Gary Vee: Reveals How Interest Media Is Changing the Game

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Mick Unplugged – “Gary Vee: Reveals How Interest Media Is Changing the Game”

Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Mick Hunt ("Realm")
Guest: Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee)

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Episode Overview

In this energetic and candid episode, Modern Leadership voice Mick Hunt sits down with digital marketing icon Gary Vee to dive deep into the evolution from social media to “interest media,” personal branding, authenticity, and the tough love mindset needed for modern success. True to form, Gary offers actionable advice, hard truths, and memorable stories while touching on topics he rarely covers in public, including purpose, gratitude, intent, and building his next major brand, VeeFriends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Purpose, “Because,” and Legacy

• Gary’s Core Motivation:
  • Gary traces his drive to deep gratitude for humble beginnings as an immigrant in New Jersey, and credits his mother’s parenting for his humility and work ethic.
  • Quote: “When you’re full, you’re handing out food. That’s the real answer...” (03:13)
• Consistency and Integrity:
  • Gary stresses the importance of staying true to himself regardless of public or cultural shifts, resisting polarization and sticking to authenticity.
  • He sees his content and approach as a tribute to his roots and parents, not just personal achievement.
  • Quote: “I have stayed me through every twist and turn...the thing I’m most proud of is I’m consistent.” (05:19)

2. Being the “Inconvenient Truth” and Intent-Based Influence

• The Power of Honest Intent:
  • Gary credits his trustworthiness to giving without expectation, noting most creators are motivated by self-interest, whereas he gives away high-value advice for free.
  • Quote: “You can smell the intent...The other shoe always drops, my man.” (10:10)
• Rigorous Curiosity:
  • Gary likens his process to measuring “45 times, cutting once,” spending immense time listening and observing before speaking publicly on a topic.
  • His takes are original because they are data-driven and rooted in personal cultural immersion, not trend following.
  • Quote: “I’m so petrified to be wrong and lose equity, I’m out here measuring 45 times, cutting once.” (12:13)

3. The Brand is You: Personal Branding & Authenticity

• You Are the Niche:
  • Both Mick and Gary recount that the only unique angle left is genuine individuality. Rather than finding an external “niche,” people should double down on their true selves and stories.
  • Quote: “The only niche you have is you.” (15:54)
• Content for All Stages:
  • Gary’s “Trash Talk” garage sale videos were a direct effort to help those with limited resources see an accessible path, reflecting his belief that content should meet audiences where they’re at—not where influencers want to be seen.
  • Quote: “That’s why I did [garage sale videos]. I don’t give a fuck if a billionaire thinks I’m a schlub…” (18:16)

4. Interest Media: The New Content Paradigm

• Shift from Social to Interest Media:
  • Gary and Mick agree: Social platforms have evolved from friend/follower-driven distribution to algorithm-driven content that finds people based on interests.
  • Immediate audience size matters far less; content surfaces to strangers who care about the topic.
  • Quote: “Followers are diminishing in your guaranteed to get views and awareness. The content now is finding their audience.” (21:03)
• Unlocking Opportunity:
  • Gary urges listeners—no matter their background—to post about their real-life stories and interests, because even niche or random topics can now find massive reach.
  • Consistency in experimentation is key; a few low-performing posts are not failure.
  • Quote: “If you do a hundred of them, then I’m about that life. Then you can come and yell at me.” (22:54)

5. Work Ethic, Accountability, and Tough Love

• Entitlement & Materialism:
  • Gary doesn’t shy from criticizing the current culture’s sense of entitlement, highlighting a disconnect between expectations and willingness to sacrifice, or live within one’s means.
  • Materialism and blame are called out as traps that hold people back.
  • Quote: “People are buying dumb when they don’t have money to impress people that they don’t even like.” (27:37)
• Radical Accountability:
  • Stop blaming politicians, parents, or luck. Taking full ownership of your life is the necessary mindset shift.
  • Quote: “Everyone’s pointing fucking fingers. Why don’t you point thumbs at yourself...” (28:23)
• Dealing with Negative Circles:
  • Winning will reveal who your real supporters are, and Gary encourages compassion for those who respond with negativity, as they are often just hurt or scared.
  • Quote: “Let me tell you something about the people that boo you. They’re just hurt when you start winning.” (33:09)

6. Energy Management and Chasing Positivity

• Limit Time with Negative Influences:
  • Strategic distancing—not total severance—is advised to regain energy before potentially helping negative family or friends.
  • Limit consumption of negative media; fill your feed and circle with positive, motivating influences instead.
  • Quote: “You want to know why you’re not winning? You’re hanging out with losing energy.” (29:58)

