Podcast

How Zain Gaziani Landed His Dream Job With Garyvee

September 30, 2019

Show Notes

Should you chase your dreams?

When we were kids, our parents told us to, but as we grew older they quickly discouraged us from taking big leaps because it wasn’t ‘safe’.

Our guest today took an unpopular approach to his career and it paid off big-time. The rest is still to be determined, but we can guarantee you that he’s much happier now.

Even AFTER leaving a top spot at Amazon… he even turned down $50k because he didn’t want to stick around for six months. Zain is a friend of ours that we met through Instagram and who found his way on to #TEAMGARYVEE in a matter of months. You’re going to love his story and the process he took to be party of Gary’s team.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Selfies with Garyvee.
  • Quitting Amazon AND leaving $50k on the table.
  • Why following your dreams is ALWAYS the right answer?
  • How Zain went from FB group admin to the newest member of #TEAMGARYVEE on a whim.
  • Zain’s current Netflix binge… it will surprise you!
  • Advice through storytelling that all business owners and entrepreneurs can takes notes on, all of this and so much more!
  • Zain Gaziani on Instagram

    Zain Gaziani on LinkedIn

    ______________________________________________

    What do you think about this episode? We’d love to hear from you! Share us your suggestions, comments or questions. And we’d love to include that on our next show.

    Connect with us:

    Our Company Website

    BitBranding on Facebook

    BitBranding on Instagram

    Hope y'all enjoyed this episode! We'll see you guys next week for another episode of The Marketing Natives!

    Transcript

    Aaron [00:00:14] Hey guys. Happy Monday or whatever day you're listening to this is a very special podcast episode we've never done anything like this we've interviewed people and we've talked to people on the podcast but we've never had somebody who was not necessarily a business owner or we do a tech tip or anything like that. This is just a really cool unique conversation that all happened through social media to where we're at now so we're just gonna have one expand on that a little bit and also talk about the power of social media. So we have Zain here and I won't do too much for an inch I think we're going to talk a lot about him but Zain welcome to the podcast. Hey thanks so much for having me. You guys are awesome. So I think they'd plug this over to you. So how did it just tell you and explain to everybody how we all met. 


    Zain [00:01:01] Yeah. It's a great question I think and I could be wrong so correct me if I'm off but you know I was in Seattle at the time and I was listening to I think the Rick Moretti podcast and he was talking about Facebook ads and I was learning a number of different things. And one of the episodes I think it was you Aaron that that he actually interviewed if I recall I did not. 


    Aaron [00:01:21] OK. I didn't know how you actually found it. I thought it was just through Instagram randomly unlike something we liked on Gary V. So I did not know us from Rick's podcast. OK. Interesting. 


    Zain [00:01:29] Yeah. So I saw I heard you on the on the podcast and you mentioned that the companies in Dallas and I was on my way back to Dallas around the same time I discovered that episode. And so that's what I looked up at BitBranding I looked you up and I think I started a conversation with you on the DM we just kind of went from there. 


    Aaron [00:01:45] Wow. OK. I do not. I'm glad you have a much better memory than I do because. Wow. That's OK. That's crazy. I'm still trying to think about that because I thought we were just like on a random post or something like that and it's like oh you know how you follow so many like all they got good posts or good content to align in the same views so we end up falling each other that way. But OK and that was how long ago probably a year ago. 


    Zain [00:02:08] Yeah I'd say it was probably late 2018 probably like November 2018. I think it was just when I decided that hey in early 2019 I'm going to move back to Dallas my hometown after a few years. And I think it all happened around then. 


    Christian [00:02:23] Cool. 


    Christian [00:02:23] That's awesome I think that single interview with Rick has opened the door for us to meet people like you to do business with other companies and it's just been amazing the power of just one single interview on a podcast what I can do is hopefully. I mean you're on this podcast. 


    Christian [00:02:42] You don't know what's going to happen. Full blow up. 


    Zain [00:02:45] Yes we we we have a few less subscribers. I'm guessing nobody really knows how many subscribers they have but I'm guessing we have a few less subscribers than Rick Moretti but shout out to Rick will definitely link him up here. He's an amazing guy in it. OK. And then you even reached out so we actually finally met almost a month ago at this point. Yeah sounds about right. OK. And kind of a unique experience there too because just hey we met on Instagram and then finally you know because you were about to move and we will get back to you like why you're moving in a second but you're about to move you know like hey let's just meet up and you know and to me I don't think I've ever really other than like for our show or anything like that I've never really met up with anybody from social media. Just you know from a year at this point we've just talking it's like oh we're taking the online conversation to offline and and meeting up with somebody so is super cool. 


    Christian [00:03:38] I mean it's definitely been obviously business owners because we reach out to do our TipForTip show on Facebook and YouTube. But yes this is definitely something unique that I mean we're grateful for it. It's awesome. 


    Christian [00:03:51] So you know getting to know you and and knowing your journey and your experience and everything that you've done. 


    Christian [00:03:58] Social media which may not seem big to a lot of people but it's is crazy. Your story is pretty crazy. 


    Christian [00:04:04] You recently actually posted everything on a, on a link on a blog sort of article on LinkedIn where you sort of detail everything how it happened and it is just completely fascinating. So you went from Seattle back to Dallas. 


    Christian [00:04:21] Now tell us how you got to I guess meet Garyvee or how did that happen. 


    Zain [00:04:29] Yeah. No that's a great question and thank you by the way for reading the linked article. It's fun to write. Yeah. So just a little bit backstory. I'll go back a few steps if that's cool because there's a lot of context there that I think ultimately connects to everything so you know real quick when I. 


    Zain [00:04:45] So I was originally living in Seattle in 2015 and 2016 I was working at Amazon at the time and recruiting and I got a really cool opportunity moved to Cleveland Ohio with Amazon about mid 2016. So I took the opportunity moved to Cleveland as an H.R. business partner was doing stuff for Amazon there Amazon's first site there in Cleveland and towards my. Towards my tenure there in Cleveland at Amazon I just realized that which was my last year at Amazon. I was really unhappy and that's not a diss on Amazon. The Amazon is a great company. Just the work I was doing at the time just in a line with what I wanted to be doing I guess. And so I was burned down. It just wasn't eating well I just wasn't happy and so ultimately I left Amazon with nothing lined up. In late 2017 and the next morning I think it was October 13 2017. I woke up drove 6 hours north to Toronto Canada when I was like I need to do something I've got freedom I don't have a job lined up like I need to be doing something. So I remember waking up driving six hours north to Toronto Canada which was already kind of weird. And then there was a LinkedIn meetup happening in Toronto Canada that day and until then I'd really I had not really used LinkedIn I connect with a few people follow a lot of people that were doing it well but I just made one post maybe. And that was my final day at Amazon. It's kind of me to thank you posts for Amazon but that was it. And so I went to this LinkedIn meetup. I wasn't sure what they think about me coming six hours for like a small two hour meetup but I went there when they found out that I would drove in from Cleveland Ohio. 


