Our founder James Cole spoke to Gary Vaynerchuk about H and influencer marketing and content. James explains what H entails, how someone can become a part of it, and that it is a community of influencers who care. H works because everyone involved cares so much about the people and the projects and H works because James is very selective about the people who are a part of it. Quality over quantity, he believes, and Gary understands: “Depth over width. I get it.”

“I’m the same thing as you,” Gary explains. “Nobody can beat us. Nobody is gonna do what I’m gonna do. Nobody is going to spend 20 hours a day working and giving a fuck so much and using sensitivity and caring as the weapon.”

Gary and James seem to have a great understanding of each other on a deep, professional level. They both have drive and determination. They both have something they’re passionate about.

I sat down with James and asked him some questions about this interview with the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk. Here’s what he had to say.

What’s one thing you really took away from this conversation with him? 

That it never stops. To succeed you must let go of fear and give yourself fully to something. “It’s like going to Mars knowing you’re never going to come back.” There were also a lot of valuable lessons that we were too personal to include in the cut above about facing my own personal demons and taking a chance on myself early in my career.

If you could sit down with him again, what’s something you’d want to ask him? 

I’ve actually met with Gary a second time. And am meeting with his Head of Partnerships again in a few weeks. When I met with him the second time we had just launched The Hub (our software platform that rates and categorizes the best creators in the country [(now ~40,000 people strong)]. He thought that building The Hub would be fickle, complicated, expensive, and hard to bring to market. He was right on all fronts. Still, I value the lessons I’ve learned through the journey and I am glad we pushed to build software (instead of just being a small creative agency destined to serve 10-20 clients at a time).

How did you feel after this interview?