck around with like, Shoprite Frosted. Like she.

[Stage Foley]

Some things you go name brand.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm sorry. Not frosted corn. My bad. The fucking rooster.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Kellogg's.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Kellogg's Corn Flakes was my mom's big splurge for her milk was only for cereal and it was whole milk. And don't around with this.

[Stage Foley]

I like it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What was the family car growing up?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The son of the guy who was going to take care of us had a sister, right? Aunt Arlene.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Arlene, this is already A dirt bag story. No, no. What was your car? Well, Arlene used to have a Toyota.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're gonna die right now. This is actually. They were bougie. They were rich as. At least by the standards back then. Arlene got my dad a Toyo, a white Toyota. That was a used car. And that was our first car. My dad didn't know that. You'd have put gas. Ran out of gas the first time. Literally. Like, literally. I mean, bro, we were Russian immigrants.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

Wait, there was no car. You didn't guys have a car in the Soviet Union?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Of course not.

[Stage Foley]

No. No car.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Nobody had whips over there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. You literally. My. My dad and mom walk to work. I was like, how far was it? They're like, hour and a half.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. It's crazy.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Just to remind you, you see Rocky 4, remember when he trained?

[Stage Foley]

Yeah. With the snow.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

With the snow, bro.

[Stage Foley]

And the guys in the Mercedes. Why do you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Why do you think? Like, I'm not scared of anyone.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You think an American can beat me?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Like, not with that attitude, baby.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know what I mean? Like, and I'm talking not this new version American that we all make fun of.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. I'm talking, like, 80s American.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

An 80s American.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Didn't scare me. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like. And so, no, we didn't know that shit.

[Kevin James Ryan]

So Toyota.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And then. And then when we got into. Dad started getting liquor store cooking. I remember my mom's first car was a. Was a. A Topaz.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Mercury Topaz. Is that right?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

1986 Mercury Topaz.

[Stage Foley]

Put that in.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Put that in.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yep.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Mercury. Yeah. 19, early 90s Mercury topaz.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So that's what we had. That was like. And that, by the way, that Mercury Topaz was like a fucking Ferrari.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We were like, holy shit. A. Holy shit. Mom's got a car. That was first. Mom's got a car. Not just dad, because when dad just had the car, we couldn't go anywhere.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Stuck.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're stuck.

[Stage Foley]

He's at work.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The good thing was I went outside.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, you leave. You just leave.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My fucking mother had no clue where the fuck I was from the time I was six.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No clue. Would open the door and be like. Kids, like, would, like, scream. Some sort of, like, tribal.

[Kevin James Ryan]

And you would always know your mom or dad's call or whistle compared to someone else's. You're like, that's Gary's dad. He's.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Plus, it was community fucking work.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My mom would be like. And then, like, another friend's mom would hear it because we were further away, and she'd be like. Like, you know, like. It was my. My friend Robbie.

[Stage Foley]

Good time, wasn't it, bro?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was a bro. My best friend, Robbie Turnick, his mom smacked me in the face for doing something wrong. I remember in 84.

[Stage Foley]

And it was like Coca Cola warm.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was like, of course. Like, sorry, Ms. Turnick.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah, she was my mom, too.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so was Denise, my sister's best friend, Ms. Lori. She was my. Everyone was your mom.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We don't have that shit anymore.

[Stage Foley]

Do that now. You get sued or something?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Of course.

[Stage Foley]

All right, let's go to high school. How were the grades? And any. Any extracurriculars, any sports, anything like that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So let me give you the story. We then move, Okay. I live in Edison in this blue collar, kind of like, very good urban kind of culture vibe up until eighth grade. And then we move to Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I know Hunterdon. Yeah, okay, Right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's up by Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Allentown, like the sticks kind of a little bit. Parts of it are still. Is even now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When we moved there in 89. Here is the quintessential Gary Vee moving in 89 story. I go into eighth grade. First of all, I walk in. Big moment in my career. I look like you, too, when I was a kid. Gorgeous, gorgeous, good face, charisma out my dick, right? I walk into eighth grade. Immediately, second day, Stacy Johnson's in love. Hottest girl in the school.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I'm fucking like, no shit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It was.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You're the most American guy I know, man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bro ain't killing it. 8th grade was everything okay. Like, I walk it. Because these are stick.

[Kevin James Ryan]

It's a pivotal, pivotal age.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm walking in saying, you guys know Run dmc? They're like, what? They're like, you hunt. I'm like, what the fuck is hunt? Like, you know, seventh day that I'm in eighth grade, walking in, like, seventh grade day, seventh. Literally the fucking Tuesday of the second week, I walk in and I'm like, the fuck is going on? I get on the bus, I'm like, what the fuck's going on? I walk into home. What the fuck is going on? Locker. What the fuck is going on? There's not a fucking dude in the school. First day of hunting season. I literally walk in the homeroom. Mr. G. My math teacher goes, what the fuck are you doing here? I'm like. And my brain. I hate school at this point. I'm already a DNF student. I'm like, holy. This is literally what happened? I go, holy fuck. These, these country kids, dudes don't go to school every day.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, I was so hyped.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I was so hyped. Like, wait, do we get like every seventh day off or something? Cause we're the men. They go. He goes, it's the first day of.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Hunting season, deer season or something. Probably, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm so pissed we didn't move a year earlier. The year earlier, they banned rifles in my middle school. Literally, if I came a year earlier, literally, kids were coming to school with a fucking rifle, putting seventh graders into their locker.

