Speaker 1: 0:01

You're listening to the Evolve Men Podcast, episode number three. Are you ready to break free from hesitation, self-doubt and isolation? Do you want to lead with confidence, build powerful connections and live boldly? I'm Cory Baum and I'm here to share the most impactful strategies and mindsets that I've learned through coaching, leadership and real-world experience. Together, we'll forge unshakable confidence, master social dynamics and create a life rooted in purpose, brotherhood and bold action. Inside you'll get the tools and insights to become the strongest, most connected version of yourself. Let's dive in. Hey, welcome back to the Evolved Men Podcast. I'm your host, corey Baum.

Speaker 1: 0:45

If you've been with me for the last couple episodes, you've already heard some of the story. In episode one, we talked about what this podcast is and who it's really for. In episode two, I started to take you behind the curtain right and told you where it is that I've been, the patterns that I've lived through, the breakdowns that I've had, the patterns that I've lived through, the breakdowns that I've had and the shifts that have saved my life really. But today, today's a little bit different. Today, I want to tell you why it is that I'm doing this, because the truth is none of this the podcast, the coaching, the meds, work, the brotherhood that I'm building. None of it would exist without a deeper reason, and it's not just about entrepreneurship, it's not about content, and it's definitely not about trying to sound like I've got it all figured out. It's about something much, much bigger. It's about legacy, it's about cycles, about fire and passion and pain, about healing and truth. This is about my why, and I want to share it with you, not just so that you understand me, but so that you can start to dig into your own, because every man who evolves, who truly evolves, doesn't do it by accident. He does it because he found a reason, a reason that matters more than his comfort, more than his ego, more than his fear. So let's go there.

Speaker 1: 2:28

So let me take you back one more time to the beginning, because I didn't start this work from this empowered place, right. I didn't wake up with a vision board or a clear calling, with a vision board or a clear calling. This didn't come from clarity, it came from desperation. Really, I was desperate to change, desperate not to pass down the pain that I had grown up in, but at first I didn't have any idea what I was doing. I didn't realize the way that I shut down emotionally, the way that I avoided conflict, the way that I numbed out with porn or seeking validation with being busy all the time. Those weren't just my issues, those were inherited, they were generational. I was living in cycles that I didn't choose, but I was still responsible for them.

Speaker 1: 3:34

And I saw those cycles starting to show up in my sons, and that, for me, was another freight train moment. It was one that had completely knocked the wind out of me. I saw the hesitation in their eyes, the way that they shrink back in social situations, at the playgrounds with their friends, and they would second guess themselves, they would avoid speaking up. And I knew that feeling all too well. It wasn't just the shyness, it was the kind of quiet that comes from fear, the kind of stillness that's born from watching a man who's unsure of himself try to lead. And I knew what it felt like to have a dad who was physically there, sure, but emotionally gone, have a dad who was physically there, sure, but emotionally gone. I knew what it felt like to grow up without a model of emotional intelligence, of integrity and leadership right. And suddenly I realized that I was becoming that same fucking guy, not because I wanted to, but because I didn't know how to do anything else. And that moment changed everything for me, right? I couldn't unsee it, I couldn't unknow it, and I knew that I wasn't just working on myself anymore. I was fighting for my boys, and that became my first big why was to break the cycle, even if it's messy, even if it's hard and it takes years, even if I screw it up along the way, because I didn't want them to have to struggle with the same things that I have, knowing that all along that I could have done something to help them through it. I wasn't trying to become a perfect dad. I was trying to become an honest one, a man who could own his patterns and stop pretending that they were normal. A man who could say I love you right and show it in the actions that he took. A man who could feel pain and not pass it on. And that's where all of this began.

Speaker 1: 6:02

The more that I got into doing this work, the more that I realized that I wasn't the only one carrying this stuff. Everywhere I looked, everywhere I turned, I saw men pretending that they were fine. Some of them had built massive businesses and were super successful, and others were scraping by, but underneath it all, it was the same story disconnected and silent and lonely and aching, and nobody knew, because we don't talk about it. We talk about football, about stocks, about cars, and we talk about business, but what we don't talk about is what it's like to wake up feeling numb, right, or to sit in shame after making a choice that betrayed your values, or to question whether we're really good men or we're just really good performers. And that silence, that's what keeps men stuck.

