Social Media Changed Everything. Are You Still in Denial? | GaryVee Keynote

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: Social Media Changed Everything. Are You Still in Denial? | GaryVee Keynote
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Host/Author: Gary Vaynerchuk

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Social Media Changed Everything. Are You Still in Denial?," entrepreneur and content mogul Gary Vaynerchuk delivers a compelling keynote speech that delves into the transformative power of social media, the imperative of adapting to emerging technologies, and the foundational role of kindness and empathy in business. Released on April 22, 2025, this keynote offers insightful perspectives aimed at motivating business professionals to embrace change, leverage content creation, and prioritize emotional intelligence in their endeavors.

The Critical Role of Content Creation

Gary opens his keynote by emphasizing the paramount importance of content creation in today's business landscape:

“The number one variable of growing your business in this room that is practical, achievable, doable, is how serious you take making content on the Internet. It's that simple.”
— [00:19]

He dismisses common excuses for neglecting social media, asserting that the platform itself is not broken but rather underutilized by those who fail to commit to consistent content production. Gary underscores that successful transactions in industries like real estate are driven by adept content creators who understand platform-specific strategies, such as leveraging LinkedIn for B2B marketing.

Key Points:

• Content creation is essential for business growth.
• Social media platforms are powerful tools when used correctly.
• Consistency and strategic approach to content are critical for ROI.

Embracing New Technologies: Blockchain and NFTs

Transitioning from content, Gary delves into the future of technology with a focus on blockchain and NFTs:

“The blockchain and NFT is going to take over all contracts. Anybody sitting in the middle will not make any money for sitting in the middle. There's no reason for a processing fee.”
— [16:45]

He warns against complacency and reliance on outdated business models, predicting that blockchain will revolutionize contractual agreements by eliminating intermediaries and reducing costs. Gary urges professionals to educate themselves about these technologies to remain competitive:

“Please spend 15 hours googling Ethereum and smart contracts. Get educated not to play defense, but to play offense.”
— [17:30]

Key Points:

• Blockchain technology will disrupt traditional contract models.
• NFTs are set to redefine ownership and transactions.
• Proactive education on emerging technologies is essential for future success.

Building Your Personal Brand

Gary shifts focus to personal branding, advocating for authenticity and adaptability:

“How you build your personal brand on the Internet... you need to be you.”
— [20:50]

He offers practical advice on leveraging various content forms to showcase one's identity and expertise, whether through video, audio, writing, or community building. Gary highlights that the essence of personal branding lies in educating and connecting with the audience rather than merely selling products or services.

Key Points:

• Authenticity is crucial in personal branding.
• Utilize diverse content mediums to reach and engage audiences.
• Focus on education and community-building to establish credibility.

Kindness, Empathy, and Emotional Intelligence in Business

A significant portion of Gary's talk centers on the underestimated power of kindness and empathy in the business world:

“We need to have a very big conversation in the business world about how much kindness, compassion, empathy are the superpowers of business.”
— [14:30]

He critiques traditional motivational tactics such as fear and monetary incentives, advocating instead for understanding and catering to the diverse motivations of team members. Gary shares his personal stance on kindness, distinguishing genuine generosity from manipulative strategies:

“Actual kindness means giving without expectation.”
— [15:45]

Key Points:

• Emotional intelligence is a critical leadership trait.
• Traditional motivators like fear and money are less effective.
• Genuine kindness fosters a positive and productive work environment.

Overcoming Complacency and Success

Gary addresses the pitfalls of success, warning against complacency and the tendency to judge emerging trends harshly:

“Everyone made fun of Tesla till they didn't. Everyone made fun of the Kardashians till they didn't.”
— [21:00]

He emphasizes the importance of remaining hungry and adaptable, cautioning that resting on past successes can lead to downfall. Gary encourages continuous self-improvement and openness to innovation to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing market.

Key Points:

• Success can breed complacency and resistance to change.
• Continuous innovation and adaptability are essential to sustain growth.
• Avoid underestimating emerging trends and new market players.

