
Loading summary
Gary Vaynerchuk
AI is much more like electricity or like a computer or like the Internet that none of them will be in a place in five years where they're not interacting with it. Most of them are probably interacting with it today. My 5 year out track is very far out just to be kind about it. But like within a year or two, everyone's pretty much interacting with AI pretty significantly. Whether it's Claude or Perplexity or Gemini or OpenAI. There's simple things. I'll do it right now. I'll just go to. I'll pick ChatGPT because actually it's not the hot one right now. Hey, so I'm a young dog trainer and I want to make social media content that is going to over index over the last six months. I know you're not Manus, which is obviously Facebook's AI, but you ChatGPT, what do you think are three or four pillars of content I could be making that will help me stand out from everybody else? Is there anything over indexing? Should I be thinking images? Should I be thinking pictures? What about platforms? Should I be doing TikTok? Is it Instagram or maybe there's an opportunity to break out on threads or Facebook blue or or YouTube shorts where there's no one else or not as many people focused. Cause everyone's so over focused on Instagram or TikTok. Also like I'm fairly new and I'm competing with dog trainers that have 20 years word of mouth. Any topics I should be touching on? Is there any trends right now? Is that an opportunity for me to speak on anything that might be different about my dog walking? Where should I go? This is the GaryVee audio experience.
Podcast Host
Gary, welcome to the show.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Thanks for having me, brother.
Podcast Host
We'll get to a few different topics, but everybody I know. So I've been running this show for about six months. I only do an episode once a week and the audience is dog trainers. Right. And I bring on seasoned vets and obviously do a good job. You're a dog trainer, you know, train the dog to a high standard and make sure that the customer is happy and word of mouth takes over. But there's this younger community has come in. They started during COVID maybe a little bit before and they're thinking what do I use AI for my social media strategy? And I saw you gave a keynote a few weeks ago. So if you're a dog trainer, how are you using AI to, you know, without having like AI slop as the captions, without having, you know, those, those graphics that are clearly made by AI. How are you using AI to implement like a social media strategy for your business?
Gary Vaynerchuk
There's a lot of ways to go about it. I think first and foremost, everybody in this community understanding that AI is much more like electricity or like a computer or like the Internet, that none of them will be in a place in five years where they're not interacting with it. Most of them are probably interacting with it today. And my five year out track is very far out just to be kind about it. But like within a year or two, everyone's pretty much interacting with AI pretty significantly. You know, to me, whether it's Claude or Perplexity or Gemini or OpenAI, there's simple things like I'll do it right now. I'll just go to, I'll pick open ChatGPT because actually it's not the hot one right now. So I'll go there. Hey, so I'm a young dog trainer and I want to make social media content that is going to over index over the last six months. I know you're not Manus, which is, you know, obviously Facebook's AI, but you ChatGPT, what do you think are three or four pillars of content I could be making that will help me stand out from everybody else? Is there anything over indexing? Should I be thinking images? Should I be thinking pictures? What about platforms? Should I be doing TikTok? Is it Instagram or maybe there's an opportunity to break out on threads or Facebook blue or or YouTube shorts where there's no one else or not as many people focused because everyone's so over focused on Instagram or TikTok. Also like I'm fairly new and I'm competing with dog trainers that have 20 years word of mouth. Any topics I should be touching on my enthusiasm, my contemporaneous. And is there only, is there any trends right now with people that are living in a hybrid world, right, where people are working at home but also in the office? Is that an opportunity for me to speak on anything that might be different about my dog walking? And then again, is there any, you know, I like music. Should I talk about singing to the dogs? Like where should I go now? You know that's like a, that's a complex prompt what I just did. And I think first of all a lot of people are searching or using AI more like search and they're like, how do I make content if I'm a dog walker versus if you look at what I'm gonna get right now, if, if anybody's Watching or if you're listening. This is a very detailed answer I'm getting with more depth because I went detailed with the prompt. So I didn't even get into how to make content with it using Nano Banana or using other things of that nature. I'm just going to even thinking and so it goes into a lot of stuff. Myth busting Hot takes an entertainment layer. Platforms. It talks about TikTok and shorts. I personally like AI quite a bit as a thinking partner in a jam session ideation and then of course making it like there's a million things. You know Runway, you know Nano, there's a million Mid Journey. There's so many ways to make content with AI. And again, if you don't know it like here we go, like, okay, actually let me use the voice. Everyone can hear it.