[Stage Foley]

That's not true.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So this is now where I'm growing up. So how is.

[Stage Foley]

Why, why, why are we out there?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My dad missed the old country land thing, okay? So he found 28 acres for like 4 bucks in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey.

[Stage Foley]

Where's he humping it to? To go to the liquor store.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He's driving 45 fucking minutes every day to go to the liquor store.

[Stage Foley]

The same one.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Now he has a small store of his own in Springfield, New Jersey.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is where I cook and be. Start my career.

[Stage Foley]

Got you. Springfield, Ginger.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So that's eighth grade, I go into high school. Here are the big things that happen in High School. 8th grade, greatest year of my life. Stacy Johnson makes me a man. 9th grade, worst year of my life.

[Stage Foley]

Wait, you mean makes you a man makes you a man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, I didn't have sex, but like hooking up, kissing the hottest girl in school is a monster fucking moment.

[Stage Foley]

I'm with you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Feeling a booby in eighth grade is big in the eighth grade.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Feeling a booby now is pretty good too.

[Stage Foley]

I don't know, I'm still waiting.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Ninth grade, hard transition. On the other side of the pillow, big thing happens. I continue to not grow.

[Stage Foley]

Okay?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I walk into freshman year of high school. Out there, out there, woods, country boys. First kid I see looks like you look like right now. Full beard, good looking, big fucking dude. By the way, his name was Sal. Combat boots, jeans, fucking ripped like bosworth.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Fucking 6 foot 2, 240. All right, I walk in 411 face of a 6 year old, fucking 83 pounds, wet, tough dude.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha, girls.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Stacy Johnson ready, immediately starts dating a senior. I'm at a rotation fuck. And no problem, by the way. I didn't give a fuck. I mean, obviously the girl thing you kind of always want, but I didn't really give a fuck because I'm too business. I'm cooking with baseball cards. I'm making three, four hundred dollars a weekend. Selling cards.

[Stage Foley]

Really? You're moving?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm moving now. Back then, they didn't give a fuck. Nobody gave a fuck. I was making real money.

[Stage Foley]

Right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nobody gave off, in fact, detriment. Who. That's weird.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What was your. You know, how much cash did you think you had when you were in, like, you know, high school?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I had thousands of dollars in my pocket at all times.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's awesome.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But you, I got to start doing. But you have to understand, that was like having millions.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

Oh, dude, when I have a millions.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Now, when I had a wallet with one, I had $1,000 in cash in my pocket in high school. Every day of my high school life. That's insane.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That is dirt bag shit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I respect 1989, and I'm telling you, it was as if I had a billion. But here's what's crazy. Nobody gave a fuck.

[Stage Foley]

No smoking weed.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Nothing like that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. My mom was so Nancy Reagan out. As I sit here today with you. I've never done a drug.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good for you.

[Stage Foley]

That would have been gone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What's crazy, though, is nobody gave a fuck. This entrepreneur business thing wasn't cool. It was. I got D's and F's, and I was a dummy and I was gonna be a loser. No bullshit. And I wasn't great at sports. I played tennis. I was a good hacker. But, like, I wasn't big. I wasn't good at basketball or football, lacrosse or baseball. And on top of all that, if that wasn't enough adversity, even the thing I was great at, today I'd be fucking hooking up with senior girls.

[Stage Foley]

Cash.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

8Th grader with fucking a thousand. Which.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Today's comp, It'd probably be 15 grand.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. Today's comp is 30k. 8th, 9th grade, me, senior girlfriend with 30k. Back then, nothing.

[Kevin James Ryan]

He's doing it 30k today. You know, that's conservatively put.

[Stage Foley]

You hear that, Stacy? You blew it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, by the way, the fucking DMs, when that started becoming a thing for all the girls along the way. But here's what's crazy. On top of all that adversity, Sasha enters the picture. I didn't talk to my dad yet. Okay, I'm saying this nice and slow for the kids in the back. I don't think I talked to my dad yet. He literally slept in the same house as me my whole childhood. But he woke up before I did and came home after I went to sleep. He worked seven days a week. He had two days off a year. Christmas and New Year's and he slept the entire day. I do not believe I had talked to my father yet at the age of 14.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He comes in, he goes, you're going to work. Drago.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Ivan Drago walks, start chasing chickens.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And by the way, if you saw my dad, he's got a crazy thing. His natural eyebrows are mean like the, like the trigger. He walks in, he goes, you go.

[Stage Foley]

To work now, what year is this?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

89. I'm 14.

[Stage Foley]

So you're not finishing school?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm working on the weekends and spring break and summer vacations.

[Stage Foley]

That's it. Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm driving 45 minutes with my dad still not talking. I'm talking like this. I talk 24, 7. This motherfucker doesn't talk.

[Stage Foley]

Kid, we got to talk about Lucy.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Who don't love a good package of Lucy showing up?

