We're Living in the Single Greatest Era of Human Opportunity.

Summary

The GaryVee Audio Experience — Episode Summary

“We're Living in the Single Greatest Era of Human Opportunity”

Host: Gary Vaynerchuk
Guests: E.J., Grant, Train (Co-founders, Dad Gang)
Date: June 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this energizing and candid episode, Gary Vaynerchuk sits down with the founders of Dad Gang—a fast-growing brand and movement for modern dads—to explore why today is the single greatest era for human opportunity. The conversation, rich with real-life anecdotes and motivational jabs, centers on the immense, democratizing power of the internet, the importance of taking action over endless consumption, and the evolution of what it means to be a father and build community in the digital age. Deep dives into the realities of entrepreneurship, legacy, adversity, and achieving happiness punctuate the hour-plus dialogue, all laced with Gary’s trademark mix of optimism, straight talk, and self-awareness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Golden Era of Opportunity (00:00, 07:44)

• Gary opens by challenging skepticism about digital culture. He laments that most people ignore the enormity of today’s accessible opportunities Through open social networks and the internet:
  • “Do not understand when people are going to wrap their head around the single greatest era of human opportunity.” (00:00, 07:44)
• Example: The beer-drinking dad who could create side income just by reviewing beers on TikTok instead of doomscrolling or numbing himself.

Notable Quote

“That would be the beginning of him changing his life … In 1967, that same guy just drinks his life away … Boys, you are not building this business in 1990. You can’t do it. It was too much money to get this hat into fucking lids … It’s not happening.”
—Gary Vaynerchuk (06:42)

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2. The Importance of Action over Consumption (01:22, 02:23)

• E.J. and his co-founders credit Gary's early advice: "If you want to start something or build something, grab your phone and start doing it."
  • This "posting and ghosting" approach—posting content without overthinking—became foundational to Dad Gang.
• They recall a pivotal Gary Vee video: “Stop watching my videos. Go do the shit I’m saying.”
  • Gary admits, “That was a devastating moment in my career. I think I lost like 40% of my viewership.” (02:32)

Key Moment

• Gary’s Riff on Taking Action:

  “Everything is about action … the point was don’t just watch and not do.”
  —Gary (03:05)

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3. Breaking Out of Financial and Social Comparison Traps (03:05–10:26)

• Many people’s self-esteem is tethered to financial status or comparing themselves to others—often leading to cycles of anxiety, self-doubt, and escapism.
  • “Financial status should never be a father or a human’s north star of self esteem.” (03:05)
• Personal stories: Leaving careers, turning side hustles into livelihoods, and braving family skepticism.

Notable Quotes

• “I just remember … the simplicity of how you preach on … just grab your phone and start doing it.” —E.J. (00:50)
• “We all have stories that were like, fuck all of that noise … hopped out of college and worked for a streetwear brand for free … My parents were like, dude, you just finished college and like, this is what you’re doing.” —E.J. (07:57)

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4. The Power and Ecology of Modern Fatherhood (10:26–19:42)

• A new, more emotionally flexible era for dads: The culture’s binary “be tough / be soft” debates are shifting to “both-and.”
• Gary: “I actually think dads are in the best spot they’ve been in the last 30, 40 years.” (16:00)
• The Dad Gang hat as an unspoken badge of camaraderie.
• Reflection on generational progress and the urge to break away and start something new for one’s children.

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5. Living Within Your Means & The Truth About Money (25:01–28:45)

• Gary on the reality of financial stress:

  “I know so many people making $312,000 a year that are in financial trouble and are stressed every day. I have equally … friends making 85k, cruising, because they’re living a $49,000 lifestyle … Living within the means of how much money you make will change your life.” (27:35)

• Emphasis: The open internet/social media has removed historical barriers for most people to scale their income if they choose to act.

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6. Mindset: Delusional Optimism, Resilience, and the Company You Keep (29:31–34:28)

• The horrors and necessity of optimism—“toxic positivity” vs. reality:

  “Sometimes people like, yo, you’re the poster boy for, you know, toxic positivity. … If that’s positivity, I’m in.” (32:06)

• Judge the judger: Don’t take criticism or advice from people whose life you wouldn’t want.

  “The thought to take advice from someone who you do not want to be, like, blows my mind.” (33:06)

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7. Community, Connection, and the Next Step: Dad Hour (40:41–43:18)

• Stories of how the Dad Gang community provides validation, support, and a sense of belonging for fathers—beyond just business.
• Gary spontaneously proposes launching “Dad Hour,” an open, virtual live Q&A and support forum for the Dad Gang community.

  “I want to do something with you guys in August called Dad Hour … we literally just do Q&A with people in your database, and then you guys just, like, randomly give them hats and shit.” (41:00)

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8. Embracing New Technologies to Multiply Impact (44:14–47:34)

• Discussion on how generative AI tools are drastically increasing productivity (content, outreach, marketing), rather than eliminating jobs.
• Gary: “This is not about firing people. This is making 40 people feel like 400.” (44:40)
• The blockchain is set to play a crucial role in verifying truth in an AI-saturated era.

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9. Adversity, Generational Stories, and Defining Fatherhood (49:27–61:10)

• Moving reflections on immigrant backgrounds, family sacrifices, and divergent parenting models.
• Gary credits his father’s intense honesty and principle for keeping his “gift of gab” in check.
  • “If I did not have a principled father who thought embellishment was a crime … I do not believe I am sitting here admired without that.” (50:46)
• “Adversity is amazing. That was true adversity for you. Adversity is the core foundation of success.” (59:19)
• The perils of over-parented/over-protected (tracked) young adults:
  • “If your parents have a tracking system on your phone, you’re a fucking loser. You must get them off.” (61:15)

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10. Building and Sustaining Partnerships (73:17–81:45)

• Official announcement: Gary is taking an equity stake in Dad Gang, becoming a partner and advisor.
• Reflections on partnership dynamics, fairness, and the realities of family business, inspired by his own experiences with his brother at VaynerMedia.
  • “Three partners is a very hard thing. … Only communication will make sure that this lasts forever.” (80:59)
• The goal: Build a multi-layered legacy through entrepreneurship and community, with both selfish (growth, business success) and selfless (support, inclusion) aims.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Excerpt | |------------|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Gary | “Do not understand when people are going to wrap their head around the single greatest era of human opportunity.” | | 02:32 | Gary | “That was a devastating moment in my career. I think I lost like 40% of my viewership.” | | 07:44 | Gary | “I do not understand when people are going to wrap their head around the single greatest era of human opportunity.” | | 16:00 | Gary | “I actually think dads are in the best spot they’ve been in the last 30, 40 years.” | | 27:35 | Gary | “Living within the means of how much money you make will change your life.” | | 33:06 | Gary | “The thought to take advice from someone who you do not want to be, like, blows my mind.” | | 41:00 | Gary | “I want to do something with you guys in August called Dad Hour …” | | 44:40 | Gary | “This is making 40 people feel like 400.” | | 50:46 | Gary | “If I did not have a principled father who thought embellishment was a crime … I do not believe I am sitting here admired without that.” | | 59:19 | Gary | “Adversity is amazing. That was true adversity for you. Adversity is the core foundation of success.” | | 61:15 | Gary | “If your parents have a tracking system on your phone, you’re a fucking loser. You must get them off.” | | 67:55 | Gary | “Yes, I do believe that you need to get as close to the sun as possible.” | | 73:12 | Gary | “Gary Vee, fourth partner.” |

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:00–03:05 — Introductory anecdotes; taking action over consumption.
• 07:00–10:00 — Family expectations, comparison traps, and entrepreneurship origin stories.
• 16:00–20:00 — Modern fatherhood, generational values, and building Dad Gang.
• 25:00–28:45 — Financial health, money as a north star, real-world stakes.
• 34:00–35:30 — Community support, loneliness, the value of camaraderie.
• 41:00–43:18 — Gary’s proposal for “Dad Hour.”
• 44:14–47:35 — AI and blockchain: opportunities, threats, and mastery.
• 49:00–55:00 — Parents as role models (for better and worse), stories of hustle and survival.
• 61:15–66:36 — Over-parented adults, advice on breaking free, harsh truths.
• 67:00–74:26 — Announcement: Gary’s equity partnership in Dad Gang, the value of proximity to mentors.
• 76:30–81:45 — Partnership communication, business and personal relationships, family dynamics.

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Tone & Takeaways

• Language: Frank, energetic, sometimes explicit and always unfiltered—motivational with a heavy dose of candor.
• Recommended For: Creators, entrepreneurs, parents, anyone feeling stuck or restricted by circumstances, or seeking to unlock more from the digital era.
• Core Message:
  • There has never been a greater time to act on your creative, financial, or personal ambitions.
  • Overcoming adversity and comparison, embracing action, building supportive community, and being real with yourself and partners are the backbone of genuine achievement in today’s world.
  • There’s room for everyone to win, so “post and ghost,” stop overthinking, and start now—you have more time and opportunity than you think.

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Listen to the full episode for more on how mindset, action, and technology can reshape your life and your legacy.

Transcript

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do not understand when people are going to wrap their head around the single greatest era of human opportunity. And yet 99% of the fuckers out there are like, social media is bad. This is the GaryVee audio experience.

[E.J.]

Well, Gary, welcome. Just want to say first and foremost, thank you. Not even for dad Gang at the moment, but, like, we have all been following everything you do since, I don't know, since before you were even, like, bigger on you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I remember you guys found me early.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

I remember, like, straight out of college. I had no clue. I went to college to be a dentist.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[E.J.]

