Culture, Marketing, and the Truth About Winning | Gary Vaynerchuk

 In this episode of No Vacancy, we sit down with Gary Vaynerchuk for a raw, honest conversation about culture, leadership, and the reality of building a business that actually lasts. 

We dig into what that actually means in the real world:

•  Why most leaders say they care about culture, but don’t live it 
•  The truth about empathy in leadership (and whether it can be taught) 
•  Why tolerating one toxic employee can quietly destroy an entire company 
•  The balance between accountability and compassion
•  And why playing the long game with people almost always wins, even when it’s harder in the moment 

Gary also opens up about his personal mindset, the pursuit of massive goals (yes, including owning the New York Jets), and why the journey, not just the outcome, is what drives real fulfillment.

As always, we keep it No Vacancy style, real talk, a few laughs, and a conversation that goes deeper than the typical business playbook.

If you’re in self storage, or any business where it’s easy to blend in, this one is a must-listen.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So what the f what the f is there a symbolic meaning for these rubber ducts or plastic ducts? These are the little guys that are left on Jeep is it just Jeep Wranglers? Yeah. And what is that? If you have a Jeep Cherokee, don't you dare wave at me. Okay. Don't you dare. No, so I underst When I was my dad had a Jeep Wrangler. Right. So we started yeah, the little midlife crisis for himself a ragtop Jeep Wrangler. That was freaking great because I was a senior in high school at the time. So I got to use the Jeep Wrangler. Like when he wasn't using it. Drive it around as cool as I could be, which wasn't wasn't very, but I had the Jeep. And your Aqua Digio. Yeah, go ahead. As an outsider on the there's a a number of different things for this Jeep community. There's the wave from Wrangler to Wrangler. Yep. There's there's these ducks that are only from Wrangler to Wrangler as well. Yep. And I've also heard of some type of hidden image or oh yeah, it's like an animal oftentimes. Or a jeep.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

No, is is that just the Wrangler also?

SPEAKER_03 1:18

I believe so. Have you found yours? Some of them I think are y it's just the Wrangler Jeep that you find in different places. But some of them have like, I think a lizard. Uh and I don't remember what else.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

So three different f ways of communicating from Wrangler owner to Wrangler owner. Yeah. If you're given a duck, can you then give that duck to another Wrangler? But how does all this work?

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Welcome back to No Vacancy, brought to you by Access Self-Storage. Today's guest is someone who doesn't just follow trends. He sees where attention is going before the rest of us even know it exists. From building wine library into a national brand to early investments in companies like Facebook, Uber, and Coinbase, Gary Vaynerchuk has built a career on understanding consumer behavior at scale. So today, we're taking that lens and applying it to an industry that doesn't always think of itself this way self-storage.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Now, in terms of the ducks, yeah, I have no idea. No idea what. Of any of it. Like why the duck? Do you I do partake sometimes?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

So what's the duck situation in your car? In your Wrangler, excuse me. I'm thinking I have and a 12.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

But only Three of those were acquired by other Wrangler drivers.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Wait a minute. What do you mean by that? You mean only three other Wrangler drivers gave you ducks? That's correct. The other the other eight or nine. Caden and Bryce. Is that that seems a little bush league to me? That seems a little bush league. Like you're that you're you're you're uh bringing in home court ducks. I agree. Well, I mean, who's gonna tell these children, you know, that this isn't the right thing?

SPEAKER_03 3:16

I tried, and then Lee was like, they got them for you, so I felt kind of bad. Now they're on my and now they're on my dash.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

I mean, I I don't know anything about the history of this whole duck wrangler situation, but there's nothing sacred like morning, Gary.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

How are you? Thank God hanging in. We appreciate you hopping on with us, Gary. I'm really happy to be with you. It's uh it's been a while. It means a lot for you to for you to hop on with us. Happy to do it, brother.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Thanks, Gary. Uh um, Chris, you know, Andrew, this is Brian over here. Good day. Um, thank you so much for your time. We want to get right to it, if that's all right with you. Please keep it productive. Okay, great. We're in the self-storage industry, fairly commoditized industry. What do you think the best way for a fairly commoditized industry to go about building a culture?

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Culture, an internal culture?

