GreatMen.org

Welcome to GreatMen.org

You did 'everything right,' so why does life still feel heavy?

You Were Never Meant To Carry The Weight Alone.

The Great Men Brotherhood is a community for driven men who have been successful on paper, but still feel empty inside. We figure out why together, and then actually do something about it.

Enter The Great Men Brotherhood

Joey Dingfield

"Shane, thank you for creating a community where men don't have to feel alone. Now I've got an army of brothers. I'm thankful."

Real Estate Investor

Markus Gerszi

"Gentlemen, this is the beginning of something great. This brotherhood is incredibly powerful and incredibly needed for all of us."

Entrepreneur, Best Hour of Their Day

Josh "JT" Terrell

"The Great Men Brotherhood is not only what I needed, you men are WHO I needed and need. Thankful for this place. Love y'all"

Founder, 3E Partners

No Man Should Walk Alone.

"I wish I had this in my life..."

My name is Shane Sams, founder of GreatMen.org.

A few years ago, I hit a wall I couldn't explain.

On paper, my life looked incredible. I'd done everything 'they' told me to do to be 'successful.' Career, marriage, kids. Check, check, check.

But something was missing.

So I did what most driven men do. I told myself to 'man up." So, I achieved harder. Built more. Pushed higher. I told myself that more effort, that the next win would fill the void. It didn't.

It nearly killed me.

In January 2022, my body sent me the bill. Nine days in a hospital bed. Alone in a pandemic, sick, overweight, body shutting down, wondering if I'd wake up. So exhausted and empty, I'd half stopped caring if I did.

I had run myself into the ground chasing goals everyone else said I should want.

So I made a promise in that hospital bed. Get my health back, mind and body. Get my fire back, heart and soul. And figure out what was missing, and what I actually wanted for my life. Not what they wanted. Me.

I found my answers among my brothers.

On text threads, on regular calls, on guys trips where we could unplug, drop the masks and performance, and get real with other men around a fire. For the first time, I felt seen. For the first time, I witnessed other men who had similar struggles drop the mask, get real, and find the courage to do something different.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel alone.

Every year we took a guys trip. We always invited new men. And every year they said the same thing. "I didn't know how much I needed this. I wish I had more men and trips like this in my life."

I heard it for years. Then one night by the fire, it clicked. These men were facing the world alone. No daily text threads to be seen. No guys nights or trips to feel connected. Nowhere left to go.

That's why the Emptiness hits men so hard in midlife.

We are programmed to think we have to face it by ourselves. And until a man has community and brotherhood in his life, he will never feel whole.

So I decided to light a fire, and gather great men like you around it. To face the Emptiness together, and forge great lives on our own terms. A place to build, belong, and become the man you know you already are. So you can be seen, and witness others do the same.

Welcome to GreatMen.org, home of The Great Men Project. A podcast. A brotherhood. A movement. A place to figure out what's missing, and actually do something about it.

Here, you will not walk alone.

- Shane Sams
Founder, GreatMen.org

Listen To The Podcast.

Great Men Learn From Each Other

"We're at a time in history men need a podcast like this ..."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Most podcasts for men are self-proclaimed gurus telling you what you 'should' do, or a couple of dudes one-upping each other about money and women. This isn't that. Here, we have the conversations most men never get to have, but need now more than ever.

Curious, honest, unfiltered talks about your physical health, your brotherhood, men's mental health, your work, your relationships, your kids, your money, and what you leave behind. Inspiration, doubt, and what it actually means to be a Great Man living life on his terms.

🎧 Start listening to Great Men on your drive to work, at the gym, or at home when you feel alone.

Listen & Subscribe On Apple Podcasts Now!

The Great Men Brotherhood

Belong | Build | Become

Welcome Home Brother

Great Men gather and do life together.

Who are you? Not the roles you wear. Provider. Protector. Partner. Dad. The man underneath all the labels.

The Great Men Brotherhood is a community where driven men connect, discover who they really are, and grow together. Be seen. Belong. Build. Become the man you are and want to be.

Online community, in person events, and more. Join any of our three community memberships to start connecting with other Great Men today...

I. Gather At The Fire Pit.

Be Seen.

The Fire Pit Forums

Great Men feel, share, and hold space for each other.

The heart and soul of the Brotherhood. An online community that never closes, built around the one question most men never get asked. How are YOU feeling? Not the marriage. Not the business. Not the kids. YOU.

Ask a man how he's doing and you get two replies. 'Fine.' Or 'Can't complain.' He was trained to suck it up and carry it alone, so he swallows it, until the weight piles up and poisons him from the inside. 'Fake it till you make it,' right?

The Fire Pit is where you can relax and get real any time, any day. Say what's actually going on and be seen by honest men feeling the same way. Connect with brothers who are sharing wins and facing the same struggles. This is where you are seen, heard, reassured, encouraged, and celebrated. And get to see, hear, reassure, encourage, and celebrate other men doing the same.

Jon Miller

"This community is like an oasis in the desert. The work we do here is making a difference for me for sure! I believe in The Great Men Brotherhood!"

