Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Bye
Hi Colin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m Colin and I prepare young guys to lead positive change in the world by helping them build meaningful relationships, healthier habits, and strong ethical foundations.
My work has evolved quite a bit over the years. It started in high school where I began to ask what the difference was between a boy and a man. You see, I was a late bloomer and hit puberty well into my junior year. While the guys around me were getting taller and sounding deeper, I felt left behind and couldn’t help but wonder if “manhood” described physical maturity or if there was something else to it.
In college, I really came into myself and was fortunate enough to have had some deep relationships with the men in my fraternity. Now when I say deep I don’t mean the experiences were always positive. I made mistakes and I watched others make mistakes that caused real harm. It opened my eyes to the fact that being a mature man wasn’t just physical, but included cognitive, emotional, and social maturity too. It also made me realize how powerful brotherhood can be – at its best as a force for accountability and growth, and at its worst an enabler of harmful behavior and beliefs.
After graduating, I moved to New York City where I pursued my passion of bringing people together and telling stories through art. I had the great fortune to be part of the Stella Adler Center for the Arts’ Justice Division where I worked with people from all walks of life, including acting students, incarcerated individuals, and people recovering from addiction and trauma. While the work was deeply rewarding, it also challenged my understanding of how to drive positive change sustainably. It taught me that if I really wanted to bring men together and create change for the better, I needed to start with myself.
Fast-forward a few years – I’ve equipped myself with powerful tools and mindsets rooted in yoga, breath, and coaching certifications from the Kripalu® Center for Yoga and Health, Katonah Yoga® Center, The Oxygen Advantage®, and the Academy of Modern Applied Psychology. I started Manscending to share these tools through fraternity coaching programs, online classes, speaking engagements, and community events with the intention of helping more men create lives of deep satisfaction and contribution. Tools men need to lead through hard times. Young people today face a distracted and disconnected society. At a time when it has never been easier to check out, we need young men to know that they matter and to show up with compassion and competence so we can leave this world better than we found it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A few key struggles come to mind.
The first is social. When I started this work, people would ask me why I’m working with men when there are so many other worthy causes to devote my time to. Our society does a poor job of acknowledging the issues men face because there is a sense that by doing so, we are ignoring or invalidating women’s issues. The reality is that men are hurting, especially men of color. Men are falling behind at all levels of schooling, facing higher rates of addiction, incarceration, and suicide, and more. We as a society need to stop thinking of supporting men and women as a zero-sum game, where acknowledging the needs of one means ignoring the struggles of the other. We can continue to address the challenges women face AND address the ones men face.
The next is mental. For a lot of guys, the idea of slowing down and sharing openly sounds like a waste of time. There’s lots of pressure on men to perform, lots of uncertainty, and often lots of shame around being vulnerable. Because of this, guys are less likely to put their wellbeing first and ask for help when they need it. A big part of my work is therefore creating the conditions where guys can be themselves without fear of judgment from others. This involves activities that teach men to relax efficiently and connect authentically. Getting them to see that doing better starts by doing less is a struggle I’m always looking for new ways to overcome!
The last piece is physical. I still feel the ripples of the COVID pandemic in my work. It made in-person workshops impossible and further isolated guys from each other and their communities. As a result, there’s a real hunger the fraternities and other communities I work with for in-person connection. I currently offer a hybrid model where I meet this need by training individual men to lead brotherhood building activities in their own communities. While I still do speaking engagements and workshops in person, I’ve found myself getting creative around facilitating the most engaging and practical online experiences possible. After all, none of they guys I work with seem particularly interested in sitting on another Zoom call and staring at a Powerpoint.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Manscending provides fraternity men with mental health and brotherhood coaching programs that quickly create lasting positive change in their chapter culture. After our programs, the men we’ve worked with talk about how their brotherhood feels alive and connected. We strengthen their sense of belonging, accountability, and the contribution of their chapter to the school community. Our approach provides chapter leadership with blueprints for real discussions and powerful activities that create a more wholesome fraternity experience. Unlike other programs that involve hefty manuals, long Powerpoints, and more work for brothers, we train volunteers to use elegant and simple tools that make building brotherhood fun. I leverage my experience as a yoga, breathing, and meditation instructor to integrate practices that go beyond sharing ideas to actually change the brothers on a physiological level. You know men who have gone through our programs because they stand up right, stay calm in a crisis, and care deeply about those around them.
While we specialize in fraternity work, we also provide virtual breath and meditation practices, one-on-one resilience and life coaching services, and an online community for guys committed to mastering the skills of self-regulation and mindful living. I’m most proud of the feedback we get from our programs. Guys are hungry for authentic connection. They just need the language and tools to make it happen, and I’m honored to provide for them.
What matters most to you?
My three core values are Courage, Integrity, and Vitality. I live these values in service to present and future generations so that they can avoid unnecessary suffering and enjoy a more beautiful and loving world.
Courage is hope in action. Courage means waking up in the morning to face the reality of world’s suffering and choosing to create something better. To show love when others show fear. To stay focused when distractions arise. To press on when giving up is easier.
Integrity is the foundation of character. Just like a building without integrity collapses, so does a man without integrity. We can’t bring anything with us when we die. All that’s left is whether we lived a life true to ourselves and whether those we loved could count on us when it mattered most.
Vitality is our life energy. The more we do things that light us up physically, mentally, and spiritually, the more vital we become. It’s easy to forget that life is happening right now – this moment is all we have. Living with vitality means making choices that reduce pain and support ease so we can enjoy every moment as fully as possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.manscending.work
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manscending/
- Other: https://community.manscending.work