7. VeeFriends, Live Social Shopping, and the Next Creative Frontier

• Building the Next Marvel/Pokemon:
  • Gary calls his current project, VeeFriends, his “Muhammad Ali” moment, aiming to build an original, culture-defining IP combining collectibles, cartoons, and live shopping.
  • The initiative reflects both nostalgia (for collectibles of the past) and innovation (digital, live shopping, content for children teaching life lessons).
  • Quote: “This clip will run at my funeral...That’s how much I know it, Mick.” (37:19)
• Call to Action:
  • Listeners with a collecting background are invited to engage with VeeFriends content and quizzes, emphasizing participation and community.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Humility and Success:
  • “Those compliments, those words, are dramatically more delicious to me than any of the fruits of my labor.” (01:43, Gary)
• On Staying in One’s Lane:
  • “I don’t have the audacity to think that everyone should see the world the way I think. I’m blown away by people’s audacity to think that everyone should see the world the way they see the world.” (05:51, Gary)
• On Authenticity in Personal Branding:
  • “You are the brand. You’re the niche.” (15:28, Mick & Gary)
• On the Changing Media Landscape:
  • “Interest media. For 15 years, social media worked like email marketing. Now, the algorithm is delivering content to people based on their interests, not who they follow.” (21:03, Gary)
• On Getting Real About Money:
  • “When money was tight, we looked poor. My homies had one pair of sneakers. So did I for three years.” (26:58, Gary)
• On Dealing with Haters:
  • “Let me tell you something about the people that boo you. They’re just hurt when you start winning.” (33:09, Gary)

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Important Timestamps

• Purpose and “Because”
  • Gary on his driving force: (03:13–05:19)
• Consistency, Integrity, and Intent:
  • The value of giving, not selling: (10:10–12:13)
• “You Are the Brand/Niche” Insight:
  • Brand advice for creators: (15:54–16:19)
• Interest Media Explainer:
  • Evolution from social to interest media: (18:53–23:04)
• Entitlement & Materialism Rant:
  • Critique of current work ethic: (24:42–27:37)
• Radical Accountability:
  • “Point thumbs at yourself” moment: (28:23)
• Dealing with Negative Energy:
  • Family/friends’ influence: (29:58–32:40)
• VeeFriends & Next-Gen Collectibles:
  • Building a new cultural brand: (35:13–38:43)

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Be radically authentic—“You are the niche.”
• Understand and leverage the rise of interest media; make content about what you love or know.
• Don’t let negative energy or culture hold you back.
• Hold yourself fully accountable for your own progress.
• Focus on intent, not just ambition; give more than you ask.
• Experiment, stay consistent, and collect the wins.
• Check out VeeFriends for creative inspiration—and have some fun with collectible culture.

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If you want to change your game, start with your ‘because’—and remember, as Mick says, “Your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.” (39:04)

Transcript

[A]

Are you struggling with your social media, likes, clicks, engagement? It's probably because you're thinking about social media and you should be thinking about it as interest media. And this podcast episode, I sit down with the goat, he's going to break down literally every single thing that you need to know about interest media. But we're going to go further, we're going to go deeper, we're going to talk about some things that you never heard Gary Vee talk about. This podcast is the one you want to listen to. Buckle up, it's live. Gary, how you doing today, brother?

[B]

That's very kind, my man. Thank you so much. I'm doing quite well and I'm glad to be here.

[A]

I'm. I'm the honored one, man. You don't know how much you mean to me, to my life, to my businesses, most importantly to my podcast, man. I started this podcast 18 months ago, so well before it became the number one self improvement podcast, before it started doing crazy numbers, you were in my ear and you said, mick, if you're gonna do a podcast, do it with purpose and do it like a business. Because so many people play, if you wanna make impact, do it for real. So I owe you that, man. And no one knows that. I've never told you that, but that's why I do what I do. Because in my ear you said, run it like a freaking business or don't do it at all.

[B]

Thank you, my man. Thank you so much. I mean, you know, I'm in this great point in my career where it's, you know, it's, I'm detached from it because, you know, as the great poet once said, never get high in your own supply. Right? Like, I'm detached from what I know I've been able to accomplish. The, the humility comes very natural to me because I was well mothered. But God, it feels really nice, man, like, to really know that I'm putting out stuff there for the last 15 years, that people that have amassed more, more wealth, more fame, more happiness than I have on the backs of the content and the words that I've put out over this last decade and a half, it feels like a life worth living. And I hope God blesses me with another 50 years to keep building on it, because it really is intoxicating to me. Those compliments, those words are dramatically more delicious to me than any of the fruits of my labor. There's no private flight, there's no car or watch or vacate. Well, vacation, because it's family life. But there's very few things outside of my family that bring me more joy than those words. And I'll tell you why. Because I actually think it's a bigger cosign hat tip flower to my parents, to New Jersey, to America, to good parenting than it is to. I'm the byproduct, my man.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, I'm the byproduct of humble beginnings, you know, so thank you. And I will pass those words on to my parents.

