Greg here,
Maybe it’s because we’re in the New Year. Or maybe it’s because I just turned 53. Or maybe it’s because both my kids are now back in college and I suddenly have a lot more time to think. Whatever the reason, I’ve been contemplating simplicity a lot lately. In particular, how to keep things in our lives simple, clean, and clear.
Not just in how we train, eat, travel, and live, or how we approach our 6Fs, but also in how we build Midlife Male.
We’re now reaching more than 35,000 readers every week. As the brand grows up, we’re leveling up too. That’s meant making a number of changes you may have noticed, along with a few you probably haven’t. With that in mind, I wanted to share what you’re seeing across the brand, the experiences, and the way we’re showing up each week.
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First, thank you. My column and Jon’s Manologue were the most-read pieces we published last year. Together, they accounted for more than 100,000 reads in 2025. That means a lot to us.
We don’t use AI content. We don’t outsource anything. We each write every word of every column you read. When you open this newsletter, you’re reading us. That matters because we put ourselves out there every week.
A lot of men in midlife are hesitant to do this, to share their opinion, to build something new. Afraid to try. Afraid to fail. Afraid to look foolish. Afraid to put their ideas, opinions, and work out into the world where others can see it and take a shot at it. And understandably so. It’s scary; especially at a time society tells us we’re supposedly too old for newness and risk. (We’re not…) Many of us are also constrained by the positions we hold. I was for many years.
Personally, I’ve always believed in building in public. I find it exciting because you can’t hide. You have to do what you say you’re going to do, while getting feedback in real time. It forces accountability. You can’t fake momentum. You can’t talk a big game and fail to back it up without losing credibility.
In that spirit, I want to share some of the changes we’re making.
Our new masthead, black and white and bold, grew out of the design work for The Definitive Guide to Maximizing Midlife (see below), a new PDF we’ll be releasing shortly along with a free webinar. As Jon and I worked on it, we were drawn to that aesthetic so strongly that we decided to carry it across the rest of the brand.
We’ve also gone through our columns, interviews, and even our email formats with an eye toward improvement.
You’ll notice that my former “Viewpoint” column has been renamed How I See It. I always regretted giving that title to our interviews. I wanted it back. Going forward, this column is where I’ll share my perspective each week. We’ve updated it everywhere across the site.
Our interviews will now simply be called Conversations.
Years ago, my former business partner Michael Eisner had a show on CNBC called Conversations. I always liked that title. It’s simple. Straightforward. You know exactly what it is: a conversation between two men. We don’t need something clever, trendy, or algorithm-friendly just for the sake of it.
Last year, I conducted more than 52 interviews, most of them over Zoom, each lasting an hour to an hour and a half. What became clear over time was that the in-person interviews performed far better. Those pieces didn’t just include the conversation itself, but the entire experience: why I went, where I traveled, the place I stayed, what I ate, how I packed, the way the interview unfolded, the full conversation, my takeaways, and even the trip home. When readers could follow the whole journey, not just the interview, the response was dramatically stronger.
So this year, I’m doing them all in person. Maybe that means I’ll do six. Maybe I’ll do twelve. My criteria is simple. If it’s a “hell yes” guy I want to sit across from in real life, I’ll go do it. If it’s not, I won’t. As the saying goes, if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no. That applies to everything we’re building at Midlife Male.
Speaking of conversations, Jon and I have also launched Midlife Lately, a weekly show where we give you a behind-the-scenes look at our columns, what inspired them, and how you responded.
We’re also guilty of overthinking sponsors and brand partners in the past.
Should we even have sponsors?
Where should logos go?
How many clicks matter?
What placement works best?
Here’s what we concluded: we’re going to do what we want.
We’re not dependent on brands, which means nobody tells us what to write, what to think, or where to place anything. When we partner with a company we genuinely believe in and can offer you something of value, we’ll write about it honestly and place it where it performs best. We don’t need logos at the top of every newsletter or approved images stacked everywhere.
Authenticity is too important to us to turn our newsletter into a NASCAR uniform. I don’t even like logos on my clothes…
We’d rather tell you the truth: Why we partner with someone, what we actually use, why we respect the founder etc… We don’t pretend otherwise. You’re smart enough to understand how this works.
Which brings me to something I care deeply about. I respect the intelligence, wisdom, and life experience of you, our readers. You don’t need to be pandered to. You don’t need gimmicks or empty hype. You don’t need style over substance. You deserve integrity and honesty. Work that actually means something.
I also believe we’re turning a cultural corner on AI noise, slick videos, manufactured personalities, and easy-button content. What cuts through now is what can’t be faked. Real voice. Real opinions. Real work. Real accountability.
That’s where we’re leaning in even harder.
You’ll see it in the design. You’ll see it in the writing. You’ll see it in my coaching and speaking, in our experiences, and in the partnerships we choose. Simple. Clean. Iconic. Elevated.
We’re building for men who still want to grow and challenge themselves, and who are fully, intentionally in the middle of life. We’re not here to coast, hide, or shrink.
That’s how I see it. And I’m glad you’re here, building it with us in public.
In Health,
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Greg Scheinman
Founder, Midlife Male
53. Husband. Father. Entrepreneur. Coach.
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