[Stage Foley]

I mean, at this point, everybody knows about Lucy. We're going to tell you again, of course. Lucy is 100% pure nicotine. Always tobacco free. Them Lucy breakers are nicotine pouches with a little extra squirt in them. You know what I'm talking about? A little surprise. Little kick in the pants, little pouch in the capsule. It's got a little bit of flavor, a little bit of hydration. Who's like a little hydration? Hydration. When you, when you, when you got a little. When you got a little finger going in there.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You know what I'm saying, buddy? You gotta stay hydrated out in these streets.

[Stage Foley]

What's wrong with it?

[Kevin James Ryan]

And Lucy's taking. Lucy's checking. You're sick.

[Stage Foley]

Fantastic. Flavors. Don't get the stuff you get at the, at the, at the yard sale or at the gas station. Get it delivered right to your door. Lucy 100%. Fantastic. Do yourself a favor, Lucy. Lucy breakers.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, listen, they've sent, they've been nice enough. They send us some.

[Stage Foley]

We gotta re up. By the way, we're getting.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Lou, listen, when they. That is one thing. When the Lucy package shows up to Tootie's house, it's like the raccoons are.

[Stage Foley]

The trash ripping through it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No, it's fantastic. Everybody loves it. And here comes the fine print. First of all, level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to Lucy Co Garbage. Use the promo code garbage to get 20% off your first order. Lucy has a 30 day refund policy. If you change your mind again, that's Lucy Co. Use the code garbage, you get 20% off. And here's the fine print, baby. Lucy products are only for adults. Of Legal age and in every order is age verified. Warning. This product contains nicotine and nicotine is addictive chemical. Now back to the show.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Mike and Alyssa are always trying to outdo each other. When Alyssa got a small water bottle, Mike showed up with a 4 liter jug. When Mike started gardening, Alyssa started beekeeping.

[Stage Foley]

Oh, come on.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They called a truce for their holiday and used Expedia trip planner to collaborate on all the details of their trip. Once there, Mike still did more laps around the pool.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Whatever.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You were made to outdo your holidays. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel.

[Stage Foley]

So a high school social life gone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I did not. I love when I run into my high school friends or when they leave comments about me like how hard I've always worked. Nobody saw me in high school do a social thing until spring break of senior year when I was like, fuck, there's only like eight weeks to go. Let me go have a little fun. It was that fucking psychotic. And I worked child labor. Fucking 8:00am to 9:00pm Making ice in the basement, bagging it, putting up shelves. Brother, when I walked in here and looked at your tutties little thing. That's like my home. I stocked the fuck out of that thing. My whole life. I was in the fucking cooler in the backs. I would literally go into a cooler and work seven straight out. No lunch, six, seven hours fucking freezing my dick off. Fucking. You would come in and buy a six pack of Bud Light. I had to be on the behind the scenes hand comes through like, all right, what? You know, I laughed the other day. Somebody tried to troll me, like, bro, have you ever even worked fucking manual labor thinking I'm some fucking, you know, country club kid. You know, fuck you're talking to.

[Stage Foley]

I fucking Gary Vee the Iceman.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I had a new name.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I had a fucking bad back from. I literally my back, my bad back in high school, my back went out in senior of high school, went out. I crawled in my house because I fucking completely fucked up. In hindsight, what is your Ql like? So anyway, I worked every weekend and two bucks an hour. Just like my dad did. It fucking sucked. Cause I was making real. In sixth grade, I started making money selling baseball cards. I moved to the sticks.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Now you gotta go make two bucks an hour.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

In sixth grade, I'm fucking hustling hustlers. Cause Edison's got fucking pimps and fucking like hustlers. I moved to the sticks. These country boys had no shot. I took all their money.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, all of it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like all of it. Whatever. The placebo.

[Stage Foley]

Rookie card. Yeah. I could let that go for, I don't know, two grand.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. That's Brother Sabo. Eric Davis. Mike Greenwell. Pete fucking Incabilia. Corey Snyder. I was cooking these country boys.

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And now I'm working liquor store. That was kind of what it was.

[Stage Foley]

Okay, let's get into now a little bit because we want to find out some of your opinions on. On garbage behavior and all that kind of stuff. Let's. Let's just get into the house real quick. What are you sleeping on these days? King. King size bed.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, Matt, whatever. The big is king. The big one.

[Kevin James Ryan]

California, Alaska. King I think is even. But you got a king size bed. Not in a queen.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bigger.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Bigger. The biggest one.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you out of your mind?

[Stage Foley]

Where are we resting our head though? We're in New York.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We're in New York. We're in New York City.

[Stage Foley]

Any other properties around? Little vacation home. This, that, the other thing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The ex wife's got them all gentlemen.

[Stage Foley]

Fair enough. But we had them.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We had them for a minute. We earned them. We paid for them. I own them.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's all that matters. Yeah. Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

All right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay. What. What. What brand luggage do you have?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No fucking clue.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You have no clue.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A travel pro. That fucking like bullshit one with the weird logo. I don't have the fancy shit.

[Stage Foley]

You're flying up front on the plane these days.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Of course. Of course.

[Stage Foley]

You bring any food on the plane with you? Would you bring like, you know, snacks or whatever?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, I don't give a fuck. But my wife Mona is an outrageous clean eater. She brings like. She's. Do you know that dude that brings coconuts?

