Why is this subject, The Midlife Male important in the world?
There are 53 million midlife males in the United States, and they don’t have the support and guidance they need. Approximately 43% of midlife men say they’re unhappy with their family life. About a quarter say they’ve already peaked! Over 60% have unstable finances, 82% are stressed out, 46% eat unhealthy food, 56% have body image issues, and, critically, more than a third of midlife men say they don’t have the answers to these questions. I actually believe that number to be much higher. These are just the men who dared to admit to not having all the answers.
There’s not enough support out there—for men, by men—that’s authentic, relatable, credible, and aspirational.
What is the pressing issue right now, and how are you addressing it?
Too many men accept mediocrity. And mediocrity is really scary because once you accept it, malaise sets in. I’ve been there: conformity, complacency, feeling like your best days are behind you. Mediocrity breeds feelings of insignificance, leaving men stuck somewhere between emptiness and untapped potential. It is paralyzing.
To have had hopes and dreams and a vision of who you thought you would be in your life and not ever to realize them? That is one of the worst feelings in the world.
I woke up feeling like this every day—for years. And it started me on a journey of exploration to seek out the most influential voices across every single aspect of life.
However, while I made a promise to transform myself, I didn’t know how. Many of us face this daily, and the irony is we spend so much time on “finding our why” that once we’ve found it, we struggle with how actually to live it. How do we better manage our time, health, finances, and relationships to be the best versions of ourselves?
That’s why I launched The Midlife Male podcast. I figured if I didn’t know the right answers, I could start by asking the right people the right questions.
Fast-forward to today: I’ve interviewed more than 200 of the world’s top thought leaders, from best-selling authors and top CEOs to Grammy Award winners and Olympic gold medalists, and The Midlife Male podcast is now one of the top-rated podcasts in the world.
The podcast is what led me to write my book, The Midlife Male (Amplify). And in doing research for the book, I found that not only was what I was experiencing the norm for middle-aged men but that I was far from alone. In fact, the statistics showed that I was in the majority.
Greg Scheinman Biography
What is your background in this subject?
When I was in my 20’s, I was Harvey Weinstein’s Executive Assistant. I told him to f— off 20 years before the #MeToo movement, and still went on to produce two successful films.
In my 30’s, I built an award-winning sports DVD business for children with licenses with the NBA, NCAA, MLB, and NASCAR and produced over 50 titles. It was called Team Baby Entertainment. Former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner acquired that business.
I’ve had my fair share of challenges, too.
I lost my father in my teens. I experienced the imprisonment of my brother. I’ve struggled with weight, alcohol, hair loss, body image, anxiety, and depression.
The fact is that we all have experiences and choices that shape our lives. The wisdom gained allows us to be victims or use our experiences to learn, share, and become better people.
I’ll be 50 this December, so it’s really been a 30-year body of work.
In my 40’s, I regained my health to become a top athlete, winning events like the D10 Decathlon, taking 3rd at HYROX, and completing endurance challenges like 29029 Everesting.
I’ve transitioned from risk taker to risk manager and become a multimillion-dollar producer and partner with Insgroup, one of the largest insurance firms in the United States, which was acquired by Baldwin Risk Partners (NASDAQ: BRP) in December 2020 and I retired from the industry.
I’m an entrepreneur, former big business exec, podcaster, writer, fitness enthusiast, husband, dad, and now performance coach, author, and speaker. I’m curious and love to learn and try new things.
Over the past few years, I felt a calling to use my experiences to inform, inspire, and entertain others that might be experiencing some of the same hardships I’ve experienced and to demonstrate how those experiences are helping me to maximize middle age today.
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
People tend to look at outcomes. They see you where you are today. The reality is that by the time I was in my 30’s, I was overweight, functionally alcoholic, smoking, and struggling as a husband, father, provider, and man.
When I hit 40, I was in full-blown midlife crisis mode. Although from the outside looking in, you’d never know it: beautiful family, high-powered career, money to spend. But chasing authenticity where authenticity doesn’t exist is exhausting—and I was exhausted. It’s taken a lot of work and time to get to where I am today, but if I can do it, then I know anyone can because I’m not special. It’s never too late, and today is the day you start.
What are your passions outside of your career?
I joke that I really only like to do three things: be with my family (I have an amazing wife of 20 years and two incredible teenage sons), work out (doing anything physical is fun for me), and talk (which I get to do on the podcast, as a speaker, and as a coach; I even wrote the book by dictating it and then transcribing it). Combining personal passion with professional expertise has been one of my lifelong goals, and I finally feel like I’m getting to do that every day. So my passion really is my career now. And all the amazing experiences I get to have? Now I can use them to help as many men as possible.
This year I got to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest in the 29029 challenge, and I partnered with Restore Hyper Wellness to tell my story. I got to experience Navy SEAL training as part of HPLT. I spent a week at Modern Elder Academy. I’m working, consulting, and investing with amazing brands that aspire to help men improve their lives, and I get to do deep one-on-one work as a coach. It’s all connected.
The Midlife Male
Tell me about your book.
The Midlife Male is a no-B.S. guide to living better, longer, happier, healthier, and wealthier, and having more fun in your 40’s and 50’s—so we went with the longest possible title I could think of! But really, it’s about what I call my “six F’s”—family, fitness, finance, food, fashion, and fun—and how I made the shift from seeing success as a man valuing “salary and title” to a more holistic approach that focuses on total life wellness. It’s about turning these F’s into A’s to live an authentic, purposeful, and balanced life where we stop believing our best days are behind us and start getting excited for what’s ahead.
I wanted to write a book that shares experiences rather than giving preachy advice. I wanted it to come from real men and my own experiences. I took some of the most impactful stories I’d heard from men on my podcast and brought them into the book, along with my personal perspective on each topic.
I really appreciate and value gaining information, inspiration, and motivation by going deep into personal stories, but also in bite-size pieces, so I incorporated both for the reader. It’s a book that you can open to any page and get something of value. You don’t have to read it cover to cover. The goal was that it could be read, re-read, and used as a reference tool and guide to help men maximize middle age.
What is next for you?
I’ll continue championing midlife men through my six F’s while building Midlife Male into an iconic media company. Along the way, we’ll continue to help brands reach middle-aged men and build the ultimate community for guys in midlife. And I’m consistently inspired to get out there and do more speaking, workshops, and serving. My “Everest” is to help a million men transform from mediocre to maximized in middle age.
What If the Metaverse Explodes?(Opens in a new browser tab)
Where can people buy the book?
You can buy The Midlife Male on Amazon or order it through my website, where you’ll also be able to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter and podcast. And, of course, you can always find me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.