    Zain [00:06:13] They freaked out when people were coming to me they're taking photos of all of these really cool people and one of the people I met. 


    Zain [00:06:20] Mind you he goes by swear she's a really cool young entrepreneur that's just killing it right now. He told me he's like Dude you're really articulate like he's like You're really good I want to talk to you I feel like you. You really like deep diving a lot so you should just write on LinkedIn. He's like I think if you wrote you'd be really good and I'd already written you know the day before my last day at Amazon. So I just kept writing and documenting my unemployment journey for the next three weeks and just like talking about what I was looking for my interviews how they're going what I value and it was all focused on positivity and three weeks later I got a really cool gig back in Seattle is for a small company called GeoCaching HQ so 80 employees were like five hundred thousand and I moved back to Seattle and and this is kind of where Garyvee came in. So towards the end of my Amazon career I discovered some Garyvee videos but I wasn't super into his community yet. I just watched a few random videos and then I took a five day road trip because I was moving back to Seattle. So from Cleveland Ohio to Seattle Washington I took a five day solo road trip moving back and in those five days I started listening. Gary a lot of keynotes ask Garyvee. All these other things and by the end of the five days I realized wow like I've listened to mostly just Garyvee in a five day road trip I really like this guy I'm hooked and that's kind of how I really got into him at first. And so when I was back in Seattle I was in this new job a GeoCaching is going really well the work life balance is really good. I was in this Facebook community with a brand new Facebook community called first in line for Garyvee. And yeah. And so it was brand new at the time I think was one of the first thousand people in there and and you know I was just really engaged or something about the group the activity the the support the positivity in the group that made me go on there all the time so whenever someone to post a post post something I'd be the first one in there. If someone asked a question I'd throw in my two cents. I was just in there engaging with everyone in early August of last year. Team Garyvee made a post on there like hey we're looking for a team of four moderators to help us run this group and maintain its positive vibes. Please apply and I knew there were thousands of people that were really interested. I knew that might my you know I probably wasn't going to have a shot but I said Why not. I have to go for it and so I just submitted a you know a quick write up about why I think I'd be a good moderator forgot about it didn't think much of it and I think was the day after my birth was like August twenty third 24th I got a call mass message from May on UN team Garyvee saying hey congrats your moderator and that was really cool. That's how I got started in community management and yeah that's how I kind of got into the community more and so for the next year I did moderate a work just on the sides 1 2 hours every night. Took six thirty a.m. meetings every other Saturday like I was just really getting engrossed in the community thinking about strategy just finding ways to engage more people and bring the most value to them. 


    Zain [00:09:00] And then sure enough like you mentioned you know I was in Seattle things were going well but I wanted to move back to Dallas like something about me it was like I just need to be there whether it was the guilt of being away from family for five years I just want a better Tex Mex food I don't know it's like you've got to move back and so I made the difficult decision to move back to Dallas actually came back just this past March March 2nd and literally the day I landed I saw that Garyvee was going to be speaking here in Dallas on March 22nd for a real estate like wholesaling event. He had a keynote in that three day event. So I'm like I have to go. And so that's kind of how the quick journey of like making it back to Dallas how I got involved in Gary's community and even when I saw Gary was going to speak at this real estate wholesaling event in Dallas I looked up the tickets and it was like a three day event for real estate you know Gary was a part of that and it was you know was a lot of money to attend and so I reached out a team Garyvee. The people I've been supporting as a moderator for the group and I'm like hey here's this thing it's happening near me. Can you guys do something like I'll sit in the you know any I'll sit in a closet if I can hear it I to be there hand. And they gave me a free ticket to the event inside they knew me I'd been supporting the group. So I got a free ticket event and then I was off to the races. That's good. 


    Christian [00:10:11] And that was a very first time you've ever met Gary in person. Yes. I'm talking in person. 


    Zain [00:10:15] Yeah exactly. So you know obviously I've been engaging with Team Garyvee a lot through the first online group supporting them being in a few chats with them. But this was my first time. I was gonna see Gary in person and really to be honest like my goal going into this event to see Gary was one well really two things. One to see Gary obviously and to just to get a selfie and in that quick conversation with him is thank him for like making me a better person because you know through really you know to Gary's community I feel like I've just change my perspective in a better way. I become just a nicer person. Like things have just really changed for me in a good way. And so just want to thank like verbally thank him and get a selfie like that's it. That's success right. And so that was like my goal thinking going into this this wholesaling event that Gary was going to speak at. 


    Christian [00:10:57] But that's not what happened. And I mean I guess something else happened along with that. So I guess so. 


    Zain [00:11:04] So you know I think it was March 22nd whatever that Friday is. And I woke up at 7 a.m. I'm excited like you know I get to see Garyvee today like and be a great day. And so I go to the event and keep. And really quickly the event was a wholesaling real estate event and I wasn't sure what the dress code was. I should have probably looked it up but I went there you know torn jeans by the V-neck with an obvious stain on it a really tight blue hoodie I should not be rocking and I just like rolled up to the event I expected everyone would dress like you know they were drug dealers and I went to this event and everyone was dressed up really nicely like that suits on their dress shirts you know like buttoned down and I could not have looked more out of place so that that's just how it started. So I got like 8 a.m. I didn't know when Gary was going to speak I hadn't seen the agenda. So I got I got there I saw the agenda. Gary's not going on until 3:00 p.m. so I've got a full day and so I'm like Well since I'm already here myself to engage with people go to these like wholesaling events like learn what it is and just see what it's about. And so and so I got to the event I got registered and I was headed to ticket and it was a really good ticket by the way I was in like the front front tables where the stage was that was really cool as a team. Garyvee really did. And it was funny because I got to my table there the I guess the VIP table whatever you want to call it. And I sat down and everyone there like really meant business like these guys were like in the industry. And I sat down and I cool like what kind of wholesaling or you know what kind of neighborhoods or apartments are you selling would like me and I'm renting an apartment in Saks. You like I don't know anything about real estate. So everyone's looking at me like this weird hoodie. And it was a day that was good. A lot of fun attending different sessions just networking with different people. And it was about eleven thirty when I met a new friend there Her name's Kim and she was kind of like me she'd annoyed about wholesaling real estate she was just there to see Gary talk. So we instantly hit it off and we're just in the lobby of this this hotel where the events being held and we're talking it's like noon and we're just talking the hotel lobby I'm looking down at my phone when I when I hear Kim audibly gasp like she's like like she like something was wrong. So I look up and right in front of us Gary had just walked in the hotel. There's no one near him like he's just walking and he's on the phone. And so I'm freaking out and I'm looking at Gary here he's looking at me and I'm pointing at my Gary of issues that I had on the ones I have on right now. The dark cloud shoes. And I'm like pointing at them like Gary. Gary. Gary I've got your shoes I just kept saying that out loud like me you can say looking back being prepared and I wish he had I should look she was like I don't know what I expected but he went above and beyond he looked at me and Kim because we were freaking out like Kim was crying and I was like pointing at my shoes really just going nuts. And the hotel lobby is like confused. And Gary looked at us pointed us and while he's on the phone and he signaled us to follow him. And so now Kim and I are like you know 10 steps behind Gary we look like the world's worst bouncers we're walking behind Gary and he goes to the A.T.M. at the hotel lobby which subtle story sounds so made up. It's like a madman. And and so we're talking to Gary at 18 always withdrawing cash and I was so nervous and I was just so starstruck that when it was my turn. But when I got my one minute with Gary I meant to say like thank you for this and that like I meant to like tell him everything. It just came out a hot mess. It was just like Hey Gary I loved the shoes and thanks man. 