[Stage Foley]

Yes. Do you know about this dude, Paul Saldino? That's very good Carnivore md, by the way.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Big shout out to him. He has a fucking boy on him, by the way.

[Stage Foley]

He.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He has a beef jerky. Yeah, I eat the fuck out of that.

[Stage Foley]

It's good.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I eat the fuck out of that anyway. No, I don't give a fuck.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Do you have a airline that you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Prefer all of that? I fly so much all of them.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Gotcha. Okay. Huh?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Private. Private's good too.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

So I hear you peeing in the shower.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Brush your teeth in there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes. But not. But not predominantly. Okay, meaning like I'll brush my teeth in the sink 82.7% of the time.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The rest is shower.

[Kevin James Ryan]

So it lives in the medicine cabinet.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. But sometimes I get weird and just like, I think it's fun. I think it's better to do it in the shower.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You're not wrong.

[Stage Foley]

How many pillows are on the bed when we go to sleep? What are we sleeping like?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I have two.

[Stage Foley]

Two behind you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Any turn to the side. Cuddle pillow. One between the legs. Nothing like that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Occasionally I'll do that. Call that 1 to 3% of the time. I'll take one of the two and put it there.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Always on the side. But I'm deeply in love. Like me and Mona are one unit.

[Stage Foley]

When we sleep, snuggle and go to sleep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Snuggle.

[Stage Foley]

Very nice.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Full. Like every minute. I would. I'm pretty positive we are touching at every minute of our full sleep.

[Stage Foley]

Very sweet. TV in the room?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

TV on when you go to bed.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

She likes it. She's starting to get off of it. She's also so crazy clean that I have to shut off all the power in the bedroom and the wifi before we go to sleep.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's what.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't have a single scented item in our home.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Whoa.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My deodorant. When she transferred me to this new deodorant three years ago, I smelled like a fucking maniac for the first week. And then my body completely adjusted. There's not a scent branch basics for all our shit. There's not a scent in my home.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Whoa.

[Stage Foley]

No cologne, no nothing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A scent.

[Stage Foley]

Nothing. Damn.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What's the toothpaste?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Non scented.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yikes. Forget about toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant not being scented or laundry. Fucking thing is crazy. That's why she's a clean machine.

[Stage Foley]

You know what Saldino uses in the wash?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No clue.

[Stage Foley]

Vinegar.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. Like she's of that world.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They're homies.

[Stage Foley]

That's hardcore.

[Kevin James Ryan]

It's pretty cool. Will you dance at a wedding?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Poorly.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Poorly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I am typical white man dancer. Where you go I do the crab like I.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What the crap?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I will at a wedding.

[Kevin James Ryan]

This guy is. This guy is from the USSR.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I will dominate.

[Stage Foley]

Talk about a kid from the 80s. Let's go.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Crap.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Stage Foley]

As soon as that Rob base hits.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You don't know what to do.

[Stage Foley]

Let's say you do more Twisted Sister. I'm with you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When we get into. We're not gonna take it anymore.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You start losing it.

[Stage Foley]

All right, let's say you do go to a wedding. You know, cousin, whatever. Young cousin or whatever. Just out of curiosity, what are we talking about in the envelope from What's a gift? What do you think?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

2 to 5k? Whoa.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What that's great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that good?

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's a really good answer. Okay good. That's a really good answer. If you were gonna say like a hundred bucks. I was gonna have.

[Stage Foley]

They gotta learn.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I was gonna have to yell at you in public. I wasn't gonna like that. Some people.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that. Is that. Where does that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't know about this.

[Stage Foley]

That's the most like you. That's the most we've ever heard.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's what I'm so. Oh, that's the most.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Tim Dillon.

[Stage Foley]

Well, Timmy D. Tim's lying.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Tim's.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I know Tim well.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Tim is lying.

[Stage Foley]

No but that was Timmy D. That was a specific. That was specific.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. Okay. No. A thousand. Anything over a guy like you because that's going. That's going through. Everybody's going. Gary Vee was at your wedding. What he give you? Everyone's asking that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know what? I know that. Which is probably why I'm doing anything over a thousand. I don't need to fuck up my reputation.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Anything over a thousand is great.

[Stage Foley]

Is there a favorite frozen pizza that you have?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't eat frozen pizza.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Can't. Can't even have fucking sense in a house. What's the car now? What's the day to day car now.

[Stage Foley]

Talk to us. We want to hear it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

It's all celebrated.

[Stage Foley]

Everybody wants to laugh.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Full time driver.

[Kevin James Ryan]

My fuck.

[Stage Foley]

Get the fuck out of here now.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I got a question about that. Do you own the car you bought?

[Stage Foley]

I didn't know that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What's the car? Escalade.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What is that? What is it? Train. What the is I'll be driving Tahoe.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Driver named. It's nice.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. Also slash protect.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Police force. Like there's a lot I didn't think.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Obviously. Got some Avi's. Got some meat on.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Choke you the out. Damn.

[Stage Foley]

I didn't know you had it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let me break this.