[A]

I love that brother. Tell them I said hello. And speaking of your parents and your journey and all the generosity that you do, man, like, you do so much for free. Like, so much. Just here's some tips. Here's how you can do it. I've always wanted to ask you, like, what's your. Because, what's your purpose? That thing that's deeper than your why? For doing the things that you do.

[B]

Because I'm good. You know, it's. You know, when you're full, you're not really eating everyone's food. You're not, you know, like, when you're full, you're handing out food. You know, that's the real answer. I talk about this concept of gratitude and guilt sometimes to that question, because I do feel unbelievably grateful for. Again, I started with it impromptu. The parents I had, especially my mom, the way she raised me, being born in the Soviet Union, coming to America, living in a household full of love with no money. So by the time I was 10, it was ingrained in me that money had no impact on happiness. I'm so happy. I grew up in the early 80s, 80s 90s in Edison, New Jersey. I'm happy. I went to Martin Luther King elementary School. I'm sure for everyone listening knows that means I knew how to scrap. I knew how to play spades and ceelo. Like I grew up with such humble beginnings and such diversity. Back to mlk, MLK was not just black kids. Black, white, Indian, Asian. I just. I have so much love in my heart. I grew up with all kinds of people. You know, I've. Now that I'm 49, I've lived and been in the muck. When I first came to America in a studio apartment in Queen means I've been poor, I've been in the poor rooms, I've been rich, I'm in the richest rooms. And when you live a coast to coast life, whether you go from rich to poor, which is obviously incredibly challenging, or from poor to rich, when you've seen happiness and you've seen despair, you Know when you've seen light and you've seen darkness, you have clarity. And I do the things I do because when I started giving away all my information, my wisdom, my hope, my happiness and my best practices, I was already good, my man. You know, I was financially less successful than I am today at 31, 32 when this started happening. But I was. I was equally happy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and I was equally gracious and I was equally humble and I was equally hopeful. And the truth is, the last 10 years of the world, you know, this given those beautiful words, and I'm thankful for them, I have stayed me through every twist and turn, every twist and turn in my own life. But then even more hard when I look at public figures, the culture, and I don't mean black culture, which is actually the culture. I mean popular culture, culture, political culture. The atmosphere in our society has changed a lot in the last 15 years.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And a lot of people talked about optimism and love and now pontificate hate in disguise of political views or strategy or bullshit. So thing I'm most proud of is I'm consistent. I haven't been caught up when the left wanted me to left, and when the right wanted me to right, I'm just right here in the fucking middle. I got love for everyone. Life is complicated. I don't have the audacity to think that everyone should see the world the way I think. I'm blown away by people's audacity to think that everyone should see the world the way they see the world.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'm staying kind of in my pocket. I'm in my studio. Even though I have no music skills, I think of it as like, I'm in my studio, I'm working, I'm writing, I'm making beats, I'm putting out music. I just do that in a different way. But I'm not trying to go to the red carpet. I'm not trying to go to Ibiza and party. I'm a true musician. And without a musical bone in my body, I'm just in my cocoon, spitting my words, building my businesses, because I think that's important. If I'm going to pontificate about what to do, I don't want to be a professor.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know when I say do this, I did it. When I'm out there today, my morning post. Everybody should do social shopping, live shopping. Social media is about to be qvc. Well, I'm doing a hundred thousand a night, selling on whatnot.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean? So I think that's something else I'm proud of. And, you know, now you're running these circles. What's cool for me is before we started, we talked a little bit about Damon. What I like about my life is I'm so fortunate that I have men like you saying what you just said. But what I know is that Damon knows me more and he likes me even more than that because he knows the shit I do behind the camera.

[A]

Right?

[B]

There's so many people that are their best selves in front of the camera and they fucking disappoint you off camera. My best work is done when y' all don't see me.

[A]

Yep, yep. Absolutely, man. You know, it's the same thing. I was just telling you. Robert Irvine and I talked about you for a couple of hours. Not even trying to talk about you. You were just a part of the conversation. And we both said, the most consistent, authentic person we know is Gary Vee. Right? And I call you. And Robert was laughing, but he goes, you're right. I said, what I call Gary Vee is the inconvenient truth. Right? He is always going to be consistent. He's going to tell you like it is, and you're going to learn on everything that he says, whether you agree with it or not, which is, I don't know why you would not agree, but you are the inconvenient truth, brother.