    Zain [00:14:23] Like I was like but I got a selfie and that's it. 


    Zain [00:14:28] I thanked him. I got a selfie that was that was the mission of today and I was like Oh my God I did that before he even went on stage like three hours before his keynote. Dude I won. I was like so happy and like. And then of course he had a runoff and so you know the energy of that conversation a two minute interaction where I completely I don't know what I said that carry me throughout the keynote. I was at it like a you know 15 out of 10 all day. And so you know 3:00 p.m. rolls around I'm sitting at the table right next to the stage Gary comes on everyone's freaking out and. And Gary just like he does a lot. He comes to the stage and he confirms that most of this is gonna be a Q and A which is my favorite. So as soon as he says that I look back and there's two standing mikes position in this conference hall. So I make a run for one of them. Now I'm like six people behind one of them and I'm like well there's 50 minutes I know I'm going to get a shot and I've got this notebook that they give you at the conference in a pen and some waiting in line. And he's like answering all these questions you know there's two mikes there going back and forth. And as I'm waiting in line I'm like What am I going to say. Like I still don't know what I'm saying and I'm just jotting down everything excitedly on this notepad like everything that I've done in my life in the last two years thanks to Gary like just because he gave me permission to its content that was writing and scribbling and I'm excited but I'm nervous cause I don't know what to say. What if I go up there and do the same thing I did earlier. Right. And so finally it's my turn right. So I'm walking up to the mike there's a white spotlight shining on my face of Gary this looks like a silhouette in the distance. And as soon as I get to the microphone Gary remembers me from the lobby. 


    Zain [00:15:56] He's like hey like it was really cool seeing you or cool hanging out with you earlier and that got me like a relay 15 to 20 tell a joke you remember like like wow. 


    Zain [00:16:05] And so I was super excited and I just started talking like I don't really have much prepared to be honest I'd start talking about you know everything so. And I really hope that the full by the way I really hope the full conference video is somewhere in it comes out because I really want to see what ultimately happened cause not all of it. 


    Zain [00:16:20] I don't have the full, you blacked out everything but I do remember going up there and I'm like Hey Gary you just again I'm Zain. 


    Zain [00:16:27] I'm a you know I'm a first line moderator so I get to work with your team on some really cool projects and you know I'm a big fan I've got all your shoes your books I even have an empathy wine's subscription. I don't even drink wine. I feel like I do all this because I feel like I feel like I do all this because I owe you for just making me not just a better business and marketing person but it's making me a better human being. And then he jumped in and he started talking about that a little bit more like I don't remember all of it of course but I think at one point he's like You don't owe me anything like you just took my thing and you executed on it like he was you know talking about that and then I jumped in and I continued it I was like You know Gary thanks to you I was able to leave a job. I was absolutely miserable out in Cleveland. I started posting on LinkedIn every day because you told me to. And then three weeks later I got a job that I liked. And in Seattle I moved when I moved back to Seattle. I moved in with five roommates and a hamster versus living with one other roommate because it saved me money and you told me I should do that and it was the best thing financially that I've ever done for myself. And he loved that last part I think. He's like five roommates this is. He jumped on that part and they talked about scaling back your lifestyle so you could save money and do what you love. And so we were going back and forth was like feeling really good. I'm like you know he's into this. I'm definitely into this. And so at the very end after he talked about that last part and this is the thing that's like recorded online that I've shared it's on the LinkedIn article. And then when you got done talking that's what I'm like You know what I'm just gonna take my shot and see what happens. And so there was my turn I jumped in I said you know Gary my question for you is my dream like my ultimate dream is to be on Team Garyvee doing community management. And then he jumped and he's like Can you move to New York. And I said Yeah. He's like cool. Let's do it. 


    Zain [00:18:09] And I couldn't believe it. Like the place first of all the ones went wild. Some guy threw a chair and got a freaking out. There's a there's some random guy crying. I'm freaking out and I don't know how to like control myself because I just moved to Dallas two weeks ago to be back with a family. Now I get to go to New York for my dream job with Team Garyvee. Like I'm freaking out. And then Gary calls me onstage and there's a bell next to him on stage where these wholesaling real estate people have been ringing the bell every time they make a deal. So I'm walking up once I'm running to the stage and he's like ring the bell and I'm like ringing the bell people. He was like the most insane moment of my life. And and you know I shook his hand up there and he's like cool you got the job just email me we'll make it happen. And sure enough. So first off I was like Oh my God. So I was like freaking out all day. That night I got home I called my parents. They're freaking out because they love Garyvee. So things are going really well. And sure enough that night he was like 11:00 p.m. I e-mailed Gary like hey here's my photo with you and me the selfie. Thanks again. I'm that guy that you gave the job to. And by that next morning Tyler his assistant got back to me right away. 


    Zain [00:19:12] And you know he had two people on the email and I had two phone calls that next week with Justin and Andy on the team and you know it wasn't like I thought to be more like an interview of kind of what you know like an interview to get the job and was more like you've got the job we just gotta learn more about you so we have contacts. And also because you just moved back to Dallas when can you get here and the team was super nice. You know I told em I'd just move back after five years. I'd like some time with my family since I'm back here now and they're like cool if you want to come in the fall or whatever it's good for you you just let us know we'll do it well. And he was like if you want to do like October like cool it like whatever is good for you. I'm flexible. And so you know I read on August 19 so that's what I'm starting there and just a few weeks that amazing. That is crazy man. I guess still just telling you guys a story. Writing the articles I just it's insane because it all happened in March and I've had a lot of time to like accept it and like think about it feels unreal and I think it's gonna completely feel. Unreal until am there on August 19 like my first day. Yeah. Yes I'm super excited obviously since. The team gave me five six months to really spend time here with the family. You know talk to the team I say it'd be really cool if I could have some extra projects on top of the moderation stuff I'm doing. Is it that way when I get there mid August. I'm ready to go. There's not a lot of onboarding I'm just like you guys give me my laptop and we get to work. So I've taken on a few other really cool projects with their Instagram profiles like the little v account the Garyvee gang account just a few other accounts that I'm working on right now so I'm really enjoying that process as well. 