Podcast Host
What are your thoughts on AI answering the phone for people or responding to messages? So that that's been like the first
Gary Vaynerchuk
use real quick, real quick. What four platforms should I use to make videos or pictures for my content in my dog training?
AI Assistant
AI, absolutely. I'd focus on these four. First, TikTok. It's still the king for discovery and short form video. Second, YouTube shorts, great for search and longer term growth. Third, Instagram Reels. Super useful for no worries at all.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean what platforms to post on. I mean I want AI to make the content. What apps should I be using to make the content?
AI Assistant
Ah, got it. For AI assisted content creation, I'd say first, check out Runway ML. Super versatile for video editing and AI effects. Second, try Canvas Magic Media. Great for AI generated visuals and videos. Third, Dall E or Mid Journey if you want AI to generate unique images. And fourth, Descript, if you want to edit videos of AI like Cut.
Gary Vaynerchuk
So you know, again, for everybody who's watching, if you're not as tech savvy or marketing savvy as let's say all like, you notice that it referenced two apps that I just referenced two minutes ago. You have the information at your fingertips. AI teaching you how to use AI is one of my most favorite meta things that's going on in the world right now. It just takes effort, curiosity, discipline. How do I feel about AI using Look Look. AI replying to someone to schedule or do something. How much different than that is it than going to someone's website or social media to get information? As long as someone's not parading, as long as people are authentic, you know, if you're using AI to answer and Maybe even you, you set your AI to say, reminder, this is just information. This is not me texting you back. If you're parading as, oh, yeah, I did that. But the. That authenticity doesn't work. But I think we'll be used to AI answering our questions from a person, similar to us going to that person's social media or website for information.
Podcast Host
Would it turn you off if you called into a business? You know, everyone knows that dog trainers typically work, you know, alone. It's that kind of business. Very fragmented solopreneurs, where the dog trainers, you know, they're doing sales, marketing, their execution, everything. And because the dog trainer's with the dog, sometimes they can't answer the phone, sometimes they can't get back to messages incredibly quickly. So what I've been getting calls about is kind of like these AI virtual agents, right? I'll answer the phone for you, I'll write back with a text message. Would that turn you off as a customer or would you be okay with that?
Gary Vaynerchuk
I would say, me personally, it would not turn me off. I know it would turn off a lot of people right now. I would recommend to anyone who wants to. To be authentic with the person on the other side that this is my AI for information. If you need something from me, like, it's almost like I would add in there, P.S. this is my AI for information. If you need something from me, please email me. Or, you know, I believe it is an authenticity game versus an or game. It's gonna be. And there is no world going forward where it's not a mix of AI and human. I think for the next five years, while the world gets accustomed to that, being overly authentic with the person on the other side is probably a good idea. Yeah.
Podcast Host
So, guys, there's a gentleman that you should follow. His name is Caleb Raulston. So he works for Gary. And so he'll post the video on Instagram and then he'll say, like, comment. And I'm sure you guys have seen this with many chat, you know, comment serial. And we'll send over the guide. And when someone comments cereal, for example, it says, thank you. My little robot will send you over the link. And that's a way to be authentic because everyone sees that that is a robotic response.
Gary Vaynerchuk
There was, there was a lot of people that told me email was not authentic
Podcast Host
in the 90s.
Gary Vaynerchuk
That's right.
Podcast Host
And then you just, you just executed on it, built wine library and kind of like, we're like, I hear you, but I'm going to do it in south and think away as I can.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Yeah. And again, for anybody who just heard that, and I went with dramatic pause for purpose, like, that sounds insane to any of you, but there was a world pre email, and I lived in it. And if you didn't call someone or if you didn't talk to them in person, if you didn't write a letter, my argument was, why would email be less authentic than a letter? Hey, everybody. Hope you're enjoying the podcast right now. Make sure you follow the podcast. That's why I'm interrupting. Let's keep going on this show, but follow the podcast. It'll make my mom super happy. And so people get used to things now, I think AI is different than that. I get that. But I don't think it's different enough. And it goes back to, do you understand what's happening? And so, yeah, I mean, I think. I think as long as you're upfront with your audience, like, it's very hard to lose. People can opt in and opt out. Today, 50% of people might say, well, then I'm not going to even interact with you because I don't want the AI. That number will be 1% in 10 years.