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yeah, it's the best way to get that started. And do you think it's valuable for a commodity like self-storage?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yeah, I mean, I I would argue most businesses are actually a commodity. Most businesses actually have enough different competitors that there's optionality for the end consumer, which then creates the framework of commodity. And I would argue that most businesses will shine predicated on two things, culture and marketing, right? And so if you're selling a commodity, which again, I'm gonna sit here and argue almost everything is, um, going about building a culture is no different in any company, which is what is the intent of the actual leader? Does the actual leader give any craps about their people? Or is it all about selfish need for them to maximize all the money for themselves and buy whatever they need to buy to close the gap of their insecurities? So, you know, I think it's effort, I think it's it's it's mindset, and I think it's actually living the bullshit that comes out of your mouth.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, absolutely. In that same vein, you seem to be a very empathetic person. The way the way through a good life is to be an empath. Is that teachable?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

That's a really darn good question. Boy, this is a challenging one because nobody has tried to teach it more than me, and I don't and I don't mean the Gary V content you've all seen for the last 15-10 years. I mean Gary Vaynerchuk from the ages of 14 to 34 trying to deploy it into his favorite person, his father, Sasha Vaynerchuk. My dad is incredibly compassionate, has a real like soft spot, but he does not have empathy. He's a his complete inability to feel another person's feelings. And I spent 20 years, 15 hours a day, trying to impose it, educate on it, teach it. And I would say that, like everything in life, I think my father's come along tremendously by my subjective opinion, and something I really wished on him, because I do think it is the path to a happier life. But I do think it's like sports or like singing or like anything in life. I think we need to face the truth that we are all born with DNA. We are all raised a certain way, we have an environment outside of our parenting in our home that also impacts us in our youth, and then you kind of form into what you are in your early teenage years, young years, and then you start the process of like what do you want to work on, right? Like, you know, it took me into my late 40s, mid-40s to realize candor was a strength publicly and a weakness privately. For the last five to seven years, I've gotten much better at candor, but I've gone from like gone from like a two to like a sixth. And like, do I think I'll ever be as candorous as my father, which is a strength of his, other than the delivery mechanism he's decided to use for his candor? Um uh I would say no, I don't think I can be as candorous as my father, even up to my in the 70s when I hope to be at the height of my candorous powers. So uh yes, I think empathy can be taught, but I do think that we all have ceilings on physical and emotional capabilities. Um, but I think we should always be trying to be a better tennis player, golfer, cooker, empath, um, sympathetic, accountable, patient, all those things.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Have you ever, regarding empathy, going back to that, have you ever considered that once you had kids, that that empathy and way of looking at it even increased more?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

No, I don't believe that is true for me. I'm sure it has happened for some because I was born selfless. So I think I think I've noticed in friends and family and acquaintances, and through all that I read and watch in culture, inherently insanely selfish people that are often selfish by because they're insecure when they have a child, it becomes the first moment where they think about someone else beside themselves. Yeah. But I don't believe that they become inherently more empathetic. I surely did not become more selfless because of my children. I was born selfless, and then I was raised by a selfless woman who imposed even more selflessness. So I was kind of at end state. I didn't feel any different, but I've seen it in many, but I think it's more of a selfish, selfless framework, more so than more empathy.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Gotcha. Um, what do you think that a self-storage company could do immediately to change their culture today if you were to take over a self-storage company? Is there an immediate impact that your outlook uh would would bring?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

