March 13, 2017 I got the unexpected call from Gary Vaynerchuk saying that I was on the #AskGaryVee Show. It was unexpected because I was sitting on my couch, watching Gary live on Youtube having the show. I watched hundreds of comments rolling through with people just submitting their phone numbers, so I decided to do the same, thinking “there isn’t a chance in hell they are going to pick my number. I keep watching for another minute, and then the live stream cuts out and Youtube crashes. So I set my phone down and turn on the TV instead. Then 5 minutes later I’m getting a phone call from a NYC area code, half of me said “Don’t answer it because it’s probably a telemarketer again”, then the other half of me said “What if it’s Gary….?”. So my curiosity got the best of me and I answered. Well, you can watch the rest of it in the video above.
After that call I was so filled with humility, adrenaline, and straight fear. I had just talked to one of my idols/mentors, and I completely blacked out and couldn’t remember anything that he just told me…. Knowing how Gary rolls, I knew he would upload it in the next day or two so I could re-watch it. Until then, I knew I needed to get to work. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I needed to do something. And if there is one thing I had learned from Gary over the last couple months of watching him, it was that he preached “DOCUMENT vs CREATE”. So I took the next 30 days before following up with him to DO something worth following up on.
Firsts things first, I needed a platform to document on. So I spent the next 6 hours straight building a website with zero coding knowledge as a blogging platform. I also decided I wanted to Vlog like Gary, so I started a Youtube Channel.
You can watch my 30 day vlog here.
Below is my 30 day summary email that I sent Gary. I didn’t get a response, so I’m pretty sure I sent another email a couple days later thanking him again. And again, no response. Since then I took that as “Okay, in 8 years, I’ll shake his hand in NYC and have something more substantial to tell him.” That’s what I’ve been doing since. Constantly in DO mode, learning, pivoting, testing, working, traveling, building, literally doing anything and everything to continue moving in the forward projection of my life that Gary Started back in March of 2017.
30 Day Follow Up Letter Below
To: Gary Vaynerchuk
From: Taylor Clark
Subject: My 30 Day Follow Up – No Bullshit Edition
Hey Gary!!
I can’t believe how long the past 30 days has felt since I submitted my number to your live Youtube stream! It’s kind of crazy how 2 days before that call I was thinking to myself how life changing it would be if I could just get 10 minuted of your time. It looks like I got more then I asked for!
Below is a “no bullshit” list of everything I have been up to in the last 30 days, as you requested ?
- Day 1 – Completely created an entire website, logo, and blog from scratch to document my 30 day journey (thefabulousjourney.com)
- Started the hashtag #30DayGaryVeeChallenge as a way to track my posts throughout the next 30 days, which has since caught on and has 138 other people are using it for their own 30 day challenges!
- I started a daily vlog on Youtube, documenting my journey and thoughts to building a business. I’ve gotten 461 subscribers! They comment all the time and love seeing the progression of my vlog
- I’ve done about to 10-15 interviews with other bloggers/ podcasters/ retired NFL player/ and new vloggers who wanted me to be their first interview. My conversation with you inspired them to create something for themselves! More interviews are already set up for the future.
- I was interviewed and featured in a Huffington Post article about my call with you
- I’ve already booked an appearance 1 year in advance with this cool dude in Texas, Chris Trew. It’s going to be the 1 year follow up after my call with you (He is secretly hoping you will show up LOL) and its going to be in a comedy theater since he is a comedian
- I had an in-person interview with a retired NFL player turned motivational speaker, Caleb Campbell, and had an amazing conversation for about an hour. Similar to my talk with you. We’ve kept in contact and he wants to collaborate on my new apparel company when I get back to Buffalo since we are basically neighbors
- I got a video editor through launching a contest on IG stories. His name is Steven Santos and he edited my vlog videos during my 30 day challenge. He’s amazing!
- I launched my first business ever called Digital Nomad Apparel (DNA) on day 20! It’s created by digital nomads for digital nomads, basically one big global collaboration apparel brand. I want it to be a community and lifestyle brand for online entrepreneurs. So far I’ve made about $100 on shirts that have really bad margins!
- I launched another contest to get help designing my logo for DNA and ended up collaborating with this guy Chris Lilja who is also amazing!
- Since collaborating with Steve (video editor) and Chris (logo designer), I tagged them in my IG posts and they have gotten a lot of paid jobs because of it, which makes me extremely happy that I could have helped them back!
