Jay & Sofia Lyons Meeting - Alpha Schools - May 27, 2025

Context

Strategic meeting at Alpha Schools between Gary Sheng, Ron Roberts, and Jay Lyons (Mackenzie Price's social media producer) with his wife Sofia. The conversation focused on unified marketing strategy, professional backgrounds, and faith community connections.

Key Participants

Jay Lyons - Social Media Producer & TV Veteran

• Mackenzie Price's exclusive social media producer
• 220 million organic views achieved in 1.5 years
• Extensive TV production background across major networks

Sofia Lyons - Production Partner & Faith Community Connector

• Co-founder of production company with Jay
• Recently relocated family from Burbank to Austin
• Connected to Zachary Lee's ministry network

Major Topics Discussed

Professional Background & Credentials

Jay's Television Production Career:

Jay: "I was a TV producer. I did like reality shows. And then I worked in the social media... I was on an MTV show for four years. And it's called Made. And we did 200 episodes."

Jay: "I was on another show called My 600 Pound Life. Which is on TLC. And then I did a Spotify documentary... I've basically been on shows on every network."

Social Media Success Strategy:

Jay: "When we started her account a year and a half ago. We started from scratch. She actually had account. I was like, Let's start a mojo. Because you know. If you have bad mojo. It's like... And I was like, Don't. Have any of your friends. Nobody. I want. No one to know about this. This is a completely new thing. And the algorithm will tell us who wants this content."

Jay: "But we since have 220 million [organic views]."

The Professor Partnership - Major Success Story

Meeting Through Faith:

Jay: "It's funny, that's how I first met him at church. He did the youth camp at Shepard. My dad went to that church... He built it. Wow. He's a general contractor. That's where we went to church."

Viral Ministry Content:

Jay: "Then I was like, hey, will you come to prison? It's funny because now I hear him tell the story. I was like, who is this guy? I guess I will. Then we went in and that video did like 70 million long form. Kevin Durant, Steph, they're all calling him."

Growth Results:

Jay: "He had 2 or 3 million when I met him, and now he has 8 million on YouTube... So he's like. One of my. Best friends."

Alpha Schools Marketing Strategy Integration

Unified Funnel Approach:

Gary: "She was like. It was completely ridiculous. That the previous marketing people. Wanted to create that sort of. Firewall. Between. Alpha schools. And. Future of learning Mackenzie. And so... She wanted. Us to work together. To like. Make sure that. It's. It's. As much as possible. One funnel."

Jay's Role Definition:

Jay: "My whole thing. And my whole job. Is to. Make her. Famous. From a whole. Wide perspective. And grow up the account."

Geographic Targeting Reality:

Jay: "She has 700 and whatever thousand followers, but I can look on the cities. Austin is less than 0.5%. So that's why people are like, put her in your story, do a thing. I'm like, that's not going to benefit the schools directly because 0.5% of her following is in Austin."

Qualified Audience Strategy

Event Production Insights:

Jay: "We've done things where we've brought in influencers. We've brought in Mr. Beast... They bring big crowds."

Gary: "Yeah, it's just nonsense, unqualified."

Targeting Philosophy:

Jay: "But the problem is they've got to be qualified. This is where the marketing thing comes in. They've got to be qualified. They've got to be able to afford 25,000 people, or else we can't get a crowd here."

June 14th Event Strategy:

Gary: "I have Gabby, I don't know if you remember. Gabby, Gabby, as well as Chris Locke, Steph mentioned that those are the two people that are needed to figure out who the most evangelistic parents are, that clearly can afford the K-12 experience, and then tap into each of their friend cliques. So the entire June 14th event is just friend cliques."

Reality TV & Content Creation Opportunities

Alpha Reality Show Concepts:

Gary: "You know that we have like a million ideas. Not a million. Just we have ideas around alpha reality shows. Especially new shows. So for example. Imagine a. And this is one of many ideas. But imagine a Trump traveling golf school. Doesn't have to be Trump. But it's like the most elite middle and high school golfers."

Business Model Integration:

Gary: "And then you basically solve the business model problem right away. And revenue generation problem right away. If you make it interesting enough in the school. Right. And so I just feel like. If anyone's going to understand. It's someone that literally is passionate about the future of education. And understands the dynamics of. Right. Of reality. Reality TV."

Venice Beach Basketball Network Connection

Shared LA Background:

Ron: "So I know Nick since I was like eight years old. Came up there on Halloween."

Jay: "So that's Grayson's home court. Yep. So like. You know every time we go there. Like there's a. A bunch of characters..."

Network Overlap:

Gary: "You know what would be fun. I know all of them. Is doing. Doing schools with these people. As well as."

Faith Community & Personal Connections

Sofia's Faith Interest:

Sofia: "When did you become a Christian?"