Ran into chemistry and I was like, well, can't do that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And. But I had no idea what to do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Chemistry does suck on the record.

[E.J.]

And. And I just remember being kidding. Just like surfing YouTube and. And just looking around and seeing your content and kind of sparked an interest as a college student to make content and do stuff on the Internet. That's kind of like the initial thought. Started a blog at Washington State University and I was like, okay, this. This is pretty fun. And then while watching your stuff, just like the simplicity of how you preach on. If you want to start something or build something, grab your phone and start doing it.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And fast forward to where dad Gang is. It's like when we started, the brand is like, we have hats and we have phones. Let's make content. Let's document everything we're doing. Let's not over complicate the process. Because I grew up going or in my career, I was like in an agency and everybody would sit there, CEOs and CMOs and over optimize, like the caption on a post, the color of a picture or a little detail. And it was just kind of like, just post it. I call it posting and ghosting.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[E.J.]

Because I'm like, just get it out there and then take another shot on goal on multiple platforms. And so through that, like, mentality of stop overthinking. Be patient in your process. Have abundance to others. Like, you're not the only one that needs to win in this thing. There's others that can win, but you can carve your own path, like, through that mentality. And then you also put out a video that was like, stop watching my videos. Go do the shit. I'm saying.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[E.J.]

I was like, damn, he's right. I have to stop watching.

[Train]

I remember the moment you saw that.

[E.J.]

Yeah. I was like, okay. You can only, like, listen, by the

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

way, on the record. That was a devastating moment in my career. I think I lost like 40% of my viewership.

[Train]

Really?

[Grant]

No.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But yes, it was. The point I was trying to make was don't necessarily stop watching me unsubscribe. No, that video was very. That was a very big highlight of my career. The amount of people that referenced that specific video.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The bad side of that video was a lot of people stopped and started to watch a worse version of me and not do anything.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I've met those kids who've come back to my content. And then the good part is people like yourself who didn't necessarily stop watching, but would not just watch and not do. The point was everything is about action. You know, everybody watching right now. Let's talk to the dads, since we're in this context. So many dads watching, you know, are, unlike us four, are not in love. What they're doing for a living and, you know, have responsibilities. We know what that is. Right. And so they, they do have to do the hard thing that a lot of fathers and mothers do for their family, which is, you know, they are doing a job that is sucking their soul, not providing for them because they do have mortgages, they do have, you know, paying off their own or their spouse's debt. They do have a child. Some people married, you know, into a family that has a higher standard financially than they grew up with. And now they're trying to keep up with the Jones of their wife's family. Some, some have grew up with a friend group where two or three others have gone on to be a little bit more financially successful than them. And they're just waking up this morning at 41 years old and feeling down on themselves without realizing that financial status should never be a father or a human's north star of self esteem. It's good. I like being good at what I do, but it is not where you can find your self esteem. And all of that is to say, and this is. I'm bouncing off what you just said. I just need them to realize that if they're miserable, many tonight will watch an NBA finals. We're filming this in game one of the finals. So I'm very nervous. Many will use tonight's basketball game for three hours to escape the fact that they hate their job. I say to those people, put that game in the background and take advantage of the single greatest era opportunity in human history, which is the open Internet with the open social network framework on top. I don't have to tell you guys, you built this phenomenal business on this framework. It is staggering how big this opportunity Is, yeah, there's somebody who's literally drinking their sorrows away. This is real, what I'm about to say. I'm gonna break it down. This is probably for my own content now, because I've been thinking about this a lot lately. There's a human who right now is drinking six beers a night to drink their anxieties and unhappiness away. That literally can take their phone instead of what they're using now and doom scrolling and reinforcing their unhappiness because your algorithm is reinforcing where you're at mentally right now. So I promise you that dad who's drinking six different beers to get through tonight for tomorrow. His feed is extremism on politics on the left or the right. Fear, negativity, you know, tearing down others. Envy, jealousy, anger. If that man took that phone, flipped it around, hit record and took those six microbrews and reviewed them as a beer connoisseur and posted them, that would be the beginning of him changing his life and into happiness. And I know there's a 1 to 5% chance that a year of doing that every day would lead to him being able to literally build a side hustle that could subsidize his unhappy 9 to 5. Or even scarier in this era, a business selling merch and selling beer, affiliate subscriptions. And we have TikTok affiliate in the background right now, which we need to talk about because I think we could use it to blow up our business. This is the greatest era. And I can't get this image of a buddy. This person in my head right now is a buddy of mine. He's just drinking beers. And instead of buying one six pack or two six packs of a crappy beer, I want him to go to the liquor store tonight and do a mixed six pack of six microbrews. Flip the camera. Instead of doing this, doing this and reviewing them, the third video could be the change of his life. That is insane, because in 1967, that same guy just drinks his life away. In 1984, that same guy drinks his life away. In 1992, that same guy drinks his life away. Boys, you are not building this business in 1990. You can't do it. It was too much money to get this hat into fucking lids or fucking models or like, it's not happening.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I do not understand when people are going to wrap their head around the single greatest era of human opportunity. And yet 99% of the fuckers out there are like, social media is bad.

[Train]

Yeah. Yeah.

[E.J.]

I love so I'm done here. Two things out of that. The. The, like, I. Obviously the comparison culture is fucking stupid. But the thing was that, like, even Grant or I. And we all have stories that were like, fuck all of that noise. Like, I hopped out of college and worked for a streetwear brand for free and commuted to Seattle hour every day. I mean, even my parents were like, dude, you just finished college. And like, this is what you're doing.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

But there was. And this is while watching your stuff. And I'm like, I'm not gonna be like, mom. Gary said so.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

By the way, on the record, by the way, I get a lot of emails from like, hey, this is Mrs. Thomps.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And little Ricky just said, hey, Gary. Fuck you, Gary. I'm like, fuck you, Mom.

[Train]

I would send a link to my parents and be like, this is a great point. This is a great point.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And Grant, what do they have to say that? Grant.

[Train]

They digested it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You had it. You had it solid.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Train]

It was a good conversation, you know, and it was an open, open conversation.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The big one for me was college. I mean, I went through. I went through 5 to 10 years of getting angry parent emails. 5 to 10 years. Now a lot of those same parents. Like, literally some of the email threads, I have them. I would argue that my inbox. Victoria, you know this. I would argue that my inbox is one of my greatest sources of validation. Like, you're talking about people emailing nine years later from the same thread.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know where it's like, first email is parent mad at me for kid not going to college because of me. I'm like, that's you. I'm just on the Internet making some content.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

To me replying, I'm so sorry, but I bet you'll be okay to nine years later, them being like, thank you. Like, that is incredibly validating. 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.

[Train]

And that's. That's come something that we've always loved about you and watched outside of, like the business and the marketing is, you know, to. To give you your flowers while you're here, man. Like, you have moved millions of lives. Millions. And mine personally, because we all have as dads have gone through so much.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Train]

And before we were even fathers gone through so much, you know, and it just. It thinking back on. On life, man, and to Be able to sit here. It's powerful.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you, my man. That's very kind, man. It really means a lot to me.

[Train]

We've been through it too. And you know, it's like seeing my grandfather and my dad and all just the American dream, truthfully. Like my grandfather coming over from Indiana from a farm that didn't have electricity and then my other grandfather having our family owned business and my dad being there and then me leaving when I was like, I moved out at 16 years old not because I didn't love my parents, but because we just didn't have the same vision for my life.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Train]

And. And I knew I could do it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Train]

And, and getting out there and hitting the streets and growing it fast, it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And finding your people, finding my people,

[Train]

man, it's just, it's powerful to be able to take your content and, and have it resonate not just as like the marketing of the business, but like life. Life, man. And, and just to see how many generations it takes for a family to finally find success. And we talk about like the dad having those six beers as much as he could flip it around and make a business out of it. What could you flip around for your life so your kids can see? And I didn't want to stay at my family auto shop. Not because I didn't love the auto shop, but the world is so big. There's so much more to the world than being on the same block since 1935. And I saw what my great grandfather did, I saw what my grandfather did and I saw my dad did. And they are on the same exact street. My dad's still there right now today on the same street. And when I left that home and wanted to make away, it wasn't because I didn't love them. I didn't want to be there. Dude, I was rolling 30 bombs of Coors lights across freezers and packaging up beer and wine and everything at my dad's auto shop in a big convenience store. And working the cash register at 7 years old. You know, my grandfather lived right behind it in the alleyway. I used to take my dad's tail and we'd go up to my great grandpa's house, we call it Gramps house. And we'd go up there, we'd lock the front door because it was in a, you know, it's in a terrible neighborhood. And we'd lock the front door, lock the door to the room. And my dad and I would count the cash and he'd take it to the bank. And so that Was like the life that they had since 1935. And then when we found your content and when, you know, there was just, there was something resonating, like, man, we can do this. We can, we can build something. And I don't care how long it takes, but I know I have to start now, you know, and it's just, it's been so powerful because my family wouldn't be where they are today. From my two boys to my wife to now my parents, my dad, them, like, they're, they're really just, they're in awe of how happy. And it's, it's wild to be able to just feel your family. Because for years there's so much uncertainty in life. Of course, just ebbs and flows, Money comes, money goes, and it's, it's just being able to stick through that. And so when you talk to that dad who's having those six beers a night, man, I have family members that are like that and those people that I love so much, you know, and it's, it's one of those things where if we could flip that around so, like, hey, what if you put those six beers down? Or what if you use that to create something? What would that not only do for your personal life, but for what your kids are watching you grow. Like, my oldest boy has seen me grow up once I had him at 25, you know, my, my 1 year old, he's not going to see that version of me, you know, so it's just like truly thankful for you for putting out that content because nobody else was doing it. Yeah. You moved millions of lives.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you. There's a couple things, a lot of things running through my mind off that beautiful rant. First, my mom used to always say to me as a kid, and she, it was, she said in Russian, I'll translate it. It. It's. It would be like, translate to small boat, small waters, big boat, big waters. Right. And what she was always telling me was that I was just destined for the ocean. I wasn't going to be, you know, a different way to say it is like, you know, a lot of the people that you see right now, including your father, you know, these are, these are boats that are meant for the lake or for the river or for the stream, and you're just meant for the ocean, you know? And I think what's really most important about what you just said is not necessarily what I think a lot of people will take out of this content. Cause they'll look at it literally, they'll Be like, man, he made it financially, right? Like, what he's talking about is like, they built this business. And by the way, that is a part of it. But I think the bigger part that I've always tried to speak on, especially when you're 16 or 20 or even what so much of my content continues to be. Even when you're 42. Because I'm like, what are you gonna do with the next 50? What are you doing with the, like, I, I, you know, I know a lot of people like making jokes at me about this. Like, you know, in the comments, they're like, guy rolls up on Gary, 69 years old, Gary, you know, but, but I do struggle with it. It just seems very logical. You're 42 years old. Like, how old are you?