[Stage Foley]

I didn't know Full time driver.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let me tell you something. I'll tell you this though.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You got 30 grand on you right now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Full time Driver is actually stunningly I would argue people of wealth. That should be first for sure. Cuz time is everything. Especially in New York City. Like I got fucked up today. I was a few minutes late. I apologize. I'm pissed about that shit. Thank God I wasn't like I was a couple years ago. Like I've been on Driver for a long time now. I'd rather do Driver than get a fucking painting or a fucking watch. It's. It's. It's all utilitarian. It's time.

[Stage Foley]

Do you have any of that shit? Do you have like a nice expensive watch? Nothing. You got nice suits. Anything like that?

[Kevin James Ryan]

What brand T shirt is that? You don't even know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Damn.

[Kevin James Ryan]

He's rocking a Mac Weldon.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that good?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not like. I mean it's. Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

The Brooks Brothers or something like that. You rocking a Mac Weldon.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Man, if you told me to tell you one thing about Mac. I don't know if this is.

[Kevin James Ryan]

They're a spot. They'll probably sponsored you at some point.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Got it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, they're like a big. I think we. They've. We've. They've sponsored the pod.

[Stage Foley]

What do you have that like what are you doing after this? You're not just going home and kicking it or nothing like that, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, it's.

[Kevin James Ryan]

This guy hasn't relaxed since 89.

[Stage Foley]

Dude.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What the. He's talking about?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Holy. I work for. Sure you guys know this. It's my hobby. Yeah, I love to work.

[Stage Foley]

Can you whistle?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Can you any. Any. Can any double jointed or anything like that?

[Kevin James Ryan]

You saw the crab.

[Stage Foley]

That's true. I did.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

See, I have this.

[Stage Foley]

All right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I can't do that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Show me.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I can't do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Don't be scared.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's literally me trying.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, you have it. But do you have this?

[Stage Foley]

God damn.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn. I ain't got that.

[Stage Foley]

Now we know what Stacy saw.

[Kevin James Ryan]

If you had to. Pizza Hut or Domino's?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Pizza Hut.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Gentlemen. Okay.

[Stage Foley]

What do you think about the deviled egg into it?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Gentlemen. Have you ever bought used tires for a car?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Wow.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My first car that I bought was a 1976 Monte Carlo with a massive dent in it. For $680 at a garage sale.

[Stage Foley]

I know this is gonna be.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, I change the tires all the time. I'd flat tire every day.

[Stage Foley]

I know this is gonna be. No, but you ever have a slip and slide?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I did.

[Stage Foley]

Really?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But not the real one.

[Stage Foley]

Of course. You guys made it, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The garbage bags.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Slip and slide was our life in the 80s. It was major. The sprinkler. A sprinkler in 1984 in Jersey sure is like cocaine.

[Stage Foley]

It was like Dorney Park.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. It was like fucking Dorney Park. Well said.

[Stage Foley]

Did you ever own a super soaked poker?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Never get your hands on one?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. And I. I was a little old for that.

[Stage Foley]

And then.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Honestly, that was way too expensive.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure. Will you. Will you now? Or dude sneak snacks into a movie theater? No, no.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I Think it's. I think. I think that's disrespectful.

[Kevin James Ryan]

God damn. Gentlemen. Look at that, huh?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm willing to go past my time because I like this thing.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You got two minutes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I like this thing.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Have you ever bought the fuck floor model of an appliance or a tv?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Do you own an electric carving knife?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

How do you feel about the rotisserie chicken?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I eat the shit out of those.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good for you. What's a vacation look like now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Beach doing nothing. Nothing. I 24 7, 365. So ideal vacation is fucking doing nothing but laying by sand and water, listening to music, eating three times a day because I eat once a day. Like that is a vacation for me.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good for you.

[Stage Foley]

How many days will we be doing that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Now? Now I can. No, I can do I. You know what's wild? Even though I'm a psycho and would be like coming up with ideas in the sand, I can do it. I can't do it when the world is on. So I have 3,000 employees. I have seven different companies. I have 3,000 employees. Sleep at night. The fuck. This is the funniest part about my brand. Everybody thinks I'm like Gary Vee, the motivational speaker. I'm the active CEO of the largest advertising agency that has been built in the last 30 years. I have 2,000 employees around the world, you know, on that. And then I have a sports agency and Vee friends and all this crazy shit. So I can't rest and vacation if it's a normal work week. But if stuff's happening late August when everyone checks the fuck out because America got soft.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Christmas turn into Europeans all shut down in August. I hate it. I mean, all right, you know, I'm pretty.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, no, no. You guys can't be done.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You got notes and have you ever used the squeegee at a gas station to clean anything but the windshield of your car? Like, have you ever done the doors or the tires?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Favorite flavor of Gatorade?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The orange.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Not bad.

[Stage Foley]

Butter on the counter. Butter in the refrigerator at the house counter. Counter.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

European.

[Kevin James Ryan]

European.

[Stage Foley]

Very nice. Mayonnaise, I need you. My Hellman's Miracle Whip. Maybe not now, but as.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

As a younger man, mayonnaise was. I'm such a mustard guy. Russian. I would use mustard over mayonnaise and ketchup in almost every environment. Even as a kid, we were more. We were more Hellmann's in the family.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

There was a Russian salad that my mom really used, obviously. First private label and then it was Hellman's. As we got into the middle class that we weren't. That was where we were.