    Christian [00:20:39] That's really really cool. I do when I go back a little bit yeah because I'm really curious on either your thought processes or your decision making process when it comes to doing something like out of the blue. 


    Christian [00:20:58] Quitting your job in Chicago because you were miserable and you had nothing lined up from. Like how why. I don't know. This is insane to me. 


    Zain [00:21:09] Yeah. It's insane. Me too because I just know I'm wired really weird. 


    Zain [00:21:13] I don't think it's a good thing by the way like I wish I could like play it safe. 


    Zain [00:21:16] I wish I had more patience and I need to work on that. 


    Zain [00:21:20] Man it's crazy you know for me is there going back a little bit this is more context I think will help like in Cleveland at the time when I was there and I had this job and I wasn't fully happy and it was really bringing me down. And again I really want to emphasize I'm not hating on Amazon I think Amazon is a really good company. It just wasn't what I wanted to do at the time but I was I realized a few things one I kept telling asking myself like why am I still doing this job if I'm not happy like I'm so miserable I should be able to leave. And ultimately realizing it's easy to say now when the moment I was just so stuck in my head I felt stuck because I didn't want other people to think hey he filled out of Amazon that he couldn't handle the pressure. You know because in college here at UT Dallas where I graduated from I had really bad grades like I was failing classes. You know I was like a C minus student. Like I was just barely getting by but I was super into extra curricular stuffs a lot of people on campus knew me and they were like. Your grades are bad so no matter how good you are in other things you're never going to get a good job. And then I got the job after school at Amazon I'm like haha showed right. I was like this weird thing I had and so my fear was wow like what did all those people back in Dallas or back in the hometown going to think of me. And and also what are my parents gonna think of me. My parents are so proud of me. Like wow like our son like he's doing this now he's working on a really cool companies. At 25 he's you know responsible for like sixteen hundred people. That's something really cool that not a lot of people can say what are they gonna think. And one you know the funniest thing was I called my dad shortly before like giving my notice and he's like an immigrant dad you know and I. And he sacrifice so much and so I was like He's not He's gonna be like dude like stick it out Oh just a real quick context. If I waited six more months this was the big cracks of my thing. If I waited six more months at Amazon I would've gotten a 50k bonus. So it's just like overnight like let's put that out there like star salaries use 50 k RS use value to 50k now they're worth like 70 I don't know they're worth more kicking in in six months. That was the other thing I was like Man if I made six months I get 50k minimum like I like you know even now that's a lot of 50 extra K overnight. I mean that's a lot. So that was a big thing I was like man like my friends are gonna think I'm a loser if I leave and I'm gonna miss out of fifty thousand dollars and my parents are gonna be disappointed. This is not seem like a good tradeoff. But on the other hand I'm so miserable like the most I don't say it lightly but I was depressed like I really mean that. And I called my dad right. So the day before I put him I notice and I thought my dad was gonna convince me to stay for six months so we could win if you like we could get 50 grand but he was the opposite. He's like you have to leave. And I was I mean he's like you have to leave like you're unhappy. Like why would you not like why is this even a question. And I and I was so confused. I was startled. I was so shocked by that. As you know I know my dad he's you know he's had to put in the work and he sacrificed so much to get to this country and set up a lifestyle for me and my sister so I was shocked by that and he's like dude like I've sacrificed so much and he's like You're a hard worker he's like you can't you know you can't. 


    Zain [00:24:14] These next six months are gonna be so miserable the 50K is not going to be worth that he's like he's like you're good enough that by the time you're 40 or 50 or 60 you can start a company and you'll make that 50K like you're gonna be OK. He's like ever that miserable just leave. And like even if he's like worst case scenario he's like worst case scenario if you don't find a job which he's like You're definitely gonna find a job given where you are at Amazon. If you don't find a job just drive back to Dallas and sleep on my couch for like two weeks he's like you'll be fine like we'll make this work. And I didn't realize at the time but that conversation was the push I needed to make the leap right. Right. And that I didn't know I needed my parents permission. But soon as I got that that confirmation literally the next I slept so well that night and the next morning I woke up and called my boss and I was like hey I have to leave. I'm just not happy. 


    Zain [00:24:56] And so that was that's kind of what pushed me in. And by the way when I left Amazon no one cared like no one was like You're a loser like I in fact you were like wow like I'm excited see what you do like this. right like why'd you leave. Yeah. So it's crazy I was so stuck in my own head based on what people were gonna think based on that 50k based on what my parents were gonna think and really I just needed that confirmation from them and just hearing it from someone else's perspective that's gonna be fine and that that's just it was so easy after that. 


    Aaron [00:25:23] What makes her it makes for a much cooler story because yeah. I don't think that we've we've had this conversation a little bit off line but he didn't mention that a little part and that's the fifty thousand dollars for six months Mike. Oh dang that's Yeah. 


    Zain [00:25:37] I don't know what they're worth now even like at the time they're 50K and the stocks have gone up significantly since. You know I'm not gonna sit around and dwell and do the math but it's more than 50k now for sure. 


    Aaron [00:25:47] Well to look on and on the other side you look I'm going about to go to my dream job. Plus it just makes for an interesting LinkedIn article. How interesting. 


    Zain [00:25:54] Let's to get after draft up something actually. Yeah but it was you know it's so funny looking back it was such a clear easy decision for me. Like in my head like obviously if I'm stuck in that position now I know the decision but that was the first time in my life I'd ever been in a position like this where I had so much at stake. You know if I were to stay and leave there were so many different variables so it's a really tough decision at the time. 


    Aaron [00:26:17] I think there's a lot of underlying things within cities like you. You left games on it. 


    Aaron [00:26:22] Twenty five I want to say twenty five yeah. 


    Aaron [00:26:25] Ok so I think that you know for all the people were listening and it doesn't matter he was twenty five obviously that very young but I think what's good about this is it's good to hear is that like taking that leap and doing something that you know seems risky at the time is usually the thing that on the other side of it is we like wow if I would've just stayed over there who knows like I'm probably still be at Amazon you'd probably still be miserable or not happy and just by doing that and two years later you're well how many years two years later. Yeah it's about two two and half years later again and two and a half years later you're doing something that you're I mean you haven't started yet but you already like anticipating there's going to be the best job and ever. 