[Train]

43.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Literally last perfect. I knew I was in pocket. What the fuck? You're going to be here for 50. More like when 34 year olds come up to me and they're like, man, I'm like, what are you talking? Back to basketball. The spurs back to their last series. They lost a game, I think it was game five, where they were up 15 nothing. It was 15 nothing. They came out the gate on the road, 15 nothing. OKC is dead silent. They got, they lost by 15. Like I, you know, I don't, I don't understand how people understand. You have time. But what's most important is when you're 16, when you're 20, when you're 25, when you're 29, you have so much opportunity for high risk. You have so much opportunity even when you have a child at 25, which is obviously a different variable, which starts to eliminate some of the high, higher risk potential. But it's about being emotionally happy. You know, your oldest son, you know, I hope he, I hope my children, and this will be a very big theme of how I continue to parent them. Understand that it isn't the financial aspect of the journey I chose or the things I talk about that has brought joy. It is the choosing to do something I like. For example, here's a good one. I have no emotion, and I mean zero, for my children to be anything like me. I could care less. If my children wanted to be entrepreneurs could care less. I'm obsessed with them liking what they do. I'm obsessed with them living within the means that they create from what they do. Yeah, like if they choose to be like a nonprofit executive, like, I'm not gonna subsidize their life now, they'll get the benefit of being my Child, like for my 70th birthday, if we go to an island, they're coming, you know, but. But if you, you know, and that, you know, as a father, you know, dad, dads are. I actually think we're. I've been thinking a lot about this. It's interesting that we did this partnership. I actually think dads are in the best spot they've been in the last 30, 40 years. I feel like the extremism of red and blue has created this real big opportunity for purple. I feel a lot of dads across the country and around the world, from a liberal to conservative, from an over coddling to like belt to ass. I feel like a lot of dads, this is the last six to 12 months. I can smell this in the water, what I do for a living. Feel a lot of dads are comfortable to have both right now.

[Train]

Yeah, that's why we have the. If, you know, you know, on the side of the hat, you know, it's like, it's that unspoken acknowledgement where if you see another dad with it, you know, it's like you're going through it like. And I don't even know what your background, of course, you know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so I'm excited about this. I'm excited. I feel like a lot of overly liberal dads, ten years ago, because of the culture, felt concerned to be like. Like, for example, one of the biggest reasons I started making content 10 years ago about 8th place trophies is I know that was bugging the shit out of a lot of winner debt. I went hard into that. That we've established that that is like ruining lives. I also feel on the flip side that a lot of dads who were a fastball right down the pipe being like, be a fucking man. All that, I feel like are in a place now where they're like, you know what? I'm gonna throw a little bit of an off speed pitch. I can use a little bit of like soft skills with my boy as well. And I think we're in a very good era where dads are getting more cultural support which will trickle down into their home of being able to be dads. And what I mean by that is they can use every move hard when they have to be hard, soft. If they, if they choose that that's the right off speed. I really do think of it as like a pitcher. Like, I think for dads, I think a lot of us need to be like Paul Skeens, right? Like a lot of fastballs that just blow you away and like the Father a lot of times needs to be. I mean, I said it to my son the other day. Opening line, I'm not your mom, bro. Opening line. You know, and like, and then like, I'm like me. Like, it was all like love, but I was like, hey, like, this is my role. Like, you know, and so, yeah, I think it's a good era for dads. I'm actually very optimistic.

[Train]

Yeah, me too. I mean, I know. Ej, when you left mirror, that was a huge. Or not mirror sticker die cut. That was a huge moment for you.

[Grant]

Yeah. So I went so touching on college. I walked into two colleges right out of high school with my mom. I could have gone to two, like a bunch of colleges for free because it was a tuition exchange thing. She was working at a college in admin, which benefited us as kids.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Grant]

Walked into two schools, wasn't for me.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You could feel it in your stomach.

[Grant]

Walked in, walked right out. And I was like, I can't do it. I don't know why, but I just cannot go to college. I don't know what it is.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How old are you?

[Grant]

I was.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How old are you now?

[Grant]

41. Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so you guys are so fortunate, you know, I'm sorry to interrupt you. You were just on the cusp of the age where you could start to have that combo if you were literally 10 years old or nine years older. Like, I am your mom. Like, you would have not done that. You would like, it was. I'm just so happy. That's why I asked you how old you are. You caught it. You had perfect timing. And the kids underneath, you have full optionality right now. 18 year old us, they're like, fuck,

[Grant]

I have no idea.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They're like double fucking fingers up. They're like, they're not even. They're not even stressing. You stressed it.

[Grant]

I did.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Because you're like, fuck, this is the thing I'm supposed to. Yeah, exactly. That's right. You stressed it. I bared it only to appease my parents, who I obviously am obsessed with. But I mean, I would, I would never be going to college today If I was 17 years old and my parents wouldn't struggle with it. And that is a great, great thing in the world today. But keep going.

[Grant]

That's where I got lucky though is both my parents. So my dad was the provider Protector, was working 247 graveyards, everything to me then my mom was the supportive one.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Grant]

The energy.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

So we walk in. Mind you, this is free college. And I'm like, something Done.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's huge.

[Grant]

Couldn't believe it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so you were shocked.

[Grant]

I was actually shocked.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. I would have been shocked. My mom did not do that. And that would have shocked me.

[Grant]

Yeah. I couldn't believe that she had that much support, but she's like, just follow what you feel is right. And then.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So what did you do?

[Grant]

So I ended up partnering with a guy and we started an online sticker company.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[Grant]

Back in 2007.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Early Internet quote request forms taken, PayPal, faxing, credit cards.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

In was this the era where Sticker Mule was a real leader?

[Grant]

They. They were a couple years after us got.

[Train]

After.

[Grant]

After. So we. It was like sticker giant.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I remember them.

[Grant]

And then die cutstickers.com. and then we had Sticker Mule. And Sticker Mule is just massive now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What did they do?

[Grant]

Well, marketing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

They put a ton of money.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. That's why I know it. Right.

[Grant]

And that's what.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We didn't do well yet. You did. You learn from that?

[Grant]

100%.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You watching them? Yeah, they had.

[Grant]

I mean, they just started pumping ads and content early and we were.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What were you relying on? SEO.

[Grant]

A lot of SEO, but it was a lot of grassroots.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. Like, we were very hand. Yeah. Hand to hand. Yeah. Okay.

[Grant]

Which we embodied ourselves, which is great.

[E.J.]

Which is awesome.

[Grant]

The business is. Is still life.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

It's doing great. But I was driving hour and a half every day, and this is where your content came in. For me, it wasn't even on the business side as much as it was on, like, the personal side. The. The. You're gonna die.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

One for me, I'm struggling for years. I mean, I'm. Started this business with a friend. We're doing it for like 15 years. I have kids. I'm not seeing them at all. And I'm driving up and down I5 for 90 minutes each way, and all I hear is you. You on a podcast, just yelling like, you're gonna die one day. Make sure to be happy. And I'm not happy anymore.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

And so I go home and this is where, like, moments are so mind blowing for me. My daughter Quincy's three. I'm just struggling, trying to figure out what to do next. And she walks downstairs, she, like, pulls on my shoulder, and she's like, I need more time with you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Wow.

[Grant]

Three years old.

[E.J.]

Three year old.

[Grant]

And I was like, okay. So she walked away. Fucking burst into tears. Wrote my resignation letter. I resigned 30 days later and had no idea what I was gonna do after that. But kind of turned into my friends and my network. And then I became a operations director for a print shop for a short time. Covid happened, got a job with a drinkware company called Mirror, which was a great experience. And then dad Game came along. And the only thing that I could think about in this entire process. I want to be near my kids.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Now we have a business where I literally work in my backyard.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

And I get to do it from all my. This would never happen.