Data Architect and Agentic Engineer

Guys Nights

Great Men find and make time to hang.

Your calendar is full of obligations and not one square on it belongs to just you and the boys. No standing night to unplug, set down the weight and the responsibilities for a few hours, and cut loose with Great Men. Most guys can't even remember the last time they had one.

Once a month, we fix that. We hop on a live call, deal some cards, light a cigar, crack the kind of jokes you got in trouble for in middle school, talk about life, and have fun. What's good right now. We share what's beautiful in our lives, our challenges, what are building, and crack jokes until our faces hurt.

Those faces on screen rotate, the chat stays packed, and anybody can just show up and hang. Think clubhouse, not conference call. No wives or women allowed. Guys night is just for us, and only for members of The Brotherhood.

II. Build In The Forge

Be heard.

The Forge Forums

Great Men plan, create, and build alongside one another.

The Forge is where Great Men build a great life. This is where a man stops talking about the life he wants and starts building it, one area at a time.

The Forge is an online brotherhood built across seven rooms for the seven core areas of a man's life. Your physical health, your connection with other Great Men, your mindset and mental health, your work and career, your family and relationships, your money, and your meaning.

Pick the area that has your attention, post what you're building, and get the support, the accountability, and the brothers who won't let you quit on it. You commit by showing up. You create alongside other men. And you actually complete your goals.

GMELT Weekly Meetups

Never Eat Lunch Alone Again

GMELT stands for Great Men Eat Lunch Together, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Every Wednesday at noon, you hop on a live call in The Forge, grab your lunch, and check in with your brothers. We check in on how everyone is doing, feeling, and what we are building. It's the standing spot on your calendar that pulls you off the treadmill in the middle of the week, and the easiest way to make sure you never have to eat lunch alone again.

"GMELT Was awesome and really needed. So thankful a friend told me about this place. It took a while to get here, but now I am going to be on all the time."

- Wayne Renbjor, Programmer
Great Men Brotherhood

The Study

Read. Reflect. Relate.

Every month in The Forge, we read a book together. Most men read a great book, feel fired up for a week, and forget it by the next. The Study is where the ideas actually stick. You go through the books that change a man alongside other men doing the same work. You read it, you reflect on what it stirs up in your own life, and you relate it to the real stuff you're carrying right now. Philosophy, personal growth, ancient texts, modern classics. It's where we tap into new knowledge and old wisdom, and put what we learn to work in real conversation with other Great Men.

III. Become. In The Circle

Be known.

The Circle Mastermind

Great Men find their rhythm together.

Most men don't have a Circle. Maybe colleagues. Acquaintances. An old friend from high school or college that texts a few times a year. But they don't have a true Circle. A sacred container of peers and friends that sharpen, strengthen, and stretche them as a man.

The Great Men Circle changes that for you. Inside The Circle, you lock in the balance, the routines, the habits, and the focus that create and hold a great life together. And you connect with other men on the deepest level of community we offer. The Circle is where you find your rhythm again.

The Circle is a weekly live online mastermind. You meet every Sunday at 4pm ET to tie a bow on last week and aim at the next. You set weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals and actually hit them, all led by our Great Men Guides who take you deep into the philosophy of being a Great Man on your terms.

And you earn one Guys Trip a year along the way.*

Andrew Reed

"That was one of, if not the most impactful men's retreats I've ever attended. It was the subtle moments, the quiet conversations, the campfire reflections over cigars, and the deep presence every man brought. I know it's cliché to say you wake up different after a retreat, but that's exactly what happened. The container Shane created was like nothing I've ever experienced at a mastermind or retreat, and I've been to many! Watching you guys show up so real, and being witnessed around the fire, let me see myself in you, catch my blind spots, and reframe my entire last ten years. I am so grateful for this gift. Thank you! I can't wait for the next Guys Trip!"

Owner, Red5 Photography

"I never knew how much I needed this, every man needs this..."

Everything we build online points to one place.

Great Men Guys Trips.

You've been to the overpriced 'masterminds' where men posture and peacock to impress each other. And the 'retreats' with an agenda so packed you came home more tired than when you left. This isn't that.

A few days with your brothers out in nature, away from the stress of all our responsibilities. Grills going during the day. A real fire at night. Good cigars. Real downtime. Laughs. Deep conversations that actually go somewhere. Sometimes in the mountains, sometimes the woods, the desert, or by the sea. And a circle of men who know your name and have your back.

We celebrate what's beautiful in our lives. We carry the hard stuff together. And we get fired up for the men we're becoming, and the lives we're building.

No agenda to perform. No phone to hide behind. No mask to hold up. Just good men, and a place you can finally rest. Nothing replaces real time, in person, with men who get it. When was the last time you had a real guys trip with a group of Great Men for a weekend? Years ago? Never. The Circle is where you go on your next one.

Members of The Circle get the first shot at every Guys Trip. Once you've been in The Circle three months, you're eligible to go. And here's the best part. Every month you're in counts 100% toward your trip. Come early anytime by covering the difference, or stay a full year and your Guys Trip is free.