[B]

You know what's funny? It comes from an interesting place. And I hope you know when I do something like this, I want people to get value. So let me tell y' all where that comes from, that compliment. It comes from two very, very interesting things. One, it comes from intent. Mick, what makes me super different in hindsight, I knew was happening along the way and now it is just on wax, as they say, is I've never thought about anything I've done publicly from any other lens than the intent of why would this be good for Mick? I believe most of the content we consume in our streams, the person that's making it is making it for their best interest. By my course, make me famous, I want your follow. I want to make money. So make me famous or buy my thing. Like you can smell the intent. My intent has been, I'm going to give y' all everything. I got the shit. I can charge unlimited amounts of money for it. If I had a masterclass, if I had an island, if I had courses, if I had mentorship programs, inner circles, I'm going to give you all better shit than the people at the top. Of the game that do that shit. And yes, occasionally I'm going to be like, yo, you want to buy my dad's wine? You want to buy my collectibles at Beef, right? Like, I'm going to have things. I'm a businessman, right? But I have no expectations of anyone that extracts unbelievable value from my free shit. I do not expect them to buy a veefriends trading card or a wine. I don't expect anyone who's listening right now to sign up for winetext.com but I said winetext.com because I'd love for them to do it. Because it's my dad's business and I want to help him always. And if they buy wine, don't buy it on bullshit wine.com buy it on winetext.com if I've brought you value. But nothing I do is to then later get the thing, right? And that's why I'm who I am. And I think people forget that humans are animals. I think you all can smell it. If I'm out here trying to fake it, if I'm here out fronting because I really deeply just want you to buy X, I think most of us know it. Even the ones that are not that in tune, eventually they're gonna know it. The other shoe always drops, my man.

[A]

Always.

[B]

And so a why am I an inconvenient Truth? Why am I consistent? Because my intent is consistent. The other reason I think I'm consistent or have inconvenience truths is I'm about that life. Meaning when I say I'm in my studio, I often say I'm in my cocoon. What's wild about me is I'm such a talker and I'm so out there. But the reality is, is almost all of my time is spent listening, not talking. When I come up for air and do this podcast, it's on the back of fucking. The last 8,000 hours I've spent this year studying live social, shopping, studying Sabrina Carpenter vs Netflix vs Andrew Schultz and Shane Gillis vs Labu Boos vs Baggy Jeans vs Poppy Soda vs Netflix vs HUL Blue vs UFC. I'm a culture savant, right? So I'm consistent because I don't talk. You know how they say there's that old saying that I like a lot? Like measure twice, cut once. I'm so petrified to be wrong and lose equity, I'm out here measuring 45 times, cutting once?

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

By the time I'm gonna talk about something, that shit has been fucking quadruple checked. It's real. It happened. I'm not guessing out here. I get a lot of extra credit for. He sees around corners. He predicts the future. I'm like, nah, I'm just in it day to day. And I'm willing to talk about it faster than most people because I'm in it day to day. I don't need nobody else. Is Gary being me? Y' all are Gary being me. I'm telling people things and then people are moving. The way I'm learning is not from Johnny or Sally or some other person. I'm in the trenches with all 8 billion of you.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And then I'm creating observations, which I think makes me unique, fresh, because I'm not parroting someone else. I'm in my own feelings. Yep. When I know substack's going to be big a year ago, I'm not going to see who's already talking about substack. If there's anyone talking about substack, I'm living substack. And then I'll talk about Substack, which then makes my point of view original. Correct. I'm using music for some weird reason, a lot in this interview. The people that blew us away, Lauryn Hill, Tyler, the creator, like, like, whoever. Right. I believe that they're influenced by people before them, but what they did well was they stayed in their own pocket and they felt unique to us because they are unique to us. They still might have been influenced. Right. By Michael Jackson or Aretha Franklin or Prince or Pink Floyd, but they feel original because they are original. And I think other artists come along and have commercial success, but they listened too much. They copied prior people too much. And so they were just half or 25% original, which was good enough to give them some pop and maybe even a hit record. And this, that. But they're not the icons that changed it completely for us. I'm not saying I'm an icon or completely changed it for us, but using your kind opening, I do understand why I've hit. And now let me bring it for everyone who's listening. The more you're you. I'm going to say it nice and slow for the kids in the back. You can slow down your, your, your. What is that thing you run on your treadmill right now? Or you can let your dog pee real quick or you can pull over on the side of the road. If you're listening right now, I need you to hear this. The more you're you. And I mean all the way you. I'VE cursed. I've cursed twice, Mick, in this interview. So far, it is not lost. It's not lost on me that 15 to 5,000 people just decided, okay, I'm not with Gary Vee, because I don't. You know, especially. You grew up in the South. You grew up with that kind of grandma. Like, I respect that, but I have no other year besides being me. And I grew up in Queens and New Jersey, and cursing is every third word in our lives.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, dude, again, that's who you are. If I got anything from you and Damon John, it was this. And it's just what you just said. Mick, you are the brand.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

You're the niche and whatever.

[B]

You're people. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I apologize. It just happened two minutes ago. Two people today in my office asked me. They're young kids who are interning who then going to go back to college, and they want to build personal brands because, you know, every kid now wants to be famous, right? And they're like, how? How do I find my niche? Everything feels overcrowded. I'm like, everything is overcrowded. I'm like, the only niche you have is you.