Personal Reflections and Lessons

Gary shares personal anecdotes that illustrate his resilience, work ethic, and gratitude. He recounts his early experiences working in his family's liquor store under demanding conditions, which instilled in him a relentless work ethic:

“I believe in business, what is very clear to me is people think kindness and they use kindness. But what it really is is a slight version of manipulation.”
— [14:50]

Gary also touches on his immigrant background, highlighting the challenges his family faced and the gratitude that drives his philanthropic efforts. He credits his parents for instilling values of hard work and honesty, shaping his approach to business and life.

Key Points:

• Personal struggles and work experiences can fuel entrepreneurial drive.
• Gratitude and humility are foundational to personal and professional fulfillment.
• Upholding integrity and honesty builds long-term trust and success.

Q&A Highlights

During the Q&A session, Gary reiterates several core themes from his keynote and offers additional insights:

1. Innovation Through Mindset:

   “The innovation is the mindset.”
   — [18:40]

   He emphasizes that true innovation stems from a willingness to adapt and think differently rather than relying solely on new technologies.

2. Humility and Success:

   “Humility comes easy... I've never had a moment in my life where I've thought I was better than somebody else.”
   — [23:17]

   Gary discusses maintaining humility despite significant achievements, attributing it to a focus on personal accountability and an abundance mindset.

3. Importance of Gratitude:

   “Gratitude was big.”
   — [25:29]

   He highlights how gratitude drives his desire to give back and positively impact others, stating that genuine fulfillment is derived from helping others succeed.

4. Addressing Ageism:

   “The one thing we are not talking enough about in America is ageism.”
   — [31:21]

   Gary calls attention to the undervalued wisdom and experience of older generations, advocating for intergenerational learning and respect.

Key Points:

• Innovation is rooted in mindset and adaptability.
• Humility is maintained through self-awareness and accountability.
• Gratitude fuels philanthropic and community-focused initiatives.
• Recognizing and valuing the contributions of all age groups enriches business and society.

Conclusion

Gary Vaynerchuk's keynote at "The GaryVee Audio Experience" serves as a robust call to action for business professionals to harness the power of social media, embrace emerging technologies, and cultivate emotional intelligence within their organizations. Through a blend of strategic advice, personal anecdotes, and motivational insights, Gary underscores the necessity of adaptability, authentic branding, and empathetic leadership in navigating the complexities of the modern business environment. His message is clear: in a world transformed by digital innovation, the key to sustained success lies in relentless content creation, embracing change, and fostering genuine human connections.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• On Content Creation:
  “The number one variable of growing your business in this room that is practical, achievable, doable, is how serious you take making content on the Internet. It's that simple.”
  — [00:19]

• On Blockchain Impact:
  “The blockchain and NFT is going to take over all contracts. Anybody sitting in the middle will not make any money for sitting in the middle.”
  — [16:45]

• On Kindness in Business:
  “We need to have a very big conversation in the business world about how much kindness, compassion, empathy are the superpowers of business.”
  — [14:30]

• On Humility:
  “Humility comes easy... I've never had a moment in my life where I've thought I was better than somebody else.”
  — [23:17]

• On Gratitude:
  “Gratitude was big.”
  — [25:29]

• On Ageism:
  “The one thing we are not talking enough about in America is ageism.”
  — [31:21]

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This detailed summary encapsulates the essence of Gary Vaynerchuk's keynote, providing listeners and readers with a comprehensive understanding of his insights and recommendations for thriving in the evolving digital landscape.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the.

[B]

Gary Vee Audio Experience.

[A]

In today's episode, we're sharing a keynote.

[B]

That Gary gave back in 2022 for NAH Rep.

[A]

In this one, you'll hear Gary talk.

[B]

About the urgency of adapting to emerging.

[A]

Tech, how content is still the most.