[Stage Foley]

She used the mayonnaise and a salad dressing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. It was like a mayonnaise and a salad dressing.

[Stage Foley]

I dated a Polish girl. Her mom did the same thing. It's actually pretty banging.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The Polish girl or the mayonnaise? Those Polish girls are nice.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Do you. Do you do still do soda now or.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, not really.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Not really.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A little Poppy.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, Lacroix gives me a little.

[Stage Foley]

How's the steak cooked?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Medium rare.

[Stage Foley]

Medium rare with.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is how I order it. Hey. Can I have a medium rare? But can you give me an element of Pittsburgh? Black and blue on the outside.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Check.

[Stage Foley]

Love that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I love that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Gentleman. He's a gentleman.

[Stage Foley]

Ribeyes do that the best.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I agree.

[Kevin James Ryan]

In what world are you not picking up a check? Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

None. My dad.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Really?

[Stage Foley]

Really.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He won't let me.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good for fucking him. Dude.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Only place in my life I think I have picked up every check, by the way. Back to who I was as a kid. I picked up every check since I was 13.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. Except fucking had that cash on you. Dude. What the fuck?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Except for my father.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Really.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I wouldn't. I wouldn't even consider it because he would deem it disrespectful if I went for the check.

[Stage Foley]

Understand? Very Tony Soprano of him. I respect that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Huh?

[Stage Foley]

Do you bring any leftovers home from the restaurant?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Stage Foley]

Never.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Not me.

[Stage Foley]

Never.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good fan.

[Stage Foley]

This guy is fucking bulletproof. I mean, any fireworks at the house right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You mean firearms?

[Stage Foley]

No. No fireworks.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like fireworks?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah. Any firearms?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What TV show you watching? Any. Any. Any.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What you think he's watching?

[Stage Foley]

Moonlighting?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm predominantly sports and I'll watch documentaries.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

For that kind of leisure.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Very good.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Huh? I mean, you open your eyes underwater when you're in the pool?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

This guy's a dirt bag. That's all I got.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What?

[Stage Foley]

You're really gonna call him?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Trash. Guys, I need. I'm not leaving until ever.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You got a bunch of paper? We have 10,000 questions.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Go.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Are there. Are there any trophies on display at your house at the moment?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. Okay. Are you crazy? What was last A. I didn't get any B. Who the fuck. What? You want me to talk about yesterday?

[Stage Foley]

Will you eat in the car?

[Kevin James Ryan]

It's good.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What?

[Stage Foley]

Will you eat in the car?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Of course.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Kevin James Ryan]

He's not driving. He's got. He's got a fucking Pittsburgh.

[Stage Foley]

Will you stop and do any fast food Ever.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I've really gotten a lot healthier.

[Stage Foley]

Okay, that being said, talk to me.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gary, as I sit here with you right now. You asked me that question.

[Stage Foley]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know what my chemicals just did? Like my body, what I thought, what I felt?

[Stage Foley]

Sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm like, I have to go to White Castle. White Castle is so fucking.

[Stage Foley]

He might be trash.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like White Castle. Eating six burgers quickly that make you shit your pants, I think is an American pastime. Sure, it's an American fucking pastime.

[Kevin James Ryan]

How many cell phones do you have?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

1.

[Kevin James Ryan]

1. When was the last time you were on a boat and where was it?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When was the last time I was in a boat? Mona and I were in the Amalfi Coast.

[Stage Foley]

I've heard of it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I've seen pictures.

[Stage Foley]

Okay, Is that near Long Beach?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A little closer to Wildwood.

[Stage Foley]

Ever been bitten by a dog or.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Wildwood North Wildwood guy, ever been bitten.

[Stage Foley]

By a dog or wildlife?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Multiple times. What was it scared of dogs? Profusely because of it.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A German shepherd.

[Stage Foley]

Damn it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Scared the fuck out of me. I've hated dogs my whole life.

[Stage Foley]

Will you work? Ever wore colored contacts?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you out of your fucking mind?

[Kevin James Ryan]

What is your.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The better question is, would you punch someone who's wearing colored contacts in the dick?

[Stage Foley]

Would you hire anybody that had a colored contact?

[Kevin James Ryan]

I got cat eyes. You're hired.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

In my career of life, I would only hook up with a girl wearing colored contacts. Nothing else. With colored contacts.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Uh huh. Let me see.

[Stage Foley]

You ever had a quail egg?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, of course. I eat very bougie because then my career, for people that know it, I came and dominated the wine industry in my 20s. I went from dirt kid to being in fucking chateaus, eating foie gras and sweet breads and quail eggs with fucking 8th generation fucking trillionaires making wine because I was such a big buyer and seller in America. It was a fucking brain fucking. It was like. It was like Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince going to like, thrown out front, you know, like just. No, it was more of the going to Beverly Hills, right? Like Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Like true Bel Air life. It was such a hard turn.

[Stage Foley]

Foie gras and pate, they really got my. I'm obsessed with dude.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would eat the every day.

[Stage Foley]

I would cry when we were in Paris for a week.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Turn.

[Stage Foley]

We were in Paris for a week, I ate it every single day.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would literally eat foie gras every meal in my life. I like it that much. The pate or the little toast seared.