Podcast Host
Can I. I'm going to summarize your thesis really quickly, and then I'd love for you to. You expand on it. So, guys, if you go back, Gary's first book was thank you, Economy.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Crush it. Crush it, Crush it then.
Podcast Host
Thank you, Economy.
Gary Vaynerchuk
That's right.
Podcast Host
So he gets messages all the time about how people who were early to reach Crush it and would, you know, create content based on, like, the Smurfs, the things that they truly love. They would be able to build 5, 6, 7, and 8 figure businesses on top of that by doing things that they truly love. This was early 2000s. Now, Gary has made a really interesting post. It's like, I think time away from your phone in real life is going to be the next trend. So we have this, like, a tension that always shifts, like kind of like a pendulum. And that was like, guys, like, one of the best things I do, Gary, is my dogs are trained to be off leash, and I invite different families with their kids for just a day out in nature.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Yeah, it's epic. Oh, it's epic.
Podcast Host
You, you. It's so freeing. They leave their phone in the car.
Gary Vaynerchuk
It's epic in the moment.
Podcast Host
Give me your thesis on what you're seeing. Kind of like, attention social media, media, that kind of economy.
Gary Vaynerchuk
So, yeah, I kind of think of it as a barbell. That's where my head's at right now. The extreme AI and the extreme analog are both about to win and the middle is not where you want to be. So you know, for everyone here in this community, I'm sure this will be, this will land well. I believe, you know, dog walking, I believe running clubs, I believe hiking, I believe people will pay for things that used to be wildly free. Right? People will pay to hang out with 10 other people in a park with their dogs just because we've become so digital, so scroll, so technology and yeah, I mean I think life is pendulums and you know, I, I don't love over digitalization. I love talking about things that are opportunities for people if they want to participate. It is very clear to me. Live sports, you know, going to restaurant. As I think you probably know, I have a restaurant group these days and one of the restaurants I keep pitching to my partners because I'm really more chairman than active driver is. We need to open a restaurant that requires people to put their phone in a locker and then they go to group tables. I just believe it. I think we're yearning for it. I think we're in the beginning of the trend of extreme analog. You see it with like records and like non smartphones. Like literally 14 year olds are buying non smartphones. So you know, a lot of these 14 year olds in Gen Alpha watched their Gen Z siblings. You know, even though I think we've overly demonized technology for our insecurities and our mental health issues and I think there's a little bit more of entitlement and lack of other modern parenting and there's just a lot of other things going on. But notwithstanding, much like sugar, much like alcohol, much like any bad behavior, it's easy to blame it and try to ban it when in reality it's a different conversation. That being said, it's very clear to me that everyone on this call is about to go into a really fun era where I'm aware that many will walk one dog or multiple dogs. You're analog but your customer's not. And I get really excited. Like if I was in this business and I had the brain I have, the strategy I have, I would definitely go into, hey, I'm going to charge you 50% more to walk your dog. Obviously it's all geographical, but what is like the ranges for people that they get paid for walking dogs? What are you seeing out there?
Podcast Host
You're just talking pure dog walking. Like I'm saving you time. Sure, 30 to $50 per half hour to Hour, Right. In that range.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Right. And I assume that that's probably in like upper middle class, middle class, like obviously like lower income. That's not going to happen. Or you know, or maybe it is, I don't know. But I assume in Beverly Hills it's more expensive to dog walk than in Des Moines, Iowa. Right. So to me, especially in those upper middle class and wealthy areas, you go from 75 bucks, 50 bucks to 100 bucks. But what you tell the person is, but now you're in my club and we get together with other people in the club. Thursdays, let's just use New York. Thursdays in Central park at this location every night seven to nine dogs get to play. You get to meet new before me saying you get to pay me double to meet people in real life. You're like, what are you talking? It's kind of like bottled water. When bottled water was invented, bro, people were like what are you talking about? It's free. And now we know, right, what kind of industry it is. I think today some people just heard me and say, wait a minute, I'm charge 100 bucks a walk instead of 50 so that people can meet us for the other dogs. I run on Thursdays from 7 to 9pm in the park. What are you talking about? And I'm going to answer. I'm talking about the future. And so I think there's a lot of rise of analog coming and I'm pretty excited about it because I think it will be very healthy for a lot of people. I ironically am not in need of that as a customer. Like I get my, I don't get digitaled out or fatigued by doom scrolling. I don't get insecure, anxious with the over digitalization. But I'm a focus group of one. I know for hundreds of millions of people this is going to work.
