When I first sat down to talk to Neil Chethik, expert on men’s issues, I had no idea what to expect. “What is an expert on men’s issues?” I wondered. “What exactly are men’s issues? And what could possibly inspire someone to become an expert on them?”
Well, after 30 minutes on the phone with Chethik, I understood.
Neil Chethik grew up the son of a psychologist with a passion for the pen and current events. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1979, Chethik became a journalist for several daily papers. But it wasn’t until he made friends with a group of his wife’s guy friends in grad school that he began to see the value of men’s psychology, realizing that he “wasn’t an oddball for having some kind of inner life.”
Chethik, who calls himself, “a bit on the entrepreneurial side,” eventually tired of answering to a boss: “I found it very difficult to work for newspapers. Just having to answer to other people, that was a struggle,” he remarks on his years as a journalist.
“Once I got to the place where I was writing the same things over and over again, I decided that, ‘If I’m going to be a writer, I need to start writing the things that I’m passionate about.’”
So, Chethik turned to a column he wrote occasionally on the topic of men’s issues. After researching the available content on the Web, he discovered that very little material was out there to help those struggling with uniquely male issues. Inspired by a newfound ability to connect with his readers via the Web, Chethik used his audience, which spanned 35 U.S. cities, to create a platform of information where men could find advice on fatherhood, grieving, sex, marriage and more.
Chethik currently spends most of his time working as a motivational speaker. After publishing several books, including “VoiceMale: What Husbands Really Think About Their Marriages, Their Wives, Sex, Housework and Commitment” and “FatherLoss: How Sons of All Ages Come To Terms With the Deaths of Their Dads,” Chethik has become a frequently requested keynote speaker at conferences and conventions.
Chethik has been happily married for 21 years and offers free advice on how to keep a marriage successful on his Web site. Have a look at his most recent column of advice, “How to Create Love For the Long Run,”
which offers some clever tips for both men and women on how to strengthen a partnership.
Isabel Cowles
Writer
Comments