[Train]

And it's not even about the success of the money. It's about being able to go through all of that shit and know you're doing it for the right reasons. And knowing that you're coming home and you're looking your kids and your wife in the eyes and you're just. You're happy and you don't. It didn't matter what you had.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You knew you were going, I'm sorry to interrupt. And the first right reason is it's good for you.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You cannot be good for them if it's not good. People have to wrap things their head around this.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The ultimate way to be selfless is to start by being selfish.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Have you heard of the seven equities before?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No.

[Grant]

My friend Kevin Sermon put this together. It's in order. Mind, body, soul, family, friends, business, money. In that order. Most people are chasing the money.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, of course.

[Grant]

And their health. I mean, how many times is our health gone to. Because we're chasing money or business emails. And I flipped that around and like, I'm gonna work. Work out now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Watch what I eat. Teriyaki chicken and rice.

[E.J.]

Everything was attached to the office.

[Grant]

It was attached to the office.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Convenience. Convenience is king. Convenience is king.

[Grant]

Put on £50. Yeah. You know when you like, flip that and you really become the best version of yourself. You're becoming the best version for your kids. And then business and money typically seem to work out because you're living in lease restriction.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. And again, the money thing, you know, I'm thinking so heavily right now about the people that are consuming this content, that are like, fuck you guys. I think about that all the time when I make my content. And like, I always think about, like, people that are cynical or stuck in the face of optimism or hope or prosperity or joy. It's triggering. Right. It's showing you what you want and don't have. And there's a couple things I want to say to people that are in that spot. If you're listening right now, like, fuck you. Here's where I'm at one, fuck you too. And what I mean by that, and it's actually my. It's very important that I'm saying this. This is important. When you realize that no one's coming to save you and no one gives a shit because they've got their own problems. That is the day one thing that gets you going. Because the thing that people that are in a bad spot when they're deploying hate, what they're looking for is comfort. What they're looking for is a hero. It's why they believe these bullshit politicians, they all do the same shit. Every politician to me is literally the exactly same. I know people think they're very different. They're the same. They're gonna tell you who to hate or what to hate. It's gonna be different people if you're left or right. And then they're gonna tell you that they can save you. Like when I tell you every politician to me is Charlie Brown. Don't. And what's happening is the people right now that are upset think someone's going to save them. And if you're a real man, you're going to save yourself. And what ends up happening is you have this moment. And this might be the moment for someone on the other side. Because I'm poking at the bear right now is instead of being angry at the human or the thing, you start to realize that's where you're trying to go and you need to take a step back and deploy some humility. And this is why I talk about age a lot. Because if you're 44, it's easier to think you can't a 22 year old listening right now. That's why I do so well with that group. You're so moldable. And so even though you're angry and be like, fuck that and my mom fucked me up and this and that, you're like, wait, Gary vee, let's go. 42's hard. Cause now you've lived. You're like deep. You're in deeper waters. Tougher to get out of the pool in a deep end with your feet than in the shallow end. Right. So you're in deeper waters. But I need you to hear me on this person that's listening that's like, this is number one. This is number one. Living within the means of how much money you make will change your life.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I know so many people making $312,000 a year that are in financial trouble and are stressed every day. Yeah, I have equally. Because the way I Grew up was pretty humble. I know friends making 85k, cruising, cruising. Because they're living a $49,000 a year lifestyle. They live humbly by American standards. They have Netflix. Not Netflix. And Hulu and Paramount. They make their coffee. Not every day. They lease a more humble car because they're not trying to use a leased car. BMW to, you know. Exactly. And you know, they're thoughtful. They buy one dad gang hat. Not 39, though we'd love them to buy 39. And so, and I'm telling you, my friends, one, realizing that if you live within your means, two, realizing if you want those means to be triple the Internet and social media and live shopping and affiliate, it's all here for you. No one's stopping you. No regulation, no government, no boss. That becomes intoxicating. And everything I just talked about the last three minutes is real. Now, whether you believe it or not is on you. How you see the world is how it is.

[Train]

I think it's when you become a dad too, and you have your kids there, all that outside noise can either be silenced or amplified on where you are trying to go with your family. Because to me, when I didn't have kids, there was so many people just being negative. Oh, have you heard of this? They're always just judging. And it's not that they were judging me, it's that they were unhappy with their own lives. So they were just trying to throw and throw and throw and beat you down when you're trying to do something for yourself that's out of the.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Every human being just let there be no confusion. Every human being is imposing their inner truth on you. It's how humans work. Oh yeah, and by the way, I don't think this is the key. That's not bad.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're in charge of understanding what I just said and deciding how you. I watched you just deploy real empathy to family you love who are in a tight spot emotionally. None of those people you referenced that you love that are drinking 20 beers and I had uncles drinking vodka because we were Russians, not middle Americans.

[E.J.]

I'm Polish.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

There you go. So, you know, all of those guys were imposing negativity because they themselves. But you got to a place where you were strong enough A at 16 to make the jump. Now obviously you're even. You know, it's like working out. You're even stronger than you've ever been. So now you can deploy unlimited empathy and compassion towards them. But everyone who's listening, you getting mad at someone that's being mean or negative towards you is a silly concept. Yeah, it means you're weak. Yeah, it means you're weak.

[Train]

And there's so many. There's so many people out there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, that's the whole world.

[Train]

Yeah, it's. It really is. And when I had my kids, I just was like, I don't care anymore. I don't.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, that changes. Yeah, but man, if I may, if I may. You didn't care before. I'm telling you, you didn't. Sure, but you respect. But you didn't. Nobody's leaving a four generation lineage of this block at 16. If you were hearing it before, you were not hearing it before.

[Grant]

That's fair.

[E.J.]

I want to toss in like the, the other thing. Like, Gray and I have gotten so much flack because of, because of delusional optimism. But we are like, from who we know. No, but like, on the flip side of what you were just talking about too is like, we have a 45 year old friend that it has the chops to like really kill it with the brand and kind of like doubtful of like, if you should do it. And we're like, no, we're gonna help you do it and you're gonna do it because you can do it. And like. Or there's people, like, I always say we have kind of like horse blinders on when building dad gang.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

Because it's so easy to be like, yeah, but look what Brand X and Brand Y is doing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And we've always just been like, stop. Stop looking that they can win, we can win. And like the. But. But seriously, like, I think I've like, gone overboard with optimism at times. Like, the worst things will happen. And Grit and I are like, probably more. A little bit more this way because he's ops.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But somebody's got to be practical around here.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Train]

The worst thing is the dad and dad game. We're the game.

[E.J.]

And we're just like, we're just like, whatever, man. This is probably good for us.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And we find ways out of it because it's true.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, sometimes people like, yo, you're the fucking poster boy for, you know, toxic positivity. I'm like, okay, we're there now we're at a place where we're trying to demonize positivity. Like, okay, like, please, I'll be the Toxic Avenger. You know that weird green guy with the eye coming out of his fucking socket. I'll be that guy. If that's positivity, I'm in. I'm fucking in. Put me in the sewage. Make me fully green, swamp thing. Like, I'm in. Because I believe that it's not delusional. No, I actually, you guys know my content. Yeah. I mean, by who?

[E.J.]

By the people that are not optimistic about things.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I won't. I wouldn't call. I wouldn't call you that. I always say this number one thing. I believe in life. Judge the judger.

[E.J.]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Judge the judger. Like, notice how I'm like, picking. I'm like, who? Oh, Rick from high school. Okay. Do you want Rick's life?

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like. Like the thought to take advice from someone who you do not want to be, like, blows my mind.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

There are trade places with that quote. Always hits hard.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, it's so real to me.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, I remember growing up, I got so much advice too, because, you know, in the liquor store, like, especially with the liquor store, you know, you know, I was trying to push my dad to do things, and all these people are like, you know, you know, this other liquor store is doing really well. They don't do that. I'm like, I don't want to be that. Yeah, I get that. They're doing a million dollars more than my dad's liquor store. I'm like, I'm gonna be fucking. I'm buying the Jets. Like, I'm like, I'm not. Like, I'm not. Like, I would never, ever. And to be frank, I have never had the capacity to really value anyone's point of view on anything. Because even if there's people that are financially successful at a level that I aspire to as a kid, most of the time, when I got to know them, even for a second, I didn't want to be like them, you know, Like. Like, for me, if I had a. I'm looking at your guys hat. I'm so honored to be part of this brand. If I had to start a brand right now, and I say this a lot, I would start a fashion brand called Nice Guys Finish first. And like, the hat or the simple thing would just say nice Guy. That is what I've aspired to my whole life.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Train]

That's what I found with the community that we have, is just being able to be there for each other without having to say it. Because it is such a lonely road when you are having to block out all those noise and have the horse blinders on and it's in. When you are traveling through life and you. You hit some lows and your bank accounts at zero and you're waiting for the Next paycheck and you're pushing bills off and your kid is sick, staying up all night, three nights in the bro. Have to take him to the ER to get work to do all that. And then all of a sudden you have to. You don't sleep, you go right into work. And then your wife is going through everything. Yeah. Postpartum and all of that stuff. And then people are still talking and they're still talking. You know, it's just so. It's. It's such a lonely path when you're traveling there, where now with dad gang and the community that we have, I just feel like all of these dads have been able to embrace each other. And, you know, to me, that's just been the biggest thing that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How much have you guys thought about physical meetups?