Podcast Host
I'll tell you who my demo is. I'm here in South Florida and what you kind of described like, I would say this is a little bit of a Central park dog park where the drop offs every day are 8 to 9am and the mom. So most of my clients are 40 to 60 year old moms with their dogs.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Right.
Podcast Host
They drop their dog off for the day but they might hover and hang out and you know, catch. Catch you up on the hey, my son just made a varsity baseball team.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Yeah.
Podcast Host
Or look at how big my dog is. Or oh my God, is this like they might have seen on social media? Everyone loves this big hundred pound dog named Dave. So they asked me, is Dave there so that they can come out of the car and meet him like the Brody the dude. So it's become this, hey, I saw on your social media, Dave is there every Tuesday. Can I drop my dog off on a Tuesday and play with Dave?
Gary Vaynerchuk
Sounds like Big Dave has become the hero.
Podcast Host
But that's what you're talking about, right?
Gary Vaynerchuk
I am talking about that. And then it's because I believe the next step is who's Big Dave's owner? And can I have a coffee with big Dave's owner for 15? Like, we're sense we need community now. Ironically, early digital was bringing us community. You know what? Well, what intoxicated me about social in 06 was, remember, there is no social. So I know because you know me a little bit. I know that there's unlimited kids that were like introverted outcast, picked on and now they're finding their friends in Fort what is now Fortnite. But at the time it was like doom or, you know, like the nerds found their friends and then you real next level gen pop found new friends. Bro, you have no idea what Twitter was 2006, 7, 8, 9. It was a nirvana. Like hippies, like, everyone's friends. It was like you would not know if you weren't there. How it was the other side of the pillow. Anybody that showed up, love, it didn't matter if you, like, never had a friend in your life. Like, everybody in 2007 and eight was like, my God, this gave me a community. And you would use the digital to meet in real life. Twenty years later, you stayed in digital. You didn't go to real life as much and a lot more anger, depression, negativity, politics. It changed the dynamic. But my original love of social was what I love about now, the analog emergence. But again, I do think that digital is a gateway for it. Like you said, oh, there's Big Dave in my Instagram feed. Let me go see Andrew. Oh, that becomes friends with Big Dave. Oh, that becomes. You have something called the dog Supper Club. And on top of your dog business, you have a food business where the owners of your dogs are are now in an exclusive club that get together for dinner once a month and you're making revenue off of that and then you get sponsorship and it's coming from a good place.
Podcast Host
Here's a quick comment from It's a good trainer. His name is Matt. So he was watching you in 2020 when you had tea with Gary Vee and it inspired him to start posting his content. And I want to talk to you about this. It's not going to be an easy question, but I'm going to give you the metaphor in human terms so you understand. So you always talk about participation, trophies, right? And not letting kids win in basketball and karate, making them work for results. Because that little bit of stress, that little bit of discomfort, that sadness. Dad won't let me win. I remember in soccer, 18 years old and I was a better player than him, but one on one was his game.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Yeah.
Podcast Host
And it killed me. I called cry.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Well, was that. It's that Soviet energy.
Podcast Host
So good trainers stow their work. But then here's what happens. Inevitably the dog misbehaves, the trainer has to reprimand them. And the Internet is up in arms because they're like, you can't reprimand dogs. We're in 2026. You have to throw food at the dog and tell it it's a good boy. Help us navigate that. Good trainers who document their work get negativity online.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I think history will smile on them if they have good intent, you know, I mean, I don't know what else to tell you. Like, you know this about me and you've. Now you're, you're older now. You've lived life.
Podcast Host
Yeah. Made mistakes, learned.
Gary Vaynerchuk
We all do. We all do. You look great, by the way.
Podcast Host
Look good.