I mean, you know, I've I believe that kind, optimistic, practical leadership is rare. And when it's happens, you see a lot of success around it. And, you know, I've been the beneficiary of that. And I say those things because I don't feel like I did that. I feel like my mother did that, you know, my father, my circumstances. So I say that not humbly. I say that as if it's not even my own credit, but that is what I am, and when I see it in others, I've invested in companies that have it, you know, like it's a winning formula. So, you know, if if if I went to every self-storage company in the country or in the world, my intuition is that 90% of them, minimally, are not run by someone who is deeply optimistic, deeply practical, wildly accountable, and prefers sunshines and rainbows as their leadership style versus scaring people that if we don't hit the numbers this month, they might be in trouble. You know, most leaders weaponize fear versus optimism. Um, and so yeah, of course I would impact it. And then if I was, let's say, on the board of a company, not the actual CEO, and the CEO was actually one of those people, and but the culture wasn't great, what would be very obvious to me is that she or he has a direct report that's very senior, that is not positive, they are negative forced to the company, but that the CEO looked the other way because she or he is the best salesman, they need them for X, Y, and Z. And so I would tell everybody who's listening to this podcast: some of you are well-intended and want a great culture, but your right hand or your left hand is doing the dirty work for you, and you're allowing them to do that because you need the dirty work in your mind, andor they're not doing the dirty work for you, they're fucking up the culture, but you're looking the other way because they're the biggest impact on the PL besides you. And I would tell you that cancer spreads, and you must cut out cancer at all costs, even when it's painful.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's tough to make that sacrifice, but you have to do it for the the greater good.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, and and if the greater good is that you want to sleep, like for me, again, this is just like pure like this is why my life is light. I'm just fortunate emotionally, meaning for me, the greater good is I don't sleep well at night if there's negative uh you know, I'm visceral to negativity. Yeah, so I you know, it's not very hard for me to like live, like I would say I'm probably inappropriately visceral to it, right? There's probably a balance, right? But I just don't like it. I don't think it's worth it. And you know, for me, I don't I've had years where we three years ago at Vayner, we barely made any money compared to what we should have. I made a lot of decisions that didn't pan out to the following year, so we had a bad PL year, right? I slept like a baby all year. I didn't give a fuck that we weren't gonna make money. But when there's like one new hire that's awesome, but she or he is a jerk, and like I know that I have to like and I do business in London, LA, New York. Like, there's a lot of bullshit laws for businesses, so I know I have to I know that the person's already fired in my brain, but I know I have to cross all the T's legally and do all the right things, and they're gonna be in my halls for another two months doing damage, undermining the culture. That shit keeps me up at night. So the greater good for me is the culture, and then the money comes, in my opinion. But for a lot of people, they aren't as financially um and and fiscally and building a business capable as I am, so they don't have the fact for it to be about the culture, right? That if they fire Sam, the best salesperson, the business might really actually tank. So it's all nice and games here on a podcast, me talking about rainbows and sunshine, but then there's real life. My point to that leader is but Sam's gonna fuck you in the end anyway. Sam's gonna cap the business anyway. So you gotta find Sally to replace Sam along the way. You need to be interviewing every day for the replacement, or looking underneath Sam. Sam's direct report, Carl might be a sweetheart. She says he stinks because she's suppressing him, but he's actually capable of doing the job. This is real life human management.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah. Yeah. Culture is a long game, though, do you think? I know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Culture is playing the long game. Yeah. Every day. Right. Not playing culture is the short game. You're choosing money over feelings. Fine. I get it. In the end, the feelings of the team is gonna matter because where companies get caught a lot, where I get emails after doing podcasts like this, is like, you're so right. And you know what it is? It's everything was going great for seven years, then four people quit because the stam sucked and everything fell apart. So it doesn't feel bad those seven years where you're making more money than you would have, especially for bosses that you know. I'm an active boss. Some people are not active bosses, so the stam allows them to play golf today on a sunny day, leave early to watch the NFL draft tonight. Like they like, like they get the benefits, buy a second home down the shore. But then when it all falls apart, woof.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Right. Yeah. Yeah, that's a tough dig out after after it falls apart, writing that ship, telling everybody that Sam wasn't the right person at the time, but that's that's uh that's quite a hill.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

No vacancy is the self-storage podcast that pulls back the roll-up door on the industry's most outrageous stories, toughest challenges, and unexpected laughs. Hosted by the team at Access Self-Storage, each episode brings together real operators, sharp marketers, and off-the-wall personalities to talk about what really goes on behind the gate code. From crazy tenant tales to hard-won lessons in customer service. It's raw, unfiltered, and a little irreverent, just like life in storage.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

So you mentioned culture, you mentioned the NFL draft. I'd be remiss to ask you about the Jets. I see you're decked out in green, yes, sir. Um is buying the Jets a viable goal for you? And where where are you with that plan?

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Before you answer that, Gary, as a Dolphins fan, I hope you never buy the Jets because I think that you really would write the ship over there. I think there is a culture issue going on, and I think that's uh kind of appropriate with the conversation we're having here. But I just wanted to sneak in that as a Dolphins fan, I really hope that never happens. That is very flat. For you, I hope it does happen.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

You know, one of the I hate the guy, but he delivered one of the nice biggest compliments of my life. Bob Kraft came up to me at a Super Bowl event and said, I really hope you never buy them. Wow. Wow. I would say uh I would say a couple things. Uh, is it viable? You know, the private equity thing that happened recently has definitely thrown a little bit of a curveball because now the valuations are gonna go to the moon because you can sell fractionalizations to finance. So, look, I don't know. Like, you know, I've said this a lot publicly. The great joy of my life is chasing the body. Yeah, right. I've said this a lot also publicly. When the Yankees and Rangers won their championships, I stopped caring. So I I've learned a long time ago that I'm a thrill of the hunt guy. Even as a child, this is really silly. When I was like in grammar school and middle school, I was like, I loved to try to get the girl that liked that I liked to like me, but then when it would happen, hey, at that age, at that age I was still scared of girls. So I'd be like, no way, Jose. But you know, in everything I've done, you know, building my father's business before I left it, like I've always been in it for the game. So, you know, there's almost a sick part of me that hopes it's always just like, you know, that I like one run too far. Yeah. But I I feel in my 70s, 80s, 90s, whatever, whenever, you know, whenever I'm triggered into a version of not 101% pure offense, but maybe 90% offense, that will be an interesting chapter in my life where it'll be interesting to see what I'm willing to do to get something to, you know, listen, if the Jets ever come up, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make a real effort, right? Um, I can only focus on creating the wealth. I've got some work to do, but listen, this is what, and by the way, this is a great way to end. Everyone should have massive dreams. And I'm talking about personally and professionally. Yeah. Because I think when you stretch yourself for very big dreams, right? I'll give you a good dream on the other side of the pillow. I want to be a mother. I'm a working mother, I'm the breadwitter for the home, but I want to be home for dinner every night with my kids, even though I'm a CEO of a public company. And then I'll go right back out. And I would say that's a big dream. That's hard, right? That what I just said is hard. Uh you know, I want to I'll go leisure again. I want to play golf every Friday. Like, I got all these responsibilities, family, business, but I'm gonna play golf every like that's a hard people don't realize that's hard. The more you push yourself, obviously, mine professionally has been ludicrous. When I did it in fourth grade, even through high school, even through college, even through my early 20s, these values were not that absurd. You know, it wasn't the thing it became. I was right. I was right that sports was gonna become the beacon of our society. Yeah. Um the to answer your question, I for some reason I think I'm gonna pull it off.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Yeah, man. Yeah. I hope it takes a little while.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

