In my youth, I had a crisis of Masculinity. I was striving to know who I was and shown opposing versions of manhood: the demanding factory worker, the athletic superstar, the overly-sensitive gentleman, and the consumed entrepreneur. During my youth, there was a great revolution against sexism and a push towards gender equality. I saw the feminine rise towards their empowerment while the Masculine became undefined. Amongst all of that, I wondered how my Masculinity fit in.

I had no map to work with and no way to navigate, so I found myself pushing my Masculinity away.

Over time I was fortunate to awaken a deeper understanding of myself by working with Archetypes. This led me to the tremendous psychological works of Carl Jung, the archetypal thinking of Robert Moore, and the mythic poetic movement through Robert Bly. For a decade, equipped with this knowledge, I have been developing activities, rituals, and ways of exploring the depth of Masculinity.

I feel the internal crisis I went through mirrored in our society. Our culture grapples with what Toxic Masculinity is, an awakening around sexual harm, an increase in suicide rates among men, and a muddy definition of Masculinity. Our culture needs tools to help redefine Masculinity and its purpose in our modern world.

This is what gave birth to HeroRise. I have heard the call to share the tools that helped me find purpose, balance, and a deeply rooted strength within Masculinity.