Gary Vaynerchuk
You look healthy and good. You look good. That Florida's doing good by you. I think it's kind of cool to be misunderstood when you're coming from a good place to only be revered or respected 10 years later. What would I tell all the trainers that are actually doing the right thing and I'm under educated? I tend not to judge, as you know, period. Because I think I'm fascinated by people's ability to judge shit they don't know. Nonetheless, I would tell the trainers that know what they're doing that just because we're in an era where keyboard warriors might deploy shame or judgment on you from a place of non knowledge. I promise you in the end you will win that game if you even desire being understood or outside validation. I think one of the things that's made me very dangerous, and I use it as a slang term for like, good, is I don't overly desire to be fully understood or fully, you know, appreciated or needing the validation. I'm very insular and I need to do the thing I need to do. And I'll take the pros and the cons with the hope that in the end it will be appreciated because I know where my framework comes From. And so I will say to everybody, incredibly well intended, warm hearted, tremendously talented, educated and skilled and experienced trainer. Being misunderstood because something's taken out of context by the gen pop is obviously not fun. And you worry does it hurt your business and something goes viral. I get it. But I promise you, you will win in the end if it's true.
Podcast Host
So you guys all know Gary's building, let's call it like a Pokemon esque brand called VI brands. The To I think there you go. To.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I mean it was like a grateful
Podcast Host
gorilla, you know, elegant elephant. It was bringing these, you know, I guess personality traits that Gary had that he saw winners have into the main street. Right? And so if you have kids, check out Leaf Friends.
Gary Vaynerchuk
It's at your local card store.
Podcast Host
And card stores are popping up left and right.
Gary Vaynerchuk
This is one of my favorite questions.
Podcast Host
It self aware hair. So one of the questions that someone had was Gary's big on live selling. So if you guys don't remember, in the 90s there was a QVC, right? And then it faded away into the 2000s.
Gary Vaynerchuk
But in many ways, bro, by the way, I'm sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt. It's not. You got like, like watch this. This is gonna blow you away. Just for fun.
Podcast Host
Sure.
Gary Vaynerchuk
How much revenue does QVC and Home Shopping network do in 2023 for 2025?
Podcast Host
I miss Emeril Lagasse.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Me too. See what's going here? Is it working? Oh, do you know how much revenue QVC and Home Shopping Network did in 2025?
AI Assistant
In 2025, QVC Group, which owns both QVC and Home shopping network, reported $9.23 billion in total revenue, down about 8% year over year.
Gary Vaynerchuk
9.2 billion.
Podcast Host
But it's shifting. You would agree with.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Oh, by the way, you heard the last part. Down 8%. I mean, why do you think I'm yelling at everyone here? Sell your dog leashes. Go make dog food. And business like live. I mean, I for you. Cause I know you enough if you. And you may not want to do this, but if anyone here wants to get into the physical product making, which is very hard. The reason so many of you have not done it is you've seen others try big, bigger names than you fail. But you can start nice and slow if you've got a chewy toy idea dog collar. Even if you want to go all the way to the extreme and make dog food, which I think is very challenging, I will say that live shopping today is where social media was when I wrote Crush it in 2006 which it's big already but it's going to get so big and I could not push it more.
Podcast Host
Other than products. Is the there a way to just do a show on there?
Gary Vaynerchuk
Yeah, it's coming. I'm sorry to interrupt you. If you go on TikTok because on TikTok they bring you audience so it shows up on people's for you page. I do believe in something called commerce tainment where you're just filming information. But I would say I think we will get into a place where you will book services through live shopping, not just selling physical product. We're not really all the way there yet but I'm very bullish it.
Podcast Host
I want to respect your time. So guys, this is a 30 minute episode. I want to end on this please. Your family got a dog named Roomie? Yes, I know you're a people person.
Gary Vaynerchuk
It's okay.
Podcast Host
You love people. Gary's giving some keynotes.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I love everyone here.
Podcast Host
I wish you guys in here love people as much as you love dogs.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I know I always get razzed on this. I really still stand on that business. If the world loved each other the way we all default and love these wonderful animals, the world would be a better place. We all default to loving the dog. We do not default to loving the human because humans can hurt us. I get that. But yes, to answer your question that I have a feeling you're gonna ask. You know, Mona makes fun of me like I love Rumi. Like weird. Like there's certain things I do. I've always done this since I was a kid. If I really love something, I'll bite my tongue. I'll do this. This is like an interesting tell in my life. It doesn't happen in business. So most of even my hardest core fans have maybe never seen it. Maybe it showed up in a dailyvee somewhere and people didn't understand it. I do it to my niece. I know Mona has pointed that out. I do it to her. I do it to other my kids, of course. But I've done it to Rumi. And Mona's like there it is.