[B]

Underrated business strategy, and the importance of kindness, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

[A]

I hope you all enjoy this one. The number one variable of growing your business in this room that is practical, achievable, doable, is how serious you take making content on the Internet. It's that simple. No matter what anybody in this room says to me of why no, because they've never started and they have an ideology or because they've made 45 posts on Instagram and haven't sold anything yet. No matter what your excuse is, I promise you social media is not broken in that story. You're the one that's broken. There is ungodly amounts of homes being sold. There's ungodly amounts of B2B Commercial real estate transactions happening by people that know how to make content on LinkedIn and run an ad and see it. But it's about doing it right, right? When people hear me say you should be doing Linked, how many people here are in the commercial side or are thinking from a B2B standpoint more than a B2C standpoint? Raise your hands right? Raise it high. Don't be scared. It's okay. I don't know what the fuck you're doing, sir, but is that. Are you in boat? But, you know, jazz hands. It's nice. Pretty hands. It was funny last week. Someone's like, gary, you've been talking about LinkedIn. And he showed me the posts and he's like, it's not working. And in the post, I'm talking about making content in the feed of LinkedIn, knowing who you're trying to reach, running ads against the employees of those organizations for content in the feed. And then I ask him what he's doing and he's spamming people by paying 100 bucks a month for a script that just emails people on LinkedIn. That little story is something I think about every day. The roi, I like to say, of a basketball is billions of dollars for LeBron James. It's zero for me. How one plays with the tools is the variable of success. And so we can get into the mindset. I do believe that the far majority of what is the opportunity in this room, or the limitation sits in two very simple categories. One's uncomfortably black and white. And one is remarkably gray. The black and white is what I just started with. Until you start making dozens of videos, pictures and written articles a week, you will continue to leave an extraordinary amount of money on the table and somebody sitting next to you is going to do it and take your market share. And I don't care if you've been the queen of that city for 30 years and work on your reputation, slowly but surely you will lose because that's what always happens in business. If that wasn't the case, IBM would still be winning. I love this industry and I love OGs because my dad's an OG. Shit, I started so young. I'm an OG. Like, I love OG life and it is absolutely building on reputation. But I love when an agent says to me, dear, you don't get it. I dominate this town for the last 30 years. I'm like, dear, you don't get it. You don't get it. Much bigger companies than you have gone out of business with fucking audacity. And it is audacity. And this is very clear. If you're sitting in the crowd and you're not doing this work, it's only two things and they're both interesting. One is audacity. You've lost your ambition, which is okay. I don't think of that as a bad thing. I don't think it's a bad thing that you're not as hungry. Maybe you've scratched your itch. Maybe you do want to do other parts in your life. But don't lie to yourself and understand yourself on where you are in your journey. The question is very simple though. Who's going to actually put in the 30 hours of work starting today to actually know how to do pictures and videos and written words on these platforms and who's not? And it becomes a very simple game. It's a black and white prescriptive game. Either you're good at it or you're not. No different than basketball. The other part is very different. It's gray. I think people are incredibly confused when it comes to business. I think people think that money motivates people and of course it does. Until it doesn't, right? I think people think that fear is a good way to go about things and it works. We see it all the time. Until it doesn't. I think it is time for the leaders in here trying to motivate their team. Do you know how many emails I get every day or direct messages that look like this? Gary, love your content. Real quick, how do I get These fucking millennials to work. And it pisses me off every time. It pisses me off. Because the leader only has one move. The leader that is shitting on their team has one move. The way they grew up. Things change. The audacity to think that everybody should be motivated by the same thing that you're motivated by is, is ludicrous. You can't ask somebody who's from different circumstances than you to want the same things you want. And so when I see that email, they think I'm going to love it because I'm the work hard guy and all. They think. But what they're walking into is a buzzsaw. And occasionally I'm in the mood to write back. Hey Sally, let me ask you, have you even had a conversation with them of what they do? Like, are you just making assumptions? We need to have a very big conversation in the business world about how much kindness, compassion, empathy are the superpowers of business. People don't think so. When I talk about kindness and I talk about it a lot, my favorite email is like title all caps. Gary, you're wrong. I'm like, here we go. I open it up. You don't get it, Gary. You talk about kindness, I'm always kind and everybody takes advantage of me and walks all over me. And I reply, hey, Rick, maybe you're manipulating the situation because you want somebody to walk all over you a little bit. Because you're actually subconsciously trying to create leverage. Because let me promise you one thing about actual kindness. If you're confused by the definition, actual kindness means giving without expectation. And I believe in business, what is very clear to me is people think kindness and they use kindness. But what it really is is a slight version of manipulation. You're doing something with thinking something else is gonna happen. You're referring cause you think you're gonna. And it's all good. It's nice to maybe think, but don't confuse that with kindness. That's called strategy. Don't say you're kind, say you're throwing out reels and trying to hope it returns own what it actually is. So I think we're going through a really interesting transformation. I think that the world historically changes when, when communication changes, when the books were written in the world. This is a long time ago. We're going into some history lessons. Because the churches wrote 70% of all the books when the printing press was invented is the reason why religion is such a force in our society. Right? The reason things change is when the medium changes, books came along, things