For my sake. Gary, I know we're up against that time year, but we have a theme on this podcast where we do all uh do you have one minute for a life around for us? Can we fire a match yet?

SPEAKER_01 19:19

All right. First concert you ever attended? Uh bo Boys to Men. Nice. Most recent concert you ever attended.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

That's a great question. What did I go to? Uh Kaigo at the Garden.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Oh, very nice. Good show? Yeah, he was great. Uh, any baseball card that you sold as a child that you wish you had today? That you remember.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Uh uh 84, 84 Don Russ, Don Mattingley. That was sharp as hell, then I bet you would have PSA 10'd.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Morning beverage of choice.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Coffee. Black coffee with a little bit of half and half.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Jets gonna draft love tonight, or are they taking an edge? I think they're gonna take Bailey. Okay. They need the defense.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Yeah, I think they're gonna take Bailey, and then with the first pick, I think he's trying I I'm hearing from good sources that it might be Bailey over Reese, and then my hope is they get taped somehow.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

That's on my mind.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

That's all we got, Gary. Love you. Stay well. Thank you so much, Miss Gary. Take care. You know, he he puts so much positivity out into the world that uh is really what I like most about him. Why uh probably why 50 million people find Gary's content so engaging is that you know, he touches on the things that I think it's uncomfortable, right? He challenges so many assumptions about business that it's gotta be uh look like you said, most businesses are commoditized. Most businesses are affected by a leader who cares way more about the P ⁇ L and the bottom line than they do about the path to get there. Yep. And I think the thing the the uh overarching theme that I uh take in the most from his stuff is that you know it's about the journey, not the destination, or whatever other cliche you want to use to to fit there. Um and and I think that it just resonates so well and it's so in alignment with access self-storage and and what we do. You know, I mean fifty years in business this year, and and he talked a lot about how you know the the the the leader is really what sets that tone. And you know, I I I I've been here for 15 years and I've talked about it a bunch of times that you know ultimately our our founders uh and and and Foy, who continues to lead the company, is you know, whether it's like intentional or not, it's organic, and so it just it trickles down. You know, her her compassion and empathy and caring for the people that deliver our product and service to the consumers every day, how she cares for them first over the bottom line, and the decisions that she's willing to make that would say, like, hey, I know that this isn't the thing that's gonna drive more dollars to the bottom, but it's what's best for company the greater good, whether it's the people Or just the the culture in general. Yeah. It's huge. It's everything.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

And it's really unspoken too. You know, it's like uh it's like a like a mentorship that's happening, but until you have the ability to step back and take a look at it, you really have no idea that it's happening to you or with you or for you. Yeah. Incredible. I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

It's not. Yeah, it's it's not always formalized. It's yeah, but it's just consistency over time. People and culture are first here. Yeah. And bottom line is second.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

This company has provided for all of us, but then seeing, you know, when we talk about how long we've all been here, what the company has done for us and helped us grow as our own families. You know, when you started, you were 25, single, you know, you married, kids. You know, it it's been a whole lifetime of change for for a lot of us here.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

And it's just um and it's not like it's not so it's not just the change, right? Like it's the flexibility of being there for big events, for family even outside of access. You know, being able to like see my kid walk for the first time because we have that, you know, that flexibility of you know, either working remote here and there or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

And the understanding and the empathy, yeah, of our they haven't forgotten. Right. They've all been through those things too, and they know they understand that that these things are very important for for moms and dads and families, and um, you know, they they do understand that that times are changing also, because I think more people have really, as we all uh all have heard over the last number of years, that work-life balance is so important, and not a whole lot of companies are flexible with that, you know, or or have that much of an understanding.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

For everyone listening, if you're in self-storage or any business where it's easy to blend in, this is your reminder. Attention, brand, and trust are the real differentiators. If you got value out of this, make sure to subscribe, share it with someone in the industry, and we'll see you next time on No Vacancy.