Podcast Host
What is it that you love about her is you didn't grow up with dogs.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I actually did. I don't talk about this a lot. We had a dog named Tyson, a German shepherd. But then he bit the plumber's midsection and that kind of changed, you know. I had a dog named Rex. You know, we grew up weird with dogs. My father likes dogs, my mother and I and my Siblings, but really my mother and I were scared of them and my dad was never home. So it was a real. I mean, I don't even want to get into. I took care of them and I had to like, clean up the poop. And it was like, inside, there's a lot going on there. It wasn't really outside dog life. Nonetheless, my thing with dogs was me making an extreme statement to try to talk about we need more love in human life, much less about me like hating dogs. Other than as a child, I did grow up being scared of dogs because my mom was scared of them and I just thought every dog was gonna bite me on impact. So it's been fun to watch. You know, my brother got a dog, his kids. Like, it's been fun to watch. My sister has like, it's fun to watch kids not be scared by default because I had a very different experience. But I think, you know, listen, I don't have to sit here and pontificate of why people love dogs, right? Like, or animals, they, you know, and again, I apologize, but I'm going to use it as a platform for this. I. I actually believe most people by default love each other too. I believe that the media has done a very effective job to talk about the 1% of us that are bad or hurting and then being forced to do bad things. And we all love dogs because there's unconditional love. But I will also say we all love dogs because they can't talk back. I have a funny feeling if every dog on earth was able to talk back to their owners and point out their owners insecurities and shortcomings and things they don't like that their owner does, that this miraculous default that we just love them blindly would also change and would look more similar to the way we feel about people.
Podcast Host
I'll tell you, working with dogs has made me realize how creative and imaginative humans are. Because a human can take something that a dog does. And you're clearly, that's not what it's doing. Because I see that. And they just make up this whole narrative, yes, dogs protect dogs probably scared the ones. It's this whole story. I'm like, are you sure that that's accurate?
Gary Vaynerchuk
Right? Because you're deeper, you're knowledgeable, you have context and you know, you know this. I know very little and compared to every brilliant person on this show. But I know we as humans affirm the wrong things in our dogs. And I know that through the lens of what we're doing as parents and so that's really cool. I'm really happy you found yourself in this world. It's really, I think, you know, I mean this with every ounce of my soul. It's really, really nice to see you flourishing in this arena. I'm really proud of you. I'm happy for you. I love seeing some of the comments. I hope people enjoy the show. I hope this brings value to people and wish everyone well.
Podcast Host
I appreciate it. I'll let you go with this. My dad and my sister also were scared of dogs. My dad was a delivery driver
Gary Vaynerchuk
and
Podcast Host
he knocked on the door. They opened the door and he was
Gary Vaynerchuk
on the receiving end.
Podcast Host
The German shepherd bit his midsection.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Man, I hope it wasn't your dad that has Andrew this is before we
Podcast Host
breached, so I had all this cat cash in my pocket so it protected me.
Gary Vaynerchuk
What a great story.
Podcast Host
I appreciate it. I know you have all these things that you're working on to take 30 minutes out of your day to share your knowledge, your vibe, your personality and your story with us. It means the world. So thank you so much.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Happy to do it everybody. If you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of this journey. See you later.
The GaryVee Audio Experience | May 5, 2026
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk | Guest Host (Dog Training Niche Show)
This episode dives deep into the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), social media strategy, and business growth for solopreneurs—specifically dog trainers—looking ahead to 2026. Gary Vaynerchuk discusses practical, authentic, and forward-thinking approaches to leveraging AI as a tool for content ideation, production, customer communication, and even community-building, emphasizing the critical balance between digital and analog experiences. The conversation is driven by real-world questions from a dog trainer-centric audience, offering both hands-on tactics and big-picture insights into the future of business and social content.
