It’s been about 2 and a half years since I even figured out who Gary Vaynerchuck was. I don’t even remember what life was like pre-Gary, without all of those gems he has bestowed upon me.

I first got introduced to Gary from a friend, watching some of his Youtube talks, and then reading “Jab, Jab, Right Hook”, and since then I see life completely different.

The currency for us as a people is to give a shit about others. Now Mark Manson, author of the popular book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F” would argue maybe we give to many F’s and that’s why as a society, we are all over the place.

But Gary’s approach to life and business is the opposite. The core lesson I have learned is that the highest form of caring is to teach. Teaching when you think about how to build a business in the Digital Age, is really what separates everybody.

One of the things Gary V also helped with mentally is that, you need to always be authentic and always speak your truth. To many of us are faking it for the gram, we don’t want anybody to see our lives without the polish of social media.

To many of us are so insecure that we need the validation of the likes, shares, retweets, and we shape our personal and business lives in hunting for this. Is it any wonder why businesses and people in the Caribbean struggling to get out of the gates with their business and out of their own way from a personal perspective?

The biggest lie we are fed is that life is linear, and that we all have it figured out. Reading Crushing It and seeing the testimonials from other people who have found their success, you quickly realize that sometimes you really gotta go broke, lose friends, go homeless, wrestle with a death scare, hit rock bottom before you really ever truly make it but also appreciate it all.

These days I don’t consume as much of Gary’s content as before, as he always says, his goal is to get you to stop listening to him. His message throughout everything is the same. You need to be consistent in teaching, caring, treat your business as a media house and consistently put out content and most importantly…Do not give a shit about the naysayers.

Speak your truth, be 100% you. I’m 32, I have seen some extremely low points, I have a good bit of tattoos, I am rough around the edges, but I know that I love to teach, I love working with people, and I want to be a factor in the transformation of the Caribbean.

Gary Vaynerchuck may never see this blog but I would love if more people looked past his own brashness, the cursing, or whatever might turn you off about his style. At his core, Gary is the perfect example that in the digital age, there are no gate keepers, there are no limitations, the small business can hang with the big boys and the biggest X factor is the you and the story you not only tell the world, but also tell yourself.

So I challenge everyone reading this blog…be you, be authentic, teach, be consistent, there are no gatekeepers, there is nobody stopping you or holding you back from achieving whatever you want. It’s cliche but if this young boy from Toronto can bounce back after everything that I have gone through, I am positive you can. Check out Gary’s Youtube channel (Click Here), read “Crushing It”, you can thank me later.