    Zain [00:27:02] Dude can I tell you one more thing. Like I was talking my friend last night I didn't realize this but like one thing that I'm and talking with friends about because a lot of my friends here in Dallas that I've been hanging out with. They're moving up and up and up and they're bigger companies but they're miserable. A lot of them not all the ones that aren't so happy. There's a lot like I'd say the vast majority that just are really unhappy and I think one thing that in talking with my friends and other people linked in to the strangers is that they feel like there's no operate there's no option but to go up and I remind people you can always go that you can take a step back if you need to. You know like if you know when I was an Amazon I was HR business part of my last year there. So my next job a GeoCaching where I left Amazon I took an HR generalist role I took a step back in that H.R. hierarchy so I could have more time and I could really focus like the HR generalist role was more interpersonal I got to really just work with the employees which I liked and so I took that job. It was less pay but it does make me happier and now at 27 turning 28 soon I'm living in New York City as an intern for Gary. I've gone back from HR as a partner technically and I know it's not going back. But you know what I mean. Like my title's gone to intern I've never been more excited anything in my life like I'm seriously like I'm so so so happy. And some people that don't get the Garyvee or the team Garyvee thing they're like they only see the intern like you're gonna be an intern though I'm like Yeah and I'm so excited learn and network and do the things that I love. And so you know again it's easy for me to say that now but I empathize cause I've been in that situation where you know I was depressed but I didn't see a way out. I saw my my friends that you know if you're unhappy if you're not doing well in a job there's always ways out whether it's go to another place but also even in your current company it's OK to take a step back if that's allowed because that might be the best thing for you. 


    Christian [00:28:42] Absolutely. I know you said that your dream job was to work with Garyvee. Obviously you know a few years back Garyvee wasn't even on your radar. 


    Christian [00:28:53] What has been or what would be your dream job back then. I think you mentioned owning your business at some point when you were talking. Is that also a goal of yours. 


    Zain [00:29:04] Yeah it's a good question. It's a look at the time. It's funny I felt like at the time when I entered Amazon so you know I got the job right after I graduated I'd like one hundred companies reject me and then just real quick the way I got my job at Amazon too because I definitely didn’t have the grades for it because you know I was part of there there I applied to be I applied to be part of their like H.R. just graduate program people I just graduated college and I didn't have any H.R. background. My grades weren't good but a lot of extracurricular stuff I knew were transferable if I'd like if I knew I get on the phone with a recruiter I'm set and I saw one of my friends from Utah Dallas was working at Amazon as an engineer so that's how I got I sent my resume. He gave it to the recruiter. 


    Zain [00:29:41] So that's how I got in moved to California and started my career with Amazon in California then moved to Seattle and Cleveland and so at the time when I joined Amazon my goal originally was to keep move it up like there was no like Hey there. Honestly like at Amazon I never even saw myself leaving Amazon. I'm a lifer. I'm gonna be here for the next you know till I'm old and retired you know with my stocks I'll buy a big boat like. 


    Zain [00:30:06] I'm not like I'm the guy. Gonna stay here forever and I didn't have a goal or even like a job title in mind anything like that was just more like keep staying at Amazon keep working hard and keep moving up that corporate ladder and see how far that takes you. 


    Zain [00:30:19] Which is funny to look back on now. Right. Yeah. 


    Aaron [00:30:23] So looking at his now you're obviously going to be an intern with Garyvee and this is we're recording this and obviously just not going to come out before you go there so it'd be funny to get some context afterwards but we're recording this What is it is August 3rd. So you got about ten days till you move. Yeah. What is an after you know being an intern. It's a kind of a temporary issue or time period. Right. So they're gonna do a trial with you and then at that point you may become something bigger than what you want to be you or do you have an idea of like hey if this goes really well and I get the job secured I want to be doing this on a team or do you have anything above that. 


    Zain [00:30:59] Yeah it's a great question. And yeah. So you know it's a six month residency is what they call it it's an internship that I'm super excited for I'm grateful for it's I'll be a resident on Team Garyvee’s community management team that works with influencers as team that is content management community management across all platforms. Some of you learned a lot. Networking a lot. And you know look at the end of you regardless. So at the end of six months you know if it works out I get a really cool opportunity stay on there longer. Great. 


    Zain [00:31:27] I'm super excited and hopefully that will be something in the committee management space. You know obviously I'm very biased I love the at first light Facebook groups I'd love to do a few more things on there managing few Instagram accounts and also like as I am talking out loud. One thing I want at least Shadow and get to more on is really get to know the influencers space like how are we reaching out influencers how we selecting which employers are reaching out to what kind of talks are happening they're like I'm really fascinated by that space. That's something I'm definitely gonna ask to be a part of morally shadow and that's what I'm curious about. And you know at the end of six months of let's say there's not an opportunity team Garyvee or at banner you'd still be super grateful for the opportunity and then it's that it's like a you know a blank slate and then at that point you know I'm really I'm really really really into the sports scene I'm super into gaming like that's my that's my thing that's always kind of been a thing and so maybe that's something I could look at. You know we'll see that'll be that'll be open but right now it's just I've got my eyes set on this opportunity just want to take full advantage of it not even think of anything else and then kind of see if I do have a spot to stay on if not cool like you know that'll also be super grateful. Learn a lot and the words kind of go from there. 


    Aaron [00:32:32] Right. You also have the connections as well. Oh yeah. So it's you know sometimes if you're going in there and people are like Oh dang why would he do these huge life change. But it's like people don't realize that just the connections of being in that world one person could absolutely change your life feel like. Okay I'm gonna I'll work Garyvee and then six months later I got an offer from some hedge fund guy to do some EA Sports in New York and you just never know. 


    Zain [00:32:54] Well yeah I mean and you know that's the other crazy thing is like I've been falling team Garyveelike the people in team Garyvee for at least the last two two and a half years like engaging with them on social and to me they're like you know obviously are super super super good at what they do. They're celebrities to me. I liked in my eyes they're huge celebrities and so the fact that I'm on like group chats with them now and we're like working together on a few projects already like it feels so unreal because and they follow me on so shows so some social media accounts now. So that's kind of weird like it's it's just unreal to me that the people that I've looked up to from a distance for so so so long are now like in like we're talking like we're engaging we're like having a one on ones already and it's just it's really cool and I'm super excited to connect and network with them. 


    Aaron [00:33:37] Awesome. All right. So let's. I don't know if we wanted to get into some fun questions. Normally I'd ask podcast guests unless there's anything else we want to cover with the Garyvee and anything else. 


    Christian [00:33:47] Christian you wanna know. 


    Christian [00:33:48] I mean my, the other question that I have is I think this one I wrote and I mean I don't know if you have something in place or not yet but for your personal social media efforts I mean you're on LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook and I feel like you post regularly. I didn't. Do you have some sort of strategy. Do you have a plan in place for that. Or is it just random and you just do it whenever you feel like that's a good question. 


    Zain [00:34:16] So I'll say this. It's not as strategic or laid out as I'd like it to be. There's definitely opportunity there. You know unlinked in now that you know a month ago I left the job I had as a remote recruiter when I came back to Dallas and now I've got the last month it's been more open and now that it's open I just feel comfortable posting a lot more LinkedIn. 