AI Is Inevitable:
Gary compares AI to transformative technologies like electricity, computers, and the internet, predicting that “none of them will be in a place in five years where they're not interacting with it. Most of them are probably interacting with it today.” (00:00, 02:24, 02:53)
Rapid Adoption Is Underway:
Within “a year or two, everyone's pretty much interacting with AI significantly…Whether it's Claude or Perplexity or Gemini or OpenAI.” (00:00)
AI as an Ideation and Thinking Partner:
Gary demonstrates, live, prompting ChatGPT with a complex scenario, emphasizing the value of detailed input for nuanced output:
“I personally like AI quite a bit as a thinking partner in a jam session ideation and then, of course, making it.” (05:10)
Prompt Quality Matters:
“A lot of people are searching or using AI more like search...if you look at what I'm gonna get right now...This is a very detailed answer I'm getting with more depth because I went detailed with the prompt.” (03:50)
Recommended AI Tools for Creators:
“For AI assisted content creation...Runway ML, Canva Magic Media, DALL·E or Mid Journey, Descript...” (06:09)
AI Can Teach You AI:
Gary highlights the meta aspect: “AI teaching you how to use AI is one of my most favorite meta things that's going on in the world right now. It just takes effort, curiosity, discipline.” (06:28)
AI as Receptionist/Assistant:
“I would recommend...be authentic with the person on the other side that this is my AI for information. If you need something from me, please email me...It is an authenticity game…” (08:04)
Analogy to Email's Introduction:
Gary compares skepticism about AI to early doubts about email, concluding that acceptance is only a matter of time:
“People get used to things...AI is different...but I don't think it's different enough...Today, 50% of people might say, well, then I'm not going to even interact with you because I don't want the AI. That number will be 1% in 10 years.” (09:30)
Barbell Theory—Extreme AI and Extreme Analog:
“The extreme AI and the extreme analog are both about to win, and the middle is not where you want to be.” (11:41)
Experiential Upselling:
Predicts Monetization of Social Connection:
Digital Still Drives Discovery:
Connecting digital content (like Instagram posts about a dog named “Big Dave”) to in-real-life engagement and community:
“You have something called the dog Supper Club...and on top of your dog business, you have a food business...exclusive club...and then you get sponsorship and it's coming from a good place.” (18:30)
Standing Firm Amidst Social Negativity:
Trainers and professionals who document their work may face backlash, especially when showing unpopular methods—even if those are best practices. Gary’s advice:
“I think history will smile on them if they have good intent...It's kind of cool to be misunderstood when you're coming from a good place, to only be revered...10 years later.” (20:20)
“Being misunderstood because something's taken out of context by the gen pop is obviously not fun...but I promise you, you will win in the end if it's true.” (21:41)
Resilience as Key Trait:
“I don't overly desire to be fully understood...I'm very insular and I need to do the thing I need to do.” (21:33)
“If the world loved each other the way we all default and love these wonderful animals, the world would be a better place.” (25:25)
“We all love dogs because there's unconditional love. But...if every dog on earth was able to talk back to their owners...it would look more similar to the way we feel about people.” (27:18)
“AI is much more like electricity or like a computer or like the Internet...within a year or two, everyone's pretty much interacting with AI pretty significantly.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (00:00)
“If you look at what I'm gonna get right now...This is a very detailed answer I'm getting with more depth because I went detailed with the prompt.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (03:50)
“It is an authenticity game versus an or game. It's gonna be. And there is no world going forward where it's not a mix of AI and human.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (08:16)
“People will pay for things that used to be wildly free.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (11:41)
“Life is pendulums...the extreme AI and the extreme analog are both about to win...” — Gary Vaynerchuk (11:41)
“Being misunderstood because something's taken out of context by the gen pop is obviously not fun...But I promise you, you will win in the end if it's true.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (21:41)
“Live shopping today is where social media was when I wrote Crush it in 2006...it's big already but it's going to get so big and I could not push it more.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (24:06)
“We all default to loving the dog. We do not default to loving the human because humans can hurt us. I get that.” — Gary Vaynerchuk (25:25)
This insightful episode blends tactical advice for AI-accelerated social media growth with broader reflections on technology, authenticity, and the timeless desire for real-world connection. Gary Vee’s practical suggestions—matched with his characteristic candor and optimism—serve as a roadmap for solopreneurs and creators navigating business in 2026 and beyond.