[A]

We could end right now, but we're not going to. Because again, you and Damon both 18 months ago, when I started the podcast, and I was like, all right, I'm going to run it like a business, but I do so many things. How do I figure out what's the angle? What's the lane? And Damon goes, mick, just be you. Just be the brand. And then the things that you do are the services or products that you. That you provide.

[B]

When I started doing those garage sale videos. Trash talk, right? Yeah. Where I go out and spend 113 bucks buying a bunch of trash at garage sales and then show people that's worth 800 on eBay. I had billionaires, the titans, the most famous people on earth that we all follow and think are the best businessmen and women literally reach out to me and say, why are you doing this? You're belittling yourself. And I said, the reason I'm doing it is because when I do podcasts like Mick and I Talk about investing $25,000 into Twitter and it's changing my life or things of that, or Facebook or this. I get a lot of dms and emails saying, gary Vee, I fuck with you. But, yo, fuck you, man. I don't have 25,000 to put into Twitter. I got $19 in Wells Fargo, and after reading enough of those, I'm like, well, guess What? I had $19 in Chase Bank 2 one day when I was 20, getting paid nothing. Building my dad's business for him, by the way, not for me. On Saturdays or Sundays or Friday afternoons, I had to sometimes step out of the store real quick and go to a estate sale or garage sale and buy something for 18 bucks and then sell it on eBay for 109. Because that was money to me. I said, you know what? I'm going to start making those videos. So I'm driving around Jersey and fancy cars, or sometimes even with a driver. Garage sale it. Why? Back to the beginning, because I wanted to make content for people that have $99 to their name. Because I know, and it's already happened. I did that in 17, 18, 19, before COVID There's not a month that goes by that I don't meet someone in the real world at a restaurant or at an airport where they don't literally make. Literally come up to me, open up their ebay app and show me they have $59,000 in there. And they're like, that's you, bro. I had nine dollars. I was making eight bucks an hour at fucking Walmart. And you made that video about garage sales. And I've been flipping since. And this has made my family be able to go to good vacations. I can send my sis, my kid to private school because of you. Like, that's why I did. I don't give a fuck if a billionaire thinks I'm a schlub because I'm going to a garage sale. In fact, I'd prefer them to think I'm a schlub.

[A]

Yep, the inconvenient truth. Every time. Every time. Big topic. I'm just going to say the two words. Interest media, my man. You're listening because you and I are on the same vibe there. I've been telling people for the past six months it's not social anymore. Like, there's nothing social about anything you're doing on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or X, whatever they call it now. Like, there's nothing social about that. Nope, it's interest.

[B]

Yeah, it's interest media. You know, there is something social. The comments are still an incredible opportunity that people are missing out on. Mick. Huge missed opportunity. In fact, watch this. I'm going to throw a right hook for you, everybody. We take so many things for granted in life. If you love what Mick's done for you with this podcast, please take the time. It'll take three minutes. It would mean the world to me, but I know even more for him. Please take three minutes right now and like close out or minimize or maybe at the end of this podcast. Don't forget and I know some of you forget, so jot it down. Please go to Spotify or Apple and leave with preferably a five star review if you love this podcast. But look, if you think mix at a four star level, give them the four. Make it true. There might be a three star person on here. Please leave a review. That's social, Mick. Right? Like if right now what I just did for you leads to a couple thousand people actually leaving a review on both of those platforms, it's going to make you get more listeners. So there is some things left. Social. If everyone who's listening here that wanted to grow actually replied to every comment on every Instagram post, you would grow a lot. So social still is out there. Now what you and I are referring to and what I've been yelling about for about three years and I kind of like got this term down now because it makes it very easy to understand is the algorithm doesn't work the same way social media. For 15 years, as you know, I've said this, a bunch used to work like email marketing. Get as many followers as you can and a certain percentage of them will see it. Now, literally, me and you are cooking. We're growing. There's somebody listening right now who's never posted once, but they own three dry cleaners. And you know what they're like, you know, I want to be like Mick and Gary too. And they're literally going to be inspired by this little rant and they're about to make a video. Literally, they're on their way to work right now. Literally. They're going to make their first video telling the story of how they built these three dry cleaners. And they're going to post it on TikTok and it might get 90 views, but they might get a message that kind of gives them a little more juice. And their ninth video they make is going to get 1 million views, lead to more business, and they're going to be on their way to be us. And that excites me. And that's not how it was from 06 to call it 21, but that is how it is now. Followers are diminishing in your guaranteed to get views and awareness. The content now is finding their audience. Let me give you a for instance. If I make a video. Ah, we talked about it, I think before. Yeah, we didn't talk about spades here. We were talking about it before we went on. You and I are both passionate about spades. If I make a video right now about spades, okay, like, I love spades. Like, I know how to sneak it in. You're never gonna catch me. I, you know, I know what to do. I've got hand signals with my partner. Like, we know what to do. If I did that in 2017 to the audience I had, it would be a low performing piece of content because people are like, they're, they're. Yeah, occasionally they want a little randomness from me, but they want their business stuff, their motivation stuff. Today if I posted that on TikTok especially, but more and more every other platform too, that is literally going to show up in the feeds of people who don't even know who I am. That with spades now, it's going to show up to 12 or 15 people and if none of them react that it'll probably die pretty quickly and it will low perform. But I made a video years ago that still gets brought up all the time of me talking about how much I love blueberries and that I can eat blueberries better than anyone. And that video got 5 million views at the time when most of my stuff was getting 500,000. And so that one just hit. And that goes back to. You are the niche that goes back to talk about what you love or you know. And that is the truth of interest media. Now, if you make content that is random, that is true and honest or passionate to you, it will find Audience versus not now again, don't get discouraged. Let's say someone got excited about what I just said and they made a post tomorrow about Stratego, the board game, and the following day about Lasagna and the next day about Run dmc. And all three did way worse than the stuff they normally do. I don't need a DM from y' all saying, Gary, Vee, you're wrong. You lost it. You're the worst. You just did three. If you do a hundred of them, then I'm about that life. Then you can come and yell at me. But I have a funny feeling on your road to 100, something good's about to happen.

