Strategy

The CEO of a multimillion-dollar company explains how he can stay in top shape while running a media empire

Read in app
gary vaynerchuk
"It's extremism on my work-life balance" says VaynerMedia founder and CEO Gary Vaynerchuk.  Gary Vaynerchuk/YouTube

Gary Vaynerchuk doesn't eat during the day.

In an episode of Business Insider's podcast "Success! How I Did It," the CEO of VaynerMedia told Alyson Shontell, Business Insider US editor-in-chief, that he doesn't get hungry.

"I eat at night," he said.

Vaynerchuk has figured out a system — for eating, exercising, and sleeping — that works congruently with the demands of running a $125 million company, raising a family, and maintaining a high quality of life.

It wasn't always this way — and it didn't come easily.

"A year and a half ago, I was eating like crap, not working out, and generally feeling awful," he wrote on his website in 2016. "It was a tough life, and I realized quickly that I couldn't sustain a life like that. It was impossible. So I hired a trainer to force me to be better. I made an enormous lifestyle shift, and I am so happy I did."

That trainer was Mike Vacanti, who has posted the custom workout plan he used with Vaynerchuk online.

Being an entrepreneur had always been second nature to Vaynerchuk, but being healthy was a far greater challenge.

"Health was the first thing I encountered in my life that didn't come naturally to me," he wrote for Greatist. "And that was a very hard pill to swallow."

He's able to fit it all in without compromising on shut-eye — he isn't one of the fabled four-hours-a-night sleepers.

"Give me six or seven hours," he told Shontell. "Give me 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day, then I work out, and then I work. I also take seven weeks of vacation with my family. It's extremism on my work-life balance. But I'm getting a lot done."

"That's something to aspire to," Shontell said.

"It's something to aspire to if it makes you happy," Vaynerchuk replied. "It's not to aspire to make money. I can tell you that right now. You can make ungodly amounts of money working 9 to 5 or 8 to 2 on Wall Street. It's not about the money. The thing to aspire to that I think I'm a blueprint of is, forget about people knowing who I am or how much or little I make in my life. I'm happy every day."

Listen to the full podcast interview:

Read next

Libby Kane was a personal finance expert who has reported and edited stories about money for more than 10 years. She previously held the Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) certification issued by the National Financial Educators Council.Experience She has written and edited articles on everything from investing tips to model budgets and has interviewed dozens of authors, financial planners, and early retirees to share their advice, experiences, and insights with a global audience. Before joining Business Insider in 2014, she was an associate editor at LearnVest, a personal finance site to help women learn about money. Her work has appeared on sites such as MSN, AOL, Forbes, Slate, and The Street.Her team at Business Insider has tackled projects including:• Women of Means, a series about women taking control of their finances• Inside the Racial Wealth Gap, an exploration of the causes, effects, and potential solutions of the racial wealth gap in the US (finalist, Drum Award, "Editorial Campaign of the Year," 2021)• Strings Attached, a series of essays from people who have left insulated communities and how that journey affected their relationship with money• Master Your Money, a year-long guide for millennials on how to take control of their finances  (first runner up, Drum Award, "Best Use of Social Media," 2022)• The Road to Home, a comprehensive guide to buying your first house (silver award winner, National Association of Real Estate Editors, "Best Multi-Platform Package or Series – Real Estate," 2022)Libby believes in one universal truth about money: Advice is never for everyone. The best strategies, tools, and products depend on your preferences, financial situation, history with money, and goals.ExpertiseHer expertise includes:• Behavioral finance• Early retirement• Budgeting• Saving moneyEducationLibby holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.Outside of personal finance, Libby enjoys reading, baking, and walking her dog.
Alyson is the Editor-in-Chief and CCO at Fortune.  She was previously a co Editor-in-Chief overseeing Business Insider's tech and business coverage.She joined Business Insider in July 2008 as the company's sixth employee. She started as a sales planner before joining the editorial team in 2010, where she became a startup reporter and was first to cover some of today's largest tech companies, including Pinterest, Tinder, Instagram, Uber and Snap. Alyson rose to become a senior correspondent, then Executive Editor.She was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider in 2016, at which point she became the youngest and only woman to run a global business publication. Under her leadership, the business division has grown to hundreds of  millions of monthly readers.Alyson was a host of  Insider's conferences and launched a podcast, "Success! How I Did It," where she interviewed influencers ranging from Sheryl Sandberg to Steve Ballmer about their career paths (subscribe on iTunes here).She has appeared on ABC, Good Morning America, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, and CBC, and she has interviewed media personalities such as Megyn Kelly, technology leaders like Fred Wilson, political leaders like John Brennan, and sports star LeBron James. She is a judge for the prestigious Gerald Loeb Awards in business journalism, and has been named one of Min's Rising Stars in Media, as well as Folio's 2017 Top Women in Media.She graduated from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she majored in psychology and advertising.You can read some of her investigative articles here:Leaked videos reveal the true founding story of SnapchatThe founder who dumped Jared Kushner: Inside the phone call that left the White House star in a fit of rageThe downfall of billion-dollar startup, FabHow a startup that raised the largest seed round in Silicon Valley history blew itself up before it even launchedThe dark side of Facebook, where people lie, cheat, and make millionsA profile of Uber's controversial CEO, Travis KalanickThe mystery of Jody Sherman, a founder who was driven to suicide and left behind a shocking business disasterDisclosure: Alyson owns bitcoin and Snap. She is also an investor in The Spun, a sports-media startup founded by her husband.