changed. Radio came along, things changed. Television came along, things changed. This Internet thing is now at scale. And now we are at a mature state where things have changed and we all feel it in culture and politics, things are different because the medium has changed. And we have a new medium in the blockchain that is building while the Internet is getting into its maturity. But what some of the people in this room may not realize is that the blockchain and NFT is going to take over all contracts. Anybody sitting in the middle will not make any money for sitting in the middle. There's no reason for a processing fee. These are non custodial situations. There's no need for a bank fee, there's no need for a processing fee. Things are changing, my friends, and whether you like it or not, it will change. I was at a conference like this many years ago and I had just invested in Uber and it was the taxi and limo National Convention. So I'm giving my talk and I finally throw it out there. And as you can imagine, the room wasn't thrilled with me. But it was a discussion and all I saw, all I saw was question after question, statement after statement. That was why it wasn't gonna work. And all of the answers were regulation, Gary. This is not gonna work because we're gonna pay the politicians off. Similar to how I hear car dealerships and car people talk about Tesla or direct to consumer. I promise you, when technology is coming along, hoping for regulation is always going to be a bad strategy. My favorite is everybody who hates big government because they're an entrepreneur. But then when something comes along and fucks you up, you love the government, don't you? So when the blockchain comes and starts taking out fees, you better shut your fucking mouth in this room. And notice how few claps just happened. Why do I bring that up right now? Not to razz, not to scare. Because I want you to do the 50 hours of homework so you can innovate. What blows my mind is people's inability to put in the work the face of information. All of you know that this blockchain thing is brewing. You've definitely heard about Bitcoin at this point. You've probably maybe heard of Ethereum. It's happening and it's gonna affect this industry soonest. This is the book industry for the Internet. The blockchain is contracts. Please understand that, please. It's a very important thing. Please spend 15 hours googling Ethereum and smart contracts. Get educated not to play defense, but to play offense. You do 15 to 30 hours of homework, you might just change your career. You might shift slightly in what you're doing now to something else. It's a remarkable time. And one thing I know about an immigrant centric reality is it's not scared to put in the work. But before you're done clapping and I really know this statement, it likes to pick which work it wants to do. People don't like change and change is the only guarantee. And this industry is in the face of massive change. What the blockchain eventually will do is change the face of what brokerages leverages in the ecosystem. Right now is the time to build your personal brand on the Internet. And I mean right now, how you do that can be totally different. You don't need to be over the top or curse like me, you need to be you. I'm me. You be you. But what you need to do is start producing content to educate people on who you are. If you're uncomfortable with the way you look and you don't want to be on video, then do audio and do a podcast. If you're not sure that you can handle the camera, then write on LinkedIn or Facebook. If you feel more comfortable being the hostess with the mostest, start a Facebook group regionally within your area. One of the greatest arbitrage is in this industry right now is starting a Facebook group for the local area where you sell around the town, not around selling homes. Bringing people in, building community, and then just happening to be the person that's hosting that group and picking up the business. These are the black and white tactics available to you. How you build your team and how much empathy you have for the consumer on the other side is the other variable. But the opportunity is staggering. It is staggering. The speed in which people are changing what they consume, which then dictates what they think, which then dictates how they buy is at a level we've never seen before. I come here, fly across the country and fly back for one reason, to put so much pressure on this room to do the homework. To do the homework. I mean, it's. The opportunity is so real. You are literally one one. Because I'm on the receiving end of these messages. You're one viral TikTok video away from selling 13 homes because of it. And you don't go in there and start doing the latest dance. You're trying to sell homes. And you're more than welcome to shake your ass, fine, but. But it's a lot more interesting to talk about what you want to Talk about, but making it contextual to the room. People say no so much. TikTok's fastest growing demo is 38 to 55 year olds. You can still think it's 12 year olds. It hasn't been 12 year olds for two years. That's the game of no versus the game of yes. That's the game of staying curious. The biggest, biggest vulnerability to people in business today trying to sell to human beings is their unbelievable calmness and interest in saying the word no. And their visceral reaction to the idea of maybe the innovation that we're living through is bank the opportunity is even bigger. But this requires homework before you decide that content on social media can't sell for you. Did you really do the 20 hours of homework and the 50 hours of you doing it? It doesn't count when you have your niece do six posts for you. This world is reading about push ups instead of doing them. I wish actually that's not even, that's actually not even true. I wish this was a game of people reading about push ups and not doing it. We're not even reading about push ups. We're dismissing push ups before we even read about them. I ask you and implore you here today, my friends, to open up your heart to curiosity, to open up your eyes to the reality of what's happening in our society and how people are making their decisions and to shed your preconceived notions and start putting in the work. For a lot of us, me included, it was easy to put in the hard labor. Right? It was easy to put in the work. It's much more challenging to figure out the new technologies. The problem is the world doesn't care about you and me. The world's gonna do what the world does. And the way people are gonna make buying decisions are gonna be based on the people they see here. Period. End of story. It may feel good for you to see your picture on a billboard. You might like it. But now you're servicing your ego instead of your wallet. I think we should go into Q and A. I'd like to get into some detailed stuff, please, please.