Gary: "Starting in 2021... It's not, it's not a, he's not in the best place right now, but Kanye Sunday service. Yeah. Really, really opened me up as well as I loved it."

Baptism Plans:

Gary: "I'm actually planning to be baptized at his river."

Sofia: "When? Yeah. That's awesome. I want to come. Can I come watch?"

Zachary Lee Network:

Sofia: "So he bought a house in Bastrop because Zachary told him to. And so he lent him like, he gave him artwork that's hanging up in his house."

Technical Infrastructure & Content Strategy

Podcast Studio Planning:

Jay: "I want. Her to keep. That one here. For sure. Just because. Like when people come. It's like they can see it. And she can be here. You know. Like. But that one. Could be good for. All kinds of things."

David Corral's Vacant Space:

Jay: "He. I guess he moved to New York... Joe. Wanted. To go. And maybe take it over."

Strategic Partnership Framework

Gary's Role Definition:

Gary: "So. We. I would say like. Special projects. That are needed to. Fix major issues. With alpha... I have a background. In a lot of things. I started my career. At Google. As software engineer. But also have. Had grown. Really big viral accounts."

Unified Marketing Vision:

Gary: "We're actually sending to McKenzie. A kind of plan. For an updated marketing. And movement building funnel. For alpha schools. That unifies a lot of what."

Technical Expertise Integration:

Gary: "One of our partners has a million users on his AI consumer app and just like is the smartest tech enabled funnel marketer we've ever met. And he is super excited to just work on Alpha."

Key Strategic Insights

Marketing Philosophy Alignment

1. Organic Growth Focus: Jay's "bad mojo" theory aligns with starting fresh rather than fixing broken systems
2. Algorithm-Driven Content: Let platform algorithms identify target audiences rather than forcing demographics
3. Qualified Audience Priority: Focus on conversion-ready prospects rather than vanity metrics

Network Integration Opportunities

1. Faith Community Bridge: Sofia's Zachary Lee connections provide access to Austin faith networks
2. Entertainment Industry Leverage: Jay's TV production background offers content creation capabilities
3. Sports/Athletics Integration: Venice Beach basketball connections through Ron and Jay

Content Strategy Framework

1. Unified Funnel: Eliminate artificial separation between Mackenzie's content and Alpha Schools enrollment
2. Geographic Targeting: Acknowledge that viral content doesn't automatically translate to local enrollment
3. Event Production: Leverage Jay's experience with large-scale influencer events for qualified parent gatherings

Personal Dynamics & Relationship Building

Gary's Networking Approach:

Gary: "Bro, like, I literally feel Olympic level at the, like, on team cold approach. It's like, that's like literally what it is. It's like on team cold approach. I literally, like, they had luggage and I was like, let me put in the river for them. But while I was just getting like two minutes of, like, intro time with them."

Sofia's Cautious Enthusiasm:

Sofia: "The only thing I'm still checking up on is I have research that I'm doing for a study. And I'm just making sure that the conference I'm presenting at isn't during that time period... I'd love to go. So let me just check with that and make sure I don't have a conflict."

Jay's Playful Assessment:

Jay: "She's such a saleswoman. I have to see a conflict. Oh, it's such a joke. Yeah, she's such a joke. I cannot. I have to look tomorrow. You know, it's like. I love it. She's right. It's great. It's awesome."

Strategic Outcomes

Immediate Collaborations

1. June 14th Parent Event: Coordinated approach with qualified audience targeting
2. Unified Marketing Funnel: Integration of Mackenzie's content with Alpha enrollment strategy
3. Content Creation Pipeline: Leveraging Jay's production expertise for Alpha content

Long-term Opportunities

1. Reality TV Development: Alpha Schools documentary/reality show concepts
2. Faith Community Expansion: Access to Zachary Lee's ministry network through Sofia
3. Sports Academy Integration: Basketball/athletics programming through The Professor network

Network Expansion

1. Austin Faith Community: Sofia's connections to local Christian networks
2. Entertainment Industry: Jay's cross-network TV production relationships
3. Social Media Expertise: Proven track record with 220M organic views

Key Takeaways

1. Proven Expertise: Jay's 220M organic views and TV production background provide credible marketing capabilities
2. Strategic Alignment: Shared understanding of qualified audience targeting over vanity metrics
3. Network Integration: Multiple connection points through faith, entertainment, and sports communities
4. Unified Vision: Elimination of artificial barriers between Mackenzie's content and Alpha Schools enrollment
5. Personal Relationships: Strong foundation for ongoing collaboration through shared values and professional respect

The meeting successfully established a framework for integrated marketing strategy while building personal relationships that extend beyond professional collaboration into faith community and family connections.