Speaker 1: 7:12

When I joined my first real men's group not the motivational kind, right, the raw and gritty, truth-telling crunchy kind, right, where men cry, where men confront and where men see each other I remember the first time that I admitted what I was actually struggling with, right, and I thought that they would judge me, that they would dismiss me, that they would shame me, right. But they didn't. And they looked me in the eye and they said, yeah, me too, man, I've been there. And I broke down, not because I was weak, but because, for the first time, I wasn't alone. And that moment changed everything for me. It gave birth to my second why, which was to create the brotherhood that I wish that I had, not just a podcast, not just coaching, but a space where men are safe to tell the truth, to be seen, to be challenged, to be held accountable with compassion, not with shame, to stop suffering in silence.

Speaker 1: 8:38

Brotherhood saves lives, period, and we need more of it. There's not enough of it these days. It's just not happening. There's something else that's been burning on me for years, really, and it's this cultural narrative around masculinity. Right, I think it's broken because we're either told to man up, to shut up and grind through life, or we're told to soften everything down and abandon our natural strength as men. We're stuck between these outdated sense of masculinity and this confusing like progressivism that doesn't always offer clarity.

Speaker 1: 9:24

And I get it right. Emotional awareness and vulnerability, softness and presence all of that is super essential. But we can't throw out power, we can't throw out drive. We can't throw out drive. We can't throw out natural masculine energy. What we need is a redefinition of sorts. We need a new model of masculinity that is strong, not aggressive, emotionally aware, not emotionally overwhelmed. That is purpose-driven, not validation-chasing. That's present, not passive. That's loving, but not at the sense of self-abandoning. And that became my third why? To redefine what it means to be a man, not by theory, but by example, by living it, by failing and getting back up, by being emotionally grounded and fiercely committed, by being someone who can love his family but build his legacy right to lead his people and still be able to cry on a Tuesday night if the moment calls for it. That is evolved masculinity and that's what I'm here to live and to help other men live too.

Speaker 1: 10:56

This one hits really deep for me. I do this work because it forces me to live in alignment. When I coach men, when I get on this mic, I have to actually walk what I talk, and I want that. I need that Because I've left to my own devices. I'm capable of drifting, of hiding, of reverting devices. I'm capable of drifting, of hiding, of reverting, but this work, it continues to pull me back in. Every time I show up for another man, I'm reminded to show up for myself, and that's the fourth why this work keeps me honest, it keeps me evolving, it keeps me grounded and it keeps me in integrity.

Speaker 1: 11:46

Now we get to the heart of it, which is legacy. What do I want to leave behind for my sons, for the men that I coach, for the communities that I touch? Here's what I know for sure. I want to be the man who broke the cycle. I want my sons to say that my dad wasn't perfect, but he was real, that he owned his shit, that he showed up, that he loved us fiercely. I still get caught up, but he did the work right. I want the men in this community to say that because of this work, I came home to myself right. I found my power, I healed what I thought was unhealable, and I didn't do it alone. I want the ripple to spread man to man, father to son, leader to community right, because that's legacy, not fame, impact, not ego or embodiment like, not perfection, but evolution.

Speaker 1: 13:06

If you're still listening to this, something in you really resonates, right. Maybe you've lived parts of my story, maybe you've felt that ache, right, but you're sick of living in the silence and maybe, just maybe, you're ready to start telling the truth, not to everyone, right, but to yourself. And if that's where you're at, you're already evolving. You don't have to have it all figured out, you just have to start. So, guys, if this episode hits you or if it stirred something in your gut, here's what I want you to do Leave a five-star review.

Speaker 1: 13:52

Please subscribe to the podcast, wherever it is, that you listen so that you don't miss what's coming next. Share this episode with another man who needs to hear it One brother, one friend, right, whatever it is, just pass it on right and also connect with the Evolve Men projects. The links will be in the show notes. I want you guys to know that this work is super sacred to me. As you can tell, it's personal. It's not about building a brand. It's about building men, whole men, integrated men, men who can lead with love, with power and clarity and truth, and that's why I'm doing this and that's why I'll never stop and that's why I'm honored that you're here with me. So let's keep going, let's evolve together. We'll be you next time.