[A]

Damn right. Damn right it is. You know, Gary, I tell all my friends, you personally are like my brother from another mother. About a month ago, we're on a live on whatnot, right? And a person, I'm not going to say their name in the comments, was trying to go for sympathy. And it went something like this. Gary, my company is ending remote work in the next nine months. I don't think this is a great place because we can continue to work from home. We are just ineligible for raises. In order to get a raise, you're gonna have to come back into the office.

[B]

No, no. By the way, me the company just to add color. Cause I went crazy on this one too.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I'm glad you brought this up. The company is moving to Florida from wherever they were. Obviously they're doing that because of the taxes and all the things happen. But also we're living in this AI world. The fact that this company said we're moving to Florida, but all of you get to keep your jobs and we're giving you a year's notice that we're moving and you get to keep your jobs and can be 100% remote. But as you can imagine, because HQ is in Florida, the promotion cycles and the rising will be a little bit different. And they're clowning on that. I lost my shit.

[A]

Shit, dude. I was writing down because if you didn't say anything I was literally going to go do an Instagram post about that because how freaking titled. Bougie of yourself. How entitled for you to be upset. And I'm sure it's a six figure job that that person was complaining about.

[B]

If even if it's a five figure job. Here's where we're at. And you know this Bic. And boy do I have a funny feeling knowing your audience and what you talk about like got soft out here. And like do you understand what our grandmas would think about the work ethic of our children? Our great grandmothers would be rolling in their goddamn graves if they understood what these kids expectations and entitlement was. We got soft. And that's what empires do. We need to be real with ourselves in America. And I'm not even talking about rich people. Like I'm not like I'm talking the. Let me go this route. The average person that makes 60,000 a year right now, which is not an extraordinary amount of money, but way closer to the average of what Americans make than people realize. Everybody thinks everyone makes a million dollars now when people live. When people. When I was growing up and I was poor, very poor, like poor, then it was lower middle class then lower, lower, then it was lower, then it was middle class. When I was coming up in my life all the way to high school and then I went to college where literally, and this is where I got my spades skills from. I went to a school where 90% of the kids that I went to school with were on financial aid. I grew up humbly. These kids were from hood, hood culture. Okay? When. When we all grew up, when you had humble stuff, you didn't buy 30 pairs of sneakers. You weren't buying Starbucks, you weren't ordering Uber, you weren't fucking. What has happened is, yes, there's a separation of wealth issue, which I fully believe it, but you're not allowed to complain when you're buying a $36 cocktail on a Thursday night happy hour when your money's tight. You're not allowed to complain when you've got Netflix, Hulu, Amazon prime, and fucking Paramount. Plus, when your money's tight, you're not allowed to complain when you've got eight different kith and essential hoodies. When your money's tight. When I was growing up and money was tight, we looked poor.

[A]

Right?

[B]

My homies had one pair of sneakers. So did I, for three years.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

So what's happened is a combination of things. We've become, unfortunately, too materialistic again. Motherfuckers had banged up used cars when our money was tight when I was growing up. Nick, everybody's leasing new cars now. Yeah, Everybody's credit is all up. Everyone's in huge debt. People lived within their means in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. We've lost our way. People are buying dumb when they don't have money to impress people that they don't even like. We've become insecure. We've become way too nosy. We keep up with the Joneses, let alone the Kardashians, and we're lost out here. And we need to get back to humility, to family, to fucking simplicity. Yeah, we need to be hungry and ambitious. Look, I'm about that life. I'm trying to get every person that's listening to this podcast to a different plane financially. And I will tell them how to do that. Social media content, live, social shopping. Like, I'll put it out every day. The problem is when your mindset is complaining and blaming Mick. I made fucking money with Bush. I made money with Obama. I made money with Trump. I made money with Biden. I made money with Trump. I'm not fucking blaming my problem, by the way. I had problems with Bush. I had problems with Obama, not them. I had problems during their race. I'm not pointing fucking fingers at a politician. I'm not even blaming my mom and my daddy. Like, why are we blaming everyone? Everyone's pointing fucking fingers. Why don't you point thumbs at yourself if you were upset right now. If you don't have the paper you want, if you don't have the relationship you want, become accountable.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