[Stage Foley]

A little toast point. Glass of wine.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How you doing?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Will you do karaoke? No, no.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I can't sing for shit.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Stage Foley]

Do you keep the boxes of things? Like if you get a new iPhone, do you keep the box?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay, so he's gonna hit you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

By the way. I'm more likely to get rid of the box before I actually get home really than keeping a box.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Now if you need a new. You need a new cell phone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My admin, somebody does that. Three full time admins.

[Stage Foley]

Oh yeah.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Get you a job.

[Stage Foley]

You're not going to get anything. You're not. You're not like running to the Apple store.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Who's doing the food shopping now? Somebody.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Mona.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Mona.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But it's. We live in New York City. It's all fucking fresh.

[Stage Foley]

You guys have a. You guys have a chef or anything.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like that at the house for special occasions?

[Stage Foley]

Yeah. Otherwise she does. She handles it pretty good.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That's pretty good.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I also eat out every night of my life. Yeah, I work. I work. I get home at 10 or 11pm every day.

[Stage Foley]

So when you say eat out, you mean like you get something ordered in or you guys go, you have a dinner or something?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I have a dinner.

[Stage Foley]

You have a dinner.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What was the last time you shut down a restaurant?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, I own a bunch of restaurants in New York.

[Stage Foley]

I didn't know that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

What do you got? White Castle.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't know about Flyfish Club.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No, no. We're not cool guys.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm taking you to Fly.

[Stage Foley]

I didn't know that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's a private club. You can't get in.

[Kevin James Ryan]

But do you know Fly Fish? He's our. He's our resident young rich kid I think I seen on Instagram. Not cool enough. You're not even cool enough. We gotta start rolling with a better.

[Stage Foley]

What don't you have your fingers in?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Not much. God damn. I'm very, very.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Is there. I'm sorry to cut you go. No, please. Is there anywhere you can't go?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Of course. Foxborough, Massachusetts.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Respect. That guy holds a grudge.

[Stage Foley]

Of course.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I fucking hate Respect. Those motherfuckers. I hate the Patriots. Watching Bill Belichick completely fall apart as a human being.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I got a Philly fan.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

One of the great moments of my life.

[Stage Foley]

Because of the girl.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He's a fucking mess.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, he's. Dude, he could have just went out on time.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And by the way, he couldn't have went out on time. He's been completely exposed. Tom Brady's his whole life. Bill Belichick has 10 football seasons where Tom Brady wasn't his coach and he has one playoff victory. One playoff victory. Damn. Tom Brady. To remind you, Went to another team.

[Stage Foley]

Won the Super Bowl.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Won the super bowl as a 40 fucking plus year old.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You really don't like Belichick.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I hate Bill Belichick. And you know why? Because he hated me. First, the way he treats Jet fans. Fuck him.

[Stage Foley]

That's for you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And by the way, you know I love Eagle fans.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Why?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Because fuck the Giants.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. Right there with you.

[Stage Foley]

Go Birds. You like coleslaw?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All versions shitty. Like three dollar fucked up deli in the fucking ghetto version.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All the way to bougie fucking $80 version in a fucking country club. I like all coleslaw.

[Stage Foley]

I respect that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Do you know how to tie a tie?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Poorly.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Sure.

[Stage Foley]

Bowtie.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Solidly. Bow tie clipping in the fucking back. Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I like it. Have you ever written your name in wet cement?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Have you ever gone ghost hunting?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Do you know any of the lyrics from the battles from eight Mile?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes. The fucking. In fact, it's one of my most significant pieces of content, really. I believe the greatest transition moment in verbal history is. But I know something about you.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I. How about this? I can't believe this is happening. I'm gonna break something down for you. Do you know I live my life with that lyric in my head that when someone in real life tries to big time me or fuck with me, that in my life, like a fucking movie, literally. That lyric with that beat behind it, this guy's nuts pops up and it's really like that.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Nuts.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Damn. I live with humility. I don't think I'm anybody. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished, honestly.

[Stage Foley]

You're somebody, baby. I'll tell you that right now.

[Kevin James Ryan]

You're my new best friend. What are you talking about?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I like being a good guy. I really identify that I don't think any of the things I've pulled off professionally or publicly mean anything.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I mean this because I think when Prince died. Richard Pryor. Back to why I like, why I fuck with comedians. Richard Pryor is top five hero of mine as a kid.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When I got my car, I didn't listen to music like the cool kids. It was tape. Richard Pryor. Stand Up Jerky Boys.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I already referenced Eddie when I watched those guys die. And they get 24 hours of love and then everyone moves on with their life. I'm like that shit isn't real.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This shit that we're, you know, this what? These followers, these dollars, it's not fucking real anyway. I live with humility. I. What that means though is I don't put any other human on a pedestal.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Even playing field.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No one. Everyone else sucks too.

[Stage Foley]

You just told me I was good looking in high school, by the way.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You were very good looking in high school. Does everyone know that?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Like you were living in the past anymore? Eyes forward, Gary.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm going to look at it. I'm like really zoned in on it. Because you had that 90. You look a little bit like Rick Chance who was very good looking in my high school. And he fucked and that was rare in the fucking early 90s. Like it's not like it is now. Now everyone does it in high school, but like it was rare.

