Last year at Eudemonia, I walked the floors as an observer. I listened. I watched. I paid attention to the crowd, the tone, the programming, and the conversations that were happening, along with the ones that were nowhere to be found.
And the truth was obvious within the first hour.
Men were present, but we were not represented. Not in any way that looked like our lives, our responsibilities, our pressures, or our path forward. Not in any way that looked like you or me or the men I talk to every single week.
Most of the guys walking the summit floor looked like two completely different species. On one side you had the Burning Man monks in linen robes, giant hats, beads, and palo santo vibes. On the other you had the young, jacked influencer types in matching ALO sets. And in between those two extremes stood a giant empty space where the real midlife men should have been.
Where were the husbands? Where were the dads? Where were the operators, the founders, the leaders, the providers, the men carrying the weight of families, careers, and expectations. Where were the guys who wake up at 5 in the morning, train in the garage, grind through their day, and still want to be healthier, calmer, connected, and fulfilled?
Where were our readers?
The short answer: they were not there.
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Why? Frankly, because that summit was not built for them, meaning, it’s not built for us.
So, last year, when Jon and I did a recap of the event and things we saw or noticed, I promised myself that if I ever got another chance to attend, I would do something about it and pitch something for us.
This year, we got our chance. A panel. Not mainstage. Not prime time. But we were there, tucked into a breakout room while Halle Berry and Gabby Reece packed the big space down the hall, which, if we are being honest, is exactly where most midlife men would prefer to be looking anyway.
But we got in the game. And that mattered. Just not how you think.
Because once we were in the room, something became even clearer. Sometimes you spend a whole year trying to get invited somewhere, and once you get inside, you realize you might be better off somewhere else.
Case in point, our panel was strong, the conversation was real, and the men on that stage delivered one of the most honest, grounded hours of the entire summit.
Four men who could each carry a room on their own.
Julius Thomas. Two-time NFL Pro Bowler turned neuropsych PhD candidate. Clear. Structured. Dialed in. He laid out his Five Principles and every man in the room sat a little taller. Julius is the kind of man you want in your corner. Calm. Intentional. Committed to the basics.
Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng. ICU physician and health-systems leader. No fluff. No theory. No overthinking. His message to the room was simple: do the shit. Take action. Stop circling the problem. As real and relatable as it gets.
Dr. Gregory Scott Brown. Psychiatrist. Author. The most grounded, respectful presence on any stage. He made emotional and mental health feel accessible and normal for men who rarely talk about either. The kind of voice that eases the temperature in the room.
Sean Wells. Researcher. Practitioner. Trauma survivor. Honest. Raw. Vulnerable. He showed what rebuilding your life looks like without theatrics or performance. Just truth.
Together, the four of them created by far the most midlife male hour of the entire summit. The nods. The laughter. The shared experiences. The feeling of men being men in a room that usually does not give them the space to do that.
Every man on that stage had lived through some version of what I call the Valley of Despair. Stress, burnout, divorce, weight gain, frustration, identity loss, business chaos. And every one of them climbed out the same way the men in our world climb out. Through real movement. Getting outside. Building community. Creating accountability. Simplifying their lives. Changing their environment. Choosing responsibility. Building momentum.
These were not broken men. These were rebuilt men. And that is exactly why it landed.
But the more panels I attend, the more conversations I have, the more summits I observe, the clearer it becomes. Midlife men do not need another lecture from a stage. They do not want a keynote that sounds like a rewritten chapter from a book or a monologue recycled from a podcast that has already been repeated fifty times.
Men want to know what works. Why it works. Who it works for. What the founder uses. Whether it fits their lifestyle. Whether the guy using it is trustworthy. Whether it makes life easier. Whether it is worth the investment. They want real clarity, not more noise.
Men learn differently. Men connect differently. Men open up differently. We need relational experiences, not transactional presentations. We need meals, hikes, workouts, rucks, games, and fireside conversations. We need rooms where the hierarchy drops and the honesty rises.
Which brings me to the real takeaway.
While Eudemonia is clearly a smash hit for the audience it caters to, mostly female, heavily into wellness, health, biomarkers, biohacks, and optimization, its focus is largely on talks and presentations, a few yoga demonstrations and sitting still. I give them credit. They sell out every year. The attendees love it. It’s a first-class operation, and I’m grateful they gave us the space to talk.
But the truth is, I don’t want to attend talks all weekend. Or be talked at all weekend. You don’t want to do that all weekend either.
And the funny thing is, the best talk I witnessed wasn’t even from a talk, it came from Sean Hoess, the founder of Eudemonia, sharing a real story about his knee.
Sean’s a great guy and he stood up there and told the room about getting injured, being limited, being scared, not being able to do something as basic as a squat. He talked about the frustration, the fear, the age factor, the very real “is this the beginning of the end for me?” feeling that every man in midlife knows all too well.
Then he walked us through exactly what he did to fix it; the rehab, the daily work, the slow progress, the setbacks, the boring stuff, the real stuff. No protocols, no hacks, no bullshit. Just the actual steps he took as a man trying to get healthy again.
And then, right there in front of all of us, he dropped into a squat to show what he couldn’t do last year but can do now. It was exactly the kind of story a guy tells another guy over dinner or after golf or during a walk.
And the truth is, that raw, honest story from Sean was the most midlife male moment of the entire summit. It was the kind of moment I wish Rich Roll had given about his back surgery; not as a presenter, not as an influencer, not as a rehearsed storyteller… but as a man telling other men what really happened, how much it sucked, what scared him, what helped him, and how he’s coming back
That’s why our Midlife Male Excellent Adventures are the perfect answer to the question of “what would our version of this look like?”
High-achieving, fun guys. Fathers. Leaders. Beach workouts. Sunrise Rucks. Football and wiffle ball on the beach. Outstanding pizza. Elite restaurants. Downtime to chill. A perfect morning coffee to chop it up with other men. Very loosely structured but somehow packed with intention and most of all, built around a good time with good men.
You’ll learn more about yourself and take more away from other men like you sweating it out on a 5K ruck or walking back to a hotel after eating six slices of pizza than from sitting in your 5th breakout talk of the day.
That’s what you want and that’s what we’re offering more of in 2026.
More Excellent Adventures. More once-in-a-lifetime challenges. More quick, awesome weekend offerings, as well as more time to plan in advance. More great meals. More unique workouts.
And those men on the stage, on the pods, whose books you’ve read, and who you’ve seen on our covers and in our newsletter, I invite them to come along as special guests.
If you’re interested in these things, drop your email here to stay up-to-date on our next event or to lock in your spot now.
It’s funny how these things take shape.
Sometimes you fight to get in the door. Then once you get inside, you realize you would rather build your own room.
This is how I see it. This is where we are going. And we are just getting started.
The middle is the beginning.
See you at our next event.
In Health,
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Greg Scheinman
Founder, Midlife Male
52. Husband. Father. Entrepreneur. Coach.
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