You will win. And I'm not trying to give hard love here. I'm trying to get you out of your place of unhappiness. Blaming is clearly not working for y'. All.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So why don't you try blaming yourself? You're in bad relationships. Stop fucking hooking up with fuck boys.

[A]

I love it. Dude, literally just had that conversation, and I said it a different way. Like, I have this thing about being present and always being where your feet are at. Right. Well, sometimes you need to just move your freaking feet, right? Like. Like, if you don't like, where you're at, you can move. You can change. And I don't mean physically moving, but, like, sometimes it's a mental move.

[B]

I mean, physically.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When I get into deep political conversations with people, I'm like, move.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Like. Like. Like, you're allowed. Like, if you. You know, some of my friends, like, Sweden. I'm like, move to Sweden. Move to Stockholm. Move. Like. And I'm not saying, like, you don't love America. Get out. America. America is in. Has plenty of flaws. Yeah. News alert. So does everybody else.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

You know when people like Sweden, like, what's Sweden's suicide rate if it's so fucking great? Oh, Canada's health care. Why do motherfuckers that need real surgeries come to America? Like, what are we talking about?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So again, it all sits under one genre, which is when you go simple and let me give you a big breakthrough. And this is why I'm so motivated to be on this podcast, because I know you're speaking that truth, which makes me believe that the people that are listening right now, like, have the capacity to do it. For example, one of the biggest things that's screwing everybody up is they're just consuming too much negativity. Like, that's why I'm so. That's why I'm doing this podcast with you. This is double positivity, right? Like, you. You want to know why you're not winning? You're hanging out with losing energy. That could be your sister. That could be your auntie. That could be cnn. That could be Fox News, because both of them sell fear. You're listening to fear. You're listening to negativity. Like, get your game up. Like, change it up. Like, you can't listen. I'm not a big proponent of fully cutting family because family's blood. But if your dad is the most negative person on earth. Maybe you don't need to talk to him two times a day, maybe once a week or twice a week will be okay.

[A]

Or if you're like me, once every 30 years, but that's a different story.

[B]

Yeah, like, you know, again, like nobody want nobody. I don't want that for you. Right. My hope is that when you cut to once a month, once a week versus three times a day, you reset your energy, you're now stronger and now you have the ability to go back into the lion's den and try to pull dad out. You see where I'm going? The reason I, and I've seen this, I've done this, the reason I like to teach people to limit time with their negative family members is, is because if they're the positive one and they're being affected, dragged down, if they limit it, they build back up their juices, their cup fills back up and then they can go back into the lion's den and try to pull those people out. And it's hard to change people and they got to do it for themselves and all that stuff. But what ends up happening is if you don't step out and limit you finally, it sounds like potentially what happened to you. And it's happened to me in different situations. You get to a tipping point and then you're fully done. You know, people like Gary Vee, I can't cut my mom out. I'm like, I'm not saying cut your mom out. In fact, the more you eat her negative, toxic, the more likely you're gonna find judgment day and you're gonna actually cut her out. If you limit, you can reset at times and one day you might be able to last man in Saigon kind of, and pull him out of the fire. Right? So, and then that's family. Now let's move it. Co workers, other influencers, homies, acquaintances, random people, people in the comments, people in fucking Reddit, cut that negativity out.

[A]

And you want to know the fastest way to find out who those people are in your so called circle? Start winning. Start winning and then see who really is there with you. Because for me, that gave me so much perspective and you told me it was going to happen. Like, I'm not saying something that Mick just made up. Gary Vee has been saying that for a long time. Start winning and you'll really see the people that were rooting for you and those that held you back.

[B]

And let me give you a real deep 301 fucking good energy lesson on that one. Let me tell y' all what I do when. When I'm winning, when I was winning, when I currently winning, what ends up happening? I'm sure all of you thought when Mick said that, he said you said damn. I thought, I didn't realize I had so many haters around me. Let me tell you something about the people that boo you. They're just hurt when you start winning. And I have a feeling a lot of people are going to start winning off this podcast. I could smell it once in a blue moon. It just happens. I can smell it when those people start booing you that you most thought were going to cheer for you and you're shook. Just remember this part of the podcast and remember, don't be mad at them. Feel sad for them and be the bigger person and try to be compassionate and help them too, because we're so quick to be like, oh, fucking hater. Fuck. I fucking should have knew it. Fuck you, Sally. I'm never talking to you again. I thought you were gonna be my number one cheerleader. You're my number one hater. It's cuz Sally's scared. You were her. Misery loves company, buddy. And now you're about to change. And now she's lonely. The fuck she gonna do? Oh, shit. A scared dog bites. Yes, she's biting. Don't be mad at her. Don't put her to sleep. Rebuild her. Bring her along. The thing I'm most proud of is the people I've brought along the most were the people that did the most wrong to me at first.