    Zain [00:34:37] I felt a little more limited there because there were certain things I didn't couldn't say I didn't want the company that like there was a lot of weird stuff there and now that I'm free it's open. It's easy to go back to LinkedIn because that's my preferred platform and and with obviously working on Team Garyvee they're like super encouraging to get your brand out there so. So that's why I'm going really hard to LinkedIn like at least posting every other day like trying to get my brand out there more to talk about stuff I love. And as far as Instagram goes I post a lot of stories but again it's never like it's never intentional I feel like it's more like in the moment if I get a cool message or if I see something that that piqued my interest all might share it or I might talk about it. And in terms of like posting in the feed that's that's kind of all over the place. You know one day there might be one week repost three times a week next week on my posts once next week my plus four times a week. So it's kind of all over. Yeah it's not a strategic more or less like just engaging with people it is being part of the watercooler. 


    Aaron [00:35:33] Yeah and I think that you know maybe by the end of August maybe your Instagram will change. No no no no don't worry you're gonna have a strategy. 


    Zain [00:35:41] You need to do something over here and like that one you know to that point like I think that I'm going to be documenting a lot more to life so I really really want to document LinkedIn an Instagram a lot because those are just platforms that are native for me to document on and so I think you know the next week as I'm spending my last few days the family here and gearing getting ready for New York. That's what I feel like I'm going to go really like document more on Instagram and LinkedIn because last few days have just been like spending time with the family and friends people I'm not going to see you again for a few months. Yes I think I think if you're on Instagram or LinkedIn you'll be seeing a lot more from me. I'm sure I'll have more of a strategy by that point right now it's more like everyone's why I want I get a chance when I'm not with the family it's like club got now or let me just post something that that's on my mind yes. 


    Aaron [00:36:25] Awesome. An amazing story. I still can't believe like how all that transpired and I hope you guys got a lot out of that we're gonna kind of transition here to some fun questions not these weren't fun questions but some some interesting questions and I think they actually align with they align with a lot of what we've talked about already so to some of these questions may be very easy for you Zain. All right so what is a purchase of one hundred dollars unless that is positively impacted your life in the last six months. 


    Zain [00:36:54] Oh man. Hundred dollars or less. 


    Zain [00:36:59] And the reason I'm struggling with this is I really don't buy anything like the most frugal like boring person you'll meet. 


    Zain [00:37:05] It's like groceries. Man you're killing me right now. Yes. Oh. 


    Zain / Aaron [00:37:13] I got air posted there more than a hundred but now if you bet on a Facebook marketplace you get them. 


    Zain [00:37:17] But I've got him as an early birthday gift. They're free I guess. 


    Zain [00:37:21] But man I'm really struggling with this. 


    Zain [00:37:26] Let's go back to it. Well I'm sure I know I'll come up with something. 


    Aaron [00:37:30] Well let's go to OK. Christian I'll let you get this next one then to the. 


    Christian [00:37:36] We'll go with that in the last five years. What new believe behavior or habit has the most improved your life. 


    Zain [00:37:44] That's a good question. I don't know if it's a habit per say but well one it was. You know I'd say working. I mean that's definitely a habit that I've gone into I wasn't working out ever at all when I left Dallas in early 2014 after college. Then I got into a really California's what got me into it. One of my friends Joe I met there in California is this big buff guy 18 inch arms like just giant. And we became really good friends and he got me in the gym and so yeah I think that's definitely helped me a lot. 


    Aaron [00:38:12] And so before before this guy you'd never really like hit the gym or do anything like that it's just like a complete shift that way. 


    Zain [00:38:20] Like I've stepped in you know maybe a few times a year. Like that kind of thing. I would not consistent at all. Didn't have a game plan but then when I met Joe in California he he taught me everything and that's how I started getting going. 


    Christian [00:38:34] Frank question actually. Why pugs. 


    Zain [00:38:38] Oh man. Let me tell you I'm so glad he's got some context for the people that are. Yeah. People are listening so there's really three things in my life I love more than anything it's pizza it's pugs it's video games and so the Pugs it's funny. So it was so just that's why I couldn't speak English like properly because I was I was born and raised in the U.S. but my parents would not let me speak English at home like he has to learn the native language you'll watch eventually learn English. And so at home my mom would just ignore me you would if I spoke in English. I only could speak in order that were Hindi so I could speak English fluently I was like these remedial English classes and learning English words and remember there was like this like book I read I think was like fourth or fifth graders about pugs I thought they were so the cutest little thing. I love that it was just an easy word to say you know because in English in these remedial English classes are trying to teach you these big words sometimes like you know like consequence of I hated that word. 


    Zain [00:39:30] Well like pug like that's my word and I think like eighth grade. 


    Zain [00:39:34] I remember like every every kid in school wanted to be a president every kid in school wanted to be like like something high up and my teacher would ask me like What do you want one day like what do you want to be like. I just wanna be a pug bad. 


    Zain [00:39:46] Guy. That's what I like really attainable goals. 


    Zain [00:39:49] And that was it from that moment on even now I got to move around so much. My life is all over the place. I don't know what I'm doing but one day I'm going to have like one or two pugs for sure like easy. 


    Aaron [00:39:59] That's awesome. Good show. Got it. Definitely go check out his instagram you'll get more more context feeds in pugs for sharing. Right. OK. So we'll do. OK. This is another easy one or should it be helpful anyway. What is your current. Assume you watch Netflix what's your current Netflix binge right now. 


    Zain [00:40:19] Oh that's asked a good question so I'm one of those people that binges a show and then goes back to you know another show for a month that I've seen a million times like the office. I'm one of those people. The show that I keep going back to right now between the shows I've been it's queer I just can't like it. Oh you got to watch it's such a like wholesome show. You know it's just you know these five guys are the fabulous five and the like make over different people that have unique challenges. You know whether it's how they feel with their confidence or just other things and they'll completely change them in like the 40 minutes that you watch is a very wholesome show you can watch it with like you know whoever. It's really good. I keep going back to it's like it just makes you like get the feels. You know you get really emotional by the end of it. It's really good. 


    Aaron [00:41:01] Is it like a closer reality show or is it like there's actual. Well what's the how does it work. 


    Zain [00:41:07] Yeah. So what is so basically what they do is they'll have the fabulous five we'll get like a nomination to to do a complete life make over on someone and they'll go to that person and you know one person one of each of the Fabulous Five people like the five guys in the on the team have their own unique strengths. So like one will groom the person and teach him how to make their hair and make their beard and skin care. Either one will teach them how to cook because a lot of them don't know how to cook. The other one will like dress them up and teach them how to wear fitted clothes properly. The other will like make over their house completely so when they'll come back after three days their house is completely change like. And then the other ones like culture like just teaches them based on their opportunities like confidence or you know whatever they're struggling with. And so it's like you know spent like four or five days with these people completely change them. It's just like find out why it is so it's like I guess like reality in a way that is real people that they're like doing stuff on. And it's just documented really well and the music and everything is perfect. Nice. 


    Christian [00:42:03] It's like a show I think was on TLC What Not To Wear. Yeah kind. But times ten you're doing every aspect of life. 