[B]

Thank you so much, Gary.

[A]

Welcome.

[B]

Greatly appreciate it. And I'd like to first say on behalf of NARAP and everybody in the crowd, thank you so much for being here. I think it's safe to say that in your 20 minutes you dropped quite a few great bombs that I think could help the group. So let's get to some Q and A, please. You know, you talked a lot about some of the Pressure to do the homework, things of that nature. What are some innovations that you think that can help with the homework for these folks?

[A]

This talk, this talk that I wanted to give today is you don't need an innovation, you don't need a robot. This is not about ar, this is not about an algorithm. This is a very simple business conversation. If you want to sell things, it's a good idea to make it easier for people to buy from you. And so the innovation is the mindset. The innovation is going home now and deciding what you just saw in this talk and saying, is he right or is he wrong? And if you find yourself saying he's right, but I don't want to, I really mean this, that's okay. But then you have to be honest with yourself of where you are in your career. Whether that means maybe doing something else because you don't have fire for it, or being content, which is a beautiful thing, if you're content. But you have to be aware that, that this is all happening around you. I don't have to tell this room how much innovation is going on in this space. You've got the biggest technology companies in the world interested in your money. Some of you are worried about Bob. Cause he's got four billboards. Amazon's much scarier than fucking Bob. And so I don't come here to be crass. I apologize. I haven't been on stage in a while. I had some. I wanted to get out of it.

[B]

This crowd could handle it.

[A]

I know. I don't come here to razz. I hope you understand. All my energy so far is pure love. I'm just worried. I'm worried. I know what's happening. I know what the big tech companies are doing. I know what's happening with Blockchain. I, I know what's happening with the 20 year olds that everybody makes fun of who are picking up incredible market share from a lot of you because they're actually being seen on social. They might not know the fucking business yet. And you love making fun of them for that. I got bad news for you that they'll figure out.

[B]

Yeah, that's may need to take a pause on that one.

[A]

People make fun of things until they don't. Everybody made fun of the Kardashians until they didn't. Everybody made fun of Tesla till they didn't. And what I'm worried about is this room's too successful. That's a great success is the beginning of the end.