[Train]

We would love to.

[E.J.]

They happen without us.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That I understand. How much have we thought, you know, something maybe off camera, I'm like, I'm very big on the world, going extremely analog. Like, I think the yearly conference is something definitely worth talking about.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

Golf tournaments, stuff like that we talked about.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's just so obvious. Yeah, because you're right. And then on the flip side, what happens is when you have a good community. What I'm always trying to think about is, you know, it's crazy. You were just talking and, you know, Trane, who films me a lot of times when I get into my most competitive zone or what have you, he'll go, like, he'll do this, Right, that. And it's funny. He does it. And because I go there a lot, he does it. Probably if we're filming for a day, it will happen at least once. And it was funny. I didn't want to. You know, I've been yapping enough in this session. But I wanted to let you finish. But when you were, you know, it's. There's. I have some. I have a very weird chemical imbalance that is my greatest gift. You were literally talking about being in the ER to 3 in the morning, dealing with, you know, everything. You're dealing with the fear of, you know, what's going on in that ER with the wife, with this. And I swear to fucking God, as you were talking, my brain was. My chemicals were going, yeah. Like, there's something super crazy about how I'm structured that I desperately want to impose on the world. Like, people ask me sometimes, like, if you could have anything happen, what. What would you do? I literally think about taking whatever the fuck my parents gave me, whatever my chemicals are, and put it into everyone. Because I'm telling you again, I want everyone to hear this. You three, especially when you were saying that that sounded interesting to me. There's something about adversity and pain and like back against the wall and like me versus everyone and like getting shit on and like scars and like, like I'm intoxicated by it. Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC.

[Grant]

And for a limited time, college students

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

get the best of both worlds.

[Train]

Get the unreal college deal.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Everything you need to study and play

[Grant]

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[Gary Vaynerchuk]

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[Grant]

Learn [e-mail] studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30th turns at aka Ms. CollegePC.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I see you.

[Train]

Avatar Fire and Ash is now streaming on Disney plus. It's the film critics are calling the best avatar yet. A true epic and completely jaw dropping.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is the only pure thing in this world.

[Train]

Return to Pandora on Disney plus.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It will be an adventure for the whole family.

[Train]

And watch the Oscar winning phenomenon at home.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is sick.

[Train]

Avatar Fire and Ash now streaming on Disney Plus. Rated PG13. Yeah, cuz it builds in a so

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

strong in a way that I'm telling you, like, you know, I know you guys know my stuff and I'm telling. This is why I'm doubling down on this in a way that's darker than you think.

[E.J.]

No, I. So, so here's, here's, here's another one for you. When we had our second child on the way. Dad gang's kind of doing its thing. Not enough to like leave our jobs or anything, but it's in motion. And we finally like are closing on a house and excited to close on a house. Moving closer to my parents. More child care.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, of course.

[E.J.]

Things are going to be great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[E.J.]

The day I go to sign, I was a director of marketing for a skincare company company. And the day I go to sign on closing, I get a random Tuesday meeting. Hey, heavily VC funded company. Their investors are restructuring. I've been there for two months. And they're like, so we gotta cut. You been there for two months? I just got done with onboarding pretty much. And then they're like, yeah, we gotta let you go. And I'm like, I have this 11:30 signing appointment so I'm going in there. They're like, so to your knowledge, are you still employed? I had two weeks left, so technically, yes, of course.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Even if you didn't, the Answer was yes in that situation.

[E.J.]

Well, like, because of stuff you've said, because of things I've.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You lack. The fear leaned into.

[E.J.]

And I go to my wife and I'm like, so I don't have a job. We're closing on the house. Second kid on the way. I just went into, like, this. I called it demon mode. And I was like, fuck that. This is great. We're gonna network our assholes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's it.

[E.J.]

Reach out to. Reach out to everybody you've worked with. And in that one week, I had three job offers, and it was like, don't let the loss kill you. Like, it's kind of like a nice boost.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You guys have followed my content for a long time. What we are doing right now is why I predominantly talk about mentality now. Yeah, I, you know, I try to throw in live shopping. I try to throw in other stuff, but, like, when you just told that story, 90% of people won't do that, what you did. Yeah, But I actually believe if they just listen to this, if they start to hang out with people like this, if they just change what they consume and change what they hang out with, if they're in that 90%, 40% of that 90%, if they did that for a year, what they consumed, who they hung out with would switch over.

[Grant]

That

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

drives my life.

[Train]

Mine too, because we get so many messages all the time. There was this Gentleman back in 2022 when we first started, and we had, like, four SKUs at the time, and he sent in a picture of his id, this paperwork that said he was being evicted, and he sent a message into our inbox, and he was like, I'm getting evicted. I would just really love a hat, if you wouldn't mind sending me.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, you told me. He told me that. Can I pitch something? I'm making this up on the spot. I have no idea in our deal together what I'm required to do, but I'm throwing this out. I want to do something with you guys in August called Dad Hour, and we may do it, like, once every other month. I do not have an hour every other month to give you. But I'm so hyped right now. We're just doing it right here on the spot. You need to figure out which platform, whether it's Google, hangout, zoom, whatever can allow the most amount of fucking people to be on virtually. Want to do something with you guys called dad Hour, where we literally just do Q and A with people in your database, and then you guys just, like, randomly give Them hats and shit. I don't fucking care. We need to keep building on this energy stun. We'll do it in August, October, and December. I'll commit to that right now. And then we'll, you know, be good for content. It'll be great for this community, and then let's see what happens from it. But dad Hour.

[Grant]

Yeah, it's easy.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

We definitely like the analog stuff. Meeting in person, getting on zooms. Like, talking to the community more is definitely something we want to do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I'm feeling like very.

[E.J.]

You're the master of building community, too.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. But it can only happen through what I just said. Right now, we're just talking, too. We're not building community. We're building very good content that could be the gateway to community, but we're not building community. This is why we need dad Hour. Dad Hour. There's gonna be a bunch of little faces on 40 different screens, and 12 people or nine people are gonna get to ask a question. Me or you guys or us or we or me will answer some of those questions, and that's gonna build community. Because one of the things I know I'm gonna do in dad Hours, be like, everybody say what city you're from. And then. And then, like, four Dads are gonna be like, oh, we're all in Wichita, Kansas. Yeah, of course it's happening. But we could force more of it, correct?

[Train]

Yeah.

[Grant]

I mean, the dad game doesn't exist without a crew chat. Of course, we didn't all connect, and we weren't staying in touch through this group chat. I mean, we were building a mini community, not even realizing it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And you know what's funny? One of the things I want to pressure all the dad gang community to when we're on dad Hour is to start a new group chat with only positive people.

[Grant]

Yes.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

That's what this is.

[Grant]

How I've gotten through.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No shit. I'm watching very carefully. I understand the delusional optimist are made fun of until they're no longer in your life and you realize how much value they bring.

[E.J.]

No, it'll be funny. I have a friend

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

you like that you like.

[E.J.]

I'll have a friend get laid off.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

True.

[E.J.]

He'll get laid off, lose his job. And I'm like, good.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And he's like, the you talking about? Like, I didn't even find work. I'm like, this is your time. Like, you're destined for that to happen.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would argue every single human on earth that has a job has a Better job at their fingertips without realizing it.

[E.J.]

Yeah, 100% agree.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I believe that.

[Grant]

Everyone I know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You guys sure? I'll quit right now. Right in their face. Not you, Train. I'm pretty awesome, but, you know, I wish people knew that.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I really do. And it's so funny. The whole AI thing obviously causing a lot of stir. If people just spent three hours a night, like, learning it, it would be the thing that would create their world instead of the thing that took them out. Like, it just. It's so obvious.

[E.J.]

Oh, I don't know. AJ and I will just nerd out every once in a while. I'm like, look at what I just built in 15 minutes.

[Grant]

I'm using it for the upside. We're using it for customer service. Using it for all the people.

[E.J.]

I launched a Shopify collaboration yesterday.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I post quickly Train, what was it? I posted a thousand. I saw that 10, 14 pieces of content yesterday.

[Train]

Yeah. Across like 19 platforms.

[E.J.]

Last one I heard was like, 462.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right.

[E.J.]

You've just doubled it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's called AI. It's like, you know, Mike, by the way, I've added to my train. Have we added to my team or subtracted from my team? This is not like, people don't get it. This is not about firing people. This is making 40 people feel like 400. I keep laughing at companies that are like, yay, we're going to fire everyone. I'm like, okay, good luck with that. Because, like, the baseline of output, pre AI is what it is like in my world, I was a savant to all of you by having 30 pieces of content a day. Right, everyone? Right. This is a year ago on content. Everyone's like, gary Vee is crazy. 30 a day. We're a company and we're doing four. He's crazy. I'm sitting here a year later saying, a thousand a day. So what's gonna happen is the baseline. The baseline is going to go up.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And like A is amazing, but One person with AI is going to have a tough time beating two people with a high and 30 people with like. And so I don't know, I'm genuinely. I just think the output, the impact, the production of the human race is going to explode with this.

[Train]

Oh, yeah.

[Grant]

Agree.

[E.J.]

Yeah. I was talking to my in laws and they worked in the furniture industry forever selling furniture to retailers, kind of demonizing AI when we first talked, and I was like, hey, hey, Jan is my mother in law. I'm like, give me all of your contacts for Furniture stores that you've ever worked with and give me the lines that you're currently selling. And I'm going to make it so that you don't have to sit there and Gmail, everybody individually about the furniture you want to sell them. And the next day, Bart.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's all I'm using.