    Zain [00:42:12] Yeah yeah. It's it's everything. It's my favorite thing is real quick. For the record my favorite thing is the guy Bobby on the team. 


    Zain [00:42:19] He does all the interior decoration like changes the House and those are cool to watch. Like I'm not even super into that kind of stuff. But every time I watch the show I was blown away by how is it possible. Like it's like this little college dorm that's broken up and somebody completely turns into like this like five star hotel. It's insane. 


    Aaron [00:42:35] So this is like Extreme Makeover for humans. Yes. 


    Zain [00:42:38] It's really emotional I get ready if you're going to watch it. Like be ready to cry. 


    Zain [00:42:42] I'm not a crier like half the episode change. 


    Zain [00:42:46] This guy gets you and they play all this good music and I'm like I wasn't crying before but now it's hitting me big issue. He's going to be able to go and marry somebody now that he's proposing about why my crying is so good. 


    Christian [00:43:01] Oh I wanna ask you about pizza actually. We're big pizza fans by the way. 


    Christian [00:43:05] Yeah. So I'm curious. Very pizza places around here man. 


    Zain [00:43:09] So I'll be. You know to be completely transparent I've got a lot of pizza places in Dallas because I know I know the shame out because I came back and there were like no tex mex places in Seattle subediting a brand of Tex Mex place I got like hole in the walls. I haven't done a lot of pizza to be honest but I suppose I've been just Tex Mex guy didn't get that and Seattle was like two Tex Mex places they just really weren't very good and they were super overpriced. I'm like I'm going to hit up these gas stations that have like you know a little tuck area and they're like I'm to go into those a lot. 


    Aaron [00:43:39] So what's the wind you I guess when you were coming back and you're like Yeah he drove back from Seattle right. No I flew back to Seattle. 


    Aaron [00:43:46] So you're on the fly and you're like I can't wait to get to Dallas my first Tex Xex stop is stop is gonna be here. 


    Zain [00:43:52] Where was it. This is gonna sound so bad like if you're in Dallas by the way please don't hurt me because I say it's not like authentic tex mex. I was really like in Seattle for some reason. I was really missing free birds and I know it's not tex mex. I get it. I hear you guys are mad but I was just missing tex mex. I was missing free birds. I was missing like their case so in the breed was like something about it came back the next day I was at Free Birds Like a monster burrito. 


    Aaron / Zain [00:44:18] Heck yes. I love their cayenne pepper. Yes I'm a fan of their spinach one. Yes I get that as well. So good. When you have options. I get the plain one when you can get the other ones. Yeah. All right. So we're gonna go back to the one hundred dollar purchase or less. That is most positively impacted your life in the last six months or recent memory. I mean it may not be six months. We're not counting days. 


    Zain [00:44:41] That's a good question man. Why am I still stuck on this. 


    Aaron [00:44:45] Don't worry I don't think we've ever done an episode where somebody was not stuck on this question. 


    Zain [00:44:49] Yeah. Because I feel like again I'll. It's like I buy groceries and then I don't buy anything for a very long time. You buy a videogame every month. Yeah that's like it. That's like 60 bucks. Yeah I'm going to go weird here. So in the last month actually last two weeks is this new video game came out. I was gonna put it out there cause I think it's the best video games I've ever played. Wow. That's like really good. I play a lot of video games and this one is like next level like easily in the top like ten that I've ever played in my life. If you have an Nintendo switch you should get fire a little. Three houses two really good game. It's like Harry Potter because there's like different houses and you choose one and that house you choose dictates a storyline you're gonna experience and it's really well done. Each storyline takes like 70 hours to complete like it's long. So if you finish one and it's like 70 80 hours you stop. You still want to go back and see what the other stories were. So you're spending like two hundred and fifty hours easy on this game. Oh my God it's so well done I'm only eight hours in but the reviews have been really stellar and what I've seen so far eight hours have been just incredible stories really good. The gameplay feels so good. There's a lot at stake. So if one of your your people that on your team dies in the battle they're done you're never gonna battle with them again. So it's really hard to because then just like manage lost that person I play Twenty five minutes to want to restart the battle so I don't lose them or like there's a lot of stuff there it's really good. Wow. Check it out. Sixty dollars right now. What's it say the name of the ads called Fire Emblem 3 houses. It's like it's a role playing game it's RPG. So if you're interested in any of that kind of stuff definitely give it a look or at least look up some YouTube reviews. I think I really like it. 


    Christian [00:46:25] Awesome. I saw some pictures on on your Instagram was a fuel. 


    Zain [00:46:30] Yeah. Dallas fuel. Yeah. 


    Christian [00:46:31] Talking about that. I mean I know that. I'm guessing it's a team right. Yeah. By the way I think Aaron I have played it again but not like it never. 


    Christian / Aaron [00:46:38] Yeah I don't think we've ever got all the cool stuff we would put it like Grand Theft Auto up here at the office which we need to get like we just finally got an Apple TV. So we need to get a some kind of gaming system up here. 


    Zain [00:46:49] Yeah. So. So Dallas fuel really cool by the way so down. So just all back. A little bit so Overwatch is a game that came out by Blizzard a few years ago it's really massive like still even though came out I think and like I don't want to say like 2015 maybe 2014. It's still massive in terms of like the people that play it. People stream it and the overwatch League started a few years ago I say two or three years ago in response to all the people that were in it it's like the overall it's like the EA Sports League of this game and every city not every but a lot of cities have their own teams now and Dallas just got their own team. 


    Zain [00:47:23] You know a year or two ago called Dallas fuel and so Dallas just had a big event here for the overwatch league like they hosted the teams here. I want to see in April this year is called a home stand weekend so I went it was the most fun two days of my life. I was wearing my Dallas fuel swag. I was cheering. I lost my voice and we were just yellin’ and Dallas. You got to play by the way just just so you know are our nemesis like our enemy team is the Houston outlaws. They're like green like the gross and so we like to use is insane. So I heard that the Dallas event was so good. They're gonna have at least three or four maybe like five more next year here in Dallas. While it was massive like people it was packed it was fun. It was a two day event is the most fun I've ever had. So anyways Dallas fuel is your overwatch league. Dallas teams should cheer them on. 


    Zain [00:48:13] You should definitely watch them play online on twitch or YouTube or wherever you're comfortable watching it and it's just fun to cheer on like a home team. 


    Zain [00:48:21] Mm hmm yeah interesting. Yeah yeah. 


    Aaron [00:48:25] I guess I've only been exposed to that because of your story so show her. 


    Aaron / Zain [00:48:29] Yeah yeah. 


    Zain [00:48:30] And you know look there's other there's other teams that are on the come up to four other games right. So there's like an NBA 2K league or a 2k team for Dallas that started to call the Mavs G.G. like there they play two games like a 2k serious like league so they're really good apparently I do remember the record but they like they're really good like one of the top teams in the nation. Yeah there's a few things like that with different games and Dallas feels like just the brand is really big right now and you're seeing Dallas feel is just an overwatch league yeah I guess they only play overwatch. 