[B]

So.

[A]

And what success leads to is judgment of what's coming up. So you sit around and you're like, ah, look what she's doing on. But she doesn't even know. That part's the commodity. The commodity is how to do it. They'll learn that what's not the commodity is the ability to get in front of people. If it was a commodity, all of you would have a million followers.

[B]

So, I mean, we're talking about success here, and we're talking a lot about the, you know, the evolution of business that you've been talking about. How do they evolve in times of success? Because how it creates complacency.

[A]

You know, this is why I love the immigrant story so much. I always say that no rich kid can beat an immigrant because it's really, really, really hard to be hungry when you're always fed. Right? The problem in the arena, it's not a problem. It's actually the greatest American dream story. The problem is when the hungry kid is eventually fed, sometimes that hunger also goes away. Most of the time, that's fine. That's actually beautiful. My problem is this. It's a very narrow part of this story I'm telling. My problem is when you become a hypocrite, right? When what you did got you there. Now you're there and you're looking down on people who are just doing something that you did to get there.

[B]

How do you keep yourself so humble?

[A]

By not paying attention to what anybody else is doing. So for me, humility comes easy for a couple reasons. One, I won the DNA crapshoot. It's just a natural trait. Two, it's true. I'm just, you know, it's just I've never. I've never had a moment in my life where I've thought I was better than somebody else in my life ever. And I've done a lot of shit. I just like playing my game. Even when you were saying to buy the New York Jets, I was smirking. Even my New York jets thing is not fully understood. I love trying to buy the Jets.

[B]

The sport.

[A]

The sport. I'm curious, how good am I? I don't need it. It is not my validation. I don't need to flex it. I'm just so into trying. So, you know, the other thing is, I believe that the world is abundant. Even if you're in a neighborhood going elbow to elbow to somebody else, and you're the two top sellers in a neighborhood, you could extend your neighborhood. You could. You know, people start focusing so much on or. And I'm obsessed with and. Right. And so it's very easy for me to be happy because I don't think anybody's taking anything out of my mouth. I'm obsessed with accountability. Every single thing that is wrong in my life is 100% my fault. And, you know, those are the ways I see the world. Good parenting, good circumstances.

[B]

What are some of those? You know, you've spoken candidly about your parents and the meticulous upbringing. What are some of the things they taught you that now even get you to sit here and give back in such a fashion?

[A]

My. I think gratitude is the reason I give back. I think the single reason I want to put out all the content and do things like, I'm very compensated for a speech like this. But no longer does that make financial sense to me in my business world. It's just amazing to be here with all of you. I love it. Why? Because I know how I communicate. I know that I come here with an agenda, and that agenda is to suffocate one person in this room's bullshit with the hope that it's exactly what they needed to go do something so that in four years they could send me an email and say, I was in San Diego in 2021 and I thought I was hot shit, but then you fucking got me. And then I got my shit together. Then I got my shit together, and now my family's so much better life. And that feeling for me is better than even when I'm winning. So my selfishness is my selflessness. It's fun for me. I'm already good. It's very easy to give when you're fulfilled, right? And so for me, what happened A, My family heritage was crazy fucked up. My mom lost her mom at 5. My dad lost his dad at 16. We lived in the Soviet Union. A lot of people don't know this. I didn't realize how many people don't know this. You weren't allowed to leave the country. The country was a prison from 1918 to 1990. A prison. You weren't allowed to leave. Leave. Everybody spent time in jail because the government owned everything. Cuba and Venezuela are a fucking vacation compared to Soviet Union in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. So, you know, here I am. We left in 78. I'm three years. I'm growing up in America, and this is going to really hit for this room. I'm growing up in America, but am I really? Because in my four walls, it's fucking Russia, right? But. But I have both, right? So in the house, all I'm hearing every Friday night and on the weekends is the stories of the old country, and it's a disaster. And I'm out here drinking Coca Cola and watching Mickey Mouse. And so very quickly, I'm just thankful. I'm just grateful. And so gratitude was big. The other thing they taught me was the story looked like this sixth grade Nintendo explodes, right? And I'm like, mom, Nintendo. And she's like, good, go get it. And so, you know, that framework gets you serious about lemonade and washing cars and shoveling snow. And so my parents taught me a level of work ethic that I would, in hindsight, at 45, say was probably too extreme. The three of us talk about it a lot. I think all of us collectively look at each other and say, maybe we took it to 130. 100 would have been fine. 80 would have been fine. We lived in 130. I worked from the time I was 14. I worked every weekend and every summer vacation day of my life. All of them, like, when people hear it, I don't think they understand all of them. Not like, kind of, you know, like, you meet people, they're like, they helped out in their family business every day. I was a terrible student. My parents sat me down at 14, and they're like, you're not going to Harvard, so you're going to work every day. And so work ethic was taught. And then I had such a gift of communicating that my father really, really impacted my life because he has no tolerance for lying. And I had an incredible ability to manipulate everyone on earth. And when you're young and you realize you have gift of gab, you have no idea how to fully function with it, right? And so my dad really helped me because I was so scared of him. And for my father, embellishing or slight exaggeration was like a death blow. He keeps it so straight. And that really helped me a lot. I think about that a lot. I was gifted with so many things, but it really worked out for me on how they parented me. But it all comes down to gratitude. When I tell you the only thing on earth I care about is the health of my family. It is the only thing I care about. Everything I do in business is a game. I don't give a shit. I fuck money. Fuck all of it. Health. And when you really believe it, when you really believe it, not on stage, we clap. It's nice. No, no. People that really know me. When you really believe it, you know what happens? This much pressure at work.

