To close out 2018, the team and I dropped an EPIC 7.2 hour episode of my trip to Dubai.

This was for the day one GaryVee supporters. For the “graduate students.” For the ones that get it, but want — need — another perspective. I decided to put together this very detailed recap for you so you can check out every topic I spoke about and dive into the vlog at any points that you want. Just click on the timestamps and it’ll take you right to that point in the video!

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1:26: I’m en route to The Kris Fade Show for my first interview! I sign some personalized books in the backseat of the car and also use this time to go through my social accounts, showing love to my community. It doesn’t matter how “big” I get, I will never not do this.

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12:05: I arrive at Virgin Radio Dubai, pumped to go on air!

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16:25: I go live on air on The Kris Fade Show, The UAE’s #1 Hit Music Station and talk about my entrepreneurial journey from a young age and my two cents on the state of entrepreneurship, working on your side hustles and reevaluating your lifestyle and overheard, when I switch off, being team human, and engaging with my community. I also answer three questions from radio listeners that were invited into the studio: Boosting engagement with a small budget, how I stay motivated), and best practices for Facebook ads. I talk about my early investments, the Filipino Gary V, how I parent, and hear Kris Fade’s young children read some of their favorite quotes of mine on air. I speak about not worrying about other people’s opinions. Also, they made me a theme song!! Above all, it was a pleasure chopping it up with everyone in the studio!

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57:21: Answering a question from one of the evening hosts on Virgin Radio Dubai about starting a clothing brand.

58:17: I travel from the radio station to my next venue and get briefed on the audience I’m about to speak to. As many of you know, I’m always trying to provide as much value as possible for each specific audience that I speak to and this is one way I try to contextualize my upcoming speeches.

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1:03:26: Banging out a quick Instagram swipe up with Drock in front of a beautiful backdrop for when we start promoting this vlog!

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1:03:38: I do a brief interview with Maha where I talk about why I’m in the UAE, some advice for the youngsters living here, and how I think about traveling to different cultures around the world.

1:12:57: I arrive at my next venue and meet the hosts for the Breakfast Roundtable at Burj Al Arab.

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1:21:55: : Spitting some fire at the breakfast roundtable! I open up talking about my thoughts on long-term brand marketing vs short-term sales funnels…notice how I incorporated my briefing on the audience from when I was in the car this morning 😉 I also speak on the importance of having meaningful content at scale, why it’s not good enough to just go “digital,” utility vs. escapism for end consumers, best practices on FB and Instagram, art vs. math-based marketing, incorrectly holding the past on a pedestal, why the system shouldn’t be the scoreboard, my tips for marketers in this environment, how to create great content in a mobile-first world, why big companies are getting that wrong, which brands are getting in right today, what’s holding some companies back, why I engage with big companies in the first place, how I identify talent.

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2:16:41: Meeting with the audience from the breakfast roundtable and speaking one-on-one with some of the people in attendance! I talk about growing your team vs spending on marketing, scaling the unscalable, IGTV vs YouTube, seeing ROI from influencers, how to allocate time for side hustles, and how middlemen can adapt to survive.

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2:26:56: Traveling to lunch. I record an intro for the podcast that is going to be produced by stripping the audio from the breakfast roundtable and repurposing it. I also give my two cents on the state of the union of the advertising world.

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2:35:27: I grab coffee, see a meditation studio, snag lunch, and begin heading over to the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival.

2:40:41: Arriving at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival!

2:44:35: Touring the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center. It was so, so cool seeing some of the ventures being launched by the youngsters over here.

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2:52:00: I do an interview with Anna Roberts of Pulse 95 Radio, where I talk about the content I consume, what’s intrigued me the most about Dubai, and one tip for entrepreneurs in 2019.

2:57:47: I’m getting briefed on the audience I’m about to speak to. To me, having the right context about my audience is so important.

2:58:09: My keynote at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival! I talk about my entrepreneurial journey, my concerns about the status and prestige of entrepreneurship, being a purebred entrepreneur, self-awareness and dealing with the pressures of entrepreneurship, following your true passion, the opportunity of the youth, finding the best method to communicate your message to the world and its importance, the state of parent-children relationships, optimism vs delusion and building a profitable business, the underpriced distribution of today, why I give away my content for free, the state of the internet, why voice is the next frontier, paying attention to timing, why I consume the content of my consumers, and being driven by gratitude.

3:40:34: Traveling to a Q&A with some of the audience after my keynote.

