October 01, 2025

60. Dan Doty: How Service and Volunteerism Can Save Men… and Maybe America.

58 minutes

When I was a lost 21-year-old with no idea what I wanted to do with my life, service saved me. I didn’t know where to find fulfillment or a sustainable, financially viable career, but I remembered the joy of supporting young people with disabilities to play sports in college. My dad said simply, “Why don’t you just do more of that?” With nothing else to hang on to, I took his advice and started my first nonprofit, Dreams for Kids DC.

Running that organization, I realized that marginalized communities—like folks with disabilities—are often only seen as recipients of service, not as people who can give. We evolved our programs so that the kids we served also had opportunities to serve others, showing them they were capable of contribution.

For me, service has always been one of the most direct pathways to purpose. That’s why I’m so excited to have Dan Doty on the podcast today. Dan is a founder of Everyman, one of the men’s work facilitators I respect most in the world, and an excellent father, husband, and deeply good man who genuinely cares about people. He’s in it for the right reasons.

After helping bring on the second wave of men’s work with Everyman, Dan has launched a new initiative called Manpower, which brings men together around community-driven service projects nationwide. I felt so aligned with his mission that I joined as an inaugural board member to help in a small way.

This conversation dives into men’s work, the loneliness epidemic, and the power of finding purpose through giving back.

Here’s what you’ll take away:

The Inward/Outward Balance: Dan highlights a core insight: men’s group work that stays focused only on inner process often fizzles out. Actual transformation starts when vulnerability and bonding translate into local, hands-on action.

Service as State Change, and Behavior Change: You’ll learn why volunteering together isn’t just good for the recipient, but radically shifts the mental health, self-respect, and sense of belonging for the men themselves. Dan and Andrew break down the psychological “stickiness” of meaningful group service, as well as how to design it for regular, long-term impact.

Simple, Replicable Tools: Explore the blueprint behind Manpower, hyper-local groups, a pair of work gloves as a symbol, and a no-nonsense approach: find out what your community needs, then bring a crew and show up. No heroics, no ego, just practical usefulness.

A Redefinition of Healthy Masculinity: Examine why integrating “traditional” strengths (action, responsibility, hands-on work) with modern emotional fluency can build a new model for men: less about labels, more about tangible contribution and real community.

Why listen, and why now? Because the loneliness and confusion facing so many men isn’t just abstract, it’s showing up in rising suicide rates, isolation, and a hunger for leadership that actually serves. For founders, leaders, and anyone working on themselves, this episode is a reminder: fulfillment, and real growth, don't happen in isolation. The real medicine might just be found, together, in the service of others.

Tune in for a wise, grounded, and deeply hopeful conversation. Let Dan and Andrew remind you: it’s not just about “doing the work,” it’s about getting to work, side by side, building the world (and the selves) we most want to see.

Listen in. The next big idea may start right down the block, with a pair of gloves and a group of guys, ready to serve.

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