- I talked with “that guy from London” on the phone, Steven Bartlett ? He gave me some great advice and our conversation was in his daily vlog
- I started selling things in my closet and attic on Ebay and have made $360 from that
- I have picked up extra odd jobs at my moms company. I was just doing Digital Media and Marketing for her. Now I’ve added in extra serving shifts and will be a Bridal Assistant during the busy summer months too (she owns a catering company)
- I’ve also been in Florida the past 2 weeks helping my mom move houses, and remodeling the new house. Lots of construction, managing workers, tearing out cabinets, cleaning, stripping wallpaper off walls, manual labor stuff
- I’ve been responding to almost all DM messages on Instagram and engaging will all 11k new followers I’ve gained. I’m estimating I’ve gotten about 3000 messages but I can’t even see them all so I don’t know. I’ve responded to at least 1000 of them, building relationships and networking
- Since launching my blog website I’ve also gotten around 500 emails, which I have responded back to every single one
- My daily habits have completely changed! I have not looked at a Kardashians Instagram since ? I also have not watched tv since. And I spend ever hour I’m awake being productive, either working for my family or for myself. My new hours of production are about 9AM-3AM
- The first week since our call I was up until 4-5AM every night working because my adrenaline to succeed was so intense I couldn’t sleep
- A guy in Texas, Jeff Vacek, has become somewhat of a mentor to me from Vayner Nation. He is in the process of starting a new business helping young entrepreneurs, and felt compelled to help me. So I talk to him a couple days a week for free and he’s helped me a lot in staying focused and has been a good person to bounce ideas off of
- I’ve also been collaborating with a guy in Vancouver, Austin, who is potentially the next Steve Jobs. This guy is brilliant, he’s been coding since he was 10, and reached out to me initially to help me with my website. Since then we’ve been refining 2 different tech businesses we want to launch together. One in the Digital Nomad area, and the other in the Automotive area.
- I’ve recently gained bags under my eyes LOL sleep is not something I seem to be catching up on
- I collaborated with a good friend of mine, Abu Fofanah. He’s a fellow hustler with an insane story. He started his own business helping entrepreneurs refine their ideas and execute on them, and I took his course and am helping promote his service
- One of the coolest things that has happened in these 30 days is all the people who have helped me, have also reached out to each other without me knowing. There is now a group of like 5-6 of us who are a tight little network (mini Vayner Family.) I’ve become this ‘connector’ for all these different talents and we are feeding off of each other. It’s super surreal and amazing!
What’s in the near future (6 months-1 year)
- I’m starting an association/ community/ app that connects digital nomads from around the globe. Basically a social media platform dedicated to online entrepreneurs and digital nomads. I want to bridge the gaps and close the roadblocks that online entrepreneurs face today. The digital nomad’s are changing the travel industry and remote work environment. The next 3 years are a HUGE opportunity in the space. I want to be a part of this and contribute to it so I am reverse engineering a business to solve the needs for an up-and-coming industry segment.
- I’m going to start an online store selling shar-pei merchandise (those cute wrinkly dogs) and donate money back to animal shelters. Last year we lost 2 of our childhood shar-pei’s due to cancer, both were rescued, and we have this immense passion for our animals. So it’s our way of keeping their memory and paying it forward to future dogs needing rescue.
If you’ve made it to the end of this email I really want to say from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for the conversation we had 30 days ago. I can only imagine how many people listen to your advice but don’t act upon it. I did NOT want to be one of those people.
I also wanted to clear up my millionaire by 25 goal. For me the dollar amount wasn’t the goal, it’s what a million dollars could afford me to do with my life. I really want to travel the world, learn from different cultures and new ways of thinking, and bring that knowledge back home to create things to better the world, or change the world even! That’s my ultimate goal. I just assumed being a millionaire was the only way for me to afford that and I didn’t want to wait until I was 40 to accomplish it. I like to move fast!
I would love to be able to talk with you again or work with you in the future! ?You’ve truly changed my life with a 17 minute conversation. Nothing has been the same since!
I have much love and respect for everything you do! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!!!
Taylor Clark
Future 30 Under 30
8 comments
Wow! That girl was you?!
That was so cool!
Hahahaha yupp that was me who got the call.
Following you on Insta and now your blog. Been on a similar SEO/e-commerce grind like this for 2 years and looking back I wouldn’t trade it for the world – .mad respect for actually following through!
Thank you!!! The grind is long, but it’s worth it with everything I’ve been learning.
What was Gary’s answer to your letter? I’ll follow you from Spain! Nice story
I never got a response, so I don’t know what it would be lol
The Shar-Pei bags are ingenious! Hopefully you’ll sell one to the Kardashians someday. I also really like the idea of donating a portion of the proceeds to animal shelters. I feel like the modern consumer(maybe it’s just me) shops with their heart more than their head. The narrative behind your product is a huge deal and I think you’ll be shaking hands with Gary V sooner than you think. Keep grinding.
Thanks so much! This was a year ago that I actually sent and wrote the letter. Now I have slightly different goals but with the same WHY. My mom just started donating proceeds of her sales to animal rescues and I am very involved with that. So in a way I guess this did come to life, just in another capacity.