[E.J.]

It's the only thing I want to use.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is so great.

[E.J.]

So, like, it takes one combo to,

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

like, the home computer, the Internet, the mobile device, all of it. It's all the same.

[E.J.]

Would you say, like. And I've been kind of thinking this. It's like Internet came around, social media came around, and this is kind of like that third tier of demonetization.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, yeah. I think this is as big. You know, this is, you know, here are the real things. There is AI Pre that the blockchain. The blockchain is about to get a lot of praise right now. It gets lumped into, like, bad things, bad crypto scams with AI One of the horrible things that we're not. The horrible things. One of the most. Because I actually don't think it's horrible. Let me say it a different way. One of the challenging things we're gonna have to get through is. Is fake videos.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Video Proof has been the judge and jury of our society. There is gonna be more videos of me on the Internet in two years of me saying horrible things, fake things, things I've never said that you're not going to know if I said or not because you're not gonna be able to tell. So we're gonna go through a whole era. The blockchain is a. Is a decentralized server that is based on truth that is going to be very powerful in this year. So, AI the blockchain, the mobile device, the Internet, personal computers, those are the big ones.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think the blockchain is probably the one that's most misunderstood still for its high potential. But I actually think this era of AI is going to make people understand the value of the blockchain. And then obviously the mobile device is underestimated. The Internet was very different when it wasn't available to us at all times. In the real world, you guys are of the age. You had to go to your computer to get on the Internet calls, like,

[Grant]

you know, block phone calls if I want to get them.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Train]

So

[E.J.]

it's cool. Our generation got to grow through, like, VHS to Napster, to streaming, to ipods. Like, we really got to embody all of that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. And by the way, your kids are going to embody even more stuff.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, there's stuff that we don't even know.

[E.J.]

I bought a DVD player just so they could see what it looks like.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, but. But, like, you know, I'm of the age, and we were poor when we got here. Like. Like, a lot of the kids that I knew had black and white television. Not even color.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Damn. Yeah, bro.

[Grant]

And that wasn't that long ago.

[E.J.]

Well, speaking of that, I'd love to kind of rap about our fathers, you know?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, let's do it.

[E.J.]

I though one probably biggest thing I relate to you on is I moved here from Poland when I was seven years old.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Old.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And my dad worked on. Still does. He needs to stop.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Dad, you're done.

[E.J.]

Alaskan fishing boats. So he would live in Poland. He'd fly to Seattle, go out to Alaska for three months at a time, come back.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's that.

[E.J.]

Yeah. Yeah. One of the most dangerous jobs in the world. And it's like. But through his hard work and dedication and, like, I think of some of the decisions we make, I make that I'm like, oh, should I move or should I do this or take a risk here. I'm like, parents didn't know English. They were 35 years old and switched countries. Right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

And the sacrifice behind that, I'm just, like, so thankful to them. And I think all of our dads, yours too, and Grant's, like, have made such, like, work for family sacrifices that it made us probably develop the brand even more. So because of that kind of stuff,

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

every father is a blessing. One, his sperm became you. Let's just start with that. You don't exist without his semen, you know? So let's start with that.

[E.J.]

Thanks, dad.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Two, two, two. This is really important to understand what fathers do for all of us and what we will do for our children is we will show them things that they want to be, and we will show them things they don't want to be. And that's a gift.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, I have a lot of friends who are living different lives than I lived, who grew up with far more than I did. And what they saw was they didn't want to work as much. And I don't judge that. I mean, I do a little bit because I'm funny like that. But, you know, like, I mean, there's so many things my father taught me, and a lot of it was things I don't want to do. And I thank them.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The world for that, because I. It's on me. But he also Taught me a lot of things I do want to do, and I know that my work ethic comes from him, and it's one of my great superpowers.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I also don't eat breakfast or lunch. My dad taught me that. Huge advantage. While my competition's having a salad for an hour, I'm dominating the field, you know, like. And so, you know. Right, because that's retail. Yeah, retail where, like, the store's open. Like, if we left the register. Especially small retail, like you and I grew up with, you can go to lunch. Like, the store's open. Like, what are you gonna go like? You know, in some small towns back in the day, we'd literally gone for lunch. But, like, that was not the mindset of the 90s. Like, the store was open. Like, you couldn't go to. Like, I don't think people even understand. You couldn't go to lunch, you know? But most of all, my dad taught me was. And that has saved my life. I was gifted genetically with the gift of gab. If I did not have a principled father who thought embellishment. Embellishment was a crime like that, you had to be a fucking. The truth. I do not believe I am sitting here admired without that. I believe that what I'm saying. I give my mom so many flowers, and everybody has seen that concept. But I'm gonna say it more direct, with more. More truth than I've ever said it to honor my dad in this incredible partnership we have. I do not believe that I am an admirable man without my dad, because at 14, 15, 16, when I still had a few minutes where I could change the course of my life, I believe I would have been like, a lot of people that are. It's the reason sometimes people, when they first meet me, they're like, wait a minute. Because we can sense someone who's got the gift. And unfortunately, a lot of times when you have the gift, you become a fucking piece of shit.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I had all the. I could have started a cult. I have the gift to start, like, a crazy, crazy cult. I could have, like. Yeah, but real. Real talk. Like, I. Some people just have so much charisma. They go on to become incredible people. Politicians, they go on to become cult leaders. They go on to become incredible, sometimes incredible religious leaders that are good. They go on to become the people we put on pedestals. Gandhi and Martin Luther King. And, like, I was gifted that. And what my dad did was converted it into. It's just like a. It's back to Me. It's so funny that I get to say this. I said, fuck chemistry, and now I'm saying chemistry is the best in the lab. My dad was able to add a part to the potion that made me a dramatically better version of myself.

[Train]

Do you think it's because he was embedded in your community? Like on a re. On a small mom and pop shop,

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

like he dealt with people? Nope. In fact, I taught my dad how to be nice to customers. I'm being dead serious. My dad viewed customers. You understand? I used to not understand it. You might understand this. My dad grew up in a culture in the Soviet Union for the first 25 years of his life where everybody stole everything because it was communism and the government owned everything, so everything was black market and stolen. My dad looked at every customer that walked through his store before I started working for him. As someone who was trying to steal.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I've seen my dad as the negative.

[Train]

Jump over a counter and chase somebody who's stealing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My dad chased someone that stole. My dad's 72 years old. Three years ago, my dad chased someone out the store and got into a fisticuff.

[Train]

Yeah.

[E.J.]

No way.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Swear to God. My dad was 69 years old. This is three years ago. My dad ran out. It was a woman, by the way.

[Train]

Oh, my gosh.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And, like, they taggle. And he got it out and the bottle broke on the ground. And he felt very proud of himself.

[Train]

My dad did this.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I said to my dad, he's going to get shot one day.

[E.J.]

Damn.

[Train]

Three years ago, somebody stole my dad's phone, and he tracked it, and this is like, the worst. And he went. I'm like, dad, what are you doing? Dude? Yeah, we'll buy you a new phone. Like, you're fine.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, no, no.

[Train]

That's my phone. It's the principle. Teach him a lesson.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The amount of men that have died on principle is staggering.

[Train]

Yeah. You know, I think, to your point, died.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

By the way, I was saying dead, not saying, like, principle. Principle is really ingrained in a certain kind of man. I'm a little bit. I'm not as, like, delusional on that. I think safety matters. I think. I think, like, play for another day matters. But some dudes will. And by the way, when the shit really hits the fan, which does. In mankind.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

We are really happy to have guys like your dad and I. Yeah. I always say this, you know, especially when people get a little too soft, they're like, fuck that guy. I'm like, fuck that guy. Until China invades Yeah. Find out how fast you love that guy.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, everybody that, everybody that hates Joe Rogan likes them a whole lot more when China invades, you know, like it's just real life. And this goes back, back to manhood like. And again it goes back to balance. Like I said, everything in balance, right? But like, you know, when shit hits the fan, My dad had a liquor store in a blue collar town in Clark, New Jersey, where the store was right next to the bank that he deposited the money. This is a true story.

[Train]

Bank of America auto shop.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You don't know this story? Watch this one. My dad goes in on a normal day, this is fucking 30 years ago. The bank is getting robbed. Robbed. A bank robbery. He's like walking in as these guys are walking out. He, he and my uncle, my mom's my. Him and his, his brother in law, my uncle Joseph are walking in because my uncle Joseph at the time was managing that store. Eventually my dad sold him that store. He throws my uncle into the car and chases the bank robbers.

[E.J.]

No way.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know how insane that is? That's insane no self. It's not like he was caught. I was like. When I talked to him about it, I've never told this story publicly. I'm like, where do you think that was going? It'd be one thing if he did it today. I'd be like, okay, like you can call you're a hero. You're like, it's here's the license, but this is 1989.

[Grant]

He's getting that money back.

[Train]

I don't.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And by the way, he didn't know what he was doing. This goes back to principle. Like, some men are just so wired. And that was my father. That is my father. And boy did I need that because my mom, who's my greatest cheerleader, she let me run loose on gift of gab because she rightfully saw it as a superpower. But my dad's honor saved my life.