[B]

Mental health.

[A]

My mental health is Fucking the greatest of all time. Because at least you know, in the scheme of things, from a business standpoint, when you genuinely mean what I just said. You don't have bad days. You have bad days because you're worried about money. That's what it is. You have bad days because you're worried about the money. And when you don't worry about the money, not because you have it or you don't, I feel the same way. I made. I sold five pictures today at Christie's auction. That made me more money than I made from being 22 to 34 years old in my career combined.

[B]

Wow, Nice.

[A]

That's not a humble brag, that's a. But I was exactly the same way I am right now at 26. It was just always the game. And I promise you, this is the big. You know, we talk a lot about inclusion in our society. Thank God, finally, right? And we've been attacking a lot of things in this country the last 20 years. Sexism, racism, immigration, Many, many things that we all know. The one thing we are not talking enough about in America is ageism. We love making fun of 70 year olds who don't know how to use TikTok. Meanwhile, those fuckers understand life.

[B]

There's a lot of wisdom.

[A]

There's a lot of wisdom.

[B]

A lot of wisdom.

[A]

And so the reason I brought that up is you want to get happier? Go hang out with 90 year olds and really listen to what they talk about. You'll realize real fast most things mean nothing. And once you realize most things mean nothing, losing a deal means nothing.

[B]

I mean, speaking about and speaking about, you know, losing and starting all over. Just out of curiosity, when you had said that, you know, Russia was pretty much locked down till 1990, how did you and your parents get out in 19?

[A]

This is crazy.

[B]

1978, I mean. Cause that's a zone of pressure in.

[A]

1970 or 71, or maybe even 72. This is. You want to talk about gratitude. 16. I think Russians tried to hijack a plane and fly out of Leningrad to Sweden to escape the country. And they got caught by the kgb. And for some reason, I don't know the full details, it became an international story. Israel got involved, Spain got involved, America got involved and it created a big hoopla. And the Soviet Union was starting to feel the effects of putting all their money into the military and were starting to run out of resources and needed other things from other countries. So the pressure got to them. So they decided to let a small group of a couple hundred thousand Jewish Russians out of the country, and we were fucking lucky.

[B]

Wow. Wow, that's.

[A]

And so I sit here. You want to talk about humility? I sit here listening to stories from my mom and dad about my grandfathers who I never got to know, and how entrepreneurial they were. And both of them, for their incredible entrepreneurial DNA, got to spend 10 years in jail. And I get clapping and being on the COVID of magazines.