    Zain [00:49:03] That's all they do there. They're like the overwatch team for Dallas and they're called the Dallas fuel gotcha. 


    Christian [00:49:08] Yeah I'm guessing there is I mean other cities might have under the same yeah team they might have other leagues like for other games or does it have just complete different names here. 


    Zain [00:49:18] Yeah. So like yeah. So that's a good question so like every game so an example like overwatch or you know NBA 2K they all have different teams that are playing that game. So like Dallas fuel is the the overwatch league team for Dallas the Mavs. 


    Zain [00:49:35] I think that G.G. is the team for the NBA 2K and there's other games that there's different teams for. That's kind of how they do it. Now they might have like an operating team like a team that is responsible for these different teams under them. That's like more hardcore stuff. I don't super get into the. 


    Zain [00:49:54] Like Dallas feel like I'm cheering right. Houston I hate you. That's how simple I keep it. 


    Christian / Zain [00:49:59] Yeah yeah that's love is super interesting and as the blowing up like huge I mean you saw the four night stuff right. 


    Zain [00:50:06] Oh yeah bug. Three million dollar. Yeah. Like he's 16. Yeah yeah yeah. That crazy. That's cool. Insane Yeah. 


    Zain [00:50:13] It's only going to get bigger like like this was the beginning this was the proof of concept like we're gonna do something outrageous but and you know obviously only everyone's only talk about bugs with the 3 million even third place got eight hundred thousand dollars. Oh yeah. So you know there's people with real money and so this was a proof of concept and the fact that it's hit so hard and even people like you guys who aren't into for a night maybe but you definitely knew about the news says a lot. And so I think that you're going to see a lot bigger prize pools bigger tournaments happening you know soon. Like there's there's a lot of teams I'm following like in Atlanta and L.A. They're just some really cool stuff right now with with connecting the communities together as a team. There's a company Atlanta EA sports company I forgot the name but what they're doing is they're working with like kids that are you know from like tougher neighborhoods and bring them together at least weekly or every few days to play video games as one spot in Atlanta just meet people and like like minded people like me people they can aspire to be like and hang out with. So it's just really cool that like EASports is bring people together that normally you wouldn't see. 


    Aaron [00:51:12] Right. And you also see it you know when you realize there is a take off when bigger brands start saying yeah we want to sponsor you or Hey we want to advertise here we want to do this. I think Taco Bell has actually done a few sponsorships for four EA sports stuff and now. Let's talk let's test the market let's see how it's going here and you know that says a lot to when you see bigger companies are bigger brands saying let's allocate you know art to a small budget or whatever over to that. 


    Zain [00:51:38] Yeah can I say something on that my obviously my favorite brands on Instagram are BitBranding and that’s obvious right but I just want to say real quick on that note. Arby's like the restaurant their social media game is next level. Like if you're really like oh please on your phone. Go look up Arby's on Instagram. They are like my favorite place. Like I I don't. There's very few accounts I wake up I'm like let me go check up on that account. Normally it's on my feed. I go out of my way to look up Arby's because in the last I say like a year and a half two years. You know what they've done with their marketing. Yeah you're looking right now as you've done with their marketing is they changed it all to be for gamers so they're only making gaming references they're like decorating our favorite gaming characters with catch up and posting photos and they're like doing like funny like Things With gaming it's all gaming influences and so I genius for them like amazing and but there's so many people like me that could not care less for the restaurant and tell this started happening. All right dude I eat at Arby's the other day. 


    Zain / Aaron [00:52:39] That's not something I'm proud of saying I'm out two years ago but I don't see I hate Arby's but now it's not like I lost a few years of my life. 


    Zain [00:52:47] But man it was worth it because I'm like I have to support these guys because they're I can't imagine the amount of buying it took to get them to where they are which is like all gaming references now a few years ago on their dream it's all gaming stuff. I was going to say I just love it all right. 


    Aaron [00:53:01] Like you saw who it so whoever that senior leadership in the marketing IT WAS LIKE LIKE ALL RIGHT WE'RE GONNA TAKE A take a chance here and go you know usually something people go close to the belt so closely. 


    Zain [00:53:11] We're all in the deep like like Jack in the box a few other companies have like tried to touch you now. I think seeing the success of Arby's. But there's no one that's even come close to where they are in that restaurant space and they're dominating and there's so many people that are in my community like that play games and stuff that I'm just like a casual gamer I'm not super into it but there's so many people like me that again don't care for Arby's. But now we're gonna go check it out once every once in a while because they're like the reppin’ us they're like supporting us and they're putting out so many creative things like They're decorating stuff with catch up in their Instagram Stories are so good they're doing like scavenger hops hunts and escape rooms where you as a user will like click what to do in the escape room and how to find the clue like they're doing really cool stuff so check them out. 


    Christian / Aaron [00:53:50] Yeah that's awesome. Crazy. Yeah it is crazy. 


    Aaron [00:53:54] The only other people that I know that I like and that's not Instagram that was Twitter and I love watching Wendy’s for the longest time just thought crowd at just feeling sad. 


    Zain [00:54:02] It's like Who the heck is behind That's right now saying like they the Wendy’s is it's so funny they're they're savage and the Wendy’s team did an AMA on Reddit the knot recently was a while ago and that was fun to see. Like the minds behind it cause you know like just like I'm sure as you do like when you're reading you're like How did they get a sign off on this because they're like roasting McDonald’s calling out Burger King like they're going hard and so is really cool to read that way I think you guys should check it out if anyone's listening because it's really fast and easy like how it came about. 


    Aaron [00:54:33] Yeah yeah that's interesting. All right. Ah that's really almost everything we have here. 


    Aaron [00:54:40] You have anything you want to say before this is something you can listen to after you've already been to New York so anything at last parting comments sourcing. 


    Zain [00:54:48] No I'm just super excited for this opportunity really grateful that you know Gary took a shot just kind of took a chance with some random guy with a coffee stain and a tight hoodie and just really excited to see what happens I'm open minded and just yeah just very excited to kind of see what this opportunity is gonna be like and just my conversation with the team that stuff I'm already working on I have a really good feeling about it. 


    Aaron [00:55:12] Awesome. Super excited for you to see this in the future too. Thanks man. For sure. All right. So if this is your guy's first time listening it like you said in the beginning this is a very different very special episode. Normally we'll be back next week with a usually tips or tactics that's going on in social media. So make sure you hit the subscribe button and make sure that you hit that. Make sure you have those notifications on so that you know when our latest episode comes out. This is timely information about social media so you can get ahead of everyone else. And if you liked this specific interview or you like our podcast please go over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It's what allows us to reach more people and we just like to leave the like to see the reviews so believe we got comment on there on the reviews will also shout you out on the podcast. 


    Aaron [00:55:58] All right guys we'll talk to you next week bye. the Marketing Native's podcast is a production of BitBranding. 

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