[Train]

My mom's always believed in me, always believed in me. But my dad has always been that strict one too, that laid that hand hammer down the best he could.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, look, I mean we are all kind of in a very similar place of like nurture and like the hunter and like, like. And I think we talk a lot. And that is what has thrown off a lot of young men is like not first of all, my father. I love him so much. I also have so much compassion for him. He did not have the mother I had. I knew my grandma very well, but I'm not Mad at her because I knew her mom, I knew my great grandma well. Cause I was in the old country, everybody had, you know, back in our part of the world, in the old country, everybody had kids at 20.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My mom had 20. Yeah. So you were 60, you were a great grandma.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, you know, and so not everybody has the same, you know, path we had. My dad's mom was challenging. His dad traveled a lot. And then he died when my dad was 15. And so like, you know, not everyone has the fortune of the parenting structure. And I want to say this because a lot of people consume a lot of my content where I talk about parenting structure. You can create your structure by the people you spend time with after you get out of the house. Yeah. And that is important whether it was toxic and you find it, or even yours, which was. It wasn't toxic. You were just a big ship and you needed a big piece of water.

[Train]

Yeah. I watch my mom work so, so hard and she ended up doing well at Boeing, you know, but she worked so hard and I just wanted more for her and I wanted more. I just wanted to see her enjoy life. We lived in a one bedroom because my parents split before I was 2 and we lived in a one bedroom apartment in West Seattle. And my mom had the living room and she gave me the bedroom, you know, when I was like 3 years old. And so I just wanted so much for her where I knew my dad was always going to be fine because he had that. My dad was a community, still is. Community driven man just loves.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And where does he. Where does he live?

[Train]

In Rainier beach in Seattle, Washington. And. And we just, you know, I knew he was always going to be good, but I didn't know if my mom was always sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And you're. When you're a boy and your parents are separated and your mom, you become the protector of her as you continue to grow, you know, from 4 to 6 to 9 to 13. It makes sense.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And this is why I keep telling everybody, adversity is amazing. That was true adversity for you. Adversity is the core foundation of success. It is very hard to have sustained success when you had a lack of adversity in your life. Because growing up. Because when you then become grown and you face adversity, you haven't tasted it before. This is why 8th place trophies are a problem. One of the few I wish on everyone to grow to be born into a family that is not destined to have adversity. Why on earth wouldn't we Want children to be born into homes of a happy marriage and la la la and picket Fett. Why wouldn't we want that? That's why sports matter so much.

[Train]

Correct.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

If you got lucky and there are people that get lucky that are born into a nice sitch, it's awesome. Well, then sports is the place where you're gonna get punched in the mouth, you know, like, and like to then have those same parents eliminate the merit of sports really fucks up a child. Which is why we have so many 25 year old children. Yeah, we have unlimited 25. Do you know me? 27 year old men right now are walking around earth and are being tracked on the family app by their moms.

[E.J.]

Too many phone bill paid for.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But like really, like even forget about Nepo Financial. That is the story as old as time. Wealthy family. I'm talking about something out. Yeah, like financial's already a vulnerability for sure. This new version, this new 3.0 nepo thing we have, which is one family tracking system and you're a 28 year old man and you're out and about in the city and your mom is in Indiana texting you like, why aren't you home, honey? You have work tomorrow. And he's 20, bro. Do you know how real this. Do you know this is real? This is real. You guys know this? This is real. Like, I mean, I don't know if you guys can see my goosebumps.

[Train]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This may be the singular biggest issue of our time.

[Train]

Big time.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, yeah, it may be. Men, if you're listening right now, if you are over 18 years old, but fuck it, I'll be soft. If you were over 22 years old, you are out of college or the age that you should be out of college or are out of college, if your parents have a tracking system on your phone, you're a fucking loser. You must get them off. And I do not care if the reason. This is the reason they have it on because you're taking money from them. Most people still allow it because of the financial part. You are never. I'm gonna give Harmon Skrnik. This would be funny. If anyone knows who he is, he's gonna get pinged. Harmon Skrnik said one of the most profound things to me in my life. Harman Skrnik currently runs a very large liquor and wine predominantly wine distributorship here in New York with his brother Michael. Great company called Michael Skrnick Wines. Harmon joined later. I was in Italy on a wine trip. I was 25 years old. These wine trips were Great. Because I got. You know, when you go to Italy for a week, you get time. 3. Three hour drive to the vineyard, you get time with people. This is when I got to really know Harmon. And Harmon said something I've never forgotten. We got deep, you know, like, you know, especially on the third, when you get to the third winery, you have a little bit of wine in the other two, you can get deep, right?

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

He said to me that you're never fully a man until your father dies. And I don't. I don't know what it. Now I do know what it was. I grew up fearing my parents dying. I actually believe the reason I'm such a happy person is it didn't happen. I think I've basically been playing with emotional house money since I was 18. My mom lost her mom at 5. I just told you. My dad lost his. And we were from the old country, and I was born in the old country and I was the oldest sibling. And my mom, every month, or at least it felt like every month, would say things to me like, if anything ever happens to mom and dad, you've got to take care of the family. Like, you know, I'm at like seven. I'm like, I'm still peeing my bed at night, which I did until 11, by the way. For all the parents that are. If you have a kid that's peeing their bed till 11, just tell them. Gary Vee did too. But, like, I'm peeing my fucking bed at night, but also being told by my hero, my mom, like, if anything happens to the family, like, it was a big car. I mean, my only recurring dream of my life was a nightmare of my family dying in a plane crash. Like, it was a big part of my life. So I'm sure at 25, when Harmon said that, it probably triggered. Right? Thank God I have still not felt that. And for most of my life, I felt equally my father's father as I felt like he was my father. But I will say that if you're 25 years old and your parents are tracking you on a fucking app, like, you are not a man, you're an animal, You're a dog. And like, you need to get off that. And if the reason you're on is cause mommy and daddy are kicking you a couple bucks each week or paying for your Uber or your Equinox or your rent, or like, I get it, it sucks, but like, go sell stuff on fucking ebay, like, get the fuck off the payroll. Be a man. Stand on your Own two feet. Maybe you can't keep up with your other buddies and you might have to miss a fucking golf trip or a Costa Rica thing. And maybe you can't, you know, use mommy and daddy's money to take out prettier girls because you need the money to win them over. I don't know what's going through your mind. Let me tell you the only thing that should be going through your mind. You are not a real man until you get off your parents payroll.

[Train]

Yeah. Amen. Amen to that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You like it? It's really.

[E.J.]

He's actively being tracked. Like,

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

but I just deleted the ad. Yeah, but bro. Right? Like, like I don't know. Like, like that's why I think I got the goose. Like I've never said that that way. Like that's the one. And I will tell you, you will honor. You will be more proud of yourself being off the payroll, living humbly. Because I know. Because I'm getting the texts and the DMs from the kids that are mad at their parents. I'm Getting texts and DMs from 27 year old men mad at their parents for giving them money. And that always that. By the way, one of the only times I was consuming a trend. This is about seven, eight years ago. Because I've talked about this in different ways. It was the only time. It took me a few months to understand what was going on because I couldn't comprehend the idea of being mad at your parents for them giving you stuff because I wasn't on the receiving end of that. You know, a lot of people try to claim I was. I built my daddy's business for him. My daddy did not give his business to me.

[Grant]

Yeah, yeah, you've been pretty clear about.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, but I think a lot of people try to weaponize it.

[E.J.]

Yeah, of course.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But like I'm in rarefied air. There are very few people that are as talented as I am that work 100 hours a week for 12 straight years to build a business for their family and leave with nothing. I started vaynermedia in the conference room of another company when I was 34 years old because I didn't have enough money to pay rent.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So, but, so that's why I have so much passion for everyone. They feel lesser than. It feels good when you've got like the extra bucks on this Saturday to go to the beach or whatever. It feels really bad on Monday when you know you're still sucking from the tit.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Of your mom, by the way. If you're trying to, you know.

[E.J.]

Well, I think you might have mentioned it or heard it throughout this conversation, but we want to officially make it an announcement right here, right now. So it's been the three of us for four years now. E.J. grant, and I running dad Gang, building it from a text thread to now. Over 1 million hats sold in 4 years.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's incredible.

[E.J.]

