[The vYve Thrive Series] Inside vYve by Vayner: How Andrea Sullivan and James Orsini Are Redefining Leadership

Oh my goodness, hit a nation so good to see you. Welcome right into the studio. You know, it's Josh Carey. Here, it's your hidden entrepreneur. Hit a nation. If you see the screen, if you hear the excitement in my voice, you know that this is a, it is, it's a special episode. I'm joined by two of my absolute favorite people and I'm sure two of your absolute favorite people. It is, of course, Andrea Sullivan, James Orsini. Andrea, you know, is the CEO of Vive by Vayner. James is the president of startup operations of Vayner X. My goodness, these are the people I always want to talk to. And now we get a chance collectively. We're going to talk all about Vive by Vayner, what it is. And we had a very wonderful day, all of us, them too. And about a dozen members of Vive, coming to the New York, I Heart Studios. And we just did some great things. We're going to get into all of this. James, Andrea, good to see you. Josh, there is nobody better than you in doing an introduction and actually continuing the conversation. So we're super fired up over here. I appreciate that. Like I said, we're going to get into this incredible I Heart Media day that you allowed me to participate in and you brought your people to the studio. And we did all kinds of great things. But first, take a step back, paint the picture, Vive by Vayner. We all know a lot of the categories that Vayner plays in. How did this part come about? Well, yeah, let's, let's maybe roll things back to when this idea started to percolate, which was in and around COVID, if you can imagine, when we were all coming together, trying to figure out what was happening in the world. And I at the time was the Chief Marketing Officer for Gary. And, and was his Chief Marketing Officer for six and a half years? What a position, by the way. I know what a lucky person I am, right, to try to keep up with that man. And James at the time was running Sasha, which is he'll tell you a little bit more about that. But he ran the agency named after Gary's father that was helping to serve entrepreneurs, so small to medium-sized businesses, whereas I've been a serial CMO for larger companies for pretty much my whole career. And what we were finding during COVID is that these leaders that looked like they were in command and that were trying to help in keeping their businesses afloat, keeping their cultures afloat, were not keeping themselves afloat. So they were all feeling lonely, they were low in the tank, and they were trying to just fake it every single day. And so one of the things that we did that we did, frankly with Gary, was to bring these leaders together. And I started to even take them as we were coming out of COVID, bring some of these leaders together through retreats and off sites and summits where they were confessing all kinds of sad things, honestly. And at the same time, communicating their dreams and their ambitions and talking about what is standing in the way of these things. And so what we did with Gary was to bring an idea to life for him that helps him to really lean into his legacy, which is how can we all help each and every leader become their best and happiest self. And that means not just professionally, but also personally. And so that was the, you know, the beginning of what is vived by Vayner. Yeah, I think it was really interesting because you know, Gary's an observer, and he was observing some of what Andrea was doing. And it came to me, and he said, I think there's a commercial business model in this, you know, let's, let's try and figure that out. As we, as I had helped him in the past, what, what, whether it be a company like the Sasha Group or our production company out along on City, or some of the offerings that we had like the 4Ds or mentors. So Andrea and I got together and we, I think we wrote a business plan in January of 2024. We programmed it in February and March. We sold into it March and April and we launched the first class in May of 24. Wow. Today might not be the conversation, but Andrea, you use the word loneliness. And I would love a future conversation, or maybe perhaps just touch on that a little bit because it seems like one of those words that we all experience, all levels of the sea suite. And we don't get to talk about it enough and we all desperately need to because we feel it. Yeah, surprising, isn't it? Especially when you look at these people on paper and it seems if their life should be perfect, right? Or at least pretty darn perfect. And yet there isn't any one of us that doesn't need a place where they can be a part of a community where there's safety there, where they can confess the things that they feel insecure about, where they can get a hug, but also, you know, kind of a kick in the tush so that they can keep making progress on the things that are really meaningful for them. And so, you know, when in co-founding Vi by Vayner with James, I think that what we really relish is the opportunity to personalize a year-long program for people that helps them to move their businesses and some of them as much as 10X, you know, in terms of growth, but also have these personal breakthroughs, many of which when they're when they're coming to us, they don't even know that they need those breakthroughs, they don't understand perhaps what's holding them back. And I think that, you know, James is my co-founder and also our leading business coach and personal coach really helps to dig into and to help get to the bottom of. Yeah, we see, look, Iron Sharpen's Iron when it rubs up against each other. And we really believe that this cross-pollination of entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 executives are really a cool environment for them to learn and grow and discover. They really discover themselves and they discover things about their businesses that they never really certainly never verbalized but may not have even seen. And we help them do that. We provide a sort of personal touch, concierge type service that they can get to Andrea and I at any time and then we give them access to to our role dex and the vein reverse as we call it, you know, depending on what the need is. Yeah, and that includes not if I can just, you know, build on we, you know, we