3:45:16: Q&A time! I chat about how to scale a growing business and trust your team, my two cents on parenting young children when you have to travel for business, what to do if you haven’t found your passion yet, how I think about creating content to reach the deaf and blind community, how I decide which new regions I want to market my content in, my thoughts on taking outside investment when running a profitable business, how I tune out the noise of other people’s opinions, how I spread my happiness and positivity throughout my company, my advice for those who dwell on their options, my thoughts on who should get an MBA, my biggest failures in my life, and work-life balance for college students. I also touch upon my holy grail for education, how digital media will shift in the next five years and my vision for doing business across the globe with Vayner X, when I will have “enough,” what entrepreneurs should not do, when it’s the right time to throw in the towel, and my opinion on quitting.

4:27:35: Meeting with an influencer from Dubai and giving her advice on how to grow from thousands to millions of followers.

4:30:10: Meet and greet time! I loved talking about balancing what your audience wants to see vs what you want to produce, working with influencers vs making branded content, tips for people 6-12 months in and running a failing business, I “hire” a kid, my advice for a self-taught graphic designer, how to approach an oversaturated market, and how I deal with the loneliness of being an entrepreneur.

4:37:16: Signing books! At 5:00:20 I spit some Russian 😉

5:04:14: I speak about things not to do as an entrepreneur, redefining the term “entrepreneur,” and one piece of advice for entrepreneurs.

5:05:30: Super sweet words from a young lady I met today.

5:07:00: I do a quick interview with Entrepreneur Magazine where I speak on how I deal with self-deception and self-doubt in business, my advice for dealing with fast-paced growth in a startup, and advice for myself in 2019.

5:13:55: Traveling from the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival to Facebook HQ! I look at a card that was given to me (I try my best to read everything you guys email and give to me!) and talk about the truth always winning. Claude is blown away from the festival…I’m so pumped she was able to come along! I also check in on Instagram live on my Arabic GaryVee account (https://www.instagram.com/arabicgaryvee/).

5:22:00: I arrive at Facebook HQ!

5:23:38: Tim for a keynote on the Future of CPG. I talk about why I started VaynerMedia, why the macro CPG is losing market share, the fact that I believe Facebook has not done a good job in explaining its platform, and my thoughts on what the marketing world is holding the past on a pedestal. After the keynote, I dive right into some Q&A. I answer questions about why big companies are looking at the wrong data & my first meeting with the big CPG marketing firms, why CPG is not in a good place with first-party data but it doesn’t matter, big companies being beholden to stockholders, people following brands vs following their interests, why the data is wrong, the future of creative agencies, why it’s the CEO’s fault their agency or brand is declining, measuring sales vs newly acquired users vs comments, and why CPG brands disrespect creatives.

6:03:24: Facebook live time at Facebook HQ!  I chop it up about my impressions of the UAE thus far, opportunities for new age media in the UAE, which influencers I think are doing a good job, why I have a camera crew, how I react to attention shifts, the trends I’m excited about, and my thoughts on buying the Jets.

6:22:10: Signing off (literally) at Facebook HQ.

6:29:22: I bang out another swipe up for my UAE fam! Content on content on content.

6:29:52: A quick follow up interview with Maha. I’m so, so happy and proud of all the work she put in for this trip 🙂 I speak about my advice for the youth in the UAE, why voice matters, my takeaways from the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, and why I throw up the FIVE in my pictures.

6:38:12: I chop it up at a quick meeting before heading over to dinner. I talk about loving the anticipation more than the actual “thing” and why I want people to live on their own terms.

6:40:38: Traveling to dinner — quick team selfie!

6:45:12: Recapping my speech with the founders of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival and some of the guests at dinner. We talk about the power of empathy and optimism. I’m so grateful 🙂 Giving some love to Maha My biggest takeaway from Dubai. When I will stop making content. My one super power. The feeling of public failure. Why I don’t speak in China or Russia at the moment.

7:15:33: That’s a wrap…I’m back at the airport and turn back into Airport Gary! Thank you to everyone who made this trip so, so amazing…especially Maha, Claude, and DROCK! I love you all <3

So…What’d You Think?

I was fired up when the team put this mega vlog together. The amount of value jam-packed into this is mind-boggling…if you really want to watch the details behind my hustle I promise you this is where you’ll find it. In 2019 I want do to much, much more content like this when I’m that kind of zone…just keeping the camera rolling and showing you as much as I can, uncut, so you really see what it’s like!

I would love for you to hit me up on Twitter and let me know what you think about this video and this type of content. Also, let me know what other types of content you want to see from me. Let’s make 2019 OUR year 😉

One last thing: Creatives, we are hiring like crazy. So I have a challenge for you: I want you to go through this vlog and make me some micro pieces of content. I’m talking 60 second Instagram videos, 2-3 minute rants for Facebook and YouTube, still images, animations, etc. Above all, BE CREATIVE! Here is your opportunity. So chop up this video, create your content, and send your submission to www.garyvee.com/dubai. Good luck, I hope we’re teammates soon!!