[A]

Mm.

[B]

That's real strength. That's real love. That's real winner.

[A]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Gary, I know you're. You're super busy. I'm honored and humbled that you would take some time with me, personally. You don't know how much this just makes me feel fulfilled because of you taking this time. I can't leave without talking about Mango super Stickers, though, man. Like you and Steph Curry doing some cool stuff. I'm gonna make sure we've got links to all of that. Like, talk to us about that. Yeah.

[B]

Audience Mick's giving me real love right now. He probably more than most of you know. I'm in the throes of doing something big. I'm in my Muhammad Ali moment. I'm calling my shot. I'm telling the world. Just like Muhammad Ali said, I'm a bad man. I shook the world. Like, I'm the greatest. Literally. He said, I'm the greatest after, you know, when he just. He had the biggest upset in boxing history at the time with Sonny Listen. But he still said I'm the greatest, even though he had to prove it. The next 15 years, I am telling the world that I am building the next Marvel, the next Pokemon. It's called Me Friends. I'm doing it in everyone's face. But because so much of the energy of me is about the Gary Vee of it all and because it started as NFTs, which that brand has been hurt. But there's still five to 10 of US projects that are cooking and I believe in digital collectibles long term heavy and the blockchain and crypto and all that people can't see it. And so I'm building this incredible brand called Vee friends. Vends.com Please go check it. If you have a kid 3 to 10, you got to watch our cartoons. It's back to the throwback of like the 80s. Like it's a good cartoon, but it's teaching kids lessons because parenting is that hard out here. So I want to help, but I'm building this heavy collectible thing. Comic books, if you're into that nerd culture or sports culture. Comic books, trading cards, Funko dolls, like action figures. It's fresh. I'm enjoying Squishmallow collab. Uno collab. He man collab. I'm really enjoying it. And I'm doing it. I'm doing it, doing it. This clip will run at my funeral when I die in 50 years. It will say, gary Vaynerchuk, creator of befriends passes at 99. Like I know it. That's how much I know it, Mick. And so I'm so excited for the people that are collecting. All those people that are listening right now that threw out their Pokemon, that threw out their baseball cards, that threw out their comics. Wish they didn't. Because now collectible is a cultural lifestyle pillar. Just like sports and music and food and fashion. I think collectibles, Labo boos, sneakers, watches, trading cards. It's cars. It's obvious to me collecting is the genre that's next up. Like sports and fashion and music were and and veefriends is going to be at the forefront of the next gen. Like and so I really. If you collect things, especially if you collect Pokemon or if your kids collect Pokemon, go to vee friends.com. check it. Get on board. Check us out on whatnot you need to learn about live social shopping. Anyway. Whatnot. It's an incredible app. I'm not an Investor don't have any relationship with it. It's just I'm co signing it just like TikTok. I had no involvement there. I just know it's going to win. It's already won a lot since I've been talking about it the last 18 months. You should learn about the QVC ification of social. But befriends is my jam. And Mick, honestly, are you a collector by tr? Like do you have that DNA?

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

What did you collect as a kid?

[A]

I was baseball basketball card. I was trying to find those rare. You remember when Topps and Donrus used to have the glitch cards, right? They have lines through certain things. Dude, I lived for that moment. I was a Beckett collector. Yes.

[B]

Mick, have you gone to veefriends.com quiz yet?

[A]

Not quiz, no.

[B]

Okay, literally when you hang up right now, I want you to go to Vee and I want everybody to do this veefriends.com quiz. Do the quiz and at the end it will tell you which Vee friend you are. I want you collecting that character Don do and I want you to email me literally in the next three minutes to the email that's on this invite and tell me which I'm dying to see. Which character you got.

[A]

You got it.

[B]

All right. My man. Brother, thank you.

[A]

I love you with my soul. I genuinely mean that.

[B]

I can't wait to. Let's share a meal, brother. I feel your energy exploding through the screen. Let's. Let's keep this on the podcast. Let them hear it. Let's do that spades tournament thing. Like let's get to know each other. Hit up Damon. Let's get dinner up here in New York and I can't wait to see you and hug it out.

[A]

You got it, brother. I love you so much. For all the viewers and listeners, remember you're because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

[B]

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next. Be sure to subscribe, rate and share this with someone who needs it. And most of all, make a plan and take action because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hellocunplugged.com until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.