open conversations up with members from Shark Tank, like Damon John and entrepreneurs like Bobby Brown. But we also bring in Deepak Chopra to talk about meditation. We have folks that, you know, will help in coaching on nutrition and exercise because we know burnout is a big thing for business leaders. Of course, they get access to Gary Vaynerchuk as well. And so it's these top, you know, kind of not only inspirational, but also educators that can help people in really moving the needle on their businesses and their lives that are a part of the community and a part of their world. From those on the outside looking in from your perspective, what is it about the Vaynerverse and the Vayner people and ecosystem that makes that perfect to create something like Vive? James, I think you might be best at doing it. Yeah, look, I think it's all about cutting edge and it's all about, you know, we like to call marketing for the now, but as Andrew has said too, it's about wellness. It's nutritional wellness. It's sleep wellness. It's, you know, we had a guest on who, when we first spoke to our people, you know, it was something on chest boxing and nobody had ever heard of it. Now, last Sunday, 60 minutes ran a whole segment on it. So, you know, it's first to the trough drinks kind of thing. So we share that, you know, for a knowledge base and look, there's no substitute for wisdom and experience too, you know, and, you know, between Andrea and I, we have a lot of wisdom and experience in the business world, certainly the marketing branding communications world as well. But it's really so much more, so much more than just that. Let's talk about what happened recently from from my world. I have my show on I Heart in New York, and I got, I've been in conversation separately and collectively with you both on a lot of levels. But all of a sudden, I find myself at I Heart radio in the studio with several members and we're doing a thing where recording episodes one on one. I got to give them a little workshop, have them understand how to identify their, their core messaging and then the stories and talking points around that and then hop on the mic with me for eight or 10 minute interview one on one. How did this all come about? So I think that the greatest thing is that this was such a breakthrough moment for these fibers. All of these people have ambitions to be able to find their voice and to use it in different ways, right? So some absolutely want to start their, their own podcast. Others may not have that interest, but they wouldn't mind figuring out how to join other podcasts. But all of them need to have a stronger voice as a leader, as someone who's ambitious and wants to do bigger things. And there isn't anyone that can improve upon that. And so we created basically, I would call it, I don't know what you think Josh, but it was almost a playground for a day. And I Heart is like the best place to have a podcast playground. And I think everybody came in nervous and they went up, they went out jumping up and down. I'll say that one more time. They went in being pretty darn nervous and they left jumping up and down so proud of what they accomplished. And I think you helped them in gaining some personal confidence there. And so yeah, we're hoping to do many more of these, you know, same kind of hard days with Josh Kerry. So that more these business leaders can really gain that confidence and that experience. Yeah, look, I was impressed on two fronts. One, being able to see at Josh in action, who I've known for many, many years, but in action, beyond just podcast hosting, I've been a guest on several of his podcasts, but it was almost like a rapid fire. How does he host seven different or eight different people on all different topics and be able to have a plethora of questions that he can go through to keep it lively. And I believe that's going to be part of what you hear next on this. But, but case in point, you were in my role at that, Josh. And that's how these people got to, right? I think it was somebody in class number one who said, hey, I'm really thinking about a podcast and the strategy. I need, you know, a go-to-market approach. And do you have anybody? And this is this is the concierge type service of Andrea. And I give to them, right? And the answer was yes, I do have somebody and you're going to want to call Josh and, you know, help you in that direction. Yeah, so thank you for that. Both of you. I, I obviously love what I'm able to do and provide and to have you and your people come through. What I love is that the, you call it a playground, a podcast playground, absolutely perfect. Andrea, what I love is that they came through and you've never really seen this. But you trusted and said, well, they need some sort of messaging work, what talking points and stories and just sort of have, you know, get comfortable on the mic. I deal all the time with very successful people on paper who just don't have the experience on the mic. And that's great, right? So what we were able to do with them in the, in the first part of the day was sit around the conference room table, roll our sleeves up and just get some points out what makes a good host, how you tell your story. And then we brought them into the radio station studio and one on one. We're all just piled in there. So we had the support. Did that, is that what vibe is about? Yeah, I mean, I think the feeling that we had in that room was the perfect cocktail of, you know, the sort of anticipation, your heart's pounding, your little nervous. But then you have a breakthrough moment, right? You, you face something where you might be a little bit scared and you've got people around you. And so that, that makes you both, you know, excited, but it makes you a little nervous because you want to perform in front of them. But then when you do it, there's nothing more exciting than having everyone in the room, you know, kind of jumping up and down for you at the same time. And so I do really think it's, it's an example of, you know, one area where we really try to encourage people to come around the table and to, you know, yeah, kind of kindly push one another into places that wouldn't, where they wouldn't go on their own. Yeah, just a few weeks earlier, we were in Amsterdam with a Ted Talk coach and, and, you know, it