Just past that mark, going into retail, it's been awesome. Like, find happiness in your life. We found it. We love it. You just had a podcast. You talked about get as close to the sun as you possibly can. Watch that the other day. We've all looked up to you, taking your advice, have stopped watching you, so we can actually do the shit you say. And it's an honor, you know, to bring you on to dad Gang and have you, you know, help us take this to. To new heights, to more community, to. To just, you know, it's. We're on the sun at this point. You said get as close as possible. You're on it, and we're here. And just for reference, Gary said, if you want to. What was it? If you want to be like someone or get around them or you aspire to get in a position like someone else, get as close to the sun as you possibly can. I'll let you emphasize that a little bit.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. A couple things first, thank you, man. Like, you know, with AJ And Vayner Sports actually down, we're filming On Top of Fly Fish Club with David Rodolitz and, you know, Capon and Chef Connor with VCR Group, our restaurant group with Vayner Watt, my TV production company that a lot of you are gonna get to know, because we have a ton of shows we've sold, and you'll be on Netflix and Hulu and ABC and see the Vayner Watt logo. I'm involved in businesses where I'm much more deeper involved than just writing a check as an investor. And none of those things could be successful if the one aj, David Rodolitz, Eric Wattenberg weren't so remarkable, you know, So I look for opportunities where there is remarkable execution. You guys are that, like, you know, I'm not here for fun. I have. I've worked very hard to have unlimited opportunities. Victoria's in the background right now. She's probably seen an opportunity for me that's meaningful come through in my inbox since we've been sitting here. That's how often it comes. And so I'm humbled and honored and feel very good about what I've created, but I have to say no to everything. So for me to say yes, to get involved, you know, I'm involved. I'm now, you know, have equity in this business. But I'm required to do things, and you guys know this. The one thing I don't have is time. You know, I mean, it is the asset. Right back to. I need more time. Like, time. Let there be no confusion now. I talk about patience, so I don't mean, you know, but time is the asset. So. And I'm grown now. I know how to make good decisions. So for everybody listening on the other side, for me to do this is an incredible indication to my belief in what you guys are doing. And as far as bringing value to everyone's listening, yes, I do believe that you need to get as close to the sun as possible. When I started building veefriends, the most interesting meeting I had in the entire time was the two hours I got to spend with Bob Iger, who was the CEO of Disney at the time. Because I'm building Disney. I'm building Pokemon. I'm building Marvel. I wish Stan Lee. Wait, yeah. Stan Lee passed away, right? Yeah. Like. Like, I just got scared for a second. My brain broke for a second. Like, you can't say someone's dead when they're alive. But. But I knew, like. Like, I wish Stan Lee was alive. It would be a very real thing for me to go find him right now. I wish Jim Henson was alive. If you look at the early videos of Vee Friends, I think that I'm building Disney. I've now come to learn. I'm building. I'm building much more Sesame street, right? My character. When I really wrap my head around what Jim Henson did. Do you know how important Sesame street is, man? Do you know that the. Do you know how profoundly impactful Sesame street has been to create inclusion and eliminate hate? I aspire to be Jim Henson. Like, veefriends for me is, like, really meaningful. I always call it my most selfless and selfish endeavor. And one of the reasons I wanted to do this is I find dad Gang to be a very rare company that is selfless and selfish. It's selfish because you men are trying to build as big a fucking company as possible. Why on earth wouldn't you want this to be a trillion dollar company? You're entrepreneurs. You're building. But when it has collateral selfless value, which I think inspired me to just make up on the spot right now, the dad Hour, by the way, to break the fourth wall. That Was spontaneous. They're like, they're pumped right now. They just, they just got something they didn't know they were getting. That just, you know, that. Just that it's because, you know, yes, I want to sell 17 trillion hats and yes, in my own mind. And we'll see how good of an advisor I am to you. I get excited about debating what other categories we could go into and what other ways. But the fact that, you know, knowing that two dads are going to see each other in the airport today wearing this hat and feel a little more supported with a micro ounce of humanity, like seeing somebody pass you by and just giving a head nod. Yeah, you're getting it. You know, it's very similar to what's happening right now. It's why I love sports. Do you know what happened on the 30 minute drive here for me this morning? I am always on the phone. Did not look at my phone at all. All I did was watch all the people interacting in New York City with each other wearing Nick's clothes. It's special. And sports is tribalism. And humans are tribal. And humans are tribal. And that's our biggest gift. And humans are tribal and it's our biggest vulnerability. When tribalism is used to hurt other tribes bad. When tribalism is used to give support to each other. Remarkable. And dad supporting dads is one of the great ways to make the world a much better place. And this is a tiny speck in that. We're an apparel business, but it is a speck that is selfless. It's not, you know, it's not just a swoosh, which is also awesome. Just do it all. I like all that, but it's fucking literal. Dad. Gang, we're in this together. Even though you might not think we are, if we can get people to actually believe that

[Train]

100%.

[E.J.]

There it is.

[Grant]

Dad. Gang.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gary Vee, fourth partner.

[Train]

Gary Vee.

[Grant]

Love it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I honestly, that's so humbling. I will say three B3 partners with the B player. You know, I just honor people that are in the trenches day by day as operators, that they are the true partners. The way I view myself is, and I'll take it if you want me to be the fourth partner. I'm in. But in real life, because I think you deserve these roses. Because I do have a funny feeling this business is going to get much, much, much, much bigger. I view it. You know, the thing that I'm starting to see isn't that's very rare out there. I think this is new. What I'm trying to invent is almost like the active chairman of the board member. Or a board member. Right. A board member that does shit.

[Train]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. An operating board. Yeah. Like, but I think I would not. I would not. I don't even have the audacity to undermine your 18 hours a day when I'm not gonna be doing that to feel like I've earned four. I will only accept that if I strategically come up with something that you guys never had the capacity to come up with in the next five years that changes the course of the business, then I will accept it. We will be back on video where we. Where I accept my fourth partner if I earn into that.

[Train]

Love it. Love that.

[E.J.]

Yep. And same with A.J. i mean, so much love to him.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. He's the secret sauce.

[E.J.]

Yeah. He's not on this conversation, but, like, I just want to give him his flowers. It's just like, I love how he strives to. Out of. It's not even like hitting metrics or anything. Just out of like, human, good, over delivered.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, it's a. You're gonna get me emotional right now. He's that anyway. That's who he is. He got a lot more of my dad's DNA, so he was kind of honorable to begin with. But the reason you're feeling that. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use indeed sponsored jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who Check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. That's Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero. This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. So good. So good, so good. New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores. Now get ready to save big with up to 60% off brands like Rag and Bone, Levi's, Adidas and free people. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. He just wants to make sure that I don't under deliver on what I promised to this partnership to uphold my honor and name. And that's what's driving him to be who he is for you. And that obviously feels very nice for me.

[Train]

Yeah, well, he's the fucking man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, he's he's legit. You know, it's funny. When we started VaynerMedia, we started as 50, 50 partners. And because we didn't know. We didn't know what the business was gonna be, we didn't know who was what. You know, back to sports. Like, I was already an all star, but he was like a first round pick. Right, Right. Something I admire about AJ Is somewhere about five to seven years in, you know, and I don't even know if I. And I have a lot of humility, but, like. And I'm not a younger brother who's 11 years younger, so I don't know his framework, but I always appreciated in a way that my father was unable to calibrate who I was and who he was. When we worked together, my brother was able to. My brother was able to say, five years in, we're different. You're better than me. You deserve more than I deserve. You're more impactful. And I appreciate that. And I know why he did it. Because I was incredibly. And I am. Because I don't want to shortchange myself. And I also want to teach lessons. It was because what my brother did was he honored my generosity at a time where I don't think I could have fought for my fair share. Yeah, I think it's a huge lesson to everyone. I think a lot of people will take advantage of someone like me, and I think to have the strength to not do that is something that I admire because my brother is uncomfortably talented and brilliant and all those things. To have the humility when you're an all Star, to create a support system to your first ballot hall of fame partner is a level of humility and love that I think most people don't deploy in family businesses. Yeah, that's real. And that's something important for you guys. It's impossible that all three of you are contributing 33.3% to the business. And it's impossible for all of you to contribute to the impact of the business at the same percentage at all the same times. It will evolve, and it's important that you guys over communicate the way that AJ And I have. There was no going back to me and AJ because of tax law. AJ won on the VaynerMedia thing. But subsequent businesses we've done together, we've reconciled to the best of our ability. You guys are structured the way you're structured.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nothing. You do something next year that is just so overwhelming. There's nothing that can be done. He can't just give. If he's like, my God, he can't just give you 10% of it. There's tax.

[Grant]

It's hard.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But over, over communication with each other, especially because you guys are so young, there's a substantial chance, look, you might be emotional about dad gang and think you're gonna just do this for us. You're like, there's also a chance that you're not.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And there's other things to life besides the business. It's important that the three of you always know that who's doing what. It's like, it's sports. It's like a team. This season you just might have a great year and you might just tear your fucking acl, you know? You know, but what's awesome. But what's. But what's awesome about business, unlike sports, is you're actually signing lifetime contracts and you have time to reconcile. But do not allow resentment to seep in. When you think you're carrying an extra weight in a season and know there are upcoming seasons, that's important. Three partners is a very hard thing. You guys should be commended for your energy towards each other. But you're still only in year four. And I think the reason I just told that long winded story is one, to give my brother roses because he was also a child when he had the emotional capacity to know what to do. Not that I didn't earn that respect. But you guys are brothers, but you're not brothers. And only communication will make sure that this lasts forever. And obviously I'm sharing that with you guys, but I'm sharing with everyone who's listening because there's a lot of dads that are in businesses with their siblings and their cousins and their dads and their grandchildren and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Family businesses are hard and lack of communication is always the way for it to not work out.

[E.J.]

Yeah, we've been in a text thread 2474 years now.

[Grant]

Doesn't stop.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. The form factor or utility you created for communication doesn't mean you're actually having the real communication. And what you need to challenge yourself on is, you know, crying about micro things all the time becomes like bitch work. So you don't want to do that, but you do need to recognize if you've sat in something for three to six to nine months that's upsetting you or concerning you. Talk that out.

[Train]

Yeah, we've experienced some conversations for sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's good. Yeah, that's good. It's just, you know, it's like you're in this interesting phase. It's just like children.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like companies are like children. You're now in year five, you know, like it gets. It gets different.

[E.J.]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Having a seven year old. Yeah, that's right. You know, you're gonna stop pooping your pants soon.

[Grant]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know.

[E.J.]

Awesome.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, thank you, man.

[Grant]

Thank you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you 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. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Or Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses, set up required compatibility and availability various 18 plus journey. See you later.