Tried It, And This Happened: I Attended The Wealth And Achievement Conference with Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk and Daymond John

One day, while scrolling endlessly through Instagram, I got suspicious. Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk and Daymond John coming to Nashville….AT THE SAME EVENT?! No way. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Three business moguls who are crushing it in their fields are coming to my city. This was huge. 

So, because this seemed like a “too good to be true” situation. I naturally did some investigative research. I called the venue the event was being hosted at and asked them: “Hey, I saw an advertisement about Tony Robbins coming to Nashville...is this true?” The lady said they that the event had requested a date, but they had not settled all the details, yet. My suspicions were set to rest. This was actually happening. 

via NAC Conference

If you aren’t familiar with Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuck and Daymond John then let me walk you through a quick introduction. 

Tony Robbins

via Mailtag

Tony Robbins is a life coach, motivational speaker and author who has been in the self-help business since the age of 17 (He’s 59 now). He started his career by promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. Eventually, he realized that he could help people in the same manner and started his own business. Some highlights of his 4 decade career include: co-hosting ‘Oprah’s Life Class’, featured in Time, GQ, Forbes, Vanity Fair and Business Week, and coached power players like: Princess Diana, Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and Serena Williams. This guy is at the top of his game in the life coaching industry. 

Gary Vaynerchuck 

via Influencive

An entrepreneur, internet personality and author. He excels in the digital media and marketing space. He is the CEO of VaynerMedia which is a “full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.” He has a knack for knowing what is going to be huge before it becomes huge. His early investments were in Facebook, Uber, Venmo and Twitter (to name a few). He’s gained traction with his impeccable work ethic, resilience and bold personality. He uses his YouTube channel to inspire others, help answer business questions and share his knowledge to assist in ignite people’s careers. 

Daymond John

via Carrie Luxem

He is the president, founder and CEO of FUBU, reality television star and author. In 2009, John joined Shark Tank as one of the investors along with Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran and Kevin O’Leary. Growing up in Hollis, NY he started FUBU from the ground up. Through all his hard work, hustle, determination and smart business decisions he is worth an estimated $300 million dollars. In 2013, he was appointed by Obama as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, which promotes entrepreneurship on a global scale.

I purchased my ticket and waited for the big 2-day event. When the day arrived, I got up at 7 AM, put on my best outfit and headed out to what felt like my destiny in the making. 

The next part is a bit disappointing. The event lasted from 8 AM - 8 PM. During the 1st half of the day before the keynote is a bit hum drum. There were speakers throwing out bits of inspiration and information for success. However, there was a whole lot of selling happening on stage. The speakers who I didn’t really know were selling their seminars on stage most of the time. I saw people running to pay $2,000 to start their house flipping classes. I thought: ok, but what happens after the classes? Are they going to attend just to feel lost and essentially throw $2,000 down the drain? I felt like I was being sold false promises.

The two highlights of day, not surprisingly, were the keynote speakers: Daymond John and Tony Robbins. 

Daymond John was first. He spoke about his story with a thoughtful presentation and good music. He talked about how he started his business with a $40 budget and turns his business into a multi-million dollar business. He ended up making a few hats in Hollis, NY with his mom by his side helping him. He would go out to a mall in the area and guess what? He sells all the hats. That’s $800 profit in his pocket. This is a lot of money for a young boy. He says he then gets into a fender bender while counting his cash on the way home. He said, “guess how much it cost to get their car fixed?: $800.” Even though he lost the $800 as fast as he made it, he said that day he was left with a fire underneath him and that he knew he would never work for anyone else ever again. I felt inspired by his story and entrepreneurial spirit.

A few hours passed with more speakers I don’t know very well. 

Tony Robbins came out. The room turns into electric energy. People are on their feet. Tony Robbins voice is booming. He is larger than life in both body and mind. We spent the next hour and a half clapping, getting up on our feet, interacting with the people around us with the exercises he is suggesting to get us out of ourselves and into our bodies. We are changing our state. Tony Robbins is all about changing our physical and emotional state to change our lives. He talked about what you focus on and how changing how you feel physically is something you can do anytime. Changing your state can be dancing, laughing, and positive body language. When you get out of the mood you are by getting into your body and creating massive action - your life is sure to be more joyous. I highly suggest watching the Netflix documentary, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru to fully comprehend what Robbins means by “changing your state.”

I left the venue at 8 PM. I was exhausted, but happy and hopeful. 

The next morning, I wake up smarter. I brought a pen, notebook and book to read during the selling parts of the talks I don’t care about. I waited for the keynote, again. 

Gary Vaynerchuk came on stage. 

We all stand and clap. I start taking videos and a voice memo. I love this guy. Gary Vaynerchuk is honest, helpful and full of fire. He talks to us about how the industry he is leading is changing at a rapid pace. He tells everyone who only watches their movies and TV through streaming services, to stand up. About 95% of the room stands up. Shock overcomes the older people in the room. The feeling of “duh” comes over the younger ones in the room. He says that if you’re in business and not on one of these streaming services or social media platforms, then you pretty much don’t exist. One major tip he hit on the ball, was to start posting on LinkedIn. He says it’s starting to work like Facebook. Listen to this man. He knows what’s up. You can find more insight from Vaynerchuk on the socials because he practices what he preaches and exists as a leader in business because of it.

Overall, the event was worth going to solely for the keynote speakers. If I had not gone to the event I would be kicking myself for not hearing from three great minds of my lifetime in a single weekend. I came away with some new perspective, excitement, confidence and strategies that can propel myself forward in the future. 

Cover image via Medium