was all about storytelling and being able to tell your story. And they had some intense training there before actually getting a, a VIP look at one of the rehearsals of Ted Talk in Amsterdam. So this vibe brings experiences as well, depending on, you know, the, the class audience that we have at that time, you know, we, we try to stand up not only speakers through, through Zoom, but live events where appropriate. Whether it's using the iHeart podcast playground day or something you've experienced in your past, how do you measure success or growth or improvement with your members? Well, I'm sorry, Angela. So what I was going to say that it is highly personalized. And so we come up with an accountability measure for each person. So the, and we track it over time in such a way that we try to look at almost quarterly goal setting, because again, sometimes people come in to vibe working on one thing, and then they find that there's something else that they want to work on in addition to that. So that it is a rolling model. We do try to pair people up with buddies oftentimes within the vibe group. Sometimes it's with coaches and things like that so that they're working very specifically. But that measurement part is really critical because sometimes people can get down in the dumps and feeling like, am I making the kind of progress that I want to. And I think James is really good at being our chief measurement officer on that front. And helping to remind people how many connections they've made, how they've been able to make progress in ways that they may, may in fact not have right in front of them. Yeah, we have one of the women that you interviewed who has a spa and came to us with various tasks. I'd love to talk to somebody who knows something about licensing and franchising. I'd love to talk to somebody who knows something about spa product lines that they're about bringing a pot of wine into it. I like to talk to somebody who does manufacturing in case they want to manufacture my own and not just bring one in. And we were able to connect her with each of those asks from people who we know. And that's the beauty too. We're not going to introduce you to somebody who isn't already proven in our space. When the woman was asking me for her podcasting direction, I've known and worked with you. One, she'd likely never find you. And two, she'd likely never find somebody with the caliber of you, even if she did find. And that's what we bring. How important is that? We're talking about positioning and reputation in the context of what you do. I think it's what separates us from the pack. I mean, you know, you ask, how do we know when it's working? The testimonials that they're putting out on their own social channels, on their websites. Most of what we do is through word of mouth, you know, people who recommend somebody else to us. And, you know, the ability to just make sure that when we're standing somebody up, you know, we had another woman who needed help with negotiation, bringing her product into places like Target. And, you know, we had a negotiation skills expert that we used. The negotiation ninja, I think, is his handle, right, Andrew? It's really just being able to put your finger on the pulse of what the need is. And then matching the resource to the need. That's one of the roles that I really play. Like I mean, understanding of the need. And I get a, you know, I'm quick study, and I'm like, yep, okay, you're going to talk to this person here. And more often than not, Andrew will get a note saying that was exactly what I needed. Andrea speaking of, this is a, this conversation we're having right now is designed also to be a preamble for the very series of conversations I had at I heart with the seven, I believe, members, one on one, eight plus minutes each, back to back to back to back, but we'll separate them out. Set this up for us. What are we, what are we listening for? What are we going to see here? Yeah. So very excited to be able to celebrate each and every one of these vivers where Josh has provided a platform for them to tell more about their story. And each of them has an interesting story and he's able to kind of dig in, but dig in quickly. It's not easy to, it's harder to create, you know, a short podcast than a longer one, but he was a master at not only helping to figure out exactly what that storyline was, but also to make them feel very excited and reasonably comfortable in telling it reasonably. Yeah. James, what do you think? Yeah, I think, you know, your audience will really see the eclectic mix of what comes into a, a vibe, right? So, you know, a woman on the spa, gentleman on the experiential agency, a mother daughter team that was, you know, doing a family counseling in children's books. Yeah, it's across the foreandesitioning to become an author in the retirement space. I mean, it's really, really another woman to develop an app. I mean, they'll, they'll see. And for us, that's the norm. That's like not unusual. That is every one of our classes. This is an eclectic mix of business, professional at different stages in their career. And, and different stages of life as well. Pointed out for us as we get on our way here for the listener to self-identify. Are they right for vibe? Who is right? Yeah, I think that, look, if you are interested in really pushing the limits on not only, you know, maybe it's a business dream, you know, a business you already have that's underway, whether you're in the midst of an identity shift. So we have members that join us when they lose their jobs and they're looking for their next dream job. We have people that are trying to write a book, write a movie, start their own podcast, anyone that's trying to make that change in their life to really live into their dream. That's where we can help. Yeah, and I think when you're ready to, when you've made the decision that it's time to invest in me, it's me time now, then, then we're really right for that. Those are the people that really gain a lot from, from their experience with us. Well, I'm always ready to invest in you, James, you know that. Appreciate it. But in all, in all seriousness, this has been phenomenal. The door and Mike are always open. I can't wait to see you both back with the next group of ready-willing and able five members. Thank you, Josh.