[Stage Foley]

Any turquoise jewelry?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Uh huh.

[Stage Foley]

I mean, yeah, we gotta call it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, okay. I mean, we can still keep going for sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Two more, three more, six more. This is interesting.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Okay. Have you ever. Have you ever washed a pair of shoes in the washing machine?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn. I just tried, it didn't work. Have you ever owned a standalone hot tub?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Kevin James Ryan]

No. Is there any purchase you wish you had back like when you started making money?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Obviously I don't give a shit about stuff.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, but I'm saying would you have like, you're like bought like a wave runner or something? You're like, why the fuck did I do that? Never bought anything.

[Stage Foley]

Ever have breakfast in bed?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

Gentlemen.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Vacation during vacation or in regular life?

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Both.

[Stage Foley]

No kidding.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Would you take in the morning off?

[Stage Foley]

Huh?

[Kevin James Ryan]

Late night?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Sunday.

[Stage Foley]

Sunday, of course.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

On Easter Sunday.

[Kevin James Ryan]

On Easter Sunday, being Jewish, having no.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Obligations, it was perfect.

[Stage Foley]

What are you reading right now? You reading anything?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't read books. I read the world. What I do for a living. What Gary Vee is what I've been. Even the post I put this morning about talking about the EarPods 15 years ago. You know, I watch society, I'm paying attention. I read 40,000 tweets and reddits and substacks comments about why people fuck with Le Booboo. Why, why? Why baggy clothes is in again like when we were in the 90s. Not tight jeans. Why New Balances are doing well better than Air Force One's four years ago. Why people are watching Love Island. Why comedians are crushing. Oh, distributions, changing Hulu, Netflix, they have. It's back to HBO on steroids. Like I watch culture.

[Stage Foley]

Gotcha.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

Any magazines in the bathroom?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I mean, Historically, it was life. Now, now the fucking phone is. The phone is the magazine, right?

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Huh.

[Stage Foley]

Swam in a river.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[Stage Foley]

Will you buzz the attendant on an airplane if you need something?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, okay, I've done that.

[Stage Foley]

All right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

How much do you stay in a hotel? What do you leave for the cleaning staff?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Tip wise, hundred hondo hundo.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Good for you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know why they're me.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah. Yeah. We do the same thing now that we have cash. I started tipping heavy for making up for lost time that I didn't have it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

You don't sleep with your mouth open, do you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't think so. Cause my breath is terrible in the morning. And I would assume if it was open, it'd be better.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, right?

[Stage Foley]

100%.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Have you ever tried to start the wave at a sporting event?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, but I'm always in.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I'm fucking pissed.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

In fact, it is a top 17 pet peeve of mine that is there. If there's a proper wave going on and you do not participate, you're a fuck face.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I understand that for sure. I got to give you that.

[Stage Foley]

All right, when you're getting dressed and you're walking out of the house, is it socks, socks, shoe, shoes, or sock?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Shoe, sock, shoe, underwear, pants, shirt. Smart.

[Stage Foley]

Underwear, pants, socks, shoes. Okay. All right. I like it. I like it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Have you ever had a manicure or pedicure?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Once or twice, yeah.

[Kevin James Ryan]

When was the last time you had a massage?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Actually, with more actually recently, but it's not. It's not often for me. On vacations? Yeah, once or twice a year, max.

[Stage Foley]

My last question is if Kevin and I came over to the house right now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Can we.

[Stage Foley]

You offered us a glass of water.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Stage Foley]

What would it be exactly? Would it be a bottle? Would it be a Brita? Would it be what?

[Kevin James Ryan]

On this tap.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When I look at the plastic bottle that you're consuming from right now, I fear for your life.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Damn.

[Stage Foley]

Okay.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I have bigger problems than that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bottle only.

[Kevin James Ryan]

The end glass bottle only.

[Stage Foley]

You'd hand us a glass bottle of water?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Like mountain whatever.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, Mountain view. Like, you know, we're always like, you know, again, back to the wine store. We carry a ton of crazy, different good waters. Always trying new things, supporting entrepreneurs. So it would be bottled water? Sparkling and still. Always in stock, of course. What do you guys have? What are you sparkling or still guy?

[Stage Foley]

At the. At the restaurant? Sparkling.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I'm a still guy.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And what about at home? It's more still.

[Kevin James Ryan]

I have both.

[Stage Foley]

Got a Brita.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

My wife New York City tap.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Love it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Wife's European, so we do good German water. She does.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I love it.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah.

[Stage Foley]

When you're at the restaurant, it's sparkling or still?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Sparkling.

[Stage Foley]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Only classy guy. I need.

[Stage Foley]

You know, what's all class.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know what I think sparkling is? I think it's stimulation. I need the stimulation.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Get it going, baby. This guy's on the move. He needs his water. Water's got to be working.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Kevin James Ryan]

This guy don't take a day off.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Still is. Chill.

[Kevin James Ryan]

Yeah, boys.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you.

[Stage Foley]

Gary Vaynerchuk, 100 class. He's got a move. He's got business to take care of. Give it up for Gary Vee, everybody. We love you, brother.

[Kevin James Ryan]

That was great.

[Stage Foley]

Thank you so much.