[B]

Why'd they spend it in jail?

[A]

Because in the Soviet Union, the government owns everything. Meanwhile, the entire countries run on the black market. Meanwhile, the people that end up going to jail, ironically, are always Jews.

[B]

So there's a lot of persecution there.

[A]

I came to America on political persecution, political asylum. So, you know, I'm just so grateful. And that's the thing that I comes across for the people that follow me on the content, the jokes I make about crying about a $6 coffee, I believe it. People get upset. You're at the airport, everyone's upset. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, these people can afford a plane ticket. These people are about to go into a machine that flies in the air and takes you somewhere else. That shit used to take six weeks on a horse, right? I sit there, right? Like I'm on a plane, and listen, I have so much work to do. When the WI fi doesn't work on the flight, that's like me getting shot by a bullet. It hurts, but I'm not gonna yell at a human being. People are so hurting inside. People are so insecure. People want to prove something to everybody else besides themselves. People want to keep up with the Joneses, spending money on shit they can't afford to impress people they don't even like.

[B]

When they should, just like themselves.

[A]

Yeah, this, this. This is why I want to use my platform and popularity in business to talk about kindness. We get people to like themselves. Something very funny can happen in the world. Something very funny can happen. When you feel good, ironically, you don't want to waste your time trying to make somebody else feel bad. Many people, when I talk about what I talk about with content, they don't want to do it because they get negative comments. I always try to explain to them the only feeling I have when people say I'm a scam artist. I stink, I got lucky, Whatever they want us. The only thing that goes through my mind is deep, utter compassion. The thought, the thought. The thought that I would spend a minute to look at your account and try to make you feel bad because I want to tear you down. Because I'M not in a good place. Literally. Sounds like the most difficult life to live in.

[B]

The world sounds pretty miserable.

[A]

And so when people are like, my feelings are hurt. Your feelings shouldn't be hurt. When someone says you're stupid or you don't know what you're doing, or you're ugly, you should be feeling bad for them.

[B]

And, you know, you talk about humility and a lot of your story. Just my own curiosity on this one, you know, people that have followed your story and everything about, you know, the wine library and everything. Who was that collector when you were 17 years old? That really sounds like it had an inflection point that changed your life by getting you the Cayman wine.

[A]

The Caymus wine, yeah. Oh, you. Oh, wow. I'm sorry. That story. So my parents, I just told you, dragged me into the liquor store. This is devastating to me because my dad not only makes me work 15 hours a day on Saturday, he pays me two bucks an hour. Tough to argue with these Russian gangsters, you know. So what was really difficult about that was I had already started my baseball card business. And so I went from being 13, 14 years old, doing a baseball card show in the mall and making $900, $1,000. Like, you know, $900 when you're 13 in 1989 is like a billion. You know, like I was rolling and now it's two bucks an hour. And in the beginning, how many people. Raise your hand? Have seen the movie the Goonies? Raise your hand. So in the Goonies, you might remember the character Sloth, right, Who was chained to the basement. That was me for two years. I would walk into the store and my dad's like, go to the basement. And I would be in the basement of the liquor store bagging and making ice for 8 hours, 10 hours with some 19 year old kid who hated my dad. And it sucked. So I hated it the first year or two. And then finally at 16, I was allowed to go upstairs and something changed my life. I was stocking shelves and somebody walked in and he asked for Camus Cabernet. And I said, we don't have it. And some I don't. You know, it's a long time ago, but somehow I was like, why did you want that so bad? Because he was disappointed or something. And he said, oh, I collect wine. And that was it. That one sentence. The fact that I was able. Cause I, even though I hated working at the store, I really wanted to give back to my family. And I knew, I also, even at that age, I knew I had something, I knew I was good. And so now that I was able to figure out that people collected wine, I figured, oh, okay, I'm going. Everything I learned about sports, I'm going to learn about wine. And that's how I built one of the biggest wine stores in the country. It was based on collectors, of course. We sold day to day wine that everybody here buys. But I had